So, it being Ash Wednesday, today is a day of fast and abstinence! What does this mean?

Fasting- Eating only 2 small meals and 1 average size meal. This means no snacking in between meals. For example, I will be eating a Fiber One bar for breakfast (small), a cup of Shrimp Flavored Ramen (small) and probably a slice of fish, some veggies and something else for my normal meal.

Abstinence- This is the practice of abstaining from flesh meat. This includes beef, pork, chicken, goose, etc. You can abstain by having seafood (fish, shrimp, lobster, etc) or not having any meat, fruits and veggies.

Its important to realize that it is ok to drink. The only stipulation on this is that if the drink can be considered a meal, that it would count as one of your meals. For example: You can have milk, but a milkshake would be considered a small meal. This is important to realize. You can also drink coffee, unless, of course, you gave it up for Lent.

Hopefully this helps you if you have questions. For some reason its easy to forget what the rules of fasting and abstinence are, but its important for us to begin Lent on a good note. Good luck to you on what you gave up, and remember:

All Fridays are days of abstinence…so no meat!