Fasting

[SamanthaAnastasia]

Hello everyone,
I would like some advice on fasting.
I’m finding it *very* difficult to fast. Especially on strict fast days that require no oil.
So, I’ve just been trying not to eat on those days.
When I do fast, it’s for weight loss (intermittent fasting) so I fear that it is not for the right reasons of becoming closer to Christ.
It just makes me feel like a failure.

 

[HTacianas]

Hello everyone,
I would like some advice on fasting.
I’m finding it *very* difficult to fast. Especially on strict fast days that require no oil.
So, I’ve just been trying not to eat on those days.
When I do fast, it’s for weight loss (intermittent fasting) so I fear that it is not for the right reasons of becoming closer to Christ.
It just makes me feel like a failure.

You're not a failure.

Go to Google play and download Orthodox Calendar. It lists the fasts by day. It's a big help.

 

[Yeshua HaDerekh]

Hello everyone,
I would like some advice on fasting.
I’m finding it *very* difficult to fast. Especially on strict fast days that require no oil.
So, I’ve just been trying not to eat on those days.
When I do fast, it’s for weight loss (intermittent fasting) so I fear that it is not for the right reasons of becoming closer to Christ.
It just makes me feel like a failure.

Fasting is a tool. If the tool does not work or is incorrectly used, it will not produce the results needed. Why don't you use your IF days when there is a Church fast? Just do it in the spirit of a fast while it gives you the benefit of weight loss! Win win!

 

[SamanthaAnastasia]

You're not a failure.

Go to Google play and download Orthodox Calendar. It lists the fasts by day. It's a big help.

I have it bookmarked. It’s great. I’m just having a hard time with no oil days

 

[SamanthaAnastasia]

Fasting is a tool. If the tool does not work or is incorrectly used, it will not produce the results needed. Why don't you use your IF days when there is a Church fast? Just do it in the spirit of a fast while it gives you the benefit of weight loss! Win win!

Yes, I was doing that I was just worried if about doing both at the same time would take away from Christ, I suppose

 

[Yeshua HaDerekh]

Yes, I was doing that I was just worried if about doing both at the same time would take away from Christ, I suppose

Not if you do it in the spirit of the Church fast...you will be fine.

 

[All4Christ]

Yes, I was doing that I was just worried if about doing both at the same time would take away from Christ, I suppose

As a Pescetarian, I completely understand what you are saying, though it is tough to give up cheese and dairy For awhile though, I was a pescetarian who didn’t eat cheese or dairy - so it felt like I barely needed to change anything.

Try to take more time to pray when you are fasting. Read scripture or some of the Church Fathers. Take the money you would spend on meat, and give it to the poor. These are just some ideas

Fasting isn’t just abstaining from food. If we abstain from certain foods, and don’t focus on our spiritual life, then fasting isn’t worth anything.

Regarding the oil - it is debatable as to whether it is all oil or just olive oil. Personally, I just avoid the olive oil, because I spend so much time trying to find the right recipe otherwise that it takes away from my spiritual focus. It is easy for me to get focused on the act of fasting over the spiritual impact of fasting, so I need to watch out for that.

 

[SamanthaAnastasia]

As a Pescetarian, I completely understand what you are saying, though it is tough to give up cheese and dairy For awhile though, I was a pescetarian who didn’t eat cheese or dairy - so it felt like I barely needed to change anything.

Try to take more time to pray when you are fasting. Read scripture or some of the Church Fathers. Take the money you would spend on meat, and give it to the poor. These are just some ideas

Fasting isn’t just abstaining from food. If we abstain from certain foods, and don’t focus on our spiritual life, then fasting isn’t worth anything.

Regarding the oil - it is debatable as to whether it is all oil or just olive oil. Personally, I just avoid the olive oil, because I spend so much time trying to find the right recipe otherwise that it takes away from my spiritual focus. It is easy for me to get focused on the act of fasting over the spiritual impact of fasting, so I need to watch out for that.

Ah, okay. I think that is what’s happening to me...I’m getting too focused on the act of fasting not the spiritual aspect. Thank you!

 

[ArmyMatt]

ask your priest about this and remember, the only way to truly fail the fast is to think you were successful. so recognizing how it breaks you is how it bears fruit.

 

[AMM]

When I was entering the church, my priest suggested peanut butter sandwiches - it's filling and fast-friendly (although some peanut butters do have various oils in them), so I just eat lots of PB&J sandwiches during the fasts (it's almost always the lunch I bring with me to work on Wednesdays and Fridays).

That said, of course, ask your priest and see what he advises. And being unable to keep the fast is a good way of staying humble - I won't go into details on the forum, but there is a pretty substantial aspect of the fast that I almost never keep, out of obedience to the priest that brought me in to Orthodoxy (which, in a way, makes it so that I'm still fasting, albeit in a different way). It helps me stay humble, I think, and teaches me obedience and not to be scrupulous

 

[AMM]

One thing I have wondered is, how much can/should we do "on our own" without direct consultation with our priest? Does every single decision need to be made with our priest, or can we do some things independently, just following our conscience?

 

[ArmyMatt]

One thing I have wondered is, how much can/should we do "on our own" without direct consultation with our priest? Does every single decision need to be made with our priest, or can we do some things independently, just following our conscience?

not everything, but something like this that does require pastoral guidance should.

 

[Not David]

Talk to the priest, he recommended me to abstain only from meats on fast days.

 

[AMM]

not everything, but something like this that does require pastoral guidance should.

Perhaps a silly question - but how do we know if something requires pastoral guidance or not?

 

[ArmyMatt]

Perhaps a silly question - but how do we know if something requires pastoral guidance or not?

pray, talk to your priest, read the saints to see how they pastored folks.

 

[gurneyhalleck1]

Very insightful, Father.

ask your priest about this and remember, the only way to truly fail the fast is to think you were successful. so recognizing how it breaks you is how it bears fruit.

 

[ArmyMatt]

Very insightful, Father.

thank ye, kindly. I got it from a far wiser priest.

 

[GreekOrthodox]

If you have health conditions (I have type 2 diabetes), let your priest know as well. I can't do the long fasts anymore as they depend on carbs. Two years ago, a friend missed most of the Holy Week services as he discovered he had completely unchecked diabetes. He is diligent about fasting and became very sick and had to spend time in the hospital to get his glucose down.

 

[ArmyMatt]

I would also add, sometimes fasting is walking away from the table a little more hungry than normal.

 

[rakovsky]

Fr. Matt,
You can probably clear this up for me. As I understand it, in the OCA, as a result of the Russian traditional practice, if one intends to commune on Sunday morning, then proper preparation includes a consecutive three day fast that runs Friday, Saturday, and then Sunday morning up to the communion.
On the week of the Prodigal Son, there is a mark on the calendar saying that one does not fast this week, even on Wednesday and Friday. Does that mean that the Sunday communicant would still fast on Friday in accordance with the three day preparation for communion, or would the communicant not fast on Friday, per the mark on the calendar for that week of the Prodigal Son?

As I understand it, by comparison, in GOARCH the practice today doesn't involve a consecutive 3 day fasting preparation for communion.