Today is Ash Wednesday. For Catholics all over the world, it marks the start of the Lent season. Lent is the time to contemplate on the sufferings of Christ and to repent for our sins. It is about penitence, prayer and giving up the little pleasures we enjoy from day to day - it can be lessening the time spent on watching TV, commuting instead of riding your own car, or doing charity works. Lent customs also include abstaining from eating meat or fasting on Fridays of the Lent season. I used to have friends who follow these practices not only because of their religious beliefs but for another reason as well . For them, it’s a way to lose their weight! I don’t know if its more effective than taking the best weight loss pills around. What do you think? Maybe if they do it regularly, not just during Lent then there could be a possibility of them losing weight. Anyway, may the 40 days of fasting and penance prepare us for the death and the victorious resurrection of Christ!