How do you fast and still work and study?

[Kayeliz]

This is something I've been wondering about for a long time. Like one of my sisters, I'm someone who does not have three big meals, but several small meals throughout the day. That is because I can't go without food for very long before feeling shaky and dizzy. If I don't have breakfast and then cycle to university, by the time I get there, I'm already so shaky and dizzy, I can't even write properly anymore. If I don't cycle, it takes a bit longer, but by noon, the same thing happens.

My main problem with fasting is that I study and work and I need to funtion properly. I tutor kids which can be quite exhausting. How do you do that on a water fast? Is it possible to do that and still funtion? I don't even want to do anything extreme, fasting for a day would be enough for now, but I can't take even one day off. And even if I did, I'd probably end up in bed eventually.

The other problem is that I have chronic migraine so a water fast is risky because of that as well. Does anyone have experience in overcoming these problems?

 

[Krid Geeh]

If your asking those questions i would say to just enjoy your current life stage and keep fasting for another time, there is a time and place to fast and you will know when its right.

 

[Kayeliz]

If your asking those questions i would say to just enjoy your current life stage and keep fasting for another time, there is a time and place to fast and you will know when its right.

Maybe, but it seems like other people are managing to fast and work as well so I was wondering if someone might have any useful tips or some experience to share.

 

[Lollerskates]

Maybe, but it seems like other people are managing to fast and work as well so I was wondering if someone might have any useful tips or some experience to share.

I would say if you are a beginner at fasting, start with abstaining from a category - like meat, processed sugars, soft drinks, etc. You can eat vegetables for a fast if you are a meat eater, and drink water and teas with honey instead of sugar.

If you have a light work/study day, try a combination of abstaining. No meat & dairy, raw foods only (with water or teas/honey water.) As you go higher in fast, you can make it dynamic by altering intensity of fast vs. duration. For example, eating nothing but raw foods and no sugars - just water or straight tea for four days, as opposed to eating cooked vegetables and dairy with no sugars except honey for ten days.

If/when you want to go on a serious fast - more than two weeks, you absolutely need to make sure you get some sort of carbohydrate, and liquids. You can survive for up to ten days on water alone, and up to 40 days without any food. Serious fasts require a lot of patience and training mentally, physically and spiritually. These are the types of fasts John the Baptist did - eating only locust and honey (with water,) or Christ - eating nothing and drinking nothing. His case is extremely extreme; the Muslims fast for 30 days, but they eat at nights.

Technically when you sleep you fast, which is why they call the first meal "break - fast." Be careful, and pay attention to any nutritional sensitivities you may have - like hypoglycemia, diabetes, anemia, etc. And first, and foremost, pray to you Father for guidance and blessing during the fast. Calibrate the intensity against your expected work/study schedule.

 

[FaithInTruth]

What Lollerskates said was good. What worked for me was I went on a liquid fast where I Just drank water, protein shakes and raw fruit juices, like the ones that are basically bottled "juiced" vegetables and fruits, not the sugary processed ones. But definitely work up to it. Try one day, 24 hours, first. Break the fast and then if that was ok for you and you want to try three days, go for it.
The goal is to seek God's face in my opinion. "To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord" and when we deny our bodies physical pleasure we are more aware of our spiritual condition and of God. We can use the time to devote to prayer and reading the word, because the pleasures and stress of this life tend to pull us away.
You might know all of this already, but pray first of course.
Love you!

 

[FaithInTruth]

; the Muslims fast for 40 days, but they eat at nights.

Really? What do you mean, they fast for 40 days eating only at night every night for 40 days? Or they fast 40 days and then every day of their life they eat only at night?

 

[Lollerskates]

Really? What do you mean, they fast for 40 days eating only at night every night for 40 days? Or they fast 40 days and then every day of their life they eat only at night?

Oh, sorry for the confusion. During Ramadan (around the similar time of the latter three Judeo-Christian fall holy days Feast of Trumpets, Atonement, Sukkoth) Muslims fast for a 30-day time period. During that 40-day time period, they fast during daylight hours, and eat at sundown hours. So they literally fast for about 12 hours every day for 30 days. It may not seem like much (since people regularly sleep 6-10 hours every night anyway,) but since most work is done during the lit hours of the day, it is taxing on the body, and tempting to break a fast. At night fall, the streets of a Muslim city are filled with people because that is when they can eat during this 30-day period. I believe the final night of the fast period a gargantuan feast is made.

I made a mistake previously, it is 29-30 days of fasting, during the ninth month of the Islamic calendar.

 

[Lollerskates]

The goal is to seek God's face in my opinion. "To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord" and when we deny our bodies physical pleasure we are more aware of our spiritual condition and of God. We can use the time to devote to prayer and reading the word, because the pleasures and stress of this life tend to pull us away.
You might know all of this already, but pray first of course.
Love you!

Yes this is good info. Fasting is a spiritual way of relating and fellowship with God. Christ never said, "if you fast...," He said, "when you fast...," because fasting is a major part in spiritual growth. It trains the body to rely on God instead of materials. What Christ did is something only the son of God could do (we will get there one day; we strive to get there.) Fasting from eating and drinking for 40 days and nights is physically impossible, according to modern science. It means that Christ was in deep fellowship and relationship with The Most High, and that His spirit sustained Christ. People in that day weren't idiots; Luke was a physician. They knew medicine; Christ was learned. I am sure He knew/learned that there are certain limitations to a fast, or a human will die/be in serious injury. Christ, by faith and trust in God, broke down the theories of [modern] medicine.

And, the kicker is that the Enemy knew that Christ was too strong to tempt period. But, the Enemy also knew Christ was human (with human temptations) as well as Divine, and even though the Enemy knew he would most certainly fail, he had no choice but to exploit the human weakness of being hungry and thirsty, and how that influences the minds of us humans. Still, being beyond physical limitations of fasting, He remained faithful to God. He really is amazing; I have embarrassed myself physically and spiritually for much less than being deprived of food and water for 40 days and nights.

FYI, fasting can be anything - movies, music, vices (like smoking, drinking, partying, etc.,) studying too much - anything physical. I would not advise fasting from physical relationships in committed relationships (i.e. sex,) because it tempts the partner to commit adultery who may not want to fast at that time - not unless the both of you are completely on the same page about fasting from sex.

 

[Kayeliz]

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