Yeah I only encountered British people talking about taking up something for Lent a few years ago (despite having lived in the UK for fifteen years now), it's really interesting to me. As a Roman Catholic child I knew Lent as a time when I had to both "fast" on Fridays and Ash Wednesday (no meat except fish and no snacks between meals) and give something up (which in my case was really just more fasting since I wasn't allowed to choose what I gave up and it was always candy).