DAY 1️⃣

An overdue task that’s taken much time to get around to… I’d be lying if I said I quickly jumped into it, but eventually, it was more than I can chew-HA! To be honest I’ve been eager to do this for some time, maybe years. I’d put it in the back of my mind with an intended goal, hyping myself and setting a date on the calendar. Main reason for doing this, was dropping weight and detoxing, yet there’s another element that’s quite as important. Thinking about it now, this was the main crux of why it took me long to get started. The mind is a crucial piece when approaching big changes (or one you don’t often do). Physically you can toss items away from your fridge, avoid driving to restaurants, or order pizza on the app. The mind still craves regularly consumed foods. While the fridge carries spinach, mushrooms, carrots, tomatoes, fruit, etc. the mind assumes you’re heading in the right direction (pat yourself). Now comes the test… Upon waking up, do you start cold turkey? Instead of coffee, would you grab a glass and fill it with water (difficult for lots of people)? Or when groggy, you open the cupboard to find a loaf of bread contemplating to have a slice? Nonetheless, your initial day is today, and must abstain from it. Setbacks start settling in, thus itching to find other cabinet options. By this time, you opened the fridge about 4-5 times hoping to find something with sugar or salt, but it remains a cold vegan stock room. The only source of sugar is fruit, so you pound a few items down to get an ounce of hope. You pack a few more fruits and raw veggies for your work lunch and off you go…

It took several attempts as I easily gave into my vices. Only wanted a few of my favorite meals to make it through the day. I ended up extending the start date further back for another week. Kept telling myself this week didn’t pan out as I wanted, brush it off and get back into it next time. The other obstacle was gatherings with friends—birthdays, sports matches, wine tastings, family visits, holidays, etc. Days turned into weeks, into months, and soon months became into years. Now I’ll say… during the interim, I was able to get a few weeks in with home-healthy cooked meals, less Starbucks, and minimal restaurant visits. Also, less wine and drinks. Keeping this meal plan prevented me from going to the deep end, but later realized my path was heading backward and relapsed into my normal ways of eating with other habits. Very disappointed I was with myself. Wasn’t 2-3 times this occurred, but several attempts with no avail. Stress and anxiety were the main drivers during this time as I like to follow through on projects. My first thought was the age (44). It had to be a big player in preventing me from moving forward. Yes, it’s a big component, but not the entirety. Back in my 20’s I accomplished this fast and boy was it easier. There were challenges, yet somehow each morning, I’d wake up with joy, feeling motivated, smiling at every turn, and looking forward to my raw veggies. No matter how many times looking back, I couldn’t tap into those strengths from two decades ago. What resembled a difference was the mental state. Back then I didn’t watch TV, never really went out dining, or attended the party scene. I went to work with positivity, read most of the time and my patience didn’t hit its max. Striving to achieve this all over again today was grim. Then recalling something from my favorite author—Paulo Coelho (can’t remember the book), he mentions that sometimes one must let go and head towards the deepest vice or obstacles retaining you. At first, my head couldn’t wrap around the logic. If you have a gambling problem, then taking some money out and putting it all on Red is good advice… That sounds the opposite of structured advice. My late twenties, I went through a similar experience. Was making a crap load of money with a good-paying job and living at home at the time without rent duties. Money hungry was all that was crossing my mind and couldn’t help myself to more. That is till the day I broke and decided to play celebrity and purchase whatever my heart desired. Going to the mall or stores, I didn’t look at price tags. If I liked it, it was going home with me. From a nice expensive coat, to 3 pairs of sneakers, to a couple of fragrances—feeling bigtime. Realizing what was left in my account, I was in shock how much was spent. Though having a little cushion for emergencies, I asked… was it all really worth it? Proving something to myself that was irrational? Going down the rabbit hole of my vices, I had to figure out where my mental state went south. When you unpack those reasons and question them honestly, a sense of light comes in exposing the pros & cons. Then the re-calibrations take place. Guess that’s what I did in this scenario. I stopped exercising, canceled my soccer membership and ate what I wanted without remorse. Gaining a few pounds, I started seeing a little belly. Jeans were snug. Shirts were feeling compressed. Face a little rounder. Again, I didn’t go to the deep end, but enough to look at myself and think… this is what you did and see how easy this was and much fun you had in the process. Remember when you were obese at 14? Yeah, you didn’t like it then and now you changed? Your current age is not an excuse my friend. In the ah-ha moment, it gave me a sense of purpose, a real achievable goal, a challenge well accepted.

This will be my initial day of the Daniel Fast (Daniel 10:3) and attempt for a month. The Biblical scriptures say three weeks, 21 straight days (one I did 2 decades ago). Don’t have a pic what I used to look then, however the black & white combo below comes close. Was able to shred a lot of weight. To the point where my mother wanted to rush me to the hospital since I was disappearing quickly lol.

Another thing to note, though I started this on a Friday, Monday was my last wine glass and slice of pizza. On Tuesday and Wednesday no alcohol nor fast food was consumed. Simply ate ground turkey with loads of seasoning and wheat bread. Thursday was my final day to say goodbye to the good stuff. Today, it’s been two pieces of fruit & water in the morning, grilled mushrooms and onions (no oils) for lunch. Dinner was unseasoned edamame and water before bedtime. There’s many facets towards meal prepping when it comes to the Daniel Fast in cookbooks. Meals that resemble restaurant-like images (which I’m sure is legit). But I’m going as raw as I can with the biblical times. The diet will try to consist of fruits in the AM; afternoon grilled veggies; edamame snacks in between and the evening with pure water with raw veggies if the stomach is growling.

I’ll add a recent one here for contrasting purposes. This was en Coyoacan Mexico.

First week should be the most challenging. I’m not sure what awaits me at the end of this mission. Knowing what I knew back then when I did this fast, it was electrifying, revolutionary, mind changing and a new spiritual world. Also concluding my fast, I couldn’t eat cereal (too sweet) or drink coffee (too bitter) and forget outside food (too darn salty 🤢). I had to gradually work my way to normal dishes.

Wish me suerte✌🏼.