Fasting has never gone so slowly.
CHS students and staff began Lent Feb. 10, a 40-day period of self reflection and fasting leading up to Easter. Lent is a period of fasting from a food or habit, but the specific sacrifice depends on the denomination’s instructions or the person’s particular choice.
Senior Adamandia Frantzis is a member of the Greek Orthodox Church, which requires healthy and able members to fast from meat and dairy products for Lent.
“For me it is a way to challenge and discipline myself in a way that’s good for my physical health and my spiritual health,” Frantzis said.
While Frantzis must give up meat and dairy, it’s common for people to fast from different foods, often desserts.
AP Economics teacher Monica Malanoski, who is Catholic, has chosen to give up desserts and sweets for Lent.
“Lent is a time to understand the sacrifice that Jesus made for us and is a time for us to make a sacrifice,” Malanoski said. “Sugar, and all that is sweet, is a particularly difficult thing for me to give up because I have a rather large sweet tooth.”
Still, others choose to fast from a certain habit or behavior.
Sophomore Lelia Durand gave up Netflix for the 40 days.
According to Durand, the task has been challenging, to the point where it resulted in her getting a free one week of Hulu to watch Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal..
Junior Dan Alpert will fast for the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur from Oct. 11-12 this year.
Yom Kippur is a time of fasting from sunrise to sunset to focus on wrongdoings of the year.
“There is a time during the day when you forget that you haven’t eaten and you just aren’t hungry anymore,” Alpert said. “That’s the best time because you aren’t distracted by being hungry and it gives you a sense of peace and time to reflect on the past year.”
Islam’s holy month of Ramadan also has observers fast from sunrise to sunset. In Islam, fasting during Ramadan is one of the five major pillars of the religion. This year, Muslims will fast for 16 hours a day from June 5-July 5.
“In Ramadan, there’s no food or water from sunrise to sunset,” junior Neeku Misaghian said. “It’s spiritual cleanising; a way to feel the hardship of people who don’t have what you have and a way to get closer to God.”
In Hinduism, optional fasts are frequent. Hindus can fast on a certain day of the week and during religious festivals, for God and for physical health.
According to hinduismfacts.org, each day of the week is associated with a deity, and fasting on that day pleases the deity and minimizes suffering.
“Fasting in Hinduism is a way to cleanse,” senior Shivram Iyer said. “Sometimes, it’s to commemorate cut blood ties, like the custom of fasting when one’s grandfather dies or for traditional times like Shivarathri, where we fast to cleanse both the spirit and body.”
Most religions have some form of fasting, which followers use as a spiritual cleanse, but it also proves to be a bonding experience when people can come together and reflect upon themelves and the world around them.