I can't believe I've finally made it to Day 30!! I just read my post from June 29th and wow, it's crazy that I've made it 30 days! Well, almost. But that's okay, in fact, it's still great. It's an amazing feat! One that I could have never imagined that I would embark on, and one that I would not only be successful with, but one that God was so obviously made it successful! Way more than I could have ever envisioned. Seriously, this was never a thought in my mind.... And yet here I stand!
So, about a week and a half ago, I started looking into getting a nutritionist. Since I just didn't have enough money to put toward the 30-day online group (at a whopping $289!), I thought that I should at least get a nutritionist to help me to learn how to re-introduce solid food to my body. Some pretty major changes had happened in my digestive system (all of them exceptionally good as near as I can tell), that I should probably seek the advice of a professional. And I even listened!
So last Sunday I went to the nutritionist. It was Day 24. In the preceding days, my body had been not doing well. I was very tired and quite irritable and I frankly was getting really sick of the juice. Now I consider all of those things pretty normal. But one thing stuck out to me as not being normal. I was really craving food very strongly. According to the things I had heard on this plan was that I shouldn't be hungry like this. Well every time I saw food, it was actually getting harder, not easier! I didn't think I was going to make it another 6 days. I was really struggling....
So I shared all of this with my nutritionist and she said that my body just needed some protein, so she suggested, starting that evening, to incorporate about one ounce of chicken while I was drinking my juice. So I cooked up a seasoned chicken breast, slightly seared, and as instructed, ate small bites, chewing each bite thoroughly. It was absolutely heavenly! I probably ate more than one ounce (possibly about 2 ounces) and I almost immediately began to feel better!
The next day, Day 25, I was told I could double the recommended amount of chicken to two ounces. I probably ate about 5 ounces. Maybe six. It was exquisite, even warmed up! So, from there, I still continued to drink my juice, but slowly began to add more food. By Wednesday, she said I could make some soup, with chicken and well-cooked (soft) vegetables and rice. But no wheat, as I believe that I have gluten sensitivity. Once again, it was amazing!
So, basically what has happened is that my fast technically ended on Day 25, or even Day 24 if you want to include the first small amount of chicken I had. But despite this, I believe this was the best for my health. Now, when I started to re-introduce solid food to my diet, my temptation is to say "Well, I didn't make the 30 days." But the reality is that I didn't eat any solid food for TWENTY-FOUR days!
That by itself is such a huge accomplishment for me. I'm so excited that God kept me strong through pizza at bible talk, drinking only juice at a BBQ, and countless other times that I saw ads, smelled smells at work, took walks on lunch to distract myself, etc. The victory was clear for me! I've never done anything like this before, and God blessed me with a weight loss of about 33 pounds!!
However, since I have started eating again, inevitably I expected to put on a couple pounds because the fast had a cleansing effect. My bowels had nothing in them. With the re-introduction of food, I now have some waste in my digestive tract, and that's okay. So, my net weight loss, is probably still right around 30 pounds! Still, not bad for just 24 or 25 days!!!
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So what happens now?
For the next week, I plan on supplementing my meals with juice. However I also need to acknowledge that this coming week is going to be filled with planning and a trip to Spokane to work on my house, clean up the property, do landscaping, painting, and repairs in preparation for selling it.
Right now, the weather forecast is showing the hottest week of the year so far: Saturday 98, Sunday 93, and Monday 92. And it's supposed to be over 100 on the days preceding the weekend! This would be incredibly challenging for me to complete much of the work I need to get done. So, I'm asking for prayers for the weather to be significantly cooler so that I can make the best use of this time in order for me to put the house on the market next week. Thank you!
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I will be posting again in the next few days about some other very encouraging things that are going on. But for now, thank all of you again so much for all of your support, love and prayers/good thoughts over the past month. I'm very encouraged, energized and feeling like a human being again! Please pray for me being able to get my house ready, and to sell it quickly. Thank you!!
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