Fasting workouts: how to combine fitness and vegetarian nutrition. What can replace meat during Lent? Protein Help! Workouts while fasting

Is it possible to get pregnant in fasting?

Can I smoke on post?

Is it possible to guess in the post?

Is it possible to read secular literature in post?

Responsible Archpriest Igor Fomin, Rector of the Alexander Nevsky Church at MGIMO:

What can and can not be eaten in fasting?

There are two components to the question of what can and cannot be eaten in fasting. The first is purely gastronomic, the second is semantic.
As for food restrictions during Lent, there are certain rules on this matter. They are spelled out in the Typicon (Charter), their goal is the abstinence of the flesh. Meat and dairy products, as well as eggs and fish are excluded from the diet. On certain days of fasting, it is even forbidden to season food with vegetable oil.
Each person needs to determine his own measure of fasting. One can bear the fast in full, and it will be good for him. Another, on the contrary, should weaken the post.

Sick people can fast not as strictly as it is written in the Charter. Illness is also a kind of fasting, humility of the flesh. In addition, with some diseases, a gastronomic fast can harm your health. Listen to yourself, ask your doctor for advice.
Its measure of fasting in pregnant women; military personnel; those who work in a busy rhythm or study.

Of course, a special topic is a children's post. Sometimes it is better to agree with the children that they, for example, will eat less sweets during Lent than to impose restrictions on them in dairy and meat food. In any case, with all doubts and questions about fasting, I advise you to approach your confessor or a priest you trust.
The most important thing that “you can’t eat on fast” is your neighbors. I'm talking about anger, irritation, quarrels and any other negative actions that destroy peace between people. After all, by doing bad things to our neighbors, we destroy the bridge between us and God.

What can you drink in fasting?

Typicon, the liturgical Rule, which also regulates church fasts, on certain days even allows you to drink a little wine. But here, as in food, you need to understand your measure. “Two krasovuli”, that is, two specific containers of wine, about which the Typicon speaks, will not do harm to one. Another is to give up alcohol completely. We all know our weaknesses in one way or another, and we must decide on our own or with the help of a confessor how to deal with them during fasting.

As for tea and coffee, the question is ambiguous. I like that more and more people today are leading a healthy lifestyle and, in particular, making sure that the most natural and healthy foods. During Great Lent, we deliberately weaken our body a little by abstinence in order to focus on our soul, on prayer and repentance. Is it worth it during this difficult period to poison yourself with chemical instant coffee or give an excessive load to the heart by drinking caffeine (which, by the way, is even more in tea than in coffee)?

If you love coffee and drink it every day, try experimenting. Refuse this drink completely - for two days. If it will be very difficult for you, then you are not just a "lover of coffee", but dependent on it. Any addiction is a sin that needs to be fought.

Is it possible to go to a cafe in Lent?

Lent is a time when we give up what we especially like. For example, a person loves black bread with sunflower oil, sprinkled with salt. He loves so much that sometimes in the middle of the night he runs to the kitchen to please himself. So, if you are so dependent on something, try to give it up.
You can not fast with a bucket of potatoes and fast with a small piece of fish. It all depends on what is going on inside us.
As for the cafe, I don’t see anything wrong if you periodically eat there during Lent. Many establishments offer a lenten menu, and this is very good. In addition, the modern rhythm of life is such that some citizens simply have no way out. Either you eat in a cafe, or you remain hungry all day.
Another thing - "lean delights." If you go to a cafe to eat plenty of fasting dishes, sometimes even more bizarre than non-fasting food, you should think about it, but is this fasting?

Is it possible to sign and get married in a post?

You can't get married in fasting. So, signing in the registry office is also not worth it. This is a pious tradition.
Of course, there are exceptions to this church rule. For example, I know a case when a young man went to war in Chechnya, and the ruling bishop blessed the couple for their wedding in Lent.
Why can't you get married in fasting? Because the wedding involves marital intimacy, and during the period of fasting and some other days of the church year, a ban is placed on it.
If for some reason you need to get married at the registry office during Lent, keep yourself clean until the wedding. And it will be possible to get married immediately after Lent.

Is it possible to kiss and engage in marital intimacy during fasting?

According to tradition, you can start intimacy with your spouse only on those days when a wedding is allowed. It is not customary to get married on fasting days.
But we must remember that the Church is not a set of prohibitions and norms. This is a living organism, our parent. As a mother, the Church may complain about the failure to follow her advice, but she treats each of her children with understanding and love. If the physiology of one or both spouses does not allow complete abstinence from intimacy during the long 40 days of fasting, then the Church makes concessions.
If your spouse is an unbeliever, it will be even more difficult for you to explain to him why fasting is a time of abstinence. Quarrels on this issue can not only undermine the marriage, but also push the husband or wife to a serious sin - treason, fornication. If this sin is committed, both will be guilty.
In general, in this matter, everything should be, as the Apostle Paul says, by agreement.
As for kisses, if the spouses have a sense of proportion, kisses between them are quite permissible. This is an act of tenderness. Especially if we are talking about the so-called "holy kiss", when Christians greet or say goodbye to each other.

Is it possible to play sports in fasting?

There are professional athletes in the parish where I serve as rector. These are pious people who do many good deeds. Sport is their job and, of course, they do not have the opportunity to refuse it during Lent. In addition, athletes have a specific nutrition schedule associated with heavy physical exertion, so strict food restrictions are contraindicated for them.
If you are not an athlete, but just doing physical education to keep fit, continue to your health! The main thing is not to make a cult out of the body.

Is it possible to get pregnant in fasting?

Each situation should be approached individually. Consult with the confessor, read church literature, proceed from the characteristics of the character of each of the spouses.
If you can refrain from conceiving a child during fasting, that's good. But if conception has occurred, in no case should the child be considered "doomed to misfortune" and even more so to have an abortion. The child has absolutely nothing to do with it, he has his own life, in which he will answer to God for his actions. Because, as the Holy Scripture writes, it does not happen that "the fathers ate sour grapes, and the children had set teeth on edge."

Can I smoke on post?

It all depends on how you pose the question. Fasting is a time of repentance and prayer. Can you smoke while you pray? Almost everyone will answer no. Let's put the question differently. Can you pray while smoking? Of course, yes, because you can always pray.
Smoking is an addiction, and any addiction is a sin. The question is what do you, as a believer, put at the forefront. Maybe you should try to test yourself? For example, quit smoking for 40 days of Lent. Or smoking not a pack a day, but half as much. Then it will become clear whether you own the cigarette or the cigarette owns you.

Is it possible to guess in the post?

If you want to end your life, then divination is the right way to do it. Because divination is a sin, and sin is a step towards spiritual death.
The Church forbids guessing at any time, whether it be fasting or any other period of the church year. It is not given to us to know the future, it is enough for us to know the past and live in the present. To learn from mistakes, to meet life's circumstances with an open heart, to believe in the Lord, and to make a choice worthy of a Christian in any situation.

Is it possible to read secular literature in post?

Secular literature, especially when it comes to Russian classics, is most often deeply Christian. If you doubt this, I advise you to read the wonderful work of the literary critic Mikhail Dunaev "Orthodoxy and Russian Literature".
If you want Lent to become a special time, then, of course, it is worth rethinking all aspects of everyday life, giving them a new dimension. There is no ban on secular literature, but it will be helpful if you turn your attention to spiritual books. Moreover, now they are easily accessible.
If you have already read, for example, the teachings of Abba Dorotheos, it is okay if you re-read them during Great Lent. Still not familiar with the "Ladder" by John of the Ladder? Discover it for yourself. Study St. Gregory the Theologian's "Homily for Holy Pascha" during the period of Lent, and you will find that this is the Paschal canon.
In Lent we are not weighed down by food and in general we strive with all our being towards God, therefore we will perceive any spiritual work with special attention.

Is it possible to confess and receive communion during fasting?

During Great Lent, there are especially many confessors and communicants in churches. Of course, I would like to see the same number of people on other days of the church year, but in any case, it is gratifying that people understand the meaning of Fortecost. After all, Great Lent is a special time for repentance, prayer and union with the Lord through the Sacrament of Communion.
How often do you need to take communion during fasting? Opinions on this issue vary. Some believe that during the 40 days of Great Lent it is enough to go to the Chalice twice, others say that one should take communion once a day. Each of us must decide this issue for ourselves. So that it is according to needs and strength. Because the Sacrament of Communion, when we receive Christ into our souls as our dearest guest, requires not only desire, but also efforts. This is prayer, repentance, self-correction.
If you are in doubt about how often you should take communion, seek advice from a priest who knows and trusts you.

Responsible Archpriest Alexei Mityushin, Rector of the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity in Kosino:

Is it possible to baptize in Lent?

According to the charter of the church, it is not forbidden to baptize during Great Lent. Moreover, in the ancient church, those who wished to be baptized during the fast underwent special preparation, including the announcement, and at the end of the fast, on the eve of the Easter holiday, they were baptized on Holy Saturday.

Is it possible to baptize a child in Lent?

Accordingly, as with adults, children can be baptized during Lent.

Is it possible to sign for Great Lent?

For those who consider themselves members of the Christian church, especially the Orthodox, it is advisable to choose a different time for painting. But at the same time, the painting itself is a purely technical moment, if after it there is no celebration and the beginning of a life together. With the blessing of a spiritual father or a parish priest, you can sign at the registry office and during Great Lent. But the celebration of the wedding, that is, the wedding should be done after Easter, starting with Krasnaya Gorka (the first Sunday after Easter or Antipascha).

Is it possible to get married / get married / have a wedding in Lent?

You can't get married during Lent. You can sign at the registry office with the blessing of the confessor if the wedding itself is planned on the wedding day. This will be a violation of church tradition and church canons.

Can you eat fish during Lent?

According to the church charter, fish cannot be eaten during Lent. But it is important to remember that the charter was formed primarily for the monks. Still, the laity live a different life, often more complex in everyday terms. People get very tired at work, spend a lot of time on the road, residents of big cities breathe bad air. Therefore, in the world, in parishes, weak people are blessed to eat fish. But in such a case, as the apostle Paul said: “He who does not eat, let him not condemn the eater” (Rom. 14:3). Whoever does not eat fish of his own free will, let him not condemn those who do.

Can you eat seafood during Lent?

You can eat seafood during Lent. But purely practical advice: do not get carried away.

Is it possible to eat shrimp and squid in Lent?

Shrimp and squid are allowed to eat in fasting. They are seafood.

Can you eat honey during Lent?

You can eat honey during Great Lent. It is illuminated on Honey Spas in August and is eaten for a whole year without any prohibitions. Especially in the spring, during beriberi and colds, honey is even recommended to meet the Easter holiday in strength and joy.

Can you have sex during Lent?

Remember the words of the Apostle Paul: Do not deviate from each other, except by agreement, for a time, for the exercise in fasting and prayer, and then be together again, so that Satan will not tempt you with your intemperance” (1 Cor. 7:5). The question is very subtle, it always causes a lot of talk. It is advisable to talk with your parish priest, with your confessor.

Every Christian should ideally be like a monk. And in family life, periods of abstinence are necessary. And the time of fasting for this is the most favorable, suitable. But the abstinence of one should not become a temptation for the other.

Can you smoke during Lent?

Never smoke at all. Smoking is a health hazard to yourself and those around you. Smoking is an addiction. It is not good for Christians to smoke, besides harming those who do not smoke.

Is it possible to conceive a child in Lent?

There is no actual prohibition in the church to conceive a child during fasting, there is a tradition of abstaining from marital intimacy during fasting. But if conception has occurred, there is no need to make a catastrophe out of this. You need to bear a child, ask the Lord for help, regularly partake of the Mysteries of Christ.

Is it possible to read akathists during Great Lent?

It is possible to read akathists to the laity at home during Great Lent, nothing prevents it. So, for example, every day during Great Lent, akathists are read on Red Square in the Iverskaya chapel, as well as in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. In churches, the reading of akathists ceases, since afkafsites are especially joyful prayers, and during Great Lent the entire liturgical structure changes to a more strict, repentant one.

Great Lent is coming. A lean diet encouragesreduced protein intake. How does this fit with power?workouts? Is it possible to avoid muscle loss? Howrationally set up a meal plan during this period?

Many people successfully combine a plant-based protein-based diet with strength training and achieve impressive results. But I’ll make a reservation right away - the diet of athletes who do without animal protein does not go well with the rules that the Church prescribes to observe during Lent. A strict interpretation, in which the number of meals is limited on certain days and seriously reduced, and even eliminated oil, for objective reasons, is not suitable for serious strength training. Therefore, you must immediately decide for yourself what kind of Fast is being observed, and what is the priority - muscle mass, or following all the instructions exactly. Plus, in our country, many protein source products have to be ordered, but, excuse the prose, rather high prices from countries where vegan food is not considered something out of the ordinary. Otherwise, if the Fast is not strict, everything is quite doable and feasible.

Deficiency or surplus?

Technically, we can eat with a small deficit, maintain muscle mass, and strength too. But, unfortunately, this is more true for very experienced athletes, who, moreover, constantly cycle both training and calorie count.

If the goal is to conserve mass, the easier path is to not be deficient. But there are two problems here:

• how to ensure an adequate percentage of fat, and avoid its significant increase;
• how to get the norm of protein from plant sources, however, this will be a problem in the second case too.

Personally, my opinion is that pushing all the changes in one life period is not worth it. Have you had any experience of observing Great Lent? How did it feel? And about the prosaic - how did the weight change? To be honest, I personally had an attempt to switch to veganism, but it ended with a return to cottage cheese and eggs. The idea, of course, is completely different at its core, but the body has changed in such a way that the whole process was apprehensive. For me, all this was faced with an “epoch of scarcity”, and I ate mainly bean curd, greens and grains with legumes. Plus a limited amount of fruit, and vegetable oils. It sounds pretty normal, but for me personally, bean curd did not become an option - not very good digestibility. After a couple of months, all the signs of a protein deficiency were evident, with swelling, a drop in muscle mass, and a chronic cold. Well, the working weights have dropped. Not, of course, like eating raw vegetables with fruits (I also had such an experiment, it came to an excellent deadlift of 50 kg for 5 repetitions, after which common sense prevailed), but still, it was to lift something there in the gym there was no desire. "Aesthetic" training for repetitions is still okay, but not a barbell.

In general, my personal experience, as well as scientific sources that recommend eating a minimum of 1.5 g of protein per 1 kg of body weight and a minimum of 4 g of carbohydrates vote for "support" or a small surplus.

The big protein problem

Products that could provide normally digestible protein are sold in very limited quantities. Personally, I ate only soy isolate from Genetic Lab from domestic, and it did not seem to me an ideal protein. Maybe it makes sense to immediately seize it with enzymes, but it is absorbed with problems. However, this is not the case for everyone, it can be attributed to the individual peculiarity of digestion. Previously, protein soups with pea protein isolate were also sold in a pharmacy, but now for some reason they have disappeared. Both products have a fairly normal amount of grams of protein per serving.

From the "foreign" decent soy protein is in ON. 25 g protein, 8 essential amino acids, 0 g sugar. Miscible with water or soy/almond milk. But here we are interested in something else - it can be added to oatmeal, for lovers of sweet cereals - and to rice with millet too, giving not only a chocolate flavor (there may be more, but I met chocolate and French vanilla), but also a protein component. There are no secrets here - 1-2 scoops of protein can be eaten daily. By the way, it is also sold in some “our” online stores.

Of the less common brands - RawFusion, Naturade, Garden of Life. There are different foods, including so-called meal replacements, with carbohydrates and dietary fiber.

tofu and us

Tofu is sold at Auchan, if you have them. But you need to carefully read the information, and avoid canned cottage cheese. I don’t know what they put there, but the swelling after it is the most gorgeous. Moreover, not only for me, who is prone to the problem, but also for several people who are not prone to the problem, too. Pretty good sold in a tetra-pack called SilkTofu

There is also soy "meat", but this product is not for everyone and with fairly good digestion.

Other sources

There are also almond and soy milk, they can be added to cereals and drunk just like that, but they are only suitable as an additional source - about 3 g of protein per 100 ml.

Is it possible to get by with regular products?

In a meat-free environment, there are rumors of miraculous blends of 1 part chickpeas and 2 parts chickpeas. Allegedly, "it" helps to gain all the necessary amino acids. A simple analysis with any calculator shows that there is still not enough protein in the mixture. Such things are good when the body weight is objectively low, and the protein rate is small.

In addition, it makes sense to take a blood test and find out if there is an iron deficiency. Still, spring vegetarian food is far from a storehouse, even if you eat a bunch of lettuce every day. And the deficiency of this microelement is a rather unpleasant thing for training too.

Well, standard advice. The more difficult to digest food is the basis of the diet, the smaller the portions, and the greater the multiplicity. No secret meaning - so the food is simply better absorbed.

With training, too, you can work towards increasing its effectiveness. Oddly enough, in the context of a modified diet, relatively heavy, but rather rare sessions will be more "preserving" muscles. This is where the time comes to remember the golden rule of bodybuilding about training one muscle group only once a week.

I want to wish you to understand this issue for yourself and good luck in all your endeavors. After all, eating only bananas and oatmeal, coupled with attempts to go to the gym, is a very common problem in Lent.

Why are there so many restrictions on pleasures, food, and sexual relations in Orthodoxy? It seems that no harm is done to others, the commandment to love one's neighbor is not violated. Why is it necessary to “kill your body”, your desires? Why such lack of freedom?

- Our body is not killed by restrictions on food and other pleasures, but by excess in them. And besides, even if we do not harm others and do not violate the commandment to love our neighbor, we still need to love God. This is where certain restrictions on pleasure come from, because love, when it exists, is manifested in action, in our actions.

For example, it's easy to say, "I don't love myself," but our deeds show that we love ourselves exactly as we should love God. And you can say with the same ease: "I love God", but only there is nothing easier than words - love is known from deeds. And if we want to love God, then we will limit ourselves to that which removes us from Him. There is no such goal - neither in worldly life, nor in spiritual life - for the sake of which we would not sacrifice something else. Those who do not want to sacrifice anything are left with nothing. They do not acquire anything worthwhile, and at the same time they lose what they had.

Priest Mikhail Nemnonov
priest Alexy Chumakov answers (Los Angeles)
How is it different from normal time? I already try to lead a strict spiritual life ... how and what to change during fasting? Kseniya

Hello, Xenia!

God bless you to create a strong and happy family!

Sincerely, Priest Alexander Ilyashenko

HOW TO FAST FOR PREGNANT WOMEN AND CHILDREN?

Archpriest Alexander Ilyashenko, Rector of the Church of the All-Merciful Savior in Moscow,father of 12 children, chairman of the editorial board of the portal "Orthodoxy and the world

- Father Alexander, one of the questions that readers asked us is this: it is often said that a mother's fast can have a beneficial effect on the spiritual life of a child. Will a child get better from an uneaten piece of meat?

The point is that fasting is a sacrifice to God. If mommy fasts, wanting her feasible to make a fast as a sacrifice to God, then it is pleasing to Him and the baby will feel the grace of God, as well as when visiting a temple, as when praying parents.

“Mother made a vow to God: if I remain alive, then she will go with me to a pilgrimage to St. Mitrofan of Voronezh. And, thank God, he recovered ... ... By the way, she “monday” for the children (she observed the fast on Monday), but she always hid it from us. Actually, she raised and trained all six children (three in higher educational institutions, and three in secondary schools). God save her!" Metropolitan Veniamin Fedchenkov. God's work in my life

- And in the old days they fasted strictly?

Of course, but then there was a different environment and different food. In one work of the tsarist era, an unbelieving nephew said to his aunt: “What difference does it make whether I eat ham or sturgeon balyk during fasting?” Or another case is known when a foreigner was advised to come to Russia during Lent, when the table was the most exquisite. After all, lean food can be both tasty and nutritious and healthy.

But we are very different from our ancestors in both physical and spiritual health, we have a different ecology, pace of life, overload. We are different. Therefore, one cannot literally adopt those traditions that were natural even not so long ago, even at the beginning of the twentieth century. There was a migration from the village to the cities, the peasantry was destroyed in our country, in our modern language there is no word that can be called a farmer. Life has changed dramatically. Therefore, now the question of the forms of physical fasting is so acute: earlier people had a greater margin of safety. People ate differently: milk was not from a bag, but from under a cow, bread from the oven, spring water, clean air. The peasant actively owned 10,000 operations. Imagine - we will be offered to harness a horse. Repair the plow, fold the hut. How amazingly they wielded an ax!

“And if fasting is perceived even by a believer not as a sacrifice to God, but simply as a restriction established by the Church, November 28 has come and that’s it, now the month is neither meat nor milk.

“Of course, even if a person relates to fasting without due depth, but fasts out of obedience to the Mother Church, then he renders obedience, and obedience is virtue itself. And if you fast unconsciously, then the Lord fills and grants a deep understanding of fasting.

- Father, is it right for pregnant women to limit themselves to their favorite food, and eat less tasty, albeit fast food? In particular, readers remember the 8th canon of St. Timothy of Alexandria: “He orders a woman who gave birth on Easter fortecost not to observe a legal fast, but to fortify herself as much as possible with the use of wine and moderate food, for fasting was invented to curb the body, and when it is weak, it does not need curbing, but in help to recover and collect the former strength.

In this rule, everything is said in accordance with the high Greek learning: reinforce yourself in food limited. If food should be eaten as a medicine - eat it, or maybe fasting and there is no need to be treated? Moreover, this rule does not cancel fasting, the reason why we fast is also indicated here: we fast in order to be able to limit our desires. But disease itself is a limitation.

Of course, with toxicosis - a painful condition, with poor health, you need to eat what the body requires. But I would like to rely on an authority that is quite far from pregnancy: Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov: “That soldier who does not want to be a general is bad. Every soldier must understand his maneuver."

What are you fasting for? If you are a mom, your task is to give birth to a healthy baby: you need to eat right, and your state should be peaceful, joyful, and it should be transmitted to your child. If you feel bad, then eat what the body requires. And we begin to grind - otherwise it’s possible, but this? So, either you set yourself the task of giving birth to a baby and more than one, or you turn fasting into Pharisaic literalism. If your heart is peaceful, joyful, then the feat is right, but if you treat God as a bookkeeper who counts for you what you ate, then you are mistaken. But at the same time, it is very easy for a person to relax and give himself unnecessary indulgences. This requires both self-control, and church life, and reliance on the advice of a confessor and people who already have experience in this area.

- That is, a fasting person needs to go between Scylla and Charybdis in order not to lose strength and to offer sacrifice to God?

Fasting is not a referral to the hospital! We must fast as strictly as we can.

Often believers begin to fast excessively: jealousy not according to reason, in my opinion, is associated with the loss of traditions. After all, the issues of fasting, in fact, should be decided not so much by the priest as by the traditions of the family. In a large patriarchal family, where grandmothers, grandfathers, uncles, aunts fasted, a child from childhood saw before him all kinds of fasting, how adults fasted, how the pregnant wives of older brothers fasted, whether the sick fasted.

Limit yourself, especially pregnant women, should be reasonable. For example, to limit from negative external impressions, the main source of which is the TV, from the habit of judging, washing each other's bones. The apostle Paul says, “Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. Give thanks in everything” (1 Thess. 5:16-18). If your condition is like this, your fast is pleasing to God. If you are unable to keep such joy, then you are not fulfilling the main task of fasting. But even if you somehow limit yourself, the Lord will reward it, He kisses the intention.

Fast not for your own glory, but for the glory of God

Archpriest Igor Pchelintsev , clergyman of the Nizhny Novgorod diocese.

It seems to me that fasting depends on the spiritual and physical strength of the woman herself. For a woman who is churched, carrying, perhaps not her first child, living in an Orthodox family during the normal course of pregnancy, it is probably possible to fast according to the charter (but with the prudence that is expected from a normally churched person).

People with little church, who do not have sufficient experience of Christian life, should probably have a different measure of fasting. To begin with, we should think about the basics - about faith in Christ and about knowing the gospel. And then many want to fast (or not fast) for their own glory, and not for the glory of God, as the Apostle Paul says - "I eat, I eat for the glory of God, I do not eat - I do not eat for the glory of God." Do not indulge your desires in general, but also do not sew up your mouth - feel like a baby.

There is no need to ask for a blessing as a sanction for fasting or for its resolution. Before fasting, ask for blessings from the confessor or parish priest. Just a blessing. It is not necessary for the confessor to approve a list of what is and what is not (and in what quantity) - this is simply unworthy of our church life.

From the questions asked, we see that often the problem of fasting is, first of all, a problem of nutrition, but (as you know) fasting is not only abstinence from food. The mind fasts, the human heart fasts, the tongue fasts. The patristic teaching calls for fasting to do deeds of mercy and kindness, to learn from the Holy Scriptures, to repent of sins, to pray harder than usual, to attend services (if possible), to partake of the Holy Mysteries. And vice versa - to move away from unnecessary entertainment, vanity of the mind, idle talk and other evil. All this is more important than gastronomy and much more important in general for the mother and her unborn baby.

Always rejoice!

Matushka Inna Viktorovna Asmus , mother of 9 children, wife of Archpriest Valentin Asmus

As St. Seraphim of Sarov said, eat what you want, just don’t eat each other. This is our main problem. I think that pregnant women should eat according to science and there is nothing wrong with a pregnant woman being attracted to a certain product and she eats it. Fasting is a purely personal matter for each person. One should not only forget about the words of the holy Apostle Paul: “Always rejoice, give thanks to God for everything”, there is no need to try to turn Christianity into something mournful.

The measure of fasting is individual

Olga Dmitrievna Getmanova, raised 9 children. In 2006, she was awarded the Patriarchal Badge of Motherhood by His Holiness Patriarch Alexy. The wife of Roman Nikolaevich Getmanov, a well-known obstetrician-gynecologist.

Fasting during pregnancy is undoubtedly individual: if you want, eat meat, if you don’t want, don’t eat. If you do not eat meat for a month and a half, nothing will happen to you or your child. You won't be fasting all year. I myself love potatoes - I feel good with them in fasting. If you can't live without kebabs, then eat them. And if you need dairy, eat it. Just don't eat.

I don’t ask the confessor how exactly I should fast during pregnancy, but I know that he allows his parishioners to fast during dairy fasting during pregnancy.

In fact, protein consumption is no longer during pregnancy, but during feeding - that's when it's tight without milk. You fast for a week and you feel that the milk has become noticeably less.

Another well-known fact: during the blockade of Leningrad, completely emaciated women gave birth to full-weight children. This means that everything they need, they themselves take from the mother's body. It’s the mother’s teeth that can then break and hair fall out ... (Smiles)“

Refrain from what you are addicted to

Mother Elena Karpenko , mother of three children, wife of priest Dmitry Karpenko.

For a woman, pregnancy is her feat, that small sacrifice to God that she can make. You need to fast according to your strength, because, unfortunately, modern women are not so strong physically, and spiritually, I think, too. If there was a short break between pregnancies, fasting is very difficult, I know from my own experience.

You need to eat whatever you want and limit yourself only to what is not particularly necessary. Each woman must determine her diet for herself, find the "golden mean". For me, for example, abstinence from sweets has become such a limitation - to admit, this is my weakness. I know cases when women fasted throughout their pregnancy, strictly observed fasting and gave birth to strong men. That is, if you feel strength in yourself and your health allows, then you can fast.

Fasting is a purely personal matter for everyone ... The most important thing is not to get angry at others. It is necessary to abstain during pregnancy not from meat and yogurt, but from what you have an addiction to. You can limit yourself from watching TV, idle talk. After all, try not to judge, which is much harder than not eating a piece of meat.

Questions about nutrition during pregnancy are more appropriate to ask the doctor you are seeing. Still, it is worth going to confession not with questions about food, but with spiritual problems and experiences.

How to eat right during fasting is known, since there is a specific list of prohibited and permitted foods, it remains only to choose what you like and cook lean and healthy food. Well, as for sports, is it possible to continue training or is it best to stop classes for a while, and we will try to find out.

Religious aspect

During fasting, it is recommended to refrain from any actions of a “carnal” nature, but if you understand fitness as one of the pastime options that is aimed at improving the body, there is no contradiction in this. But it is worth considering that during fasting it is forbidden to consume animal products, that is, you reduce to a minimum the intake of protein in the body. Because of this, increased physical activity can lead to fatigue, irritability, and even exhaustion, so if you decide not to give up sports during fasting, then you need to take measures to rule out health problems.

Some rules

In order for you to have energy and strength for training, you need to correctly compose a daily menu. If you eat only porridge and bread, the body will not receive the necessary substances that are needed for training. Be sure to eat fruits, honey, nuts, and soy products.

If you are on a strict fast and have eliminated meat from your diet completely, you can replace it with special soy protein shakes that will provide the body with the protein you need for training, but you will not break the fast.

Some athletes say that during fasting, through training, they discover new opportunities in themselves. At first, playing sports will be a little hard to bear, since there is practically no strength due to lack of energy, but after a while a new strength opens up and ease of movement appears. Thanks to this, training is very easy, extra pounds go away, and you feel at your best. Given this, we can conclude that sports during the fasting period cannot seriously harm the body.

Remember that fasting is not a diet that is not aimed at losing weight, but self-control and restriction in everything. This also applies to the emotional state, various excessive pleasures, etc. Keep this in mind, and do not turn fasting into a regular diet.

What to choose?

If you decide to play sports during fasting, then it is better to refuse to visit the gym and give your preference to aerobic exercise for this time. Also during this period, it is recommended to abandon training, for which it is necessary to use various sports equipment that increase the load. Moreover, you don’t need to start new sports for you, put it off for a while. Set a goal not to change your figure and physical shape, but simply to maintain it. Trust your body and feelings, if you feel even a slight malaise, it is best to refrain from playing sports during fasting.

Prohibitions on fasting and sports

It is not recommended to fast, and even more so to play sports at this time, for children, pregnant women, as well as for the sick and the elderly. If you adhere to a strict fast, that is, you are practically starving, then it is better to give up physical activity, as this can lead to exhaustion of the body, disruption of homeostasis, and also cause serious problems with the heart and blood vessels. Before starting a fast, you can consult a doctor for advice to draw up an optimal diet for this period in order to have enough energy for sports.

But, as you know, fasting is not shown to everyone. So, the canonical books themselves say that it is actually forbidden for pregnant women and sick people to fast. It is worth beingware of young fragile organisms and the elderly.

Fasting is contraindicated in any disease. That is why it is said that old people do not need to fast. Old age is always one or another chronic disease. And in this case, fasting - as a departure from traditional nutrition - causes a relapse of these diseases, a deterioration in the condition. It negatively affects digestion, liver, kidneys. Fasting is also contraindicated for children. It is a growing organism that needs constant nourishment. Its absence can lead to a delay in the development of the musculoskeletal system and other problems of growth and development.

But here is the paradox: fasting is not always shown to perfectly healthy young people. In particular, when it comes to the constant stress of a big city and serious physical exertion.

Even if we are talking about completely healthy people, without chronic diseases, no infections like flu, anyway, severe during fasting exercise stress, in particular in gym, is contraindicated. During fasting, there are completely hungry days, there are days of dry eating, and classes on these days exhaust the body, can cause problems in the cardiovascular system, homeostasis. Indeed, in the classroom, protein is consumed, which we cannot replenish with meager lean food. And in general, the diet of an athlete simply must be varied due to the peculiarities of the functioning of his body, otherwise all the hidden and sluggish negative processes in the body become aggravated.

What can you advise those believers who still want to fast, but not give up their regular classes?

If you follow the fast with moderate zeal, often eat seafood, for example, then classes can be continued. But it must be borne in mind that you need to alternate power and aerobic loads (only power exercises are contraindicated). Also, don't overexert yourself. Perhaps, at the time of fasting, one should choose the tactics of maintaining the form, and not changing it.
And, of course, a varied diet is needed, as far as possible in the conditions of the pace of life in the metropolis. The main problem of the fasting clients of fitness clubs today is the lack of time. The road to the office, often sedentary work, the road to the club, where you just want to take care of the body so that it lives and prospers, the road home ... All this eats up almost the whole day - there is no time to cook for yourself. And fasting comes down to potatoes, bread and tea. In the meantime, lean foods - if approached wisely - can be surprisingly varied. If you try to observe this diversity, then fasting will not have a negative impact.
And last - but not least - a note for all those who fast. It is important to remember that fasting is not a diet, as many perceive it to be. This is not a refusal to eat and a way to lose weight. If you look, legumes, cereals, cereals are not shown to every person in ordinary life, and not only during the period of starvation. Fasting is, first of all, self-restraint in everything. This concerns not only food, but also negative emotions, excessive pleasures, many areas, up to married life. And therefore, everyone should think about what exactly his desire to fast should be manifested in.

Food during fasting

During fasting, you need to eat a balanced diet. Every day, the body should receive 100 g of fat, 100 g of protein, 400 g of carbohydrates. In this case, food should be 4 meals a day or 5 meals a day, since without animal proteins, saturation occurs slowly.

1. Take multivitamins, eat honey, nuts, seeds, beans, soy, peas.
2. Cook cereals from a variety of cereals, eat berries, vegetables in different forms, greens.
3. Bread preferably from coarse grains, black, gray, white, but not rich.
4. Drink plenty of fluids: mineral water, rosehip broth, green tea, herbal teas, dried fruit compotes. Freshly squeezed juices, jelly, apples, bananas, dates are useful.
5. Salads from raw, pickled and pickled will help diversify the diet; vegetables. Tasty and healthy baked potatoes with vegetables, oatmeal, buckwheat, pearl barley, wheat, millet, semolina.
6. It is advisable to cook vegetable soups, lean borscht, cabbage soup.

But what about training during fasting, because they require energy, and energy is taken from food? Let's figure it out.

Where to get strength?

Recall that the main energy for movement, and hence for training, is carbohydrates. Already against their background, the very fats that cover our body with deposits of various shapes are involved in the decay. So, to train, first of all, you need to eat carbohydrate foods!

With this, according to the rules of the post, everything is in order. In fasting, you can eat cereals, potatoes, pasta. All these products contain a lot of carbohydrates, and just suitable for weight loss - “slow”. Unlike “fast” ones (such as sugar), they are digested for a long time, so the feeling of satiety lasts longer.

During fasting, the feeling of satiety is, of course, a problem. Especially for those who at other times are used to eating a lot of meat products. Even with a stomach filled with cereals, such a person may be hungry. And hunger during training is a dangerous thing - you can easily faint.

Go for the trick. Have mashed soups, potatoes and cereals with gravies and sauces in your meals, especially two to three hours before training. They make food more satisfying.

Glorious Protein

But with animal proteins (proteins), the situation is not so simple. It is them that we will be almost deprived of throughout the post. And this is where the serious danger for weight loss and health lies. Indeed, during training, especially strength training, protein is consumed! It must be replenished in the amount of 0.8-1.5 g per 1 kilogram of body weight. The lower number is for moderately exercising women, the upper one is for actively exercising men. In addition, for a city dweller, fasting often turns into a monotonous diet: pasta, potatoes, bread, sometimes porridge - there is simply no time to cook tasty and varied food. But the diet of a person who moves a lot must be varied, otherwise he will not receive all the necessary substances.

How to be? First of all, give up hard training and weight training. Fasting workouts should be lighter, as after an illness or injury. Running should be changed to walking, strength training - to exercises, aerobics - to walks. As for protein, eat fish on the days it's allowed. There is enough of it in fish, and in the absence of meat, it will help to recover from training. Eat more legumes and soy, they are also rich in protein, however, it is poorly absorbed due to the large amount of plant enzymes. However, now there are many soy products where the protein is presented in a relatively well-digestible form. By the way, in its amino acid composition, it is closest to animal protein.

"SIDE EFFECTS" OF THE FAST

The "reduced" intake of nutrients during fasting can sometimes lead to some " side effects". They can occur due to changes in the internal processes in your body. Blood pressure and blood sugar levels fall, metabolism changes, and stored toxins are released into the blood in order to be removed from the body. In the first days of fasting, these changes can lead to certain symptoms: restlessness, drowsiness, headache, hunger and thirst, nausea and fatigue, increased nervousness, constipation, and muscle pain.

However, experience shows that those who experience the most discomfort during fasting are precisely those who need it the most. The most common symptoms are chills, fatigue and hunger. Hunger, by the way, disappears on the second or third day of a long fast. By the best means against these sensations are fresh air, sun exposure, relaxing environments, warm baths and soothing teas. Tea infused with herbs (plus a little honey) helps well against fatigue and hunger and relieves headaches. And chamomile tea is very helpful for insomnia.

WATER OR JUICE?

A number of nutritionists believe that fasting on fresh raw vegetable and fruit juices, along with pure vegetable soups and broths and tea with the addition of herbs quickly leads to the restoration of the body and a more effective removal of toxins than starvation "on the water." Raw juices are rich in vitamins, minerals, enzymes and sugars. These nutrients are easily absorbed without overburdening the body, helping to speed up cell repair and overall rejuvenation of the body. During fasting, the body "burns" and releases huge amounts of accumulated waste. We can make this process easier if we drink alkaline juices instead of water during the fast. I have observed many fasts and have done extensive research and testing on the features of fasting, and I am convinced that it is much more effective to drink fruit and vegetable juices than water when fasting. Withdrawal from the body of uric and other inorganic acids will be accelerated.

You can choose from a huge variety of vegetable juices. An excellent combination is carrots, celery and parsley. The ideal ratio is five pieces of carrot, two celery, and a sprig of parsley. Parsley is used in such small quantities because of its high iron content. Carrot-apple and carrot-beet juices are very popular. If you drink different juices throughout the day, you will provide your body with an excellent set of nutrients found in various vegetables.

Vegetable broths can be prepared from potatoes, carrots, green beans, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, cabbage turnips and onions, which are boiled for about half an hour over low heat in fresh and clean water, poured into a large saucepan with a lid, filtered and drunk.

Herbal teas are a great addition to your menu. Mint, chamomile and rose hips are very pleasant to the taste. A cup of chamomile is best to drink at night. Rosehip contains vitamin C. Peppermint is great for refreshing after a workout.

When you feel thirsty, drink running water. You can drink about two and a half liters of juices and vegetable broths per day and the same amount of water. Do not drink in one gulp. Enjoy your drink. If hunger rebels and begins to cut in the stomach, pacify this carnage with a glass of water.