7 Fast 7 Foods: Day 6

So... Today is day 6 of a full month of only eating 7 foods. I started on June 2nd because I ran a half marathon on June 1st and needed some carbs to sustain me for race day. Anyway, I haven't really posted anything yet about the fast because, well in all honesty the first 2-3 days were a breeze. I love herbal life shakes, I love sweet potatoes, I love apples, I love chicken, I like eggs and spinach, and I love greek yogurt. It wasn't honestly until yesterday, day 5 that I begin to truly struggle. My day started off fine, I did my regular routine of waking up at 5:50am, grabbed my Bible, did some reading and then headed into work at 6:30am. I had my morning herbal life shake for breakfast at work, and then I worked out when I got off at 9:30am. After working out I had an apple for a little snack to hold me over until lunch, and then I had to run some errands with my mom. No big deal, right? Well... we had to run errands at COSTCO. COSTCO!!!! Of all places!! Really?!!?! I love Costco, not just because of the genuinely happy, caring and considerate working staff, but because every which way you turn they are giving out samples of something fabulous! As soon as we walked in, the aromas of food were flying everywhere and my nostrils were going insane. I think I probably looked like and idiot because I was inhaling the smells so deeply, there was definitely some physical movement. My mom and I got our shopping done, and it wasn't too bad. One lady was giving out pie samples, which I don't really eat anyway, so we were good there. One man was handing out some weird pork thing, not a huge fan, so we were good there too. One lady was handing out iced tea, which I wasn't thirsty, so I passed right on by that, and then... we got to the dark chocolate covered coconut chunks... I don't know if y'all have had these, but HOLY NUGGETS! They are FANTASTIC! Seriously, I would never buy them because they would be gone within two sittings in my house. The hard part of the coconut chunks is this... Chelsea (my sister) is dating a guy who's mom works at Costco, and how lucky, she was the one handing out the coconut chunks. So, here she is combining 4-5 of the sample cups into one and handing them over to us, and all I could do was try and not salivate like a dog. It was hard!! But, with a little in-my-head prayer and a deep breath, I walked on by and was able to make it home without caving.

When I got home, I was hungry. It was around 1:30, and I hadn't eaten for awhile, and I was ready for some lunch. I got out a plate, and was getting ready to make my spinach, chicken, egg and apple salad, and as I began pulling out the ingredients, I started to become extremely nauseated and felt like I was going to barf. My mom looked at me and asked me if I was okay, and when I told her I felt nauseated, she even said I looked pale and like I was ready to throw up. So, I put my plate back and sat on the couch for a couple of minutes. It wasn't that I was necessarily tired of the food, I think it was definitely Satan trying to get in my way and get me off track. I kept thinking mmmm, something neutral like pretzels sounds great, and that is exactly what Satan wanted me to start thinking, but before I had too much time to think about other foods, I hopped in the car and got an herbal life shake, one of my 7 foods, for lunch. I am allowing myself one herbal life shake per day, but yesterday, I did have two, because I didn't want to get sick before heading right to work. Fortunately, by dinner time, I was able to eat my chicken, sweet potato and apple with no problems.

After work last night, I got off around 10, I came home, and realized I was out of greek yogurt. Greek yogurt is my evening snack (I am also only allowing myself to have one serving of that per day). So, instead, I settled for my fourth apple of the day. One thing about apples, I don't know if you know this or not, but they make you even more hungry when you eat them by themselves! Something about the digestion process, or whatever the heck it is, anyway, they can make you hungry! Needless to say, I was hungry when I went to bed last night. Last night was truly the first time that I genuinely felt hungry, and not satisfied, but as I began to complain to my mom, I began to feel this deep conviction. Why am I complaining about hunger, this is exactly what I was longing for to happen! I needed to be hungry. I needed to feel unsatisfied so that the only thing left to satisfy me was Jesus!! After work last night, I did sit in our hot tub for a little bit, and as I looked up at the stars, I began singing worship songs. Certain songs just came passing through my head, and as they did, I sang them aloud softly (I didn't want the neighbors to think I was too much of a freak). As I looked up at the beautiful, clear night sky and saw the stars and sang worship songs, I began to feel satisfied. I began to feel fulfilled. I began to feel sympathetic, not for myself, but for people who are hungry every single day, and even worse than I had felt. I began to feel extremely empathetic when I prayed for those children, moms, dads, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. who were going on day number 3 without any food. I prayed and thanked the Lord for allowing me to feel hungry, so that I could experience, only so very slightly, the way that those people feel on a daily basis.

The Lord is faithful, and He is already teaching me and showing me that less is more. He is already allowing me to focus on so many more important things as I take my focus off of food. I love food, I always have (ask my family, I was an incredibly fat child), and I love to cook and experiment and try new things, and this love of food truly does cloud my vision from being able to look at other things. It may seem silly that food can take up so much of our focus, but it truly is elaborate, and when you take time to really simplify it, you realize how much of our focus really does go to our meals and snacks. Today, I am so thankful for what the Lord is teaching me. I am so thankful that He has allowed me to experience hunger. I am so thankful that He has helped me defeat every craving, every temptation, and every instance of anger that I have experienced when I cannot eat what I want. This first 6 days really haven't been easy, I will not say that have been at all, but what I will say is that they have been EXTREMELY worth it, and I would recommend this fast to anyone looking to feel more satisfied and fulfilled, because when there is nothing left of anything else, Jesus is ALWAYS there, and there is ALWAYS enough of Him.