Ash Wednesday, and subsequent Lent

Today is Ash Wednesday. I was researching Lent yesterday, since it was Mardi Gras, and discovered that traditionally, Ash Wednesday is spent fasting, and Lent is spent giving up meat, butter, and eggs, on all days except one, and taking only one meal a day during the week. These practices interested me, so I, along with my roommates and some of the other girls on my floor, am also giving up something for Lent. I have been fasting all of today (three cups of juice since lunch to ensure that I didn't pass out), and have resolved to give up sweets and sugar in general for the course of the Lent season (I am also saving money by not buying any coffee fancier than an Americano). Mardi Gras was spent in style, free food hopping from IHOP with a free short stack of pancakes, to two free tacos at Jack in the Box immediately afterwards. I have never acknowledged Lent before, and I am looking forward to sacrificing something for the sake of not only tradition, but also for the sake of the betterment of myself.