How many calories should I consume on ash wednesday?

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I’ve always abstained from fish on ash wednesday but this is the first time I’m going to only eat the one meal OR two small meals thing

what’s a meal? what’s a “small” meal? how many calories should I be shooting for?
 
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The Church says nothing of calories… only that one can have 3 meals, 1 large and 2 small, with the 2 small, when combined, not exceeding the size of the large, with no meat and no snacks.
 
This will differ from person to person. In general and everything else being equal, someone whose daily routine requires a lot of physical effort will need more calories than someone who sits at a desk all day. Since I don’t know what your life is like, I can’t give you even a ballpark figure for your calorie intake needs. You should not reduce your calorie intake so much that you cannot function to fulfill whatever responsibilities you have.

Perhaps my rule of thumb would be useful for you: I take my usual meatless evening meal and reduce it by 25%. That’s the size of my Ash Wednesday dinner. Now take the size of that dinner, reduce it by 25% then cut what remains in half. Those are my breakfast and lunch meal sizes. The main meal is smaller than my usual dinner, and the collations don’t add up to the main meal.
 
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i thought it was just one large OR two small. it’s BOTH?
 
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You can have one large meal and 2 smaller than usual meals. From the USCCB webpage:
“For members of the Latin Catholic Church, the norms on fasting are obligatory from age 18 until age 59. When fasting, a person is permitted to eat one full meal, as well as two smaller meals that together are not equal to a full meal. The norms concerning abstinence from meat are binding upon members of the Latin Catholic Church from age 14 onwards.”
 
It depends. A nursing mother who is wrangling 3 other kids needs far more calories than the single person who works a desk job and could maybe even afford to lose a little of the spare tire.
It’s on a person by person basis.
 
A large meal is what you usually eat for your main meal of the day.
 
There are no specific guidelines, The Church has not said “eat this for breakfast, this for lunch, and this for dinner”

I think the Church Standards are a minimum. What I do is try to make sure that I remain in a state of hunger during the day. I know from experience that I can eat a lot less than the recommendation and still get by just fine.

Good luck, and don’t think too much about it!
 
SacredHeartBassist said:
I’ve always abstained from fish on ash wednesday but this is the first time I’m going to only eat the one meal OR two small meals thing
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do you mean abstained from meat? You may eat seafood.
SacredHeartBassist said:
what’s a meal? what’s a “small” meal?
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A meal is a normal meal. A small meal is something less than a normal meal. This is based on what is normal FOR YOU. It is not compared to others. Your age, health, and activity level are all part of this.

DO NOT BE SCRUPULOUS. If you need help with this, ask your pastor for help.
SacredHeartBassist said:
how many calories should I be shooting for?
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This has nothing to do with calories.
 
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SacredHeartBassist said:
what’s a meal? what’s a “small” meal? how many calories should I be shooting for?
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That really varies. Are you a professional athlete or a ditch digger or mill worker? People that really are exerting themselves need to consume more calories than someone who is sedentary.
 
It’s absurd to think about calories & no wonder about the eating disorders.
 
I’m definitely going straight to Heaven because I fast pretty much every day. Okay, actually it’s not out of any virtue, what the Church prescribes is coincidentally just my natural eating schedule when I just eat when I’m hungry.

The spirit of the custom of fasting is self-denial in a spirit of penitence. The Church provides a law to ensure we do this, but we should respect its spirit–it’s not really about measuring the ratio of meals or counting calories. You should be doing less than usual and feeling it a little bit: you should be conscious that you are forsaking something in sorrow for your sins and love of God.
 
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