Have you ever fasted ? and did it matter?

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Have you ever fasted? And did it matter? Or did it help?
 
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It makes one grateful less wasteful, and you feel better health wise. Spiritually, it makes you focus more in prayer.
 
I have. Today is a “bread and water” fast day for me, actually. It makes me sleepy and makes it hard to focus and today it is giving me a mild anxiety attack. I don’t like it and will be glad when it ends. This is why it is “Penance”, because it is annoying and hard.

I have read other people are able to focus more on prayer when they fast, or that it reminds them that “God is all they need”. They must either be more spiriually advanced than me, or not have jobs where they need to focus, or have metabolisms that handle this better, or maybe their idea of a “fast” includes more food.
 
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“Without Ceres and Bacchus, Venus freezes.” It’s hard to be distracted by impure thoughts and desires when you’re starving. It also makes you appreciate the food that you do get.
 
yes. I frequently take cold showers.
I find that if I can deny myself of a cold shower, it strengthens my willpower so that when I feel tempted with pornography, masturbation, etc, I can say no.
 
Jimmy Akin has a wonderful post on intermittent fasting on his website where he goes into detail, and, which made me try it.

Personally, it is wonderful. Aside from saving time and money on food, my energy and focus is elevated, and I tend to feel better physically. Hunger pains are generally short lived. Spiritually, it brings to light what you are sacrificing. It reminds me that I can live with a lot less in my daily life.

And, yes, it did matter. Enough so that I continue to fast as much as I can. Also, it makes dinner taste twice as good.
 
Of course. Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. For those of us in good health, there’s no escaping it.

It’s really rough for me personally, as I love to eat. Meat. So it’s a penance.
 
I used to take cold showers for health benefits. My problem now is I feel so great after them I don’t feel like it’s fasting. I found out a luke warm shower is, for me, near torture. Absolutely miserable experience.
 
In the moment they aren’t so great, but I always felt like I slammed a double espresso afterward, minus jitters.
 
Yes, I’ve done so on retreats. It is offered up to God. Helps with self control & restraint.
 
I wrecked mine so bad when I was about 22 that I had to go to a nutritionist and be re-educated in how to eat meals.
This is another reason why I am not a huge fan of fasting. I will do it from time to time, but I limit it very much and would never do two days in a row unless we were having a famine or disaster-related food shortage.
 
evangelical said:
How did you over do fasting? Can it be done wrong?
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If you feel woozy or faint, feel unable to eat, or go into ketosis (your breath smells like fruit), these are signs that you are overdoing it and should stop.

If you limit it to one day and do not start doing 2 or more days in a row, you’ll probably be okay.

You also have to watch out for any signs you are developing disordered eating habits (prolonged periods without food, or bulimia) as these can lead to very harmful eating disorders.

I have said this before, but a main reason Christians fasted in “olden tymes” was very practical: conserving scarce food. If you were a member of a religious order that was often relying on donations or some kind of community support for your food, it was even more important that you not be eating too much.
 
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I think that fasting and abstinence is a wonderful spiritual exercise. As a Byzantine Catholic I’m going to try my best and adhere to the strict monastic fast during the Great Fast this year. We’ll see!

ZP
 
Yes, I try to fast every Wednesday and Friday (although I do fail at this sometimes) and during all the major fasting seasons of the Church. I find it to be essential to spiritual life. I’m actually highly excited for Great Lent this year, it is always a time of spiritual renewal for me.
 
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