Day 1 - Daniel Fast

DAY 1:  January 13, 2014

Breakfast:  Strawberry smoothie with 1 cup of freshly extracted apple juice (literally put fresh organic apples through a juicer) and about 1 cup of frozen strawberries and blend.  This is my new favorite!

Lunch:  Juiced kale, 1 large pear (or 2 small), 2 green apples and 1 lime.


Dinner:  Smoothie with 1 cup orange juice (freshly extracted), frozen strawberries, spinach and banana. This was pretty good, I think I'll use a different brand of oranges next time.

Click for more smoothie & juicing recipes.

Snacks today:  pistachios, popcorn (just popcorn kernels and sunflower seed oil), fruit.

LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS OF WATER!  Today I drank 72 oz. of water (but I also had a lot of other fluids from my juice and 2 smoothies.)  I will be trying to increase this ounce number throughout the week.

Stats:  I went to the dentist and had my blood pressure taken and it was 99 / 64.  Normal and healthy.

Exercise:  I did a 30-minute bike ride, about 15 minutes of stretching and a light 30-minute walk.  I'm not doing CrossFit during this week while fasting, but I will be doing little things like this to push all the "crap" out of my body.

Prayer:  I went to Celebration Church this morning for the prayer session they had from 6am - 7am.  This was a new experience for me.  My goal is to go 5 days (M-F) this week and to also reflect on the scripture they give.

We focused on 2 Chronicles 7:14 that says:

Throughout the day I never felt deprived or that I was "missing" anything.  Here's what I did realize:

• American television is a HOT mess!  I was getting a pedicure and the TV was on with no sound.  While watching it you learn more about the underlying messages because you're watching, not listening.  I learned that everything is so superficial.  How skinny can you get?  What anti-age products are you using?  This is what happy looks like!  Etc. Etc.
• I'm looking at food differently.  Sure, it's great to have moments where food gives you pleasure and happiness like a nice milk chocolate candy bar.  But as I do this Daniel fast, I think about the people of the New Testament and how they ate.  They only had what God provided for them.  None of this processed, GMO, superficial crap if you will.  
• You gotta do what God wants you to do.  Meaning... you need to do what's right.  Some people say Daniel Fasts includes nut butters, others don't.  Some people think/believe you need to pray for __ number of hours.  You need to set your personal and Godly goals that'll help you achieve your ultimate goal, which is getting closer to God.  Everyone has their own opinion, and that's okay, but you need to be able to live with your opinion.

So we today, as a society, are dealing more with the pressures to be skinny instead of healthy and be social and indulge more than ever before.  Where's the balance?  What's "normal?"  Am I the "normal" for fasting and eating more biblically, because as part of a fast you're supposed to disconnect from the world?  (And to clarify, I mean disconnect from the world on a food basis, not on a social media and blogging basis.)

The real test will be tomorrow when I'm back in the office.  I had today off so it was great to relax, squeeze in a nap, have 100% access to our kitchen to prepare all foods, and pray.