The Daniel Fast

A couple of years ago my brother-in-law did the Daniel fast. At the time, I had no idea what it was except that it was a very strict eating plan. Something along the lines of no dairy, meat and sugar. He pretty much only ate salads and fruit.

Well, I decided a week or so ago that maybe doing some sort of cleanse would benefit my body but also (most importantly!) my waistline. I originally was going to do Dr. Oz's 48 hour cleanse until I remembered Wayne doing the Daniel fast. I researched the Daniel fast and found that there were a couple of books available and headed straight for the bookstore.

I picked up a copy of The Daniel Fast by Susan Gregory and my plan to help my body become more healthy (and my waistline smaller) turned into something much more. Through reading the book, I decided to use the next 20 days to grow my relationship with God. Since I rarely devote any time during the day to praying or studying I decided to abstain from Facebook (I am on it WAY to much), follow the diet (fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts) and most importantly, study my Bible every morning before I workout (God doesn't want to be second best to anything, not even my workout!).

I have chosen to do the daily devotional provided in the book and also read a chapter of Proverbs each day. My goal is to gain a closer relationship with my Heavenly Father and spend time actually reading the one book on this earth that truly should be read cover-to-cover. I have yet to read my Bible cover-to-cover in my thirty twenty-nine (I only have 20 more days in my twenties. Yikes!) years on this earth. I know I am not doing it right now but, I think tackling one chapter at a time is the way to go.

I originally started down this road so lose a few extra pounds but I am hoping at the end of this 20 days I will have learned something, grown closer to my maker and be able to be a better roll model for my kids.

I did start yesterday. Well, partially since I had to do all of my grocery shopping. My breakfast was oatmeal with cinnamon and pecans(yup, no sugar). It was hard to choke down! I am so used to having one teaspoon of brown sugar in there and that one teaspoon makes a HUGE difference. I did cheat and have a cup of coffee (you're only supposed to drink water) and I did make a black eyed pea dip that had dairy in it. But, dinner was a vegan chili that was absolutely delicious. Even Rusty really enjoyed it!

Thankfully, Rusty is being very supportive of my decision to do this fast. He said he is willing to eat the vegan dinners with me at night so I am not having to whip up two meals. Thank goodness!!

I'll keep you posted on how it goes!