Ash Wednesday and the Start of Lent

 Today is Ash Wednesday and it is the 1st day of the Christian season of Lent. Now, I have never been much for fasting during Lent. About 10 years ago, I fasted as best I could from sugar and after 40 days, my pants were quite bigger than they used to be. Growing up, my Methodist church would distribute little coin banks in the shape of a loaf of bread called "Love Loaves" and it was in these little coin banks that we were expected to deposit our spare change. On Easter Sunday, we would bring these banks to the church and deposit them in the collection plate for some kind of obscure or lesser known charity I was not aware of at the time. Fasting or giving up something during Lent was never something stressed by my parents growing up. 

This year, I'm trying to do what is a called a "Lenten Black Fast". Here is what Wikipedia has to say about this kind of fast: 

Historically, using the early Christian form known as the Black Fast, the observant does not consume food for a whole day until the evening, and at sunset, Christians traditionally break the Lenten fast of that day with supper (no food is consumed in a day apart from the Lenten supper). In India and Pakistan, many Christians continue this practice of fasting until sunset on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, with many fasting in this manner throughout the whole season of Lent. This practice is similar to Muslim fasting during Ramadan

 Today was Day 1 of my fast and I have not eaten anything since last night. I cannot eat for another 45 minutes, but I do not feel hungry. More updates to come daily about my Lenten Fast. 

2/23 Update: I ended up eating 4 scrambled eggs, some ramen or soba noodles from japan, 2 dates, and 1 banana. I learned this morning that I'm supposed to abstain from eggs and flesh meat during my fast, so once I finish my 2 remaining eggs, I will be following that guideline.