You do your best, and you talk to your priest. Fasting isn’t about perfection.
The Church gives us fasting guidelines because our bodies matter in our spiritual life. We’re not souls trapped in meat. We’re embodied creatures, and what we eat affects how we pray. But the rules exist to heal us, not to make life impossible when you’re working a turnaround at the plant or your Baptist mother-in-law invites you to Sunday lunch.
What fasting actually means
On fasting days, Wednesdays and Fridays year-round, plus the longer fasts like Great Lent, we abstain from meat, dairy, fish, wine, and oil. That’s the basic pattern. Some people can do this strictly. Others need to start simpler. The Church has always recognized different levels of fasting, and your priest can help you figure out where you are right now.
Wednesday we fast because Judas betrayed Christ. Friday because He died on the Cross. It’s not arbitrary. We’re entering into the rhythm of Christ’s life and death with our actual bodies, not just our thoughts.
At work
Pack your lunch if you can. Seriously, that’s the easiest solution. A grain bowl with rice and beans, some hummus and vegetables, fruit. Peanut butter on bread if you’re on a rig and need something that’ll last. The point isn’t gourmet fasting cuisine. It’s just eating simply so you can focus on prayer instead of food.
If you eat in the cafeteria or you’re stuck at a business lunch, start with what you can do. No meat is easier than no meat and no dairy. No meat and no dairy is easier than adding no oil and wine to the mix. You’re not trying to impress anyone. You’re trying to grow.
Some guys work shifts that make church attendance hard. You do what you can. If you’re getting off nights and you miss the beginning of Liturgy, you can still commune if you’ve been fasting and you’ve been to confession. Talk to your priest about your schedule. The Church has been dealing with irregular work for two thousand years.
At social events
This is harder because it involves other people’s feelings. Your family didn’t grow up Orthodox. They don’t understand why you won’t eat Aunt Linda’s casserole, and honestly, they might take it personally.
You can explain once, gently. “I’m fasting today, it’s a church thing. I’ll just have the salad and bread.” Then change the subject. Don’t make a big deal out of it. Don’t lecture people about the spiritual benefits of asceticism while they’re trying to eat pot roast.
At restaurants, you’ve got options even on strict fasting days. Pasta with marinara. Veggie stir-fry without the oyster sauce. French fries, if we’re being honest. Most places can work with you if you’re not obnoxious about it.
Weddings and big celebrations are trickier. The Church has always recognized that sometimes you’re going to be in situations where strict fasting isn’t possible. That’s where economia comes in. It’s not a loophole. It’s the Church’s recognition that we live in a fallen world and pastoral flexibility matters. But don’t just give yourself economia every time it’s inconvenient. That’s between you and your priest.
The point of all this
Fasting isn’t a test you pass or fail. It’s medicine. We fast to remember that we need God more than we need food, that our appetites don’t get to run our lives, that we’re preparing ourselves to receive Christ in the Eucharist.
When you’re at work and everyone else is eating barbecue and you’re eating a peanut butter sandwich, you’re doing something countercultural. You’re saying your body belongs to God, not to your cravings or to social pressure. That matters.
But if you mess up, you mess up. Confess it and move on. The goal isn’t perfect fasting. The goal is union with God, and He’s a lot more patient with us than we are with ourselves.
Start small if you need to. Wednesday and Friday, no meat. See how that goes for a month. Then add no dairy. Work up to it. Fr. Thomas Hopko used to say that if fasting makes you mean and self-righteous, you’re doing it wrong. Better to fast less strictly and stay humble than to fast perfectly and become proud of yourself.
Your priest knows your situation. He knows if you’ve got health issues, if you’re pregnant, if you’re working doubles. He can help you figure out what fasting looks like for you right now, in this season of your life. That’s not weakness. That’s how the Church has always worked.
