We know what you're thinking: "You've already asked us if we could eat on $25 a week and told us how to save money in our cooking. Now you want us give up food altogether?" Is the economy looking that grim?
We know plenty of people who fast on religious holidays that require it. We also know people who do it voluntarily, on occasion, as a way to focus their attention on a specific issue or concern.
Some companies have a yearly program where they ask employees to skip lunch and give the money they'd normally spend on it to charity. (Hey! You could do that today and give $5 to help us fund this classroom's cookbook project.) And yes, it is a way to save money on a meal—especially a more expensive one you might eat in a restaurant on a Friday or Saturday night.
Even if fasting is not your cup of tea (we'd say tea's allowed, by the way), just cutting out meat and going vegetarian one or two nights a week is good for the planet and good for your wallet. Or, make half as much food and split it with a friend or significant other. See how full you feel. Maybe you can get by on less.
We're curious. Do any of you fast every once in a while?
Related: Conscientious Cook: How to Start Saving Money This Weekend
(Image: Flickr member fortinbras, licensed under Creative Commons)
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We could technically fast every night, if we eat dinner at a reasonable hour and don't eat until breakfast the next day - about 12 hours later.
Not on purpose, but I have busy days occasionally where I don't eat between 7am breakfast and 7:30pm dinner....
I'm now a vegetarian, but even when i was a non-vegetarian i used to skip meat and eggs a couple of times a week in the name of God(I'm a Hindu). We have this concept of honoring a God or Goddess by eating a sathvic diet on the day dedicated to the God. Sathvic diet is essentially a diet of fruit, nuts, milk or anything vegetarian with few or no spices.
Then we have these special festival days a couple of times a year on which we eat a small meal before sunrise, fast all day and break it with a simple vegetarian fare after sunset and prayers. Sometimes we even skip the small meal before sunrise.
I've come to like fasting so much that i do it once a month now. It makes me appreciate hunger and food more not to mention that it's a nice break from cooking, cleaning up, working the jaw etc. And it detoxes the body effectively.
I've fasted before various blood tests and medical procedures where it was required, but not in any case where I didn't absolutely have to or like brenjay, where eating completely slipped my mind for the day because I was so busy.
I wish I could fast to focus attention on a concern, but there's no way my will is strong enough -- after a few hours someone would offer me a chocolate bar and I would say I'd start again tomorrow ;)
And oh, all beverages and even water are off on fasting days. It feels good, trust me. And, no, i'm not a masochist.
No.
Yes. Monthly. I'm Mormon and we have a tradition of fasting once a month (first Sunday) for two meals and donating the money saved (plus more usually) to take care of the poor.
Yes - monthly here too (Mormon as well). We usually start the day before on Saturday and end that same time on Sunday.
Tabitha @ http://www.fromsingletomarried.com
I have never fasted but in the past when I had a really bad situation in my family happening my friend fasted and prayed for me during that time.
Nope. But even though I eat meat, we only have meat once a week or less at our house (or when eating out).
No I don't aside from medical procedures where it was required. I'm an atheist so not religious reason to do so and while the thought of skipping a meal and donating for a cause is nice I'd rather eat lunch AND donate the money.
Only once, as a display of support for a friend going under the knife for cancer. It's not something I would do on any regular basis. Letting my blood sugar drop too far will trigger migranes for me and it also leaves me cranky and tired. I'll pass.
@ Lucia G:
Yeah, that's how breakfast got its name. It is the meal where we break our overnight fast.
Yes, when I am laying around the house and am too lazy to go to the grocery store. For me, it's suprisingly easy to do since I occasionally sleep past lunch and just move right on to dinner. :p
I joined two friends on their juice fast as a show of support, and somehow, they fasted only 5 days while I went for 10. It really was a good focusing exercise. And Odwalla and Naked Juice got a lot of my business when I couldn't juice my own fruits and veggies.
Add another Mormon monthly-faster to the list. :) I am always happy to help others through my fast, and I also always think a meal tastes even better after fasting.
For religious reasons (Catholic) occasionally, and twice I was in the hospital and allowed nothing that didn't arrive via a needle (for two weeks each time). Amazingly, the hospital bit wasn't bad; you do get used to going without food and drink (I wasn't allowed to have even water or to brush my teeth; I had to swab with a tongue depressor that had an anti-bacterial pad on the end of it). Even the endless commercials for food didn't bother me. When I was allowed to eat again it wasn't a huge deal; no big pigging out, I just went back to a pre-hospital normal eating pattern.
I also can't do it. I get downright nasty if I don't eat for more than 12 hours. Maybe it's a psychological thing, but I will get angry at the stupidest little things, or be aggravated by nonsensical things (like traffic, the weather) if I don't even have breakfast in the morning.
Actually, I'm finding it reasonably easy to eat for around 25 euros a week (I'm europe, natch). I shop at the farmers market and make sauces for 2-3 nights, make fresh pasta, prep my own salads and veg (and not buy the pre-sliced stuff in bags - that's a waste of money). I've cut back on meats anyway; a single chicken breast is good for 2 caesar salad lunches. And I never snack after dinner...very important. Believe me - I eat well enough.
No way.
BTW, skipping dinner is not fasting and not good for you, it'll just make you more ravenous the next morning and, thus, prone to overeating.
I just came off of a fast. I've only done it twice in my life. I am refocusing and revaluating what and how I eat, the fast helped me focus a bit more. At this point I am a flexitarian, but my ultimate goal is to be a vegetarian.
I fast monthly for the same reasons the other members of the LDS Church have said above.
I have fasted for reasons of faith, too, with prayer as the focus, usually for one or two meals, or a day, to salutary effect. This by someone who gets pretty irritable if I miss a meal. If done with intent, effects can include a sense of gratitude, renewed satisfaction with food and life in general, and insight. Fasting applies to other things, too--a fast from company, a fast from work (such as a Sabbath), a fast from technology, perhaps? Somehow that didn't apply when I was looking for a job and had an enforced fast. Hmmm...
I fast seasonally and when I feel the need to cleanse or my body doesn't seem interested in food. I've done several 10 days juice fasts, a three month juice feast, and most recently, a 10 day Master Cleanse.
I've never done a prolonged water fast mostly because I feel like I would have to be in a very peaceful environment where I can just meditate and go for walks and Washington DC doesn't really afford that. But maybe one day.
I am also thinking about instituting a one day a week fast, but haven't decided on that for sure.
Fasts are fantastic; they let my body take a break from constant digestion and allow it focus on deeper repair work. It takes my mind to new places of clarity and vision. And mostly, it reminds me that the world is abundant and I have everything I need.
If anyone ever wants to try a fast, but doesn't know what to expect, I am happy to describe my experiences in more detail.
I'm hypoglycemic, so I am unable to fast. I deal with this on Yom Kippur by simply eating the smallest amount I can.
In terms of the meatless days and such, I treat meat as a special food these days - something we only have once in a while and in small portions (3-5 ounces). Easier on the wallet, easier on the diet (since meat is just so much more calorically dense than veggies are).
My husband is Jewish, so he fasts for Yom Kippur. We also don't eat bread/pasta during Passover week (that helps him lose weight, LOL).
I can't fast. I have very low blood pressure, and even drinking a few cups of tea less a day can make me pass out.