The Joys of Feasting & Fasting - Day 5

Today I learned an important lesson:  listen to your body!

This morning I woke up after a full 5 1/2 hours of sleep (much better than the three or four I've had all week, so I will take 5 1/2 any day!) and where I was not hungry at all, my stomach just felt raw and empty.  I drank my normal morning lemon water and my stomach just felt queasy, and continued to the next couple of hours.  However, I felt like I had to drink something besides water to get through church, so on the drive over, I drank 16 ounces of my standard green veggie and fruit mix. 

Big, big mistake!

Instead of waiting for my stomach to settle before I put juice in it this morning, I missed most of Sunday School and the first part of church.  Yuck.  It was almost three in the afternoon before my stomach gave me permission to drink more than water, and the carrot/orange blend settled very well with no yucky aftereffects.  That's a win in my book!  But lesson learned - I will listen better to my body and what it is telling me.

Thankfully, my hunger pains are starting to go away, which is a big blessing, though I am still battling the occasional food cravings.  Remember last night's Mexican spread?  Well that was today's supper and it smelled so very good as I got this ready for tonight's supper taco bar; my V-8/Vegetable broth blend seemed so bland compared to what I was serving.  But God answered my very humanly (and honestly, selfish) cry of "I want it, dear Lord, but need you to help me be faithful" by giving me a smoothie inspiration.  I don't know why I haven't thought of it before!  I poured my broth blend into the blender, added a generous scoop of guacamole, some pico de gallo, and some additional spices.  Can we say A-M-A-Z-I-N-G????  I think it is the most delicious Mexican soup I have ever made.  I know what I'm having for lunch tomorrow!

Keep posted for more tomorrow - I'm coming up on a week very soon!

The Joys of Feasting & Fasting - Day 4

It was truly a harder day today.  I woke up hungry and stayed hungry all... day... long.  Even with nutritious juices and broths, I just couldn't seem to fill the hole in my belly.  The hunger pains should pass in another day or two, but it was truly a rely-on-God type of day.  And get through we did - through a group grilling for lunch, a birthday party this evening, and a full-blown catered Mexican dinner that arrived on our doorstep late this evening (I LOVE Mexican food).  At that point, I had to cry out to Jonathan to deal with the food coming into the house - I just couldn't handle another cookie, cupcake, or burrito on the counter anymore!

As for detox symptoms?  Pretty good today, and I upped my water intake as I felt like I didn't get enough yesterday.  The headache is gone, but a new side effect to me was my calf muscles just aching by seven pm, enough so that I took two Motrin to help get through the evening.  I think I'm going to take a bit of extra magnesium at bedtime tonight to see if that will help (I can't do bananas in my juices - they give me horrid sores in my month).  I also have found my gums being extra sensitive today and am not sure why, so I've been rinsing with salt water a couple of times today.

Right now, my biggest struggle is sleep.  I seriously can't sleep... and I'm freezing!  I was in the bathtub at 1 AM this morning to warm up and try to relax enough to fall asleep.  I'm exhausted, but shifting my body from tiredness to sleep isn't happening very well the past two nights.  Usually taking magnesium at night puts me out, but it hasn't helped at all.

So overall, day four was a struggle - praying that day five will be a wonderful day of worship and focus!

The Joys of Feasting & Fasting - Day 3

Today started off with sweet time in my Bible study in Isaiah 43 and 61, which my soul really needed this today.  I was a bit nervous starting this first all liquids day, but praise Jesus!, it went really well.  I really wasn't hungry at all, which was a blessing.  Supper was the hardest time for me, but I quickly put the food up after the meal (I usually leave it out for the guys to browse on later) and scraped the kids' plates as soon as they were done to avoid the urge to nibble.  But a morning green smoothie, lots of water, juice (Kroger had some of Boathouse Farm's juices, including their kale/spinach/celery/lemon juice, on sale for BOGO), and some broth got me through the day.  I even survived the ice cream social this evening - most of the campus knows I'm watching my sugar, so there was no question as to why I just had water.

As for detox symptoms, they've been very minimal today.  Slight headache, but I'm guessing it's more from lack of caffeine, a bit of light-headedness when I got up too quick, and I was a bit tired by early afternoon, but other than that, it was a good day and I'm actually struggling to wind down tonight.  I forgot how I will eventually move to a bit of less sleep as these three weeks move on. 

Speaking of sleep, I need to ensure our guys are going to get some tonight, so adios!

Joys of Feasting & Fasting - Days 1 & 2

Don't freak out at the word fasting, though the first time I ever fasted, I certainly did!  My heart wasn't in the right place and I was miserable all day.  I hated it.

Fast forward to just after college:  I started an online 60 day Bible study called The Lords Table at www.settingcaptivesfree.com.  This study is focused on looking at God to fill the needs that we run to for food and to help break the strongholds of laziness and gluttony.  After the initial sixty days, there is a 2nd study that is an intensive 21-day liquid fast.  It was in those two studies that I found the biblical joy in fasting, and since then, have done three long-term liquid fasts, ranging from 5 to 21 days.

I'm continuing to follow their model, though I've not doing the fast through their study, as I have not since the first time.  They recommend the first two days as prep days, eating fruit for breakfast and raw veggies for lunch and supper.  Then 16 days of liquids (no dairy, protein shakes, etc) such as juices, non-meat broths, smoothies, etc, then the last two days with raw fruits and veggies to wake the digestive system back up again.  Personally, I drink more of a fruit based juice in the morning, and then veggie juices, vegetable stocks, and herbal teas for the rest of the day (my favorite lunch and dinner is vegetable stock mixed 1/2 & 1/2 with V-8 and spiced with garlic, cumin, pepper, and chili powder).

Now Day 2 is drawing to a close and I'm feeling pretty good.  Fruit for breakfast (strawberries yesterday, a pear today) and veggie salads for lunch and dinner.  Today's cucumber/tomato salad was delicious!  Jonathan slept poorly last night, and i woke up around 1 AM with bad hunger pains.  Yet God is good as I prayed over them and was able to fall back asleep.  I was a bit tired this afternoon and have a bit of a headache, but we'd been traveling, too.  I didn't get any exercise in today, but enjoyed a walk yesterday and hope to walk again in the morning.  In the meantime, the fridge is stocked for juices (fruit and veggie) and I made a gallon of my vegetable broth soup while washing dishes this evening.  For now, I'm sipping tea, blogging, and getting ready to put kids to bed and do my evening Bible study.  I'm been enjoying working through Cynthia Herald's "Becoming a Woman of Simplicity" and Beth Moore's "Breaking Free", and for the first time in a very long time, am hungering for the Word in a way that I have not in quite some time.  I'm sure I will blog more on this later in the days to come.  For now, though, I need to put munchkins to bed, so good night!

Bye Bye Sugar!

A month ago today, I broke up with sugar.

Yep, sugar and I called it off.

You see, 5 months ago I was diagnosed as pre-diabetic.  Scary day for me! But a dear friend volunteered to be my health coach and after four months of exploring my diet, reasons for floundering, battling gluttony, laziness, self-sabotage and a horrid munchy sweet tooth, my husband reminded me of the only time I was truly successful with my weight was when I cut out sugar pre-pregnancy with Emily (lost 30 pounds in 4 months and kept it off until I started eating for two), and when I followed a strict doctor-ordered diabetic diet while pregnant with Ethan (I only gained 15 pounds, 10 of which were a certain little boy).  So a month ago, called it quits.

A month in and 11 pounds down, I'm starting a new phase for the next 21 days. I have been wrestling with some deep emotional and spiritual issues and have felt led to go on an extended juice/liquid feast and fast.  Don't worry - I won't die!  This is the 4th time I have done this in the last 10 years and each time have led to some pretty significant break-throughs. The 1st 2 times were through a Bible study at www.settingcaptivesfree.com and the last time was a year and a half ago, which was cut short 1/3 of the way through when my appendix decided to nearly explode (not related).  So this time, I want to try and write and blog most days, which I've not done before, which may include a few excerpts from my journal.  I'm looking forward to you joining me and Day 1 will be blogged soon!  :)

Warning: Surgery Delay Ahead!

First of all, I didn't fall off the face of the earth.  It's been over two months since my last post, which was not intentional and for that I apologize.  However, shortly after my last post, I got to experience the crippling pain of acute appendicitis on top of a diseased gallbladder.  I wasn't aware I had problems with either (looking back now, I can recognize the signs of the gallbladder issues that I wrote off)!  About fifteen hours after a middle-of-the-night run to the emergency room via ambulance, I was under the surgeon's knife to have both removed.

In a nutshell, I'm doing well, though recovery has been slow.  I found myself back in the ER ten days after surgery sick as a dog from what was determined as fluid back-up in my bile duct.  My immune system has been flushed down the toilet.  Antibiotics for an infected incision flared up my old yeast nemesis.  No picking up my two year-old.  Huge sensitivity to heat, which stinks (did I mention I live in Savannah, GA?  Heat is all we know!!).  However, this has given me amble time for research.  Doctors really don't tell you how much the gallbladder plays into your digestive system and where I never had a gallbladder attack prior to surgery, I have had several afterwards.  In a nutshell, my diet has had to change a lot!  Even though it will be eight weeks post-op tomorrow, there are still foods my system does not handle well.  The good news is that I've kept all my weight off (plus a few pounds), and am finally cleared to start exercising again.  Slowly, of course!  No yoga, Pilates, or any weight training for four more months, which is sad; I could use some yoga as I'm really stiff!  I walked a brisk mile tonight with light stretching afterwards, both of which I enjoyed a lot.  I've missed exercise and am eager to get back on a routine again.  Plus, getting back on a routine again again also means more blogging, which I am looking forward to as well... and admit it, you know you missed me! 

April Showers

It is raining... and raining... and raining more in Savannah.  What a wet spring we have had!  The good news is that we have gotten six months worth of rain in the last six weeks.  I'm ready for some sunshine!

My "clean-eating" went well from the beginning of March until Easter break; I juice fasted the first few days, and ended up being total vegetarian for the first two.  Honestly, I didn't miss the meat too much, but slowly started adding it back in.  I really didn't do any exercise at the beginning of the month, except for the occasional Pilates or yoga, as I was still in my six week rest period for my ankle.  The week before Easter, though, my neighbor asked me if I would start jogging with her, and now I'm jogging a slow 4-5 miles a week as she builds up her endurance, which has been great to slowly ease my ankle back into it.  Nary a twinge, which has been a blessing!  I pretty much maintained over the month at 220 due to the lack of exercise - of course, I lost a bunch while juice fasting, but that isn't lasting weight loss.  I'm just happy to learn that I can maintain and not gain when I'm not "dieting" hot and heavy.

We went out of town for the kids' spring break and Easter and it was an eye-opening for me.  I really never though we were that much of "health nuts", but after five days with family, and eating their style (which was how we used to eat - a lot!), all four of us were feeling the effects.  It is saddening to see how normal the SAD (standard American diet) is - lots of processed and chemical full food.  We were ready to get back to our veggie-based, flavorful, homemade food!  Jonathan has asked that we start to transition back to being gluten-free again, and I'll be taking the next couple of weeks to phase it into our kitchen.  He has continued to use Sensa, as well, and is starting to see results with that, which made me very happy!

While we were out of town, I was gifted with an entirely new wardrobe from my sister-in-law; I'm in heaven!  That was starting to become an issue for me, but I didn't have the money to replace much.  Now I have so many new and pretty things for both summer and winter, with a few pairs of pants that are a size too small, so I can work into fitting into them.  I'm a full size down in my tops - I'm wearing a regular large!  Still in a size 18 for jeans, but they are getting looser.

To end, I thought I'd throw out an annual comparison picture.  Happy days for me, indeed!  :)