Yom Kippur - are you fasting.....?

becky10rp

Hi and Happy New Year to all the Jewish MFP'ers out there!

Question - do you fast for Yom Kippur?

Personally - I don't...............because I get the M's (Mean and Migraines...........)! And - I've had such a 'strange' relationship with food, I don't think it's healthy for me to fast.

How do you 'deal' with Yom Kippur?

I start with saying 'well, I'll just have coffee".......then I figure 'well, if I'm going to have coffee, I might as well have a full breakfast......'!

My husband fasts so I wake up super early so I can eat before he gets up (I don't want to torture him)!

Tell me what you do for Yom Kippur!

leapsonbounds

I'm really struggling with this one this year. I've been doing really well with eating 5 small meals a day, every 3 hours. It's kept my hunger at bay. I'm afraid I'll get all whacked out if I fast. So the short answer is I haven't decided yet, but will probably eat very lightly. Curious to see others' responses.

meggs9605

I plan on fasting for a few of reasons...

1) It is a tradition that keeps me connected to my faith.
2) It is a test of my self control.
3) I have read some studies (please don't ask me which ones off the top of my head) that basically say occasional fasting is perfectly healthy and can even jump start a plateau.
4)I get a day off from the gym with no guilt!

In the past when I have had medical issues as a problem I have stuck to a clear liquid diet (coffee, tea, broth) per my doctors orders. It definitely helped curb the cravings to have something warm and tasty in my belly even if it was just liquid.

airangel59

I plan on fasting for a few of reasons...

1) It is a tradition **(but not for the reasons of meggs9605 , but I have always fasted on Yom Kippur, I'm religious by birth not really a follower)**
2) It is a test of my self control.

As above &

I probably will drink water as it is still hot here in Arizona. Medically though, as in the past, if I do have any issues, I probably will have something lite (i.e few spoonfuls of Carbmaster yogurt). Last year I had some spoonfuls of yogurt with my Metformin and some water during the day.

Edited to say as of today's MD visit, I was taken off all my meds (lipids, htn, dm)...so hoping will be smooth sailing.

brevislux

Not me, my man is... I think the eating thing isn't bad, but not drinking for 24 hours would drive me insane. Two days before I kept telling him to drink more and more. XP He does this out of habit - he doesn't consider himself Jewish but "spiritual", but he's used to fasting on Yom Kippur because that's what they do in his family, and not doing it would feel strange to him.

MyJourney1960

i fasted my whole life, even used to go to synagogue all day (I used to be orthodox).

Even after I "left the fold" so to speak (I am very traditional in my outlook but no longer follow the strict rules I used to follow), I used to continue fasting on Yom Kippur. There is just something about this day, that made me want to hold on to this tradition.

A few years ago, i noticed that i was having really difficult fasts, i mean all fasts are difficult but i was experieincing terrible dizziness and nausea to the point where i physically COULDN'T complete the fast. last year, i called my doctor after i had seen somethign on the internet and she confirmed that (because of my medical history and medications i take) i should not fast.

I am hoping that with my weight loss i might eventually be able to go back.

thistimewillbedifferent

Definitely fasting. I'm a bad Jew all year (love my bacon and shrimp), and I never go to synagogue, but it's the one part of the faith that is personally important to me.

Plus, it means that I can eat pretty much whatever I want for the fast-breaking dinner this evening without having to worry about going over my daily calorie allotment. I haven't had that kind of freedom since I changed my lifestyle back in January! It's probably wrong that I'm looking forward to it so much...

scookiemonster

This is the first year since I was a baby that I'm not attending synagogue - my mother decided to cancel her membership, and as I don't have one of my own and was mostly just going to be with her the last few years, I'm not going. It feels strange.

I'm not fasting either - my digestion has been really wacky lately, and I'm not sure what fasting would do to it, so I'm trying to just eat light instead.

I feel like kind of a bad Jew (eh, I am one anyway, but this was my last holdout!), but I'm spending the day cleaning out my house for donations to the temple rummage sale, so I'm hoping that will count for something in the way of atonement :-) My own version of casting my sins away, I think.