40 Things to Give Up for Lent in 2027 (and What Happens to Your Energy When You Do)

40 Things to Give Up for Lent in 2027 (and What Happens to Your Energy When You Do)

Looking for things to give up for Lent in 2027? Lent starts on Ash Wednesday, February 10 and runs through Easter Sunday, March 28, a span of 46 calendar days that yields 40 days of fasting once the six Sundays are excluded. About 26% of Americans observe Lent in some form, and among those who do, fasting from a favorite food or beverage is the single most common practice (50%, per Lifeway Research). The list below covers 40 options organized by category, followed by what the research actually says happens to your body and focus when you drop the big ones.

Key Takeaways

• 40 items across seven categories, from food and drink to digital habits to spiritual additions (giving something up is not the only option).
• Giving up coffee cold turkey triggers withdrawal symptoms within 12 to 24 hours, but they typically resolve within a week.
• One month without alcohol produces measurable improvements in insulin resistance, liver markers, and blood pressure.
• Cutting social media to 30 minutes a day for three weeks reduced loneliness and depressive symptoms in a controlled trial.
• Sundays are liturgically excluded from the 40-day count, so some observers allow themselves their sacrifice on Sundays. Check with your pastor.

When Is Lent in 2027?

Ash Wednesday 2027 falls on February 10. Easter Sunday 2027 falls on March 28. The 46 calendar days between them include six Sundays, which are not counted as fasting days in the Western liturgical tradition, leaving 40 days of Lent.

The Actual Rules: What Fasting and Abstinence Require

The USCCB distinguishes two obligations:

• Fasting (Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, ages 18 to 59): one full meal plus two smaller meals that together do not equal a full meal.
• Abstinence from meat (all Fridays during Lent, ages 14 and up).

Everything else people "give up" is a voluntary personal sacrifice layered on top of those minimums. That voluntary sacrifice is what this list is about.

40 Things to Give Up for Lent in 2027

Food and Drink (1 to 10)

1. Coffee (see the withdrawal section below)
2. Alcohol (even moderate drinking; 40 days off has real physiological effects)
3. Added sugar (candy, baked goods, sweetened drinks)
4. Soda and energy drinks
5. Fast food
6. Snacking between meals (the original spirit of fasting)
7. Dessert
8. Red meat beyond Fridays (extend the Friday abstinence to every day)
9. Eating out (cook every meal for 40 days)
10. Cream and sugar in your coffee (if full cold turkey feels impossible)

Digital Habits (11 to 18)

1. Social media (all platforms, or pick the one that consumes the most time)
2. Streaming services (Netflix, YouTube, etc.)
3. Phone in bed (no screen after 10 PM)
4. News scrolling (limit to one check per day)
5. Online shopping (outside of genuine necessities)
6. Video games
7. Podcasts or music during every commute (try silence or prayer instead)
8. Checking email outside work hours

Spending and Consumption (19 to 24)

1. Impulse purchases over $20
2. Subscription services you barely use
3. Buying lunch (bring food from home)
4. Amazon Prime one-click ordering
5. New clothes for 40 days
6. Paid apps or in-app purchases

Small Vices and Habits (25 to 33)

1. Gossip
2. Complaining (try going a full day without it; you will notice how often you do it)
3. Swearing
4. Hitting snooze (get up at the first alarm)
5. Road rage and aggressive driving
6. Sarcasm as a default tone
7. Procrastination on one specific task you keep avoiding
8. Skipping breakfast
9. Staying up past midnight

Spiritual Additions (34 to 40)

Lent is not only about subtraction. Many traditions emphasize adding a practice alongside giving something up.

1. Add daily prayer or meditation (even 5 minutes)
2. Read one chapter of Scripture each day
3. Write a short gratitude list every morning
4. Attend a weekday Mass or service once a week
5. Volunteer once a week
6. Write one handwritten letter or note each week
7. Practice 10 minutes of silence before bed (no input, no output, just quiet)

What Happens to Your Energy When You Give Up Coffee

This is the one people dread most, and for good reason. Caffeine withdrawal is a recognized clinical syndrome. Symptoms, primarily headache and fatigue, typically begin 12 to 24 hours after the last dose, peak around 20 to 51 hours, and resolve within 2 to 9 days (Juliano & Griffiths, Psychopharmacology, 2004). Roughly half of people quitting caffeine report headache, and about 13% experience enough impairment to affect daily function.

Here is a rough timeline of what quitting coffee actually feels like:

If you are used to multiple cups a day, tapering down over the week before Ash Wednesday can reduce the severity. The FDA notes that up to 400 mg of caffeine per day is generally not associated with negative effects for healthy adults, so cutting from four cups to one before stopping entirely is a reasonable middle step.

Some people choose to reduce rather than eliminate caffeine during Lent. That is a valid approach. The sacrifice is still real if you go from three espressos a day to a single low-dose source in the morning.

What Happens When You Give Up Alcohol for 40 Days

A 2018 study in BMJ Open (Mehta et al.) followed habitual drinkers who abstained for one month and found measurable drops in insulin resistance, liver stiffness, and blood pressure. Participants also reported better sleep and lost a small amount of weight.

Forty days is even longer than the study's one-month window. For people who drink moderately (a few drinks per week), the first week can bring subtle sleep disruption as your body adjusts, but by week two most people report sleeping more deeply and waking more alert. If you want what happens when you stop drinking laid out in more detail, the cognitive effects are worth understanding. And if 40 days sounds appealing enough to try a longer alcohol-free stretch, the benefits compound.

This is not medical advice. If you drink heavily and are concerned about withdrawal, talk to your doctor before stopping abruptly.

What Happens When You Cut Back on Social Media

A 2018 controlled study (Hunt et al., Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology) assigned undergraduates to limit social media use to 30 minutes per day for three weeks. Compared to the control group, the restricted group showed significant reductions in loneliness and depressive symptoms. The effect was strongest for participants who entered the study with higher baseline depression.

You do not have to delete your accounts. Even a hard cap, like removing apps from your home screen and checking only from a browser at a set time, can approximate the study's protocol. More on cutting back on social media and what it does to attention span.

Pairing a social media fast with a structured break from screens more broadly can amplify the effect. Replace the freed-up time with something from the "Spiritual Additions" list above, and the 40 days become additive rather than purely subtractive.

What Happens When You Give Up Added Sugar

The "sugar rush" is a myth. A meta-analysis of 31 studies (Mantantzis et al., Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 2019; 1,259 participants) found no evidence that sugar improves mood or energy. The opposite was true: carbohydrate intake was associated with higher fatigue and lower alertness within 30 to 60 minutes after consumption.

Cutting added sugar for 40 days typically means:

• Days 1 to 5: Cravings peak. You may feel irritable or low-energy.
• Days 6 to 14: Cravings diminish. Taste sensitivity starts to reset.
• Days 15+: Many people report more stable energy throughout the day and fewer afternoon slumps.

The hard part is label-reading. Added sugar hides in bread, pasta sauce, salad dressing, and yogurt. If you are serious about this sacrifice, spend 20 minutes the weekend before Lent auditing your pantry.

How to Actually Stick With It for 40 Days

Willpower alone does not carry most people through six weeks. A few tactics that help:

• Announce it. Tell someone what you are giving up. Social accountability is the oldest behavioral tool there is.
• Replace, do not just remove. If you give up coffee, decide in advance what you will drink instead. If you give up social media, fill that time slot with something specific. Replacing the habit with a routine beats leaving a vacuum.
• Plan for Sundays. Because Sundays are not technically part of the 40-day count, some people allow their sacrifice on Sundays. Others keep it going all 46 days. Decide before you start so you are not negotiating with yourself on day 12.
• Track it simply. A single check mark on a calendar each day works better than an app. Visible streaks are powerful.
• Expect a hard patch around days 10 to 14. The novelty has worn off, the end is nowhere in sight, and the sacrifice feels pointless. This is normal. It passes.

Conclusion: Choosing What Matters to You

The best thing to give up for Lent is the one that actually costs you something. If you do not drink coffee, quitting coffee is not a sacrifice. If social media does not pull at you, fasting from it is painless. The whole point of a Lenten fast, in its religious context, is that the discomfort creates space for reflection, prayer, and growth. Pick the item on this list that makes you wince a little. That is probably the right one.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the most common thing to give up for Lent?

According to Lifeway Research, fasting from a favorite food or beverage is the most common practice among Lent observers. Sweets, chocolate, and soda are perennial favorites. Social media has risen sharply in recent years as a popular modern sacrifice.

Can you give up something only on weekdays during Lent?

Technically, yes. Sundays are excluded from the 40-day Lenten count because every Sunday is considered a "little Easter" in the liturgical calendar. Some people allow their sacrifice on Sundays, while others continue it straight through all 46 days. There is no single rule; ask your pastor or follow the tradition of your parish.

When is Ash Wednesday 2027?

Ash Wednesday 2027 is Wednesday, February 10, 2027. Lent runs from that date through Easter Sunday, March 28, 2027.

Does giving up coffee count as fasting?

It is not fasting in the strict USCCB sense (which refers to limiting the number and size of meals on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday). But giving up coffee is one of the most common voluntary Lenten sacrifices and can be a meaningful form of self-denial, especially if you are caffeine-dependent.

How do I give up sugar without feeling terrible?

Start by cutting obvious sources first: candy, desserts, sweetened beverages. Read labels for hidden added sugars in sauces, bread, and flavored yogurt. The first five days are the hardest. After that, cravings tend to taper and your palate adjusts. Keep whole fruit in your diet for natural sweetness.

What if I break my Lenten sacrifice?

Start again the next day. Lent is not an all-or-nothing challenge. The tradition emphasizes ongoing effort and repentance, not perfection. A single lapse on day 15 does not undo 14 days of discipline.

Should I give up something or add something for Lent?

Both are valid, and doing both is common. Many traditions encourage pairing a sacrifice (giving up sweets, for example) with an addition (daily prayer, weekly volunteering). The "Spiritual Additions" section above has ideas that pair well with any of the 40 items on the list.

Is it okay to give up something small?

Yes. Not every sacrifice needs to be dramatic. Giving up hitting the snooze button or cutting out gossip can be harder than it sounds, and both force you to pay attention to a daily habit. Difficulty matters more than visibility.

A Lower-Dose Option If You Are Cutting Back on Caffeine

If your Lenten plan is to reduce caffeine rather than eliminate it, the math of your replacement matters. A standard drip coffee runs 95 to 200 mg of caffeine per cup. Scaling down to a single low-dose source in the morning keeps withdrawal at bay while still honoring the spirit of the sacrifice.

Roon is a zero-nicotine oral pouch that delivers 80 mg of caffeine, roughly the amount in a weak cup of coffee, alongside 60 mg of L-theanine, 25 mg of methylliberine (Dynamine), and 5 mg of theacrine (TeaCrine). It is not a fasting tool, not a spiritual practice, and not a replacement for the discipline of giving something up. It is just a controlled, lower-dose caffeine format that avoids the rollercoaster of three espressos before noon. Zero sugar, zero calories, so it will not break a fast in the caloric sense.

If you are going from a multi-cup habit to one pouch in the morning and nothing else, that is a real reduction. Tins start from $9.16 each on a subscription. But if your goal is to give up caffeine entirely, skip it. The whole point is the sacrifice.

Related from Roon

• What quitting coffee actually feels like
• What happens when you stop drinking
• Cutting back on social media
• A structured break from screens

Written by Roon Team