Fasting

It's what's NOT for dinner...breakfast or lunch

4-22-23

Well I completed my Lenten Fast/Abstinence and the final total was a loss of four pounds over 47 days. Not too shabby or should I say flabby!

Hello…. Is my fast over yet?

I vowed during Lent to follow the Traditional Roman Catholic calendar of fasting and abstinence. What that boiled down to was that I would fast by eating no solid food for the days of Ash Wednesday, Ember Days, Good Friday and all Fridays during Lent.¹ In addition, I would abstain by eating no meat on those days. I tried my best to follow that routine and did pretty good (minus a few jelly beans on my 40hr Good Friday fast to keep my blood sugar up). What I found out was that human beings can actually go through 24 hours with no solid food and still survive.

Goodbye food…. see you in 24 hours

Yes, my stomach growled often and at times I felt light headed, but those feelings soon passed and I was able to continue on with all my normal routines with no problems. The hardest thing was mental - thinking that I had to eat when I didn't. I just kept thinking "if Jesus can do 40 days, I can do one. What am I a wuss?"

At the end of Lent, I actually liked fasting so much that I have decided to continue on with the Fridays and Ember/Holy Days fasting and abstinence throughout the year. So what are the benefits to fasting? I found four benefits: 1) you lose weight; 2) you save money; 3) you feel better; and 4) Jesus said to.

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1) You Lose Weight

The main benefit to fasting is it is guaranteed you will lose weight. The basics to weight loss is "calories in and calories out." When you cut your calorie intake below your calorie use, the body starts losing fat and then muscle. Simple biology. Many people will say that you can only lose weight by not eating glutens or sugar or some other weird diet. But that is simply untrue. You can eat ANYTHING you want as long as the calorie intake is lower than the calorie output in your daily routine. Counting calories is the ONLY way to lose weight and fasting helps. Here's how I added up my weight loss during my Lenten Fast/Abstinence:

Beginning Weight:  132 lbs
Beginning Daily Caloric Intake: 1320 approx (weight x10)

Ending Weight: 128 lbs
Ending Daily Caloric Intake: 1280 approx (weight x10)

47 Days Total Lenten Fast/Abstinence
     11 days Fasting Calorie Intake:     1650 (150 calories per day from juices/coffee/milk)
     36 days Normal Calorie Intake:  47,520 (1320 calories per day from all food)
                       Total Calorie Intake:  49,170
                       Daily Calorie Intake:    1046 (divided by 47 days)
                       Daily Calorie Deficit:    -274 
                       Total Calorie Deficit:  -12,878 (times 47 days)
                       Total Pounds Lost:      3.68 (divided by 3500 calories a pound)

From my calculations above, my reduced calories in during the fasting/abstinence led to a loss of approximately 3.7 lbs and the additional .3 lbs was from calories out in exercise/activity for a total loss of 4 lbs over the 47 days. If I kept up on the exact same fasting routine, I would technically be able to maintain my weight at 104 lbs (1046 daily calorie intake divided by 10). But that is not going to happen I can assure you! So I expect with just Friday and Ember/Holy Day fasts during the rest of the year I should be able to maintain at 127 lbs, which has always been my goal. Just one day a week of fasting and I don't have to worry about counting calories or cutting out gluten or sugar the rest of the time. Works for me!

2) You Save Money

Fasting/abstinence has certainly lessened my grocery bill. When you eat nothing one day a week, there is no need to cook as much. When you abstain from meat one day a week, the alternatives are much cheaper. When I went through my Lenten Fast/Abstinence I found out that I only had to go to the grocery store once over 47 days, and normally I go every 30 days. That's a good cost savings, especially as everything keeps going up and up in price. Also with fasting, you don't eat out as much. Win/win and kaching kaching!

A dollar saved is a dollar earned and a pound lost

3) You Feel Better

Fasting is not just reducing calorie intake, it also clears out the digestive system and can lead to other health benefits. Researchers have combed through dozens of animal and human studies to explain how simple fasting improves metabolism, lowers blood sugar levels; lessens inflammation, which improves a range of health issues from arthritic pain to asthma; and even helps clear out toxins and damaged cells, which lowers risk for cancer and enhances brain function.

Maybe I should try fasting?

I know for me, fasting makes my stomach issues go away and I just feel "lighter" all around. I'm getting to the point where I look forward to Fasting Fridays so I can clear out all the gunk from eating the previous week. It seems like as the food supply gets more and more GMO'd and mRNA'd, my body can’t take all the processed crap anymore. Now on my non-fast days I look at most of the food in my house and think "blech, I don't want to eat that." Thank God summer is coming where I can plant my own vegetables and go to local farmer's markets.

Jesus said to

Finally, Jesus fasted and often remarked on the need to fast:

† And when you fast, be not as the hypocrites, sad. For they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Amen I say to you, they have received their reward. But thou, when thou fastest anoint thy head, and wash thy face; That thou appear not to men to fast, but to thy Father who is in secret: and thy Father who seeth in secret, will repay thee. † (Matthew 6:16-18)

† And Jesus said to them: Can the children of the bridegroom mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then they shall fast. † (Matthew 9:15)

† And I say to you, I will not drink from henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I shall drink it with you new in the kingdom of my Father. † (Matthew 26:29)

There is a spiritual reason for fasting, which is why most religions include fasts in their practices. Fasting denies us the earthly pleasures, humbles us and makes us focus on the afterlife. Fasting cleanses not only our bodies but also our souls. Can we deny ourselves one day of eating? Yes we can, because we are not our bodies. We also have a soul that does not require food, but does require prayer and reflection that is often drowned out by the food and physical bodies we possess. When we fast, there is so much more time for other things - prayer, charity, meditation, communion with nature, etc.

Fasting also helps against satan and his demons. How? By putting ourselves into communion with another realm where the devil does not work and where he cannot touch us. Fasting teaches self-denial and self-control in all things, and we surely need that in our world today. St. Basil the Great said it best:

Fasting gives birth to prophets and strengthens the powerful; fasting makes lawgivers wise. Fasting is a good safeguard for the soul, a steadfast companion for the body, a weapon for the valiant, and a gymnasium for athletes. Fasting repels temptations, anoints unto piety; it is the comrade of watchfulness and the artificer of chastity. In war it fights bravely, in peace it teaches stillness.

So let us be reminded of Jesus' modern 40-day fast in the video below. Even Jesus knew it was going to be hard, but remember there's ice cream and good tunes on the radio when the fast is over!

1. Technically the fast should have been no solid food and only water, but I’m not a saint and have to have juice, coffee or milk to get through the day. Maybe someday I will work up to a true water fast. Maybe.