I was born in the mid 50's, raised Roman Catholic,was an altar boy,and even attended a grade school where "Mass before class" was the rule.
We went every day and since we were expected to take Communion , we couldn't eat for three hours before.

.We would bring our breakfast in a bag and eat it at our desks before school began.
The rule back then was no meat on Fridays year round.
After a while we just fasted (refrained from meat) on Fridays during Lent and Xmas Eve.

My Mom was the only family member who fasted every Friday for her whole life.