Fasting

Congratulations on your baby! One question you might want to ask is are you healthy enough to fast? If you\'re feeling sick, this could be an indicator that you are not getting enough protein, iron, or electrolytes, but it could also mean that you have a condition which you weren\'t aware of. Fasting is a necessary spiritual weapon to wield, but some people have to fast in different ways, based on their medical and spiritual needs. Consult your doctor and spiritual father.

Fasting is a hard discipline. I am personally burned out on it. These past few fasts have really been a struggle. I need new recipes. But I keep trying because I know the feeling during the Feast, when we celebrate using all our senses and feast. As for your situation... a friend of mine is anemic. She will prepare a fasting meal for her husband (pasta with salad, steamed veggies with rice, or roasted potatoes and veggies) and add a chicken breast, small steak or pork chop for herself. But the trick is a balanced, healthy menu. Be sure to have lots of fruit, veggies and legumes. If you are loading up on pastas and potatoes, then you need to find more balance. You can also try a few small meals to keep your energy up. Snack on nuts, fruit, and popcorn between meals. Stay away from sugar and drink lots of water. The fast isn\'t so we\'ll suffer but so we can learn discipline and to remind us that as Christians, we can\'t have everything- the whole two masters thing. Do we listen to our stomachs and taste buds or to the fasting guidelines? It\'s a tool to control our passions. And remember, fasting is a gift we offer to God, not something we do with resentment.

Thank you presvytera! The point on the two masters just helped me!

every time I fast, I catch a cold.... and typically the rest of the fasting season is spent not fasting trying to regain my health there are exceptions for travellers, the sick, kids, and pregnant women but, I think I\'m just lazy

According to the canons of St Timothy, bishop of Alexandria, pregnant women and women who are breastfeeding are specifically exempted from keeping the fast. The principle here is that the health of the unborn or newborn child overrides the fasting practice of the mother. So, ladies who are pregnant or breastfeeding, there\'s no guilt in not keeping the fasts.

I understand she is exempt from the fast. When I fast I try to keep to avocado, potatos, beans, bread and maybe fried vegetables with fruit for snacks. I hit vegan friends up for food ideas as well. I avoid soy as much as I can though (it really isn\'t good for you) and get protein from other foods.

Have you increased your prayers? Fasting without increased prayer is just a diet. Also try keeping in mind the purpose for Fasting...to defeat the passions. Fasting assists us in combating the physical passions. Are you suffering with these as well? I find, when I struggle with fasting, that I have more \'success\' when I keep these things in mind and increase my prayers. Sometimes, really just sometimes, our feeling ill during fasting \'can\' be a temptation to stop fasting rather than real illness. Evaluate your diet and make sure you get enough proteins etc. and stay the course. If you don\'t want to waste food, try making dishes you can eat for a couple of days like bean soup etc. All this is presuming you are in contact with your Spiritual Father about this issue.... Good strength...and Merry Christmas. Father Athanasios

I thought that fasting was something difficult and can\'t be done in modern societies... but then i ve met some vegetarians who have no spiritual connection to the Ortjodox Church and i ve seen that they don\'t eat meat,fish,dairy products or eggs !!! many of them grow their children in a vegetarian way and the women don;t change their diet when they are pregnant!!! so i realized that fasting is far more easy than i ve immagined! but always an advice from an experienced spiritual father is needed!

It seems like the point of fasting is not to kill the fastee, If it seems like too much talk it over with your priest and you guys can come up with something that will work for you. if food is too much at this time, concentrate on abstaining from something in your life that isn\'t edifying