My family loves food. In fact, it is the one thing we will spend money on versus things like clothing, shoes, or sports . There's something delicious about a taco with all of the fixings: tomato, lettuce, cheese, onions, avocado, hot sauce, and your choice of meat. There is nothing like a freshly baked brownie or warm chocolate chip cookie with ice cream to satisfy your sweet tooth. (Man, anybody else's mouth watering?!) We love finding new places to try, and I like finding new things to cook. But, in this day and age, this can become a large expense on both our bank account and our body.
Fasting for Change
As the New Year rolled in, my husband and I started thinking about the vision for our year. (Yes, we hopped on the New Year, New Me bandwagon!) We decided to create a vision board with our daughter and participate in a fast with our church for 21 days. Our goals were to set intentions for our year personally, financially, and spiritually for our family.
As others chose full fasts (abstaining from food completely from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. or longer), we were led to do a partial fast and settled on the Daniel Fast. This meant eating only fresh, frozen, or dried fruits and vegetables, whole grains, beans and legumes, and drinking mostly water and avoiding: animal products, added sugar, yeast (goodbye, bread!), and anything processed, fried, or enriched. OH YEAH, did I mention? No caffeine or alcohol! It was a complete diet shake up, but we knew we had the support we needed (and prayer!) to see us through it.
 |
Week 1 Highlights
After planning out our meals and using a meal box site for guidance, here are some results from the first week!
Physical:
- Easier to wake up to alarm at 5 a.m.
- 3 pounds lost (with little to no exercise)
- No bloating!
- Some gas from the veggie and bean shift (less STINKY!)
- More sustaining energy throughout the day
- Better focus!
- Less SWEATING and body odor!
Spiritual:
- Better discipline with prayer and reading the Bible (morning, afternoon, and family prayer)
- More communication with God in the small details (meals to eat, what to start next, etc.)
- Stronger prayer and consistent flows of prayer (hearing from God and being grateful)
- Encouraged to persevere and deny cravings (feeling the nudge to say no and move on)
My husband and I were fully committed to doing this fast and reset, so we could gain clarity on our goals. To experience these results in only ONE WEEK is miraculous and has really shown me the connection between denying our desires and craving God's. I know not everyone who reads this is a Christian and that is just fine. However, I hope you can be encouraged to step out and try something like this even if it is one meal at a time!
To help you get started, check out this taco recipe inspired by the Daniel Fast!
 |
Stay tuned for Week 2 of our fast and keep an eye out for more recipes to try! You can also subscribe to my FREE weekly newsletter to stay up to date on family friendly events and resources here!
DISCLAIMER: This information is based solely on my personal experience with fasting and should not be considered medical advice. If you have a medical condition, talk to your doctor before embarking on a food or beverage fast of any length of time. This applies to those who, for example, have diabetes, take medications, or are pregnant.
