Daniel Fast - Food

We did not do the suggested 24 hour liquid diet on day 1 of the Fast program.  We have decided to follow the program for everything else. 

What we will eat:

All fruits (fresh, dried, frozen, juiced, or canned without sugar)
All vegetables (fresh, dried, frozen, juiced, or canned)
Brown Rice
Whole Wheat Pasta
Whole Wheat Tortillas
Whole (Old-Fashioned) Oatmeal
Grits
Beans and Peas - Pinto, Lentils, Black Eyed, Purple Hull, Green Beans, Green Peas
Olives
Sunflower Seeds
Soy Milk or Almond Milk (unsweetened)
Nuts
Herbs and Spices
Olive, Coconut, Veggie, or Peanut oil
Natural (unsweetened) peanut butter
Honey
Popcorn (old-fashioned made on the stove)


Foods to Avoid:

All Meats
All Fish
White Rice
White Pasta
White Flour
Sugar
Sugar substitutes
All breads
All dairy
All carbonated beverages
All fried foods
All margarine, shortening, added fat products
Foods containing preservatives and additives

What to Drink
Water
Decaffeinated green tea
Unsweetened fruit juices
Unsweetened Soy milk or Almond milk

Things to watch for:

Things with added sugar(molasses, corn syrup, etc)
Things with a high salt content (canned veggies)
Things with caffeine (decaf coffee still has caffeine)
Things that say whole grain but have added sugar

The Daniel Fast - Our Plan

We've decided to do a few additional things with this fast other than deny ourselves certain foods.  We've decided to have specific things that we are praying for each day during the fast as well as reading through the book of John.  John has 21 chapters, so that's a chapter a day. 

Here is our prayer list for the fast:
Our church
Day 1 - The vision of our church
Day 2 - The mission of our church
Day 3 - The ministries of our church
Day 4 - The finances of our church
Day 5 - Our small group
Day 6 - The Philipine Mission trip
Day 7 - The worship program of our church

Our family
Day 8- Our marriage
Day 9- Our child Lyra Kate
Day 10 - Our child Lila Grace
Day 11 - Our child Tucker
Day 12 - Our parenting choices
Day 13 - Family Finances
Day 14 - The makeup of our family
Day 15 - Our health
Day 16 - Our personal discipline in certain areas
Day 17 - Our extended families
Day 18 - Our close friends
Day 19 - Our personal challenges
Day 20 - Our passion for our church
Day 21 - Our passion for the lost

Some of these are very general and are meant to be.  For example, since we both struggle to discipline ourselves in different areas, then on Day 16 we will be praying specifically for different things.  Also, this list is an addition to our normal daily prayer life.  There are specific times each day when we will focus our prayer on these things.

The Daniel Fast - What and Why

We have been challenged by our pastor to participate in the Daniel Fast for the first 21 days of 2012.  Being that Scott is on staff, we thought it might be a good idea if we participated! 

Anyway, the Daniel Fast is based on the diet that Daniel followed in the Bible.  He ate only fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and drank water.  No meat, dairy, sugar, preservatives, caffeine.  To say this is challenging is an understatement!  We've done a lot of research on this and came up with a meal plan and strategy for these three weeks.  I hope to be able to share our meals, our experience, and our failures/successes here over the next 3 weeks.