Teen Girl Want to Fast for Religious Reason

Hell no. No way no how. There is NO reason for a teenager to be fasting if she has plenty of food available to her. In fact, I would seriously be questioning whomever put a damn fool idea like that in her head....even if it was the Pastor. I truly do not believe that ANY maker no matter what religion would require someone to starve themselves...much less a child. This would be dangerous for her health.

Our religion encourages occasional fasts, but only for 2 meals in a row. ("Fasting" means going without, not cutting down, so I don't think things like an all juice diet qualify as fasting, religious or otherwise.) I agree with you that it's much better (and healthier) to give up certain things instead of all solid food if the "fast" is longer than 24 hours.

I think Kimberly said it best.

And there are only 2 weeks left, so even if she is a bit unwise in her method, it won't be a longterm health issue for her.

Fasting can be a great way to learn self-control. Something many of us today could use help with. I think it is very mature of your daughter, so long as she is not under the impression that the fast itself (not eating) is what improves her relationship with God. It's more the purposeful choice to restrain oneself, and using that to elevate your focus on God, that gives the benefits of the fast.

http://www.gotquestions.org/fasting-Christian.html

I have 3 teens in my home, 18, 17 and 16. All of my teens fast. On Wednesdays for lenten season we are having a full fast. Which is drinking only water all day and no meals. There are days where we have a partial fast, where we eat only 1 meal a day. It is acceptible to fast meat as well. Generally you should feel free to do the fast God has called you to.

Plant proteins are a great substitute for meat. Beans are awesome.

She won't need iron if she is eating a balanced diet. Leafy green veggies are an excellent source of iron. Kale, collard greens, mustard greens, and turnip greens are all wonderful. Even spinach is great. She will also need to consume loads of water but we all should be doing that anyway.

I applaud you for being concerned about her health while she pursues a relationship with God. Fasting in and of itself doesn't make your "more godly". What fasting does is it helps you control your body which helps you do the will of God. Our body's urges need to be controlled.

I hope this helps.

I would find it pretty suspect that a teen wanted to fast for religious reasons beyond the fasting period that a religion even suggests. For example, I am Catholic. We are supposed to abstain from meat on Fridays during Lent and then fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. I don't make my kids fast, but would definitely let my teens do that if they wanted to.

I don't know of any Christian religion that suggests fasting for the period your daughter mentioned. Is it possible that she really wants to do it to lose weight (even if she doesn't need to) but is using religion as a way to get your permission? What raises a red flag for me is her suggestion that fasting means drinking only fruit juice - that's an idea from the fad diet world, not anything religious. Fruit juice fasting for rapid weight loss is very popular among teen age girls. Religious fasting is usually water and some bread or crackers. So I would prod her a bit more on this and make sure it's not a body image problem.

Regarding vegetarian...my two oldest kids had a bet going a while ago to see which could be vegetarian longer. They did make it over two weeks. I didn't prepare any special meals or give them any extra supplements - it was something that they wanted to do so it was up to them to figure out what to eat and prepare it. If you daughter wants to do this, she can go online and figure out what to eat and how to cook it. You can let her know what you meal plan is for the week and she can figure out what she needs to add to the meals to make them balanced and nutritious for her.

I think it is fine for her to fast but from what I have read here it doesn't sound like she understood fasting. Was she going to starve herself till Easter? :(

If you have a Costco membership look for this trail mix type stuff call energy blend. It has soy beans, pumpkin seeds, cranberries and almonds. It has a lot of protein. I would not recommend iron supplements, they can reap havoc on your digestive system if you are not used to them.

I agree with the others as far as fasting.

As for the vegetarian part of your question, we're Catholic, and my husband, 14 year old son, and I gave up sugar, caffeine, alcohol (not a problem for our son ;), and meat for lent. My husband and I still eat fish, but my son doesn't like seafood, so he's basically been vegetarian since lent began, in addition to no sugar (well, as little as possible - sugar is in EVERYTHING - it seems that way, anyway) or caffeine.

We get our protein mostly in beans. Beans, beans, beans - we eat tons of beans. We also eat a lot of nuts. Honestly, we all feel a lot healthier since we started this, and will likely continue this after Easter. It has certainly been a sacrifice, as lent should be. Man, I want a Dr. Pepper! But, we all agree that feeling healthy is worth it. Getting rid of the red meat and the sugar seems to be a big plus.

I'm anemic, and always have been, so I take vitamins, as well.

If your daughter is truly doing this for religious reasons, and not some fad diet, I would support her completely as long as she can do this in a healthy way. My son does fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, but that is one day at a time. Good luck to your daughter, and good for you for getting more information!

Hi S.-I see you received plenty of responses already, but I just wanted to offer up another possible way of looking at the situation. You mention that you don't believe fasting makes you more "Godly" and I completely agree with you. It doesn't. That is not the purpose of fasting during Lent. Rather, fasting & prayer are ways that help you to connect to your spirituality in a more intense and focused way. Fasting is not meant as a way of punishment or a way to simply deny yourself something for the sake of denial. To fast is to give up the routine pleasures of eating and physical hunger to focus solely on your spiritual hunger. Buddhists, Muslims and Hindus fast at various times as well. Also, the point is not to suffer, the point is to free yourself of immediate physical needs and instead become enlightened by the clarity you are exposed to through fasting. It's a time that is as much about self growth as it is about self denial. Now, I think its admirable that your daughter wants to try this, but maybe she's not seeing the big picture. Telling you that she intends to fast until Easter is unrealistic, unhealthy and not really the point. Fasting (at least in the Catholic church) is done for small periods of time. Many people actually use times of fasting to help them connect more with the poor and people who always go hungry. I know that's what I think about when I fast or give something up. For some reason doing those things gives me the opportunity to connect more with the poor and the forgotten. (Not that I wanna sound like Mother Theresa here, I'm FAR from it) Maybe you could suggest to her that she consider fasting for just one meal a day or if you're not cool with the fasting maybe she could just choose one of her meals throughout the day to be simple/small. Whatever you decide, I do think you should encourage her to reflect and meditate on how she feels about it when she does fast (or eat sparingly for the meal). That way she's not just doing it because she thinks she has to. Hopefully she'll feel more empowered in her choice. Anyway, I'm sorry for rambling on, I hope it helps in some small way. :)
N.

I think it is perfectly fine to fast for up to 2 full meals and perhaps a 3rd if the person is hydrated enough. BUT for a teen to suddenly start a...how many days is it until Easter???? day fast is not a healthy thing.

She needs to sit down with the pastor, after you have talked to him about what she got out of his message and how he might rethink things before spouting them out, and have him tell her that she would likely end up in the hospital from not eating for.......how many days would that be??

The human body can go a few days with out food and water but to even think that a human body can go for 12 days is ridiculous.

Many many people can fast, it is a natural and wonderful thing to experience. The blessings of doing it then seeing some miracle is beyond a run of the mill blessing.

I would make the pastor explain all this to her in simple terms. BUT talk to him first so that he will understand where he messed up. He may have told them to also, that may need to be addressed with your church council or someone who has authority over him if needed.
**************************

My main point is that suddenly starting a fast that long is not healthy.

Working up to a point where their body is used to fasting is a better way to get to the point where she can fast that long.

I see nothing wrong with her fasting a few meals per day, perhaps eating only one small one would be fine too.

She can eventually go for more time and not be harmful to her body.

I don't see anything wrong in a teen fasting for religious reasons, but my church only says to do it for a day, not almost 2 weeks. If she really wants to fast just have her do it the day. I used to fast through breakfast and lunch, then got to eat a light dinner when I was a teen.

Big red flag is going up here. First of all, are you of the same religion as your daughter? If so, you would probably know what the religion expects/requires as far as fasting. I was raised in the Lutheran Church and there was no fasting at all. We ate meat on Fridays throughout lent. I am now Catholic and we fast only two days of the year: Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. We abstain from meat on Fridays during lent, and we are supposed to abstain from sweets and goodies throughout lent.

That being said, I suspect she's using this as an excuse to go on a juice fast because she thinks you'd have a hard time saying no if it were for religious reasons. She's probably heard about these fasts from friends and wants to try it.

If you're not familiar with the Church she belongs to, I would ask her to show you some literature about the fast. If she says there is no literature, I would ask her to take you to speak with the minister so that you can understand why this is required. If she still resists, you will know that she made this up just so she could try to lose weight.

Once she comes clean about her reasons, you should probably take her to her pediatrician to get some guidelines for eating a vegetarian diet. If she's determined to do this, it won't be just until Easter. That's 2 weeks away.

Vegetarians have no trouble keeping up with protein , in fact Americans, even vegetarians, get too much 99% of the time. But it is a common concern.

Look up sources of vegetarian protein if you are concerned but keep in mind that what most America is actually deficient in is fiber and good fats.

Furthermore I think that her decision is pretty cool as long as she isn't hiding an eating disorder. Sounds like you raised a good one.

And to add, fasting can have a myriad of definitions. My brothers religion fasts in many different ways on certain days. Sometimes it's merely off of grains, sometimes it's all food. One day a year it's everything even water. I myself have fasted before on the master cleanse in which I took in only water/lemon juice/ grade b maple syrup and cayenne pepper. Fasting is merely eliminating substances that nourish for a set period of time for many reasons. Going vegetarian for 2 weeks won't hurt her and yes it is a fasting of sorts. Don't worry she won't harm herself . I went vegetarian at age 12 with limited knowledge of nutrition and no access to special food and I survived.

There is nothing wrong in fasting if it is done for a day or two. I have been doing it since I was 9. The day I fast, I eat fruits and drink plenty of water though. Currently I fast 3 days in a year for important religious occasions. The reason it was traditionally done was to practice self control. So, it is like you won't eat any meat or junk or processed foods etc. Its all about self control. There is nothing wrong being vegetarian for a teen. She can get her proteins from Nuts, Beans, lentils, dairy, tofu etc. Seriously it isn't so hard to be a vegetarian. Its good that she is taking up a challenge and if she can fulfill it, it will only boost her self esteem and give her a power to control what she can do. That is the way I look at it.

I would have a BIG problem with whatever minister/priest/religious figure is encouraging children to fast. I would be on the phone with that person right away.

FASTING is going without food - period. A complete fast is going without food or water. Eating a vegetarian or vegan diet is NOT fasting. Even if you want to call it a 'Daniel fast'. Eliminating snacks (eating 3 meals a day) and eliminating meat are NOT fasting.

Secondly, eating an unbalanced diet for 2 weeks is not going to hurt her, so you could really just have her eat what you eat normally (I assume you serve vegetables at each meal) minus the meat. If she decides to make a longer term health or ethical commitment to being a vegetarian, then you and she will need to do some research.

At 15 I would let her try. She is finding herself and defining her belief system. Although, I would be surprised if she makes it a week, I wouldn't give her any grief either way.

There's a variety of definitions of "fasting" out there...you need to talk to your daughter about what she thinks it means and why she is doing it.

That being said, I fasted when I was a teenager. As in, no eating and drinking only water...but it was only for a day or two. It wasn't about "making myself more godly" but instead it was a time for prayer and meditation.

There are, as has been said, many variations of fasting. Find one that works for both of you (it sounds like you already have). And eating a vegetarian diet is PERFECTLY healthy. There are lots of proteins in eggs, cheese, and beans. Eating leafy green vegetables gives you plenty of nutrients.

If she chooses to eat only vegetarian meals, she's more than capable at 15 to make meals herself. You can, obviously, make it easier for her by stocking the pantry/fridge with vegetarian items/supplies.

True fasting for 2 weeks will have a significant impact on her. Keeping to a vegetarian diet will most certainly not have an impact. And since it is only for 2 weeks, I would not worry about iron levels, proteins, ect... She'll be fine. To calm yourself, just make sure she eats a well-rounded vegetarian diet - eggs, nuts, legumes/beans, veggies, and fruit.

I would support her desire to fast. And admire her convictions.

Vegans are the healthiest people! No one needs meat or dairy products. Look at nutrition, there is protein in everything!
Look up Dr. Joel Furhman.

I agree that fasting is NOT healthy and would not allow my daughter to do it either.

If your daughter wants to fast for a religious reason, I don't think you should stop her from that. By telling her no, you are dismissing her religion as not important. I would encourage her to to discuss with you the purpose of her fasting (what she hopes to get from it) and support her. Having fasted several times myself, don't see the harm in it, if her intentions are real. Remember, the goal of fasting is not to BE more "Godly" but to develop a relationship that brings you "closer to" God. Big difference.

As far as the vegetarian meals, I think it is certainly attainable. Since she is not going 'vegan' it will be much easier. If she is only planning to do this until Easter, I, personally, wouldn't worry about an iron supplement. Just try to make meals that may be iron rich like that you can get from veggies. Make a large spinach salad or have breakfast dinner. Waffles and pancakes have eggs so that could work. Also, consider meat substitutes as an option. Have spaghetti for dinner and if you want, utilize the Morning Star farms ground "meat" for the sauce. It might even open up a healthier alternative for your normal meals.

Best of luck!

my youth group used to do a 40 hour famine at church.

make sure she eats beans (refried comes in a vegitarian option)

A Christian Fast is completely differant than a Gahndi style fast! .

It's more like lent, you give some things up to show obedience and to free you up to reflect and pray.

When Danile fasted in the Bible, he just cut out certain things. The Daniel Fast is one of the hottest fads out right now. It's a completely healthy way of eating.

Encourage her and help her do the research as to what a healthy Biblical fast is and what it means. This is a great opportunity for you to do something meaningful with her. You two can learn about it together. What a great way to make a memory.

How long of a fast?
I would ask her doctor what is safe and let her do it if that's what she wants.
As far as a vegetarian or even vegan diet? INCREDIBLY healthy! I wish I had that kind of discipline, but I love my meat and butter, <sigh>
There are many websites that can help you with food choices, but off the top of my head I can tell you all kinds of beans, legumes and nuts/nut putters are great sources of protein. Bean soups, vegetarian chili, hummus, etc.

In my religion, we fast one day month. We take the money we would have spent on the food and donate it to help the poor. Fasting to us means going without food or drink. When we fast we fast for two meals in one day. For our one day fast, that is usually Saturday night over to Sunday past lunch until dinner.

If I have a problem I'm trying to resolve, I've fasted and prayed and read my scriptures to get closer to God so I am able to be more receptive to any answer God may be trying to give me. I've found that very helpful, but that is a one day fast.

Back many years ago, the IRA (Irish Rebublician Army) were making terrorists attacks in Great Brittian. When they were caught and jailed, some of them decided to protest their incarceration by going on a fast. They fasted for 40 to 55 days until they starved themselves to death. So fasting for two weeks is possible. I fasted for 10 days once. The first two days I didn't eat or drink anything. After that I just drank water. I suffered no harm, unless you call loosing 30 pounds harmful.

Good luck to you and yours.

My MIL fasts for religious reasons but only for one day at a time, not for weeks on end. I think fasting is a great idea, but I've never been able to do it successfully.

Black beans and quinoa are great meat replacers in chili and tacos, and both have decent iron. I take a can of beans and a 1/2 cup of cooked quinoa, moosh them up with taco seasoning, and voila--taco "meat." Also, do a 3-bean chili, throw in a little liquid smoke, and, again, some quinoa for texture, and it's great.

I would stay away from most soy products, because of the hormonal and GMO issues. Organic tofu is ok, but you want to take it easy on soy.

Lentil soups are great. Channa masala is chick peas full of Indian flavor. Sprouted grain breads are high in fiber.

My church always does a 21day fast in January. Many do a juice fast, but many others do a Daniel fast, which is only eating foods that don't come from a mommy. Go to www.awake21.org, under fasting resources there are guides, tips and fasting calendars you can look at to do this safely and healthfully. When I fast I basically cut out only the things that are my weaknesses like junk food, pop, red meat and fast food. I did eat some dairy and lean cuts of meat like poultry or fish. The point of fasting is to find your "fasting zone" to grow closer to God while praying. Cutting out foods just to see if you can do it, is not devotion to God, it is called a diet.
HTH,
A.