On the seventh day

I started my Daniel Fast this past Sunday, and other than a tiny infraction (yesterday I forgot to bring my baked Lentil chips for lunch for my guacamole, so I had to eat it with tortilla chips), I've been following the guidelines and eating fruits, vegetables, brown rice, and such.

The physical differences:

Before my body felt heavy and weighed down, but now I feel lighter and have more energy. Initially I got a headache from sugar withdrawal, but that's it! I am getting used to eating healthier and I don't necessarily crave anything in particular, but I miss the taste of those foods. Bread, desserts, coffee. I'm a lot more conscientious of what I buy now, and look at the ingredient list.

So far the food has been really good:

From left: homemade tomato basil, salt & pepper tofu with brown rice, salad with red wine vinaigrette, blueberry+pecan brown rice cereal with almond milk, and bell peppers with brown rice & quinoa.

And some have been just ok:

I made these mashed potatoes with almond milk, and they were ok. But it just needed some mascarpone cheese, you know? Once you try Giada's garlic mashed potatoes with mascarpone, you can never go back.

It was so hard trying to find chips to dip my guacamole with, but I finally found them:

They're not bad. Although, I found this little surprise in the bag amongst its tan brothers. I was a little scared so I threw it away ... but I'm not racist. :)

Do NOT, I repeat, DO NOT get these "chips." Unless you like stale, vomit flavored chips.

This feels like a consumer report. I should have known at the words, "raw and dehydrated"

The difference in me:

I have started reading the Bible every night and doing quiet time. It has brought me to a lot of realizations. I am more thankful, more thoughtful, and less stressed. A few days ago, I got into a minor fender bender and usually this would distress me, but I am just thankful to be alive. Spending my time with God instead of wasting my time worrying has put so much in perspective and on how faithless I have been. Something I read really caught my attention: that I am privileged and blessed. On so many aspects. And often, I forget that.

If you are reading this and are on some kind of fast also, I hope this encourages you and helps you in any way.

Along with my fast, I wanted to commit to helping others around me and just being available to them. I tried my best this week, and I hope I get more opportunities to do so next week!