Thursday, December 8, 2011

Advent Fasting - Day 1 and 2

This year, I am committed to fasting for Advent (also known as St. Philips Fast or Nativity Fast). Orthodox Christianity provides strict guidelines for fasting. Although, the level to which you fast depends on factors such as your country, parish, or personal devotion. I am only beginning to learn all of the ins and outs of fasting, so I will continue to post my experience because there ARE eco-friendly reasons for fasting!

The December fasting schedule is to the right.

My experience is below.





D
ay 1 (December 6) - Fish Allowed
Breakfast: Homemade whole wheat bread with dried fruit, yogurt.
Lunch: Greens with smoked trout and goat cheese.
Snacks: Fruit, dried fruit, nuts.
Dinner: As the oven-roasted Turkey breast was cooking, I realized that I could not eat meat. I ate bread, cheese, and cranberry sauce.

Thoughts: Dairy and oil are not allowed, so I need to abstain from these also.


Day 2 (December 7) - Strict Fast (bread, veggies, fruit)
Breakfast: Oatmeal made with water, added banana, cinnamon. Recipe
Lunch: Pickled cabbage, bread with hummus, bread with peanut butter and honey
Dinner: Chipotle, rice, veggies, guacamole. No sour cream or cheese.

Thoughts:
The strict fast is definitely hard, but I realized that I am pretty much eating Vegan! How cool is that! Two birds, one stone! I also need to ask my dad about sweeteners and grains.


5 comments:

Unknown said...

Very interesting ... do you happen to know the background to the various types of fasting? For example, why are certain foods allowed on certain days, etc.? Not long ago, we decided to spend a week eating only vegetables ... only green vegetables. We're vegan but we find that sometimes we focus more on the starchy foods ... beans, potatoes, rice, pasta, etc. So for one week, those things were out and we only ate green veggies. It was tough ... not because we were hungry or anything but because it was hard to come up with meals that were satisfying and diverse. I didn't realize how much we depend on the starchy foods to balance out our diet. I probably won't go back to the strict green veggie fast but it was an interesting exercise. :-)

Unknown said...

Small Footprints - I am going to talk to my dad this weekend when I visit to understand the reasons behind.

Wow, eating green veggies for one week! That's awesome! I can understand about coming up with meals since we usually rely on dairy, oils, and spices to round out a meal.

Sinea said...

I have tried the Daniel Fast before (veggies and legumes only). I felt great on it but it still was a struggle to stick with it.

Unknown said...

Sinea - I think I could do without the meat, but leaving out oils and other "good stuff" would be hard to keep up for a long time. Doing a fast once in a while for a short period of time might be the way to go :)

Costin Daniela said...

i have to try this :)

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