Day 1 – 185 lbs – Waist 43″ – Fasting Day
Today is the day I take a new direction in life, or at least try to change some things that are impacting my life negatively.
We all try to change some things in life at the beginning of a new year especially, where motivation is high and everything seems fresh again. Losing weight is high on many peoples list, and that is definitely a big part of my goal.
But having tried many, many times before, I know it’s not easy to permanently change habits, and it is real easy to quit. So I am coming up with my own plan instead of trying to follow a plan someone else has made, that doesn’t really fit with my life or what may day to day looks like.
I strongly believe that fasting should be an important and regular part of most peoples lives. It is an ancient practice, and is helpful for both physical and spiritual health. Although it has become somewhat popular again recently, it seems to be more of a daily intermittent fasting. I can do that easily, as I often don’t eat until lunch time. But I want to fast for at least 24 hours at a time this month, maybe longer.
Yes it will help me lose weight and most likely help some of my health issues as well, but I want to learn to go deeper spiritually during these fasting times as well. I want to fast from food, alcohol, scrolling on my phone…all the things that distract me from time with God, from reading the bible, and from prayer.
I find that whenever I close my eyes to pray, or sit down to read the Bible, within a few minutes my mind is in some far off place, busy thinking about my to-do list, or making plans in my head, coming up with business ideas…I want to be able to spend time truly praying and have my mind quiet and only focused on praying.
And yes, I do have a flight booked to Mexico in 30 days (my first time going to Mexico or even to an all-inclusive) so I am using that as motivation too. But vacations have never really motivated me to lose weight. There is always people bigger or smaller than me, no matter what size I am. I am not one to wear a bikini or take scantily clad beach pictures. But I do want to be able to do some hikes, walks, paddleboards and not have my knees hurt. I want to fit into my summer clothes from a few years ago so I don’t have to buy bigger ones. And I don’t want to binge eat or drink just because it’s all inclusive!!
Proverbs 25:16 – “Have you found honey? Eat only what you need, that you not have it in excess and vomit it.”
I believe God gave us all kinds of food to eat, and that anything He made is healthy for us. But for the next 30 days, my plan is to have days of fasting, days of Carnivore, and a few days of Keto. The reason for this is to break the addiction to sugar and carbs. I don’t think wheat and other carbs are necessarily bad for us, but I do think when I have made it a habit to overindulge on bread and pasta, that I need to remove it from my diet for a period of time.
Today is a fasting day to start off the 30 days. I will drink coffee, tea and water with or without electrolytes. I am rarely hungry before noon, but of course today, I am starving at 8:30 a.m…..
Outcome of Day 1:
Well today was a pretty busy day, so that definitely helped with not thinking about food TOO much. It was hardest around supper time when I was making meatballs and Rao sauce for my husband….I did lick the spoon after stirring the sauce, so not sure if that counts…
I did not drink enough water today, especially earlier in the day. I had 2 cups of coffee in the morning, another when I went to work in the afternoon and then when I came home, I had a can of bubbly. This evening I had 2 cups of clear tea and a few sips of water. I need to do better with that and drink more water earlier in the day.
I want my fasting days to be more spiritually focused. Hopefully that will get better the more practice I have. I will plan to not have as much going on during my fasting days and be more purposeful in feeding my soul when I am not feeding my body.
Prayer:
Thank you, God, for helping me through my first day of fasting. Please continue to guide me through this journey to better health and breaking the habits of overeating and regularly consuming alcohol. Help me to be more spiritually minded and spend more time in Your Word and in prayer.