Tofu, Jesus, and Weight Loss, Oh My!

This month, my church has participated in the "Daniel Fast", a 21-day fast comprised of mostly fruits, vegetables, nuts, and a few other earthy ingredients. Basically, I've been a vegan for the past few weeks. I've strolled through Whole Foods quite a few times (cliche, I know, but it was the first place I thought of when signing up to participate), I've tried tofu dishes and veggie dishes at restaurants where I usually have fatty, meaty entrees, and I've realized how delicious natural food can be. At first, I thought I wasn't going to make it and honestly expected to cave halfway through but it's been a great experience. The blender has been a good friend of mine lately, I've been blending up a smoothie storm with fruits, nuts, and soy milk. Also, my mom has been participating as well and has come up with a bunch of creative, Daniel-friendly meals. I've even considered going the vegetarian route when the fast is over. I've had my fill of ham and cheese with tofurkey and cheese substitute sandwiches, and there's plenty of vegetarian friendly desserts out there (a luxury I haven't had since early January). I don't know though, I love all food, and while I haven't really missed beef, I do love me some chicken. Also, I love traveling, and I think part of the experience is tasting the local cuisine. We'll see.

Of course, this isn't just about the food. It's spiritual, it's about reconnecting with God. I can't say I've kept a devotional every single day of the fast but on the days I have it's been like a breath of fresh air. My dandy smart phone has come in handy with a bible app and daily reading plans. The other day I loved reading about how there are an eternity's worth of reasons to praise Him. My walk with Jesus used to be a lot stronger but at least this has been a step in the right direction, about getting back to the days when holding his hand  seemed exciting (spiritually speaking, of course, I'm not a crazy holding fake hands and pretending they are His hands). It sounds like I might be talking about a significant other, but that's the way a relationship with Him should be, He is so awesome and so worthy. Also, for any reader who might not be a believer, I would never try to shove my faith/belief down your throat, so don't feel like my posts are for Christian eyes only. I do believe in Jesus and He's the ultimate joy in my life but, as its made apparent from my other posts, I write about anything and everything. I've explained this in the hopes that I do have readers out there :).

A cool thing I've learned about myself with this fast is that I'm stronger than I thought I was. My brother is literally a few feet away from me, chomping on parmesan garlic chicken wings and potato wedges from Buffalo Wild Wings and it's not phasing me. Alright, I've already eaten dinner (some lovely wheat yakisoba noodles with soy meat and squash) and I'm full, it'd probably be a different story if I were writing on an empty stomach. Yes, there were a few times where some foods were mouth-watering and tempting but I held strong. This has showed me I can be stronger in other areas of my life.

Of course there's been weight loss! Yay! I've also been exercising and am determined to make time for running during the week now that the semester has started. The Daniel Fast ends on Thursday and I'm happy to say I participated.

One last thing, I was rummaging through Google, and I found a picture of tofu we can probably use for communion on Sunday.