Matthew 6:16

In case you are not familiar with it, it reads ""When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full."  In no translation that I've studied can the original greek for "disfigure their faces" be translated into "blog about it", so I feel perfectly justified in writing about it.  Am I missing the point, perhaps, but I really can't think of anything else to write about, so....

Actually, I write about it because I wish to share a testimony from the beginning of the year fast I did last year.  As mentioned in the post about my blog's birthday, I now look back on the year 2009 and think about how far I came emotionally, spiritually, and personally.  In each thing I prayed about during my last year's fast, I received an answer of some sort and new direction in my life.  As the new year dawned, I look at the year with a different perspective than 2009, and I credit a lot of what happened to me last year to being able to stop and listen to what God wanted for my life.  If you've never fasted, its a great way to clear your mind and help you focus on what God has in store for your life.

The Fast is Over

I've decided to put a halt to my fast. Thank you for those who have prayed for me. I will continue to pray, I'll just be eating while I'm doing it. In some ways, I'm feeling as lost as ever on what I should be doing, but I'll continue to listen to what God has to say.

I'm putting an end to the fast because I have lost too much weight and I'm not feeling well. I should gain about four more pounds for me to be back to a healthy weight.

Lustful thoughts about a burrito

I am in a much better mood now, but I find myself unable to think about anything else other than going to Qdoba and getting a Chicken burrito. It looks like I'll be taking my second day off from my fast.

Spaghetti

I'm going to my old single man staple to take a night off from fasting....Spaghetti. I've never been this hungry in my life.

Fasting, Day 7

I think I want to take tonight off from the fast. It has been seven days and I have lost too much weight (6 1/2 lbs) this week. I don't want to be unhealthy during this. Breaking it up will probably keep my spirits up during this time.

Fasting, Day 6

I felt like this was my best day of fasting so far. My body must be getting used to it, because I didn't find myself to be very hungry at all today. I ate just a handful of nuts, some strawberries, and two side orders of rice from Sansai. I really tried to focus on my praying and making sure I was very focused for what I was asking for. I think it was a good day.

Fasting, Day 5

Being that this was my first day back to work, I found it easier to focus on activites and not think about food. I ate some nuts during the day and yet another delicious rice dish in the evening. Yummy. I'll report in w/ a weigh-in after the first week. I'm not expecting a lot of weight loss, although I do plan on getting a nice workout at the gym tomorrow. I did do an ab workout tonight.

Fasting, Day 4

People love to eat on Sunday. I am no exception, and for whatever reason, I found today very hard. I think it started w/ the donuts at church....sigh...those are some good donuts.

I am starting to miss meat. Tonight's rice was a taco rice, and it was pretty good. I think I will want to get away from rice for awhile after this.

I didn't do a run tonight, but I did get an ab workout in.

Fasting, Day 3

I struggled more with my fasting today than I did yesterday. I found myself taking small pieces of candy, putting them in my mouth, tasting them, and spitting them out so I wouldn't "actually" eat them. I know that I really shouldln't be temping myself like this, but I'm really missing sweets. Oddly enough, I'm not missing meat as much, but that is subject to change if I find myself in restaurants in the near future. During my fast, I am praying for three things in my life:

1. My future wife.
2. Career Direction
3. Be a better Christian

I hope I'm able to stay strong during this fast. I was going to church with a friend tomorrow, but those plans have fallen through, so I will be attending Riverside.

Fasting, Day 2

I can not believe how much easier it was today on my fast. I ate my nuts and berries as usual, but I wasn't nearly as hungry today and I didn't think about it as much. For supper, I ate about 3/4 of a plate of fried rice at a local Chinese restaurant w/ Jennifer before she helped me go through my clothes. What I did start thinking about today was how I really am not making much of a sacrifice at all when you think about all that Christ did for mankind.

Fasting, Day 1

Being that this was my first day of fasting, I didn't exactly know how I was going to do or what it was going to feel like. To reiterate, I am doing a partial fast, only having rice, nuts, and berries. I have decided that I would enjoy a soda with my one meal of the day (dinner), but I would make it a caffeine free drink.

Since this was my first day of the fast, I know that I was thinking about it all day. In other words, it doesn't feel like a part of my daily routine yet. Consequently, I am going through the process of weening myself off of the quantity of food that I am used to (which my family says isn't much anyway). I'm proud of the fact that I managed not to cheat (other than the soda, which was more of a modification than a cheat). I've got some "social engagements coming up, which would normally involve dinner. I'm wondering how I'm going to handle those situations. Will I cheat? Will I not eat? Will I talk about why I'm not eating.

As I become more used to this, I want to eat less and less during this period, with the goal of going some days without anything. We will see how it goes.

I have also posted my first pictures of what I look like now fitness wise. Caution...man nipples ahead. I also took a picture of what my only meal looked like today. I did have some nuts and fruit through the day as well. I also weighed in at 165.7 when this all began, and I will update you with the weight every now and again.

21 Day Fast

Well there I was, laying in my bed back home one night over break, puttering around my beloved facebook. I saw a Christian friend of mine (we'll call her Kari because that is her name) come online, and I started chatting w/ her using FB's somewhat unreliable chat system. I asked her something like if she had and new year's resolutions, and she said that her and her husband were going to participate in a 21 day fast to start off the year. The original document that she sent me can be found here http://www.worldprayercenter.org/images/stories/Fast/2008.pdf.

Like many things, I'm going to take the concept and make it my own. One of the modifications I'm going to make is that I'm only going to eat certain foods during the fast and not give up everything completely. (Maybe I should call it a Moderate, and not a Fast...waka waka). I've consulted with a dietitian friend of mine who seemed to give me a balanced view on the concept of fasting between her personal beliefs as a christian and her training as a dietitian. She seemed to agree that my very simple food choices would do the job. Right now, the only foods I'm planning on eating during this time are rice, nuts, and berries. I will be supplementing this with water to drink and vitamins for other nutrients.

You may be saying to yourself "What's wrong Dan, don't you have what it takes to give up all food?" Let me respond by saying that if you don't like the way I'm going about this....TOUGH TACOS TUBBY! :) In all seriousness, the reasons someone would undertake something like this are varied. For me, I have some personal things I wish to pray about in my life, and I am hoping that this period of time provides me with some clarity on those issues. In addition, I'm hoping to use this time as a springboard for a strong spiritual, physical, and emotional 2009. As time progresses, I may reveal some of the things I will be praying about, but I'm not going to right now (I guess you'll have to check back to find out ;)

Regarding what this will do to the physical me, I plan on tracking what effect this has on my weight and appearance and I go forward. Something I hope to do with this blog is keep a running total of what my fitness status is. I plan on posting before/after pictures of myself throughout the year as I work towards some larger fitness goals that I will enumerate in a later post.