Although we entered into these 21 days on the Daniel Fast as a spiritual journey (of which it has been and I will post on that later) it has been a HUGE physical journey as well. Tonight at midnight is the end of our 21 days, and although I thought it was going to be a hard, grueling journey, it was not nearly as hard as I expected! So, here are some of the benefits of “eating clean” for 3 weeks and the changes I saw in my body.
-I have a history of breakouts, and after the first 4-5 days, my skin has drastically cleared. I had a dermatologist appointment on the first day of the fast and asked her about my skin and she said it’s totally hormonal and nothing she could do. Although I totally do believe that our hormones affect our skin, especially in our mid twenties, I also think what we eat directly affects our skin! (totally wish I had a before and after pic!)
-Acid reflux is a genetic thing in my family, and I, unfortunately, am one of the unlucky ones! I have been taking medicine for this for YEARS and still suffer from reflux. Well, I have not had ANY reflux the past few weeks…this is huge. I will be REALLY interested to see as I bring foods back in, which ones directly cause reflux. Do you think for one second I will continue eating (or drinking) those things? Heck no!
-For years I have been trying to reach a weight loss goal. Now, I am not quite there yet (Although the 9 lb loss did help!) my stomach is noticeably flatter. The pants I bought the week before the fast that were too tight are not hanging on my hips. All of that to say, my calorie intake did not really decrease, it stayed around the same (I track this daily), the thing I did change is putting foods in my body that my body was created to process!
So, the biggest physical lesson I have pondered: Do you think our bodies were designed to digest and process things we can’t even pronounce?? One thing that I used to eat a lot are the “Lays Light” chips. Those contain Olestra which is a fat molecule that our bodies can’t digest or process, so it just pushes it through your system. Now, why did I think this was a good idea?? After looking at a lot of the low calorie (not natural) foods I like to eat, I realized they are pumped full of chemicals and artificial sweeteners in order to bring the calorie content down. I think I’d rather have a serving of nuts for 70 more calories than a 100 calorie pack that is packed full of processed and fake ingredients…my body much prefers that!
Of course I will indulge in treats and sweets every now and then (ok, and maybe even a diet coke…how could I not??), but my hope is that Chris and I have learned in this time that our bodies were designed to process good foods, and although a bit more expensive at times (but not to the extreme people say…), I believe it it totally worth the investment.
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