Experience 2: Fasting

Ok, so this isn't actually one of the experiences I said I would blog about but I'm going to anyway. After all, this is the first time I've fasted so it's a new experience!

Last week my friend Emeri and I both felt like we were being called to fast. After a little bit of discussion we decided on the Daniel fast which allows you to eat only fruits and vegetables and drink juices and water. It's still very restrictive, but it's better for the longer 3 day fast that I wanted to do because you are getting some sustenance. So after asking my parents to stock up on juice and fruit, I began Friday morning.

I packed my bag fuller than it has ever been with a baggie of carrots and green pepper, two bottles of juice, two clemetines, an apple, a water bottle, and a bottle containing a protein shake thing. This was placed in among my other every day school items and made my bag extremely heavy. But hey, I was prepared. Over the course of the day, I munched on the veggies, ate the fruit, drank the liquids, and peed 12times. I was content. That is, until rehearsal. At rehearsal, everyone annoyed me. There is this really annoying freshman boy who's gory, long and painful death I was plotting, a sophomore girl who I corrected about the storyline of the musical in a very rude way, and another fellow cast-memeber and exfriend that wished for horrible things to happen to all rehearsal. Now, my bad mood may have been induced by my recieving the lowest grade I have ever gotten in the history of my school years on my last Calc test, or it might have had something to do with the fast. I'm not really sure which one it was. But when I got home I was able to unwind, eat Romaine lettuce, and watch White Collar episodes.

Today is day two. I have been drinking Cranberry Pomegranate juice all day, except at lunch when I had sauteed veggies (quite delicious with a pinch of seasoning salt but I'm not sure if that's against the rules...). Hunger hasn't affected me at all; there comes a point when you just don't notice it anymore. My digestive system, however, has noticed. I'll spare you the details, but just be warned: If you plan on going on a juice diet, know that your intestines will complain.

Things I've learned so far:
1. Sautee the vegetables. It's so good!
2. Cranberry juice is gross. Don't get it.
3. As delicious as clementines are, after 5 in a day, they get really old.
4. Everything sounds more delicious when you can't have it.
5. Have a purpose when you fast.
6. You will feel lethargic all the time. So don't fast when you have things to do.

Fasting has taught me self-control and balance. I would like to do this again when there are fewer things that I have to worry about getting done and can spend more time focusing on meditation and quiet time. Reading a Bible verse at night and journaling are two things that I've started with this fast and I hope to keep those things up beyond this fast.