Fasting should not be legalistic, and it involves way more than just food. Rita explains the various ways in which we can help our children understand and practice all the aspects of a fasting period.

Many of us have family and friends who are not Orthodox. What do we do when company is in our home during a fasting day or period? Rita gives suggestions for showing the gift of hospitality and still keeping the fast. 

Rita answers two questions that she have received from listeners: (1) What do you do when someone prepares a meal for you that has not been made with quality ingredients? (2) What is the best way to participate in exercise while fasting?

Rita explores ways to care for health and lose weight and at the same time share alms through decreasing food waste.

Rita discusses ways to show brotherly love through feeding the sick.

What do you do when you are the only one in your home who is fasting? You have become Orthodox and your spouse has not, or you live with people who simply do not fast. What are some strategies for you to keep the fast? Rita offers some suggestions.

Stress that is not managed affects our health and increases our appetite. Rita discusses ways to handle stressors during this time of year.

Eastern Orthodox Christians eat in a very specific way. With all the discussions about the various diets out there, is this traditional way of eating a way to share the faith? Rita answers in the affirmative and explains why.

Did you overdo it during the fast-free period of the Holy Nativity? Are you frustrated with how you ate and that lack of attention you paid to your body? Do you struggle with overindulgence on foods and beverage? Rita discusses how and why we must forgive ourselves and move forward.

Around the tenth century, we hear the venerable St. Simeon the New Theologian explaining that many illnesses are caused by a disorderly and irregular diet. Does a saint speaking to us one thousand years ago have answers for our food choices today in the world of egg beaters, diet sodas, and fat-free foods?

St. John Chrysostom gives us a rule that can help with portion control in the era of Super Size and the Double Big Gulp. He states that we should “eat just to alleviate your hunger.” This sounds like a very good rule, but how do we apply it to our everyday eating practices? The listener will walk away from this episode with tips on portion control and being satisfied with less. The listener will also learn how this can help with longterm weight and chronic-disease management.

Rita explores ways in which to have a healthy relationship with alcohol.

In his book For the Life of the World, Father Alexander Schmemann writes, "In the Bible the food that man eats, the world of which he must partake in order to live, is given to him by God, and it is given as communion with God. Rita explains how we can work toward making eating a time of communion with God.

Rita encourages us to enter into the true spirit of the fast as we begin Great Lent.

Supporting each other with our health efforts can be an act of love. Rita discusses the importance of taking advantage of the buddy system.

This will be the last podcast for quite some time as Rita takes a break to focus on conducting food and faith workshops. Here she reminds us of the importance of allowing the traditions of our church to be the basis for our health management.

St. Maximus the Confessor explains to us that nothing that God has created is in itself bad. It's the gluttony that is bad, not the food. In this session, Rita looks at snacking and how it can have a negative impact on our health. She also provides some practical tips for moving away from mindless snacking.

Many times we eat outside the home—be it at work, at a friend’s home, or at a restaurant. This podcast will provide strategies on how to eat in a spiritually minded manner in the work environment.

Rita discusses the second chapter of her new book, which focuses on how to create balance with our food choices and also sugar consumption.

Rita discusses the third chapter of her new book, which focuses on portion control.

Rita discusses the fourth chapter of her new book, which focuses on fasting.

Rita introduces her new book Food, Faith, and Fasting: A Sacred Journey to Better Health, published by Ancient Faith Publishing.

Rita discusses the fifth chapter of her new book, which focuses on exercise.

Rita discusses the sixth and final chapter of her new book, which focuses on stress management.

Rita offers suggestions for how to keep your New Year's resolutions.

Rita discusses dedicating a fast to someone to aid us in deepening our prayer for them.

Rita describes the benefits of creative almsgiving for both our spiritual and physical well being.

This PSA provides information about where to access ideas and guidelines for the FFF Group Setting.

Many people feel they are experiencing some intolerance to foods (and for sure some people do) but some may be experiencing stress and when their body is in stressed mode it can create physical symptoms that do not feel the best. We will look at the teachings of the Desert Fathers for some wisdom to help with stress. In addition we will explore the program My Beautiful Lent (http://www.mybeautifullent.com) which is an online program being released this Great Lent (2016) to help decrease the stress that somehow appears during this time. The program aids to simplify Great Lent to allow it to be a fruitful season.

Rita interviews Cynthia Damaskos about the current research on gluten. Rita and Cynthia are the creators of My Beautiful Lent, a program to help Orthodox Christians in all stages of life to use the fast for the nourishment of the soul, leaving room for the blessings that the Church intends and that God wants to give freely. Find out more at http://www.mybeautifullent.com

Rita Madden shares some readings from "Meditations for Great Lent" by Archimandrite Vassilios Papavassiliou, and reminds us that the purpose of Lent is to grow in humility and love. Sign up today to be apart of My Beautiful Lent!

Rita Madden shares the latest research regarding the way fasting helps our bodies to function properly, even as we keep our focus on prayer during Great Lent.

In this podcast, Rita discusses how fasting can actually lead to healthier food choices. She will also look at a 16-hour fasting approach and it's benefits to care for our body and soul alike.

Caring for our health and fighting our passions requires compassion. We need to start with showing compassion to ourselves to aid us in creating sustainable changes.

Rita encourages us to deepen our Advent Fast by simplifying our choices of what and where to eat, so that we can spend more time attending services, praying and serving others who are in need. She also introduces a new program called My Beautiful Advent which can be found at http://www.mybeautifuladvent.com.

Jamey Bennett approached me about doing an interview as on ancientfaith.com he has blogged about fasting and created music about healthy eating. Jamey shares his thoughts from his blog post titled, "Paleo Living and Orthodox Lent."

Rita provides good insights into how we can keep the fast of Great Lent, and encourages us to stay connected to others who can help us be accountable and on the right path.

Rita reflects on the journey of Great Lent, and encourages those of us who feel we have lost our way. Setting realistic goals can help us to keep our focus on the rest of the journey towards Pascha.

Rita discusses how we can face our health struggles in a way that aids in the healing and growth of our souls in Christ.

Rita shares her reflections on a short conversation by two desert fathers on laying new foundations in our lives.

Following the feasts and fasts of the Church cannot only help us care for our own health, but it can also benefit the environment and God's creation.

Rita explains the use of the Sanctification Prayer that we pray before eating, asking the Holy Spirit to fill and guide what we are partaking in.

Rita discusses ways that we can create structure in our lives for silence and prayer.

Rita reflects on how physical objects can help us attain food for our soul, and how we can use physical objects to help us in prayer.

Rita Madden encourages us to prepare our lives for the journey of Great Lent by working for the healing of the whole earth.

Rita Madden encourages us to continue the fast with words from St. Paisios of the Holy Mountain.

Rita Madden shares St. Gregory of Nyssa's writing on The Lord's Prayer, and provides insight on stress management and how to eat.

With fasting being such a buzz diet, craze right now, Rita Madden helps us to gain some perspective through the teachings of St. Issac the Syrian.

We know, with Christ, anything is possible! In this podcast we review the importance of not giving up or losing faith when we are struggling to meet a goal.

As we continue to move through the fast, it is quite beautiful to see how the physical end of our fasting tradition aids us in the spiritual hunger we all feel.