So it's Lent and I cant eat meat on Fridays. Currently I do 2 protein shakes, 2 Tuna's and 2 Chix meals a day. There is no way I can replace the chix with tuna. What are you guys doing?

Chix? Is that chicken? Is chicken meat?

Chix? Is that chicken? Is chicken meat?



:rolleyes:

EDIT: Done. Now, Mr. Hair-Splitter ;), your earlier post in this thread officially violates the forum rules. Please edit it and stick to the dietary aspects of Lent.

EDIT: "i am not going to change my diet because of lent." (Removed the God/lightning experiment motive)

{begin rant}
EDIT: removed the now-unnessessary rant...
{end rant}

EDIT: Removed all rollyeyes aimed at the religion to which I am technically a part of.

:nod:

What are you guys doing?

By the most strict Catholic dietary laws, yes, chicken is "meat." Milk and eggs also count as "meat." To participate in a "Meatless fast," you basically have to be full-on vegan, unless you live in a part of the church where you're allowed to eat fish (the rules vary from place to place in accordance with the bishops' decisions and local custom).

As Pope Gregory put it, "We abstain from flesh, meat, and from all things that come from flesh, as milk, cheese, and eggs."

I, personally, am not big on food-related fasting, but that's the letter of the most strict Catholic doctrine as I understand it.

EDIT - I researched it a little more, and it seems the whole dairy/egg thing has changed back and forth over the centuries. But poultry consistently seems to count as "meat."

It is technically prohibited to talk about religion on these forums; if you want to talk to another Catholic about this stuff in more detail, feel free to PM me.

It is technically prohibited to talk about religion on these forums; if you want to talk to another Catholic about this stuff in more detail, feel free to PM me.

Point of clarification: As long as the discussion stays about Lent and how it affects one's diet, that's 100% fine. Debating the pros/cons of Lent, Catholicism or any other religion is not allowed, however.

Point of clarification: As long as the discussion stays about Lent and how it affects one's diet, that's 100% fine. Debating the pros/cons of Lent, Catholicism or any other religion is not allowed, however.

ok - really debating posting this reply - but i think its safe. Keep in mind i am 100% for the no religion thing and this is only meant to be "techincal" making sure the forums have all the proper rules "on paper"

in the thread "FORUM RULES AND POSTING GUIDELINES - ALL MEMBERS MUST READ!", no-where does it state that you can't speak about religion. (I remember trying to find it once when i was reporting someone else for a religious post, but it wasnt there.)

The only place it is located is in the description of the off-topic discussions.
2) Please refrain from making any racist, homophobic, sexist, jingoistic or xenophobic comments.
so maybe this was meant to be put in but left out? i dunno. It could be easily added is all I'm saying.

I'm replying to this because of rule 7:
"Treat me (John) like any other member. If you disagree with something I've posted, then by all means say so! The purpose of these forums is to learn, discuss and share knowledge; not to massage my ego."

EDIT: sorry for the inturuptions - continue with discussion.

my mother eats fish - the church has a fish fry every friday. REAL HEALTHY :rolleyes: if she dies of a heart attack tomorrow ill know why.

so maybe this was meant to be put in but left out? i dunno. It could be easily added is all I'm saying.

You're right, I should (and will) add this to the official forum rules.

EDIT: Done. Now, Mr. Hair-Splitter ;), your earlier post in this thread officially violates the forum rules. Please edit it and stick to the dietary aspects of Lent.

I'd suggest adding some beans to your diet on Fridays in Lent. They've got a good quantity of protein, a good quantity of fiber, and they're just the sort of humble food that serves the spirit as well as the letter of the fasting regulations.

Whatever happens, if you're exercising really hard and not eating enough, and you start feeling really bad, Catholic dietary rules should never prevent you from eating something. All fasting rules are suspended if you're sick.

(and for children under 7 years of age, and I've heard other opinions in different places over the years that they've generally been at least somewhat suspended for pilgrims and travelers - the spirit of the law is that fasting you are compelled to do by the Church isn't ever supposed to seriously threaten your health)

wow... I've lived all over the place... Colorado, Germany (dad was in the Air Force), New Mexico, back to Colorado, then down here to Florida, and I've NEVER been in an area that was that strict during Lent... we were always alowed fish and I've never heard of the, no eggs, milk, cheese rule... strange... not that it matters to me anymore... I've declared myself Agnostic, so I no long do anything for Lent... but at one time I gave up sugar (in any form except for fruit) for Lent and I lost several pounds :D

I work Mcd's for a meal on friday nights. Get a couple fish sandwich things and just eat the patty. Not ideal no, but tuna and shakes all day sucks bad.

The baltimore cathchism http://www.ourladyswarriors.org/faith/bc3-35.htm

Q. 1338. Is it permitted on fast days to take any food besides the one full meal?

A. It is permitted on fast days, besides the one full meal, to take two other meatless meals, to maintain strength, according to each one's needs. But together these two meatless meals should not equal another full meal.

Q. 1339. Who are obliged to fast?

A. All persons over 21 and under 59 years of age, and whose health and occupation will permit them to fast.

Q. 1340. Does the Church excuse any classes of persons from the obligation of fasting?

A. The Church does excuse certain classes of persons from the obligation of fasting on account of their age, the condition of their health, the nature of their work, or the circumstances in which they live. These things are explained in the Regulations for Lent, read publicly in the Churches each year.

Q. 1341. What should one do who doubts whether or not he is obliged to fast?

A. In doubt concerning fast, a parish priest or confessor should be consulted.

(with all that said, i think it is pretty clear that people who have an unhealthy body weight are not required to do fast that hinder thier health)

Well, as all Catholics know, what the rules say, what the priests tell you can and can't do, and what people actually do in practice can often be three completely different things. And the really really strict places are probably not on this continent. I kind of wish average Catholics knew more about the catechisms; they make a lot of sense, and often have more moderate positions than what you think you really "can" or "can't" do.

According to my dad, there was a weird situation for a while up here in the northeast about thirty-five years ago, where one of the Massachusetts and one of the New York diocese had different fasting rules for a while and it caused a fair amount of confusion; one had fasting (fish allowed) only on Fridays in Lent (which is now the rule pretty much across the board in the USA), and the other had fasting throughout Lent, with especially strict (no fish allowed) fasting on Fridays. I think it was because one of the diocese actually had fish-only fasting rules in effect on Fridays during Ordinary Time, as well.

He was going to college in Worcester at the time and lived in Westchester and would plan where he spent his vacations based on the differing Catholic fasting regulations as well as the different legal drinking ages.


wow... I've lived all over the place... Colorado, Germany (dad was in the Air Force), New Mexico, back to Colorado, then down here to Florida, and I've NEVER been in an area that was that strict during Lent... we were always alowed fish and I've never heard of the, no eggs, milk, cheese rule... strange... not that it matters to me anymore... I've declared myself Agnostic, so I no long do anything for Lent... but at one time I gave up sugar (in any form except for fruit) for Lent and I lost several pounds :D

He was going to college at the time and would plan where he spent his vacations based on the differing Catholic fasting regulations as well as the different legal drinking ages.
:lol:

Your dads a genius

I am Catholic and ALL the Catholic churches around here have fish frys on Fridays, I also attended Catholic schools for 11 years and they ALWAYS served fish for lunch on Fridays during Lent.

What's chix?!

What's chix?!



chicken breast dumb ass.........

chicken breast dumb ass.........
Alas, TotalTan, we hardly knew ye...

i don't know anyone that calls chicken breast 'chix', so who you calling dumb ass?

staying on topic, im changing nothing in my diet. i like my meat

Alas, TotalTan, we hardly knew ye...


pwned!

and

bant!

i don't know anyone that calls chicken breast 'chix', so who you calling dumb ass?

staying on topic, im changing nothing in my diet. i like my meat

Well, I'm glad I'm not totally ignorant. I asked in my first post if chix was chicken, but didn't get a response.

I'm not Catholic, and I don't know the rules, but most Catholics I know eat fish on Fridays for lent. I would think that replacing chicken with tuna or salmon would be a great way to change up the diet for Lent. Salmon might be a welcome change for someone who already has tuna as a regular part of their diet.

Alas, TotalTan, we hardly knew ye...

looks like John's been readn' some Shakespeare recently

As I no longer have religion, I do not observe Lent at all, but as a former "good Catholic boy" with 8 years in private Catholic school, I can answer 99% of your questions with regards to the religion and its Lental observance rules.

Back in the day when I was in Catholic school, we ate no meat on Fridays, fish or otherwise. Fasting was a non-issue as we were too young for it. I do remember the nuns and priests did observe the religious fast when called for by religious edict. I can't remember the specifics of it, but I do remember that the nuns/priests who acted as teachers did not accompany their classes to the lunch hall - if your class teacher was a priest/nun, the class was temporarily presided over by a lay person or faculty member not observing the fast.

We used to love Lent back in the Catholic school days because the school lunch was switched to Pizza Hut from Good Friday onward (they only did school lunches on Fridays, the rest of the week you brought your own lunchbag). Obviously, animal products were not forbidden altogether during Lent otherwise they'd probably have nixed the pizza - it has cheese on it.

-Roger

The rules according to my Priest:

1. Meatless fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. By "fast" you are allowed one meal. Two smaller meals if needed are allowed throughout the day, but these two "snacks" can't equal one more whole meal. Seafood is not counted as a meat. Meat means beef, chicken, pork, essentially land mammals - but animals that live in water are regarded as a "different" type of food. Eggs and cheese are not defined as meat. In fact, foods can be cooked in "meat juices" and count (soup for instance).

2. Fridays during the lenten season are to be meatless, "meatless" being defined as outlined above.

I have replaced any beef, etc. in my diet with a nice salmon on Friday. Not too difficult. I had a horrible time getting through the fast on Ash Wednesday.

My difficulty has been with the thing I "gave up", or my self imposed penance. I gave up coffee. Everytime I go by the office coffee pot I feel like crying. The green tea I've been drinking instead however, has worked out alright.

This is a pretty interesting topic. I'm a lapsed Catholic (in the way that the Jurassic era could be said to have lapsed), but still sometimes mull over how I'd handle the Lenten situation, as old habits die very hard.

I don't have too much beef in my diet to begin with, maybe once a week, as I eat poultry, fish and some pork the rest of the time. I am absolutely not a fan of chicken or turkey - I eat it out of necessity rather than desire. Because of this, giving up poultry on Lenten Fridays really isn't a personal sacrifice on my part, but rather something that has the potential to hinder my physical progress. I'm thinking that God is down with us trying to improve ourselves, so instead of giving up meat on those Fridays, I give up my weekly cheat meals through Lent. I haven't had a pow-wow with a priest about this, but I'm thinking that the spirit of the law is more important than the letter, and that it should be a worthwhile sacrifice. I mean, my ex girlfriend was a vegetarian, so Lent as proscribed is no sacrifice for her at all, and I think that's missing the point. Believe me, I miss those cheat pizza slices on Saturday far more than I miss one of my weekly half-dozen chicken breasts on Friday. Again, that's just me - if God gives me any more insight on the matter, I'll be sure to let you all know ;)

On the topic of what to eat for those who want to stick to the meatless restriction, there are plenty of non-meat options out there. We're only talking one day, and even in a worst case scenario I figure I can choke down most things for one day. There's an ocean full of fish out there, no need to restrict yourself to canned tuna or (horrors) Filet O' Fish sandwiches. I'd obviously try to get something that's not breaded, something I can grill. A tuna steak is great, some salmon, cod, whatever. Pick a nice place to go out for dinner and get the mahimahi! You can also eat shrimp, crab, lobster, etc etc.

Putting fish back in their tank for a moment, you can have a big omelette for dinner (no ham, alas!), a big bean-and-cheese burrito on a corn tortilla, oatmeal with a few hefty spoonfuls of your powdered protein supplement of choice, so on and so forth. Really, I could swing it with two or three shakes, an egg meal and a fish meal. You might not hit your ideal protein/bodyweight ratio for the day, but it's better than grazing through a menu of refined carbs because your Friday porterhouse is off the menu.

As a slight aside, does anyone know any devout muslim bodybuilders? Catholicism's Lenten requirement has some workarounds, but I can't imagine how anyone gets through Ramadan without losing muscle mass. IIRC, their daily fasting doesn't include water/liquids - are protein shakes okay, or are they also off-limits?

Well, I'm an old school Catholic who follows the traditional (pre-Vatican II) rules. For me, Lent is the "carnival" which is Latin for "bye, bye meat" every day of the week except Sunday. Here is a killer article laying out the rules for the Lenten Fast in nice detail:

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05789c.htm

Excerpt:"In some places eggs, milk, butter, cheese and fish are prohibited, while bread, cake, fruit, herbs and vegetables are allowed. In other places, milk, eggs, cheese, butter and fish are permitted, owing either to custom or to Indult. This is the case in the United States. However, in order to form judgments perfectly safe concerning this point, the Lenten regulations of each diocese should be carefully read."

Dig around on the site and it has more historical detail than anyone could possibly want. I eat TONS of cottage cheese, salmon and tuna now. :D

(Oh, you only get as nutty as me after 15 years of private Catholic school.)

I guess it is easy to see what forums get the mos t traffic.

I started this exact thread on Ash Wednesday in the nutrition forum.


But I also went to Catholic school and have had fish and dairy all my life on Fridays/Ash Wednesday during Lent.

I am not fasting, just staying away from Beef/Chicken.

Being that my mother wants all of her kids to remain in the faith and obide by the Lental rules, she called me up last friday night and invited me over for dinner, she made my father and I a whole crab each. That was nice. Instead of probably eating some tuna or some breaded cod fillets at my place I got a nice home cooked meal by my moms!!