With Ramadan just ending, and Yom Kippur next week, it had me wondering ... Do you feel guilty not fasting on religious holidays? Do you try to fast?
Even when I was on the pump, my endo told me never to fast on Yom Kippur. Jewish law says not to fast if you have an illness ... Is it the same in Islam? But, anyways, I have to admit, I NEVER feel guilty for not fasting. I view it as a valid excuse and for once, D coming in handy. But, I don't tell people in Temple I'm not fasting. I just quietly eat when I need to, away from people I don't know.
since ive been diabetic since i was 8 and never fasted then so i dont feel guilty.. its kind of like that silver lining ( the saying every cloud has silver lining) that in everything bad something good comes of it and i guess i just see it as one of those good things
I just recently went through a spiritual fast with my church and asked my dietician about whether or not I could fast and we worked it out that I could. I wouldn't fast the whole day, but I'd fast for a meal and just sip on some juice in the meantime to sustain my blood sugar. It was really interesting. I did it for 4 weeks. It's not sustainable over a long period of time, but I definitely think it's possible. It's something I had never done before and simply wanted to try and it was really a great experience for me!
sarah, i have never felt guilty about not fasting on yom kippur, because the way i see it, we as diabetics have to go through so much that i think we go through worse suffering than the ritual fast haha. so i guess in a way, we deserve an out, you know? although, sometimes i try to eat less on yom kippur, so like, less unnecessary junk food and stuff, just so i am not taking advantage of the fact that i don't fast.
Nope. I am Catholic, and even before I had diabetes (til 13 yrs) I never fasted. If I don't eat a good meal every few hours I get really grouchy and lethargic and just an unpleasant person to be around. However during Lent I do honor the "no meat Fridays" custom because my whole family will have fish or a pasta dish, etc.
I used the D to avoid having to fast when I was a kid. I also used it to eat meat on Friday's in Lent when I was a carnivore. Now I do try to abstain more often than not, but I don't do a full fast. That is not good either.
I'm a Christian (Evangelical, if you care), and the only "fasting" I partake in is Lent. I fast from bread and sweets (except if I really need them for lows). I did choose to participate in the World Vision 30 Hour Famine one year with my youth group, which my endocrinologist was fine with. All I had for 30 hours was water, and my blood sugars were fine.
in my church we have a "fast sunday" on the first sunday of the month. i was told i couldn't fast the three meals i was suppose to because my blood sugar would drop. i was crushed. but then a lady told me that she wasn't allowed to fast either because of some medication she was on but she found that if she gave up putting make up on or fasting from something else that wasnot food she felt much better. my new edo told me that since i am on the pump i am allowed to fast and that i just have to set a temp basal rate. that evens the odds a little bit and takes away the guilt. now all i have to do is remember it's the first sunday of the month! :)
The thing with fasting is that it is a great way to do something that is required spiritually or religiously. While being a diabetic is an issue, these things can be handled. Yet we do need to be aware of our sugars and be prepared to break the fast if needed. No good is accomplished if at the 28 hour mark of a 30 hour fast you realize you are low and want to stretch it out. Our personal well being is what should come first. But otherwise if you can swing the fast, there should be no issue.
It's interesting that other endos have okay'ed (safe) fasting. It's also interesting how many religions include periods of fasts. I like the idea of giving up something other than food if you can't fast! (Maybe Juvenation? No, kidding!)
For Lent, my youth pastor usually has us choose one thing to give up- facebook, soda, fast food, etc- rather than doing the traditional fasting, so that every time we think of eating/doing those things, we will stop and focus on our relationship with God instead.
You know, given that Eid is about to happen, and many of the students who go to the place where I teach practice Islam, I thought about planning to go through Ramadan next year, just to see what exactly they are experiencing, if from only a biological perspective. I just don't know how I would be able to refrain from drinking any fluids during the time that the sun is in the sky. I was wondering about how this might actually be managed.
What's funny is that for Lent, how I grew up, I always felt like I had an advantage over other people...I already refrained from all of the things that other people talked about forgoing for a month...
I agree with you, Sarah. I feel that not having to fast is one of the few perks of having diabetes. The Catholic Church does agree that people with medical issues like ours don't have to fast. However, on fasting days in Lent, I do try to be conscientious of it but not snacking and trying to only eat healthy foods. I figure that's sacrifice enough. Until my office moved to the 29th floor, I used to give up the elevator for Lent!! Guess I'll have to come up with something else this year!
well it wasnt a religious fast, but for my air cadets, every year we do a 24 hr famine, to raise money for some place without food, and even though i cant completely fast i do my best. Like last year for the fast, i was taking meal repacement energy drinks, and even though I almost puked ( they were DISGUSTING) thats all I would have during the fast, cuz I dont want to seem like Im geeting special treatment. If I had to eat, I was going to nmake sure I didnt enjoy it..
well it wasnt a religious fast, but for my air cadets, every year we do a 24 hr famine, to raise money for some place without food, and even though i cant completely fast i do my best. Like last year for the fast, i was taking meal repacement energy drinks, and even though I almost puked ( they were DISGUSTING) thats all I would have during the fast, cuz I dont want to seem like Im geeting special treatment. If I had to eat, I was going to nmake sure I didnt enjoy it..
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well technically I wasnt "eating" but I was still drinking something other then water, so It still was against the rules, but I was allowed to do it... and I did the best I could with what I had.
You tried your best to hold to the letter of the fast. And sadly as a diabetic we do need the food from time to time or in your case the drink. We do the best we can. It's just that our health comes first.
I'm an evangelical Christian, and my denomination doesn't really focus on fasting. We don't hold it up as a requirement.
When I tell others who are of my faith who really believe strongly in fastingthat I am not allowed to fast from food and water completely and I explain about T1 diabetes, then they're pretty understanding.
If I were doing a fast as a spiritual discipline, then it would be from something other than food and water -- like fasting from Facebook (heh, heh) or watching TV or DVDs. Or maybe I'd just eat really simply (like... water, peanut butter, and crackers). I tried fasting from coffee. Didn't make it very long!! =(
I'm an evangelical Christian, and my denomination doesn't really focus on fasting. We don't hold it up as a requirement.
When I tell others who are of my faith who really believe strongly in fastingthat I am not allowed to fast from food and water completely and I explain about T1 diabetes, then they're pretty understanding.
If I were doing a fast as a spiritual discipline, then it would be from something other than food and water -- like fasting from Facebook (heh, heh) or watching TV or DVDs. Or maybe I'd just eat really simply (like... water, peanut butter, and crackers). I tried fasting from coffee. Didn't make it very long!! =(
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I'm Evangelical, too, and my church doesn't focus on fasting, either, but my youth pastor has always had us do Lent. But, like I said in my earlier post, he has us fast from just one thing for the 40 days- soda, fast food, Facebook, coffee, etc. I have done soda in the past, but this last year I gave up bread for Lent.