For many denominations of Christians, the season of Lent is upon us, where we are called to fast on certain days. (Although the title could be a bit of a misnomer, considering there are numerous religious and cultural reasons outside of Christianity to fast.)
My question is for anyone out there who does chose to fast on any occasion, how do you do it? Are there any special accommodations that you make,do you adapt the rules of the fast to suit your individual needs?
Just curious. :)
Jews also fast and Yom Kippur is observed by fasting for 24 hours. For Jews, those that have to eat are accepted as though they had fasted. This means that if you need to treat a low, it is ok. In fact, for those Jews on insulin, the advice usually given by Rabbis is that fasting is not advisable. Despite these warnings, I routinely fast. I believe that a proper basal should enable me to go without eating. And I routinely fast using intermittent fasting. On a weekend, I choose a day and skip breakfast and lunch and do fine. My blood sugar is quite stable and unless I undertake major physical exercise I don't have any lows. With such practice, you should also feel more comfortable fasting. Sorry, I don't really know much about Christian practices.
The rules of fasting for the Catholic church are that you eat one full meal per day. You are allowed to eat at breakfast and at noontime an amount of food that would not be equal to the one full meal. So, I take that to mean that you can still eat, just make two of your meals smaller ones than you would normally eat for a full meal. A person with diabetes, or any health condition for that matter, ought to be able to do that without much trouble. If you you are planning to go on a full-on fast and eat nothing for a day, then you may want to ease into it a bit and not go too crazy. It is possible, but no one at the church level wants to see you end up in the ER and neither does Jesus.
I suffer from IBS (fortunately not very often) and I sometimes fast to give "the system" some needed R&R. I use bolus insulin only (no basal). Any food sends my BG soaring, but luckily I have just barely enough function remaining so that my BG is stable so long as I don't eat anything at all. Of course, not eating would have undesirable effects in the long run . . . ☺
I'm not planning a full on fast. I work all day and coach afterwards, I couldn't handle it with my schedule health wise. I was curious because at the parish I attend even the priests there have differing opinions on what fasting is and how to do it. It's just interesting to see hoe different people have different takes on it.
I looked up fasting and abstinence in the Catholic Church on the Internet. There were some very general guidelines available, which did include eating small meals rather than full meals as fasting. It might make for interesting discussion between your priest and other members of the parish.
You can give up something else besides food, I think the point is to simplify your life, sit in a quit place, then you can hear the Holy Spirit, He will tell you if and what you should give up.
I begin my fast with a slightly higher blood sugar around 200. I check my blood sugar often and turn my basal rates down. After about 16 hours I tend to begin dropping quickly so I will suspend my pump for a few hours.