I’m on the fifth day of my Daniel Fast and I have 16 more days to go. 

The Daniel Fast is a 21 day fast that mirrors the one done by the prophet Daniel while he was held captive in Babylon (Daniel 1:12; 10:3). It is a partial fast in that some foods are consumed and some are restricted.  There are three types of fasting, an absolute fast, a normal fast, and a partial fast.  The absolute Fast allows no food and no water, and the normal fast allows water but no food.  On the Daniel fast animal products are not allowed including dairy products, eggs, sugar (even honey), artificial sweeteners, and caffeine of any kind.  It is totally plant based.  

It is not meant to be a weight loss plan but rather a way to get closer to God through prayers and meditation.  It is a way to deepen your relationship with Christ…a way to pray for his presence and to be attentive to His voice.  In the Bible God’s voice is defined as still and small, and so it is necessary to quiet the mind in order to hear.  

In my five days of fasting I have deepened my relationship to Jesus, not by praying for hours upon hours, but by just becoming aware of his presence.  I find myself having an ongoing conversation with him throughout my whole day.  In doing this I have discovered peace.

Losing weight is a benefit of the Daniel plan, as I have already lost 4 pounds.  

The crazy thing is I haven’t been hungry!  Going into this I thought I would be, and thought I would die without coffee, but this hasn’t been the case.  The first day I experienced headaches, but after that I truly haven’t missed my coffee.  Instead of coffee I have ginger tea and hot cups of Cranberry Juice…it is delicious. 

On a typical day my meals resemble something like this:

• Breakfast- oatmeal or grits, fruit/nuts, hot tea with no caffeine or hot cranberry juice.
• Lunch-hot V8 juice, tossed salad with oil and vinegar, fruit.
• Dinner-brown rice and beans, steamed cabbage (or another vegetable)
• Snack-skinny-pop popcorn, fruit/nuts, fruit smoothies 

This morning for breakfast I had Banana Coconut Oatmeal.  It’s my own recipe and it was so delicious I want to share, but alas work duties call so I must say goodbye for now.

I’ll post the recipe this evening.

Friends, thank you for reading my reflections and I hope you will travel this journey with me.