To fast or not to fast?

Today is Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish religion. It's like our version of weekly Confession, all rolled up into one long 24-hour period of reflection, asking forgiveness and, in true Jewish form, punishing ourselves via food. As in, we don't eat. Well, many Jews don't eat - I just washed down some Fage yogurt and honey with three hardboiled egg whites. But I am not built for fasting (emotionally speaking). In fact, the only time I ever successfully fasted was during my freshman year of college, and really, why was that day different than any other day? I was already in starvation mode, so I thought nothing of waking up, running, then hitting campus for a full day of classes armed with a mug of water (this was pre-bottled water. Now I feel old.) I remember feeling extremely virtuous.

My grandma fasts from sunset (last night) to sunset (tonight) and she goes full-throttle...no food and very little water. But she's a 60-years-plus Sunday school teacher and temple founder and more observant in certain capacities than I am. For women and men like her, fasting on Yom Kippur, our Day of Atonement, is a way to enhance the self-reflection process and help lend clarity in the quest of deciding who/how they want to be in the coming year. A clean slate, if you will. (So you can imagine how crappy I felt when, on the phone with G-ma last night, as I wished her an easy fast, I was actually eating frozen Cool Whip straight from the tub.) According to a 2008 study by Ynet-Gesher (don't ask...it could mean "Corn and pink ribbon comes from cows" for all I know), 63% of Israeli Jews plan to fast this year. Here in the states, I don't know what the numbers are but I DO know that in the past, some of my Jewish girlfriends have fasted because they felt is was a sanctioned way to avoid eating for the day. A diet kick-start, essentially. To me, this is really similar to my Christian friends giving up carbohydrates and alcohol and sweets for Lent - I've flat-out heard them say, "I'm going low carb for Lent."

And check this out - more proof I'm not making this up: In 1999, The Renfrew Center (you may know of it from the documentary THIN), issued a press release, "Jewish Women Worldwide Warned of Health Risk on Upcoming High Holy Day - Rabbis and Health Experts Caution Fasting on Yom Kippur Can Harm People with Eating Disorders."

Of course, the best part about fasting/supposedly fasting is "breaking the fast" - the meal we're all salivating over at my grandparents' house in which we gorge on bagels/lox/cream cheese, smokefish (again, just don't ask), corn on the cob, jello, kugel and other assorted light-but-actually-very-heavy sorts of foods. My tummy be rumbling already.

I do want to point out that I am observant on Yom Kippur in that I attend services and absolutely DO take time to reflect on what I've done wrong in the past year - how I may have hurt others, as well as myself, and how I can improve in the coming year. I truly value this meditative time and am trying to incorporate more of it into my everyday life. I also get to dress up in high heels, which I enjoy more than I should. Truth be told, if Dan built me a Confession booth in our second bedroom, I'd hire a freelance priest and park my butt in there every freaking morning. Alas, my therapist shall do for the time being.

So tell me, no matter what religion you may be, have you ever gotten the meaning of a holiday mixed up with food? Take the survey and then leave me a comment. And Happy New Year...to everyone!

Comments

I've used holidays as a reason to drink champagne with breakfast (Christmas) and eat chocolate all day long (Valentines Day/Easter). Does that count? :)

Holidays are a time that should be spent on the HOLIDAY and with family and good times, but it's sad because so many people now dread holidays for how they will affect their dieting and all. Or, like you've mentioned, they can contribute to eating disorders.

But I'm not a really religious type. I once did a fast with this church because my boyfriend was a part of the church and he invited me along- I'm not even sure of the religious point behind that particular occasion, to be perfectly honest- and it was awful. I felt terrible. Won't ever be fasting again. To each his own!

Happy New Year!

I am not particularly regligious, so I haven't had the "opportunity" to give up a food group for a relgious reason - I did fast one time and did all sorts of reading on how it could bring you closer to God and your spirituality...but it was really just an excuse to lose some weight. I broke the fast by eating a bowl of Hershey's kisses and some red wine. Not exactly what the fast called for! Enjoy the holiday!

Valentine's Day (choc) Fourth of July...Turkey Day? :)Christmas - everything must go (in my tummy).......and of course Birthdays which are like holidays in my home :)
This is why we exercise 6days a week!

What woman hasn't used Lent as a diet?? I have actually been trying hard to get away from that attitude, but I definintely still do it.

And Thanksgiving? Two hours of cardio at the gym in the morning as an excuse to just eat until I feel sick. Clearly NOT the way to enjoy a holiday and yet the only time I haven't done that was when I had a really bad cold and I didn't feel like eating much of anything.

I never used Lent as an excuse to diet when I was a practicing Christian - when I was younger I would give up soda - but only because that was the only thing that would actually make me sad to give up. I know people who give up smoking, but I have never heard anyone say they were using Lent as an excuse to diet before. I'm not surprised, though - I think that few people (present posters & commenters excepted) take religious abstentions in the spirit in which they are intended.

I'd never thought of this! Wow. This is such a loaded topic. Isn't it strange how all religious holidays are connected with food, either in excess or absence?

My family aren't even slightly religious, but I remember lots of schoolfriends giving up chocolate for Lent (I also remember being asked by grown ups as a gloom-ridden overly sarcastic 14 year old what I was giving up and snapping back "SEX").

Personally I genuinely use Christmas as an excuse to eat chocolate for breakfast and then drink champagne all morning in the kitchen while I prepare the family dinner.

Genuinely hadn't realised until now, but I do use alcohol as a real social lubricant all day long around the Christmas period to make dealing with extended family and unknown family friends bit easier.

TA x (who honestly doesn't drink that much normally!)

I've never used Lent as an excuse to give up anything, but then I've never been very religious (ok, understatement...I've never been AT ALL religious).

I do excuse overeating for holidays though...I figure I eat healthy most of the year, so if I want to have a big meal on my birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas, then I don't feel bad about it.

interesting post, and happy new year.

i find that i eat much better around the holidays.. there is always so much good food around that a little bit of lasagna and a sliver of pecan pie are much more satisfying than the meals i usually make for myself. also, i am usually too busy making sure everyone else is eating/having a good time that I don't really overeat. I DO however put NO restrictions at all on my diet on those days, so if I were to go over by a lot, I wouldn't really care. I've never gained a lb being surrounded by my family.

I'm not particularly religious, but I do remember giving up chocolate one year with an office mate in the hopes of losing/not gaining. However, it was more in the vein or dieting in secret -- having an excuse to forgo the candy that was everywhere in the office -- than anything else.

Since I'm Pagan, our holidays often are connected to the earth & harvest, so food is a necessary element. I celebrate Christian holidays with my SO, who is Catholic, so I prepare special dishes.
I love cooking, but after reading this article, I realized that I "save" recipes for certain holidays, making them only once a year which only makes them more special and encourages people to indulge more than they might if they were everyday foods.
In order to balance this, for the last 5 years I try to make everything lower fat/salt/calorie so as to assuage the damage.
(I must be hungry for special foods since I just realized "assuage" is an anagram of "sausage," which we only eat at special occasions!)

I don't know if it's a sign of getting over/being in remission from past eating indiscretions, but I truly don't beat myself up anymore over the annual gorge-fests that my family has for every major holiday. I don't even make myself spend extra time on the treadmill or starve myself for the next week to atone for the sin of overeating.

I've learned to enjoy it for what it is - a break from an overall healthy lifestyle/diet to indulge a little. We can't be good all the time and I personally don't think it is healthy to be good ALL the time.

Food at holidays is largely about tradition and the feel-good comfort of those special dishes that only grandma/aunt/fourth-cousin-once-removed can make just right. It's about celebrating your culture, family, and the good things in life.

Happy Yom Kippur, Leslie!

Ah see, that is why I could never attempt intermittent fasting as a method of weight loss...I would gorge all the day before and all the day after the fast day, which I imagine kind of defeats the purpose.

When I was younger and lent was still a term that was toyed about I absolutely used to use it as an excuse/motivator for dieting/deprivation...of course now I'm rather areligious (atheist? agnostic? who can say), but I really admire those who do Ramadam and the like, really anyone who believe so much in their faith as to make such sacrifice.

If it's in the name of weightloss then it's not in the name of worship, sorry.

I never thought if it as punishing yourself with food. Interesting that, as other commenters pointed out, it is not just with the Jewish religion. I guess that using food to punish and reward has been around since ... forever?

When I have fasted sometimes during Lent to refocus on God, remember who I get my food from, and deal with all the crap that rises to the surface when we get hungry and grouchy... I do remember sometimes having to remind myself that although it probably is helping me remember what's it's like to feel hungry and taking my stomach back to a normal size, that is not the reason I should be doing it. I think that reference to Jewish women to be careful fasting is a good one for anyone fasting, especially people prone to eating disorders or struggling with one. I just fasted for one day a week but I could see how in our society fasting for a week or so could possibly lead to dangerous thoughts and behaviors eating wise.

I use holidays as an excuse to eat MORE- but never less. I also use weekends as a reason to eat more. that includes Fridays.

Kelly Turner
www.groundedfitness.com

As the heaping platters of tasty dishes are set side by side on the buffet tables, which are almost groaning under the weight of the calories that are about to be consumed, I try to put that image aside in my mind and try to concentrate on the traditions, the laughter of family members and the joys of being together.

Laughing at myself here.

Holidays are DEFINED for me by what you get to eat...I plan it months in advance. Thanksgiving is always the turkey extravaganza of course...Christmas is usually ham and its cronies...Easter is generally turkey again, with the added benefit of 19 metric tons of chocolate and enough eggs to clog the arteries of an elephant...even Labor Day is all about the cookout. I don't have anything earmarked for Arbor Day, but just give me time. :-) (I'm not exaggerating much here either.)

I'm getting better about it though. The last two years I've scaled back, as nobody really likes eating leftovers for three weeks anyway. But food's still a major component of any celebration around Casa Dietbook. (Usually much healthier versions now though.)

That said, and not being Jewish, I do love the Yom Kippur day of reflection and atonement. I think everyone should do that at least once a year. I'm not a fan of fasting, but I don't argue with religions. To each his, or her, own.

V.

Duh - Thanksgiving is the perfect example (although not a religious holiday)! Around here T-Day means a minimum 5 Course meal with a wine paired for each course. Oh the gluttony.

(We're also migrating this "tradition" to Christmas now that we're splitting holidays between my family and his.)

We do always spend a great deal of time adding to our Journal of Thanks - a journal I keep where we each record what we are thankful for and what we're looking forward to for the next year.

I dont fast (much to my religious relatives chagrin).
I love yom kippur.
the atoning. the taking stock. the seeking out of people Ive wronged. the praying fervently to be sealed again in the book of life.
when I fast I only think of the hunger.

I dont seek out fancy foods...go out to eat...but I do eat.

The great thing about being agnostic is that to me holidays are just cultural celebrations and not spiritual ones. So it's all about the food and the presents!

Well, and the friends, and family and good times and the remembering others less fortunate blah blah blah.

But anything the least bit aversive, whether it might be fasting or stuffy church services or whatever, I get to skip entirely with absolutely no guilt!

For me, holidays are all about the food. Heck, I buy out all the bunnies at my CVS the day after Easter every year. I store them in our second freezer and my husband calls it the "bunny morgue". It's an annual tradition.

Bunny morgue notwithstanding, I am Jewish and observe the fast. I am also bulimic and the mother of two who wanted nothing more then to eat all day yesterday. All I could think about all day was eating and which led me to atone for thinking about eating! Anyway, at fast's end I found myself alone at home w/my 6 year old having leftover roast beef and mashed potatoes which I promptly threw up then ate 5 bowls of Cocoa Krispies which suffered the same fate.

So be it a freezer full of bunnies or counting the minutes till I can eat 'n puke, it's always all about the food.

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