Mediaeval and Early Modern Christendom too, well up until the 19th-20th centuries when it was all relaxed out of existence in the Roman Catholic Church. I always try following Mediaeval rules where I can. I am a Mediaevalist tho, I have a bias.
Even then, there were differences. The Reformation in England maintained the distinction between ‘meat’ and ‘fish’, but I have found nothing approximately the full Orthodox rules in 16th/17th century Anglican manuals (and it’s not from lack of searching). The Roman Catholic Church’s rules were similar to the Orthodox, but as you say those were more or less phased out over the last 100-150 years, so that now Western Catholics are left with the inane (and ascetically dubious) practice of only abstaining from meat on Fridays.
So in fact your Eastern Orthodox abstainers fast 6 days longer than even Jesus Christ did. That's impressive, especially if they don't make a fuss about it, do it in secret and don't let anyone else know they're doing it. May God's reward for them be enjoyed openly. .
If my memory is correct, the rule prohibiting olive oil is relaxed on Sundays (which, believe me, does actually make a difference). So there does remain a distinction between Sundays and ‘ferias’, though one would have to be Orthodox to really notice it. There is also a ‘break’ for Annunciation, which tends to fall in the middle of Orthodox Lent. The fast also includes Holy Week, which is not considered part of Lent (in either Eastern or Western practice, if I’m not mistaken). The fast thus partially begins 1 week before Lent and continues for 1 week afterward.
Exactly - 6 days longer than Jesus did. Impressive. My wife once knew how many days and nights I was going without food completely, sometimes, but no one else did, who weren't there at the time. The thing not to do is go without water. Also drink luke warm water rather than hot or cold. When practiced privately and accompanied by meditation and prayer it can have remarkable effects. God certainly rewards. .
Jesus fasted from all foods for 40 days. Lent is not a total fast from all food, so it's not nearly the same. I don't see what point you're trying to make? It's 46 days, you can look it up. It starts on Ash Wednesday and goes til Easter Sunday. You can't black fast (totally fast, no food at all) on Sundays, but you stick to your broader fast.
I had never heard a fast from all food for a number of days termed a 'black' fast before this. Have you ever fasted for one or more days and nights in this fashion, the way Jesus is said to have done? .
Very wise not to try it then. Wisdom comes with high recommends from God Although I could easily afford to lose a few pounds, (according to my GP), fasting in that fashion, for that particular purpose, would be foolish, possibly injurious to health and to lose weight, generally futile. Any more than a three day total fast is not medically recommended but most of us in the over indulgent western world would come to no harm in a properly managed three days fast. It can increase perception and clarify the mind wonderfully, especially when seeking guidance from God. It doesn't need to be only in the Lent season, but shouldn't be entered into without advice from those with knowledge and experience though. Even breaking a three day fast needs to be managed with due care. .
God’s Covenant With Noah 9 Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. 2 The fear and dread of you will fall on all the beasts of the earth, and on all the birds in the sky, on every creature that moves along the ground, and on all the fish in the sea; they are given into your hands. 3 Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.
How does this tie in with parts of Leviticus 11 eg? There are some that only chew the cud or only have a divided hoof, but you must not eat them, and All flying insects that walk on all fours are to be regarded as unclean by you.
There are a lot of specific new instructions given in the law following the exodus, but vegetarianism is not one of them.