Why do that call it "fasting" when it goes so slow? (and other terrible puns)

In January my wife started talking about doing a "Daniel fast."  It's based on the scripture from Daniel 1:3-16, where Daniel and his friends eat only veggies and stay away from the king's table with it's fine food and fancy wine.  Basically you can eat fruit, veggies, nuts, and some grains.  You can't have sugar, anything processed, meat, animal product, anything with flavor or taste, or any CAFFEINE!

I said, "I'm in."  So we started two weeks ago and we have one week left.

The first couple of days were pretty terrible.  I'm not a terrible eater to begin with, but this was HARD.  My digestive system was not ready for the influx of fruit and vegetables.  But worse than any of that was the lack of caffeine.  I have been addicted to caffeine for longer than I've been married.  I didn't drink much soda before and I limited my coffee to just two cups each morning.  However, for this fast I had to cut it out completely.  Each morning for the first week I was nauseated.  A few mornings I had shivers.  I was crashing!

That was the roughest part.

But...

This fast has been incredibly valuable to me.

 I'm off caffeine for good.  Here's why:

I don't have the afternoon crash anymore.
I am thinking incredibly clearly.
My emotions are more stable.

If you are hooked on caffeine I would strongly suggest to give yourself a break and let your body and brain function naturally.

I'm going to God instead of food.  Here's how:

I was relieving stress by eating a snack.  Now I have to bring it to God because veggies and fruit ARE NOT snacks.  God deals with stress.  I feel better after hashing it with God instead of hashing it out with hash browns.

Also...

My skin is clearer.
My stomach doesn't hurt.
I eat whenever I want and I'm still dropping weight.

And then the big one.

I do feel closer to God.  Hard to explain this one.  My thoughts can be best summed up by the first thing I read when I started the fast:

From The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

"Jesus takes it for granted that his disciples will observe the pious custom of fasting.  Strict exercise of self-control is an essential feature of the Christian's life.  Such customs have only one purpose - to make the disciples more ready and cheerful to accomplish those things which God would have done...When the flesh is satisfied it is hard to pray with cheerfulness or to devote oneself to a life of service which calls for much self-renunciation."

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