Another Race On The Sand

I run another 5K on the sand this evening.  This week I’ve been running 10 minutes and walking 2, but I’m going to make it my goal to run 11 and walk 2 during the race.  I’m constantly tweaking my strategy and pushing myself.  When I decided to run 11 and walk 2 a little voice inside said, “Why not just try to run the whole thing?”  Ummmm…I didn’t have an answer for that.  Running is as much mental and spiritual as it is physical, if not more so.  My body can do this.  It has many times before.  Maybe my training schedule is a little slow and I could run the full distance again now, not several weeks or months from now after I work my way up by adding a minute each week.  We’ll see. 

I'm drinking a smoothie today of banana, cottage cheese (protein), strawberries, milk, water, and ginger.  I'll eat a bowl of steel-cut oats two hours before race time. 

I’d love to see y’all at the start/finish line or along the course at Pier 60 at Clearwater Beach this evening.  The race starts at 7.  It’s free to watch, but you’ll have to pay for parking.  I’ll let you know tomorrow how things went. 

Oh, and if you want to run, just show up tonight, pay $10 ($15 if you want a shirt), and do it!  :-)   

Day 17 Tuesday

Down 0.6 pounds from yesterday, 14.8 pounds from the beginning, and 90.8 pounds from my heaviest weight. 

I just heard a sound from the TV that was exactly the sound my tea kettle makes when it whistles.  I wanted to make tea and put cream and honey in it and not care that that would be a shock to my digestive system right now and go against the principles of this fast.  I don’t have any cream in the house, though, and I discovered early in this fast that drinking tea without cream and honey isn’t worth it.  I’d rather do without.  I didn’t have time to think whether I would tell y’all I’d done that or not.  (I would’ve.)  All this happened in less than a second.  The Holy Spirit in me kicked the devil to the curb!  It happened so fast I didn’t have time to fight it in my own strength, and I’m so tired and ready for this to be over that I don’t have much strength to fight anyway.  That was really cool!  Exodus 14:4 - The LORD himself will fight for you.  Just stay calm."

I’ve had two cups of veggie puree this morning and am hungry again, so I poured myself a glass of smoothie.  All through this fast, the smoothies have been what I like better than the puree, but this time when I took a drink I wanted to spit it out.  It wasn’t rotten; I’m just tired of it.  Two more days of this.  Two more days and then I can start chewing again, eating the way God intended but a lot less than I was eating before.  One practical way is that the oatmeal I have every morning that fuels my run can drop from half a cup to 1/3 of a cup. 

Tomorrow's my last liquid day.  Yay!

Day 6

I really can get by on a lot less food than I normally eat. 

I don’t have to have chocolate every day.  I usually keep Dove dark chocolate on hand but sometimes go a week without having any.  In my Christmas stocking Brianne put a package of fun-size caramel Twix, which I really like, and some Dove.  On a shopping trip I got myself a bar of dark chocolate with bacon just to try.  I had been having one piece a day since Christmas and thought I was being disciplined.  Now I see that I can stretch it out even more than that.  I considered adding powdered cocoa to my fruit smoothies for chocolate taste.  I even checked the ingredient list and there were no milk products, just cocoa.  Fine, right?!  God spoke to me and said it’s really not necessary to add it.  I can do without.  This is a fast to rein in my flesh, not to see how close to the edge I can get without violating the guidelines.   

A fast is a good way to find out what’s wrong in your thinking, like with the chocolate.  I just couldn’t understand why I wasn’t losing weight.  I don’t think the chocolate was the only factor, but it’s what was revealed to me just now.  We’ll see if there are other things.   

I was at a dinner book club with friends this evening.  Of course it was at a restaurant.  I took a container of smoothie and a container of broth. 

One of the other ladies set her piece of chocolate cream pie down in front of me. 

Not directly in front of me like she was offering it, but…it was in front of me.  (It's kind of hard to see the pie, but it's just in front of my silver container with black and blue circles on it. Brianne's not here or I would have her make the picture black and white but leave the pie in color.) The victory is that I wasn’t lusting after the pie.  I looked at it but felt no compulsion to eat it for several reasons:   

1. It wasn’t mine.  That would be extremely rude!
2. I don’t like pie.  If I eat it at all, I eat only the filling because I don’t like the crust.  And in most restaurants whipped cream tastes very “industrial.”  This probably would’ve too. 
3. If I’m going to have chocolate, I’m not going to get it from Piccadilly pie.  It’s going to be quality chocolate that’s worth every calorie!
4. I’m fasting.  Duh!  Eating that pie or anything else right now would be direct disobedience to God and therefore sin.  Eating it another time may not be.  But I’m fasting now. 

So I had a victory tonight.  Thank You, God!  It really wasn’t even that much of a battle.  As soon as I saw it I knew I wasn’t going to eat it.  My mind still went through the thought process, though.  I just realized two things as I read over this entry. 

1.  Today was quite the day for chocolate, huh? 
2. That piece of pie never got eaten.  I don’t know why.  She didn’t even take it home to have later.  It seems as if that pie’s only reason for being was to teach me something. 

Day 5

This is the report for yesterday, which was day 5 and one-quarter of the way through this fast. 

I lost 1 more pound from the day before for a total of 6.6 from the beginning. 

I took a walk on the Pinellas Trail while Brianne was in class.  I didn't even attempt to run, knowing that would be asking too much of my body.  I walked for about 40 minutes and a distance of 2 miles.  I felt great!  I did have a little bit of ankle pain so I slowed my pace but otherwise was fine.  I made sure I had something to eat drink before and after and I took a 1-hour nap as soon as we got home. 

When I woke up that's when the hunger hit.  I think I overcompensated by drinking too much smoothie and broth for the next few hours.  I won't be doing any walking today and will do only 1 mile tomorrow. 

In other news, the top I wore yesterday is one I got when I was doing this fast the first time.  When I bought it it was too snug for me to feel comfortable, but it was only $5 and I knew I'd eventually fit into it.  Besides, it had strawberries on it!  I've worn it these last two years and I put it on yesterday too.  It's too big! 

It drapes like a maternity top so I won't be wearing it again!  Time to make it into a pillow. 

Speaking of time, it's time to get today started and make it better than yesterday.  See you tomorrow.

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.

Lessons In A Wave Pool

I often feel like I'm in a wave pool.  Not a mud pool with yucky, dirty sin overwhelming me but nice, clean parenting, work, homeschooling, housekeeping, ministry, friends, family, LIFE! coming as wave after wave after wave.  I can swim just fine, but..it sure would be nice to just rest in a calm pool.    God doesn't see fit to move me right now, though, apparently.  So here I stay and try to praise God in the waves.  

Brianne and I went to Adventure Island Friday and I wanted to see if God would have anything to say to me in an actual wave pool.  The first time I walked into it I heard, "Just go with it."  Just go with the waves and don't try to fight them.  I remembered part of a passage of scripture, "the unforced rhythms of grace."  It's Matthew 11:28-30 in The Message.   "Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."

Friday was a liquid day and I'd had a smoothie before we left the house and had more of it on the way over.  I planned to eat a regular meal at Adventure Island then smoothie after we got home and the rest of the day.  Of course, I would listen to my body and if I needed more solid food than that one meal since it would be such a physical day, I would have more.  My smoothie consisted of two bananas, milk, cinnamon, a few grapes, and an apple.  The second thing I heard in the waves was, "Don't attempt this on just the milk of the Word."  In other words, don't attempt to be in the thick of the waves of life nourished on only easy-to-swallow liquids.  I could stay in only a few minutes the first time then had to get out and get some solid nourishment in me.  You can't expect to handle big waves unless you've first chewed on something substantial and allowed it to permeate and do its job.      

Those are the lessons I learned in a wave pool. 

Who Am I, Really?

Today is a liquid day. I had a smoothie for breakfast, a solid lunch, and another smoothie or two this afternoon. Even though this isn't part of today's plan, I just (8:00) had about 3 small strawberries dipped in chocolate. Then...I...stopped...because...I...really...was...full. I...didn't...want...them.  I'm the Strawberry Queen for goodness' sake!
No, I'm God's princess for goodness' sake! That's my real identity!  : )