Lenten fasting is not about outward appreance but our inner life with God.

And when you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.
Matthew 6:16-18


“Fasting is the soul of prayer, mercy is the lifeblood of fasting. So if you pray, fast; if you fast, show mercy; if you want your petition to be heard, hear the petition of others. If you do not close your ear to others, you open God’s ear to yourself.”
St. Peter Chrysologus