How do you determine if you are keeping with the Ash Wednesday fast?

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marylg

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This may be a dumb question, forgive me if so. I really struggle with things like this. It seems so subjective I have no idea how to follow this.

What I eat varies greatly from day to day. I know it’s not healthy, I know I need to work on it, but that’s not going to help me right now.

My priest defined the fast as one meal and two snacks that together are not equal in quantity to the full meal. When what you eat varies, how do you know that you are keeping with eating one meal? So far I had an individual pack of sun chips this morning because I was feeling bad (lol not breakfast food but work has kept me from grocery shopping unfortunately so don’t judge) and then I had mac and cheese later in the day. I’m worried I won’t be able to eat again today and I have a really bad headache and will be working night shift tonight meaning I won’t be back home until 7am (15 hours from now).

Do you think I would be breaking the fast if I ate again today or later tonight?
 
Sounds to me like you had one snack (unless you ate a family sized bag of chips).

The Mac and Cheese, a whole 4 serving of boxed mac and cheese or a little single cup? It could be a meal or a snack depending. Likely was another snack.

You can eat a normal meatless meal as your full meal.
 
Fasting for Ash Wednesday does not mean that you should not take care of yourself.

I would say, eat again, that’s fine. But, you should be consuming less than you do on a normal day, and you should not be consuming so much that you no longer feel hungry. I think on a day of fasting, it’s just important to feel some level of sacrifice, but it does not (and should not) be at the point in which you have eaten so little that your body can not function or that you are unable to go about your day because of your lack of food.

In my opinion, it sounds like you could eat a normal meal and that would be fine.
 
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The chips were the small individual package you might get with a boxed lunch or something like that. The mac and cheese came from a restaurant - they have a small side option, medium side option, and entree size. I got the medium side. I guess it’s just hard for me to figure out because some days I don’t eat at all, but that’s usually when I’m not working and especially not working a night. I rotate between days and nights and really struggle with nights staying focused/awake. So I’m worried I won’t feel well if I’m up all night and don’t eat again because I’m already starting to feel it. It wouldn’t even be a problem if I wasn’t working honestly but I wanted to go to mass this morning so I’ve been up since 6:30am and have to stay up through the morning.
 
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Best Effort, really. I tend to be on the more conservative side, so since I know what I prefer to have for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, I just take something significantly smaller (today for “lunch”, I just munched on vegetables and dip). For breakfast, I just had coffee and two small croissants. Between the two, they probably don’t add up to a full meal, but at the same time, I’m not going to go around with a measuring cup and scruple over it.

I’m going with best effort, knowing what’s required of me, and just do my best.
 
Yes, I’d rather be conservative as well if I can. I’m going to try and make it through. Hopefully I can. If I start struggling too much though, I hate that I’m unsure as to what to do.
 
marylg said:
tonight meaning I won’t be back home until 7am
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The period observed is 24 hours, midnight to midnight. So the idea is less than 2/3 of daily calories. If the average woman needs 2000 calories to maintain weight in a day, then it means keep it to say 1300.
 
Yeah, marylg, you eat like I used to. Been there, done that.

Just eat a normal (whatever normal is for you) meatless meal and call it a day.

P.S. Ash Wednesday officially ends at midnight. If you’re working night shift, feel free to eat what you want after midnight. I know if I’m awake past midnight, I’ll be having a small snack then.
 
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Can I add a question in here?

Are we allowed to “split” the meal? I was late getting home from work and had to rush out to a meeting and then Ash Wednesday Mass, so my planned soup and salad became half a bowl of tomato soup and three crackers. I got home, and without thinking, started eating the salad I had planned.

My other “meals” today were truly snacks. Before the salad I was only at about 800 calories for the day.
 
I work third shift as well. Remember that Ash Wednesday ends at midnight, so you can eat a full meal after that (for instance, my lunch break is at 1:30am).
 
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