Orthodox fasting is a year-long givng up of certain foods at certain times, such as most but not all Wednesdays and Fridays. And there are other times when fasting is forbidden (all Saturdays except Great and Holy Saturday), such as the week of the Publican and the Pharisee a month before Lent, the periods after both Christmas and Pascha (Easter).
Likewise, Orthodox fasting is not giving up of all foods but meat and milk products from vertebrates, oil, alcohol, etc. Overeating is frowned on.
All of these are guidelines, not rules or laws. About the only "rule" in Othrodox fasting is that if someone offers you something on the list of foods to be avoided, accept it without comment other than "Thanks." The fasting is to be done in private not public, as mentoned in the Gospels.
Fasting in Orthodoxy is not seen as a means of gaining "merit" with God but a spiritual exercise comparable to working out in a gym.
Also, not everyone can fast as well as someone else. Saint Paul's admonition to Timothy "Have a little wine for thy stomach's sake" indicates that Timothy was to strict in his fasting for his own good. You fast as best you can and don't push it to physical detriment.
Along with an increased prayer life, almsgiving should be increased. The money you save from not eating certain foods could be donated to feeding the hungry.