Sunday, November 8, 2009

Daniel's Fast

Huz and I have been doing the Daniel's Fast. It's a 21 day fast based on Daniel 10:2-3 in the Bible. We eat only fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts and seeds, whole wheat, and vegetable oils and drink only water. We can also use spices, herbs, and seasonings. Basically, it's a vegan diet with even more restrictions. We aren't having any sugar, syrup, honey, yeast or chemicals in our food. And, of course we aren't eating any dairy or meat.

We've chosen to do this for a few different reasons. The first is to get closer to God. Yes, this Fast is difficult and it's a sacrifice. Taking the time to read every ingredient on all the labels while shopping, coming up with menu ideas, spending money on food that isn't just convenient microwaveable crap, cooking almost everything from scratch every day (I used to cook maybe 2 or 3 days out of the week- and the rest of the time we either ate at a restaurant, order in, or heated up frozen pot pies or had cereal or something), and of course giving up some of our favorite foods. For me, that was definitely ice cream! But, for me the point of sacrificing is to show God and myself that He is the most important thing to me. I don't need all of this stuff. I can live without it. I want my focus to be back on Him.

It's also important to me to remember that no matter how big my sacrifice is, it's nothing compared to what He gave for me. It still blows my mind that Jesus gave His life for me... because He didn't want me to be away from Him. How could anyone love me that much?!

The second reason Huz and I are doing this is to get closer to each other. We have been spending less time on the computer and watching TV (which is HUGE for me!) and spending more time praying, reading the bible, and just talking to each other. We're still kind of newly married (less than 2 years is still newlywed right? I'll be saying we're newlyweds when we're a hundred! haha) and even though we've been together for like 9 years, I still love to learn new things about him and talk and laugh. He is so amazing! I love him so much and I feel so blessed to be his wife. I like that while it's still early on in our marriage, we're setting aside time to spend together without distractions (I'm sure those will be added along the years).

The third reason is the health benefits. We've developed some awful eating habits over the years. When we first met, we were young and thin and active (sigh). And while I love Huz more today then ever before (even when he was a 17 year old slice of Army stud muffin-ness) and he loves me no matter what- I want to look and feel and be healthier. I want to share a loooooong and happy life with him. Also, I want to be skinny and hot again. So we're going to the gym, eating a lot better, and trying to be more active and healthy in general. We can totally do this!

We've been doing well so far. There has been some temptation (ironically, it happened in church of all places! The pastor was handing out candy during service today... Huz and I looked at each other and held hands for strength. haha!) I'll try to post some of our meal ideas and stuff and a little about our progress as well. Woohoo!

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