Day 15 - Sunday

Down 0.8 pounds from yesterday, 13.4 from the beginning, and 89.4 from my heaviest weight. 

Today was an uneventful day for this fast. 

I’m counting down the days until I can eat solid food again.  Wednesday night I’ll make some yogurt to start eating Thursday morning so I can replenish good bacteria in my digestive system.  That day I’ll shop for fruit and veggies to make salads with for the next two days.  I’ll cook up some chicken and eggs to put on the salad (yay!). 

I had a dream last night that I was eating mindlessly.  I was popping some kind of cake-ball things in my mouth and then later I was at a restaurant with Brianne and was drinking Coke like it was going out of style.  The glass I was drinking out of was only about 4 ounces but there was another glass that was probably 20 ounces sitting there too.  I remembered putting my straw into it but I think then it became a 4-oz. glass too.  Weird.  I then realized I was drinking Coke and it turned my stomach.  Not that I don’t like Coke, but if anything I would’ve ordered Dr Pepper.  What turned my stomach is that I was drinking anything carbonated at all.  It was doing nothing good for my body.  I should’ve been drinking water. 

I went for a 1-mile walk yesterday and even ran about 100 steps!  It wasn’t anything like the running I used to do and will get back to next week, but it was something. 

Day 3

Angie, thank you.  I just prayed for you.  Ask God to show you how he wants you to honor Him.  Have you ever fasted before?  If not, I recommend starting slowly by going just one hour longer in the morning before you eat.  If you normally get up at 6 and eat right away, wait until 7.  The next time go for 8.  Then 9.  You’ll eventually work your way up to all day.  The point is saying, “God, I love you more than _____________, and here’s how I’m going to show that.” 

Tina, good for you!  It’s better to let it go to waste than to let it go to waist! 

Down 1.6 pounds from yesterday and 4.6 from beginning. 

A smoothie made of beet greens and an apple/veggie juice is nasty!  I added apple cider, applesauce, and cinnamon and it's much better. 

I made my first veggie broth this morning with beets, mushrooms, carrots, broccoli, green peppers, and yellow squash along with Old Bay seasoning, thyme, chipotle powder, and basil.  Oh, and the leftover Carmelita's salsa!  Quite colorful and I'm proud of myself for that!  :-)

I cooked it for a few hours in the crockpot then strained the veggies out and froze them for soup after the fast.  I now have broth for Tuesday and Wednesday. 

I chopped the beet greens and stems and put them in the blender along with some Apple & Eve Fruitables Apple Harvest juice.  By itself it's not too sweet, which is good, but the beet greens need sweetness!  I had to add apple cider, applesauce, and cinnamon to it and now have enough smoothie for today and tomorrow also!  I won't be using beet greens in a smoothie again, but I'm not going to waste this batch. 

Insights from A Hunger for God by John Piper:

Food is good.  But God is better. 

...from time to time we need to test ourselves to see if we have begun to love His gifts in place of God.  

It is the passionate resolve to resist anything that lures the heart away from an all-controlling satisfaction in God. 

I will...allow my heart to be probed with fasting to see where my allegiance is and who is my God.  



Physically, I'm feeling fine.  I get tired a little more than usual, but that's to be expected.  I take a nap and am able to continue on with my day.

Still Day 1

Okay, I had Brianne take a picture this afternoon to document the start of this journey. 

I actually like this picture.  That's an added benefit of the weight loss these last few years.  I don't automatically dislike pictures of myself. 

I had a salad of spinach, tomatoes, carrots, and cucumbers for lunch with salsa dressing.  The salsa is from Carmelita's and I've said for years that I could eat it with a spoon and forget the chips because it's so good!  It still is, but it seems very salty this time.  Fish tacos I had at Tijuana Flats the other day were very salty too.  I don't like much salt anyway, but these were extra salty.  Now the salsa.  Am I getting more sensitive to salt? 

I also had the salad for supper then went to the store for veggies for the broth starting Tuesday.  I wanted to go to a produce stand and get more unusual veggies, but I was at Wal-Mart with my parents, so that's where I shopped.  I got beets, carrots, green peppers, broccoli, mushrooms, and yellow squash.  I'll add the leftover salsa, onion, and whatever appropriate spices I have on hand.  This is a good start.  The next time I need veggies I can try for more unusual ones.  At least this time I got a variety of colors!

Confession:  I made a cup of tea this afternoon and put half & half in it.  There's supposed to be no dairy on this fast.  My thought was to use it up since I have a half-pint.  I could freeze it, but it's a pain to thaw milk.  I have poured food down the drain as a sacrifice or just to remove the temptation, so I have that option.  I did that just tonight with the little bit of eggnog-flavor creamer I use for tea.  Anyway, I won't have dairy again until February 2 or 3, when I'm transitioning out of the fast. 

One more thing:  I saw this as I walked into Wal-Mart tonight:

A new cereal from Kellog's - Krave.  It's little pillows of grain with chocolate inside.  Or I could get the kind where even the pillows of grain are chocolate.  Or I could've chosen caramel Cheerios (dulce de leche).  Ai yai yai!  I don't expect any better from the world, but still...siiiiiiigh.  Really?  I didn't read the box, but my impression is that this is being marketed as a fairly healthful option.  Seems to me it should be marketed as junk.  Maybe I'm overreacting.  The fact that it's called Krave and one of the books that helped me so much on this issue is called Made to Crave did not escape my notice. 

Stepping off my soapbox now. 

Working and then sleeping.  Good night.  :-)