I assume, of course, that there aren’t many Orthodox Christians among my friends. Mostly Jews, Zoroastrians. Probably quite a few Druids too. But if there is an Orthodox person here, don’t leave a neophyte hanging—help me out. Here’s my question: I decided to observe Great Lent (the main fasting period before Easter in Orthodox Christianity). And so I am. As it turns out, it’s not that hard. A month ago I was on a low-glycemic-index diet (I lost 3 kg / about 6.6 lbs in two weeks, by the way)—that was much harder. So anyway. As I understand it, the dietary side of Great Lent is about not eating anything of animal origin. And I don’t. Nothing at all. But. There is, for example, soy meat. My wife bought some for me. It’s plant-based. Incredibly tasty and almost indistinguishable from the real thing. So here I am eating this fried soy meat with potatoes for dinner. It tastes amazing. But doesn’t that mean I’m fooling myself and trying to fool our dear little God as well? What kind of fast is it if you’re eating all sorts of delicious things? Explain this to me: maybe during the fast I’m actually supposed to give up the things I want most? For example, I really love sweets. But I can eat them if they’re plant-based. That doesn’t seem right to me. Whereas lamb, for example, I’m not supposed to eat, even though I hate even the smell of it. Eating it would be suffering for me. Or take pickled mushrooms. They’re insanely delicious too. But during the fast—go right ahead, eat them. So what am I supposed to do? What’s the right way to handle this? P.S. Please don’t give me advice along the lines of “the main thing is to pray” or “just don’t drink blood” (a joking reference to reducing religion to absurdly minimal rules). I know that already. As I said, I’m specifically interested in the rules for the dietary side of it. Thanks to everyone who responds. And sets me, so to speak, on the True Path.