Caffeine addiction!

Caffeine addiction…

Hi I am Jen and I am a caffeine addict… I am addicted to coffee, green tea, black tea, herbal teas, and anything hot steamy and caffeinated or fizzy, bubbly, ice cold and caffeinated!

Today is day the 3^rd day of the Daniel fast… I’m doing surprisingly well….  Aside from the caffeine withdrawal Mon and Tues there isn’t too much to complain about….

For food I’ve been pretty strict on myself…

The only ‘processed food’ I’ve been eating is Lara Bars… if you do not know about the amazingness of these bars you must go, buy, and eat! Now you may ask how are you eating ‘bars’ when you are doing a Daniel Fast and not supposed to be eating processed food… well…. The answer is simple… these bars are extremely clean… mostly they contain fruit and nuts… if you read the label most of them only have 3-6 ingredients… there for I deemed these perfectly expectable for my current fasting plan… additionally Kroger’s has these on sale right now! Normally they are $2 but right now they are $1! YAY!  If you are going to try any I recommend the PBJ, cherry pie, and banana nut bread… some of the other flavors have more ingredients and included things I know I shouldn’t have during this fast such as chocolate but I’m sure those flavors are equally as good.

To help prepare myself for the fast on Sunday I made a large pot of beans and rice and a large pot of oatmeal with dates for some sweetness.

Monday:

Breakfast- Cashew Cookie Lara Bar, 1 serving of organic steele cut oats with some dates for sweetness, and prunes.

Lunch- 1 serving of beans and rice

All day I snacked and munched this made it a little easier for me I think… I had dried figs, dried dates, raw almonds, 2 small apples, 1 small tangerine, and 1 cup of grapes.

Dinner- 1 PBJ Lara Bar

The caffeine withdrawal was really bad Monday evening.  I was moody, suffering from a slight headache, and feeling like I was walking in a fog.  I was a wreck.  I had prayed God would free me from this, but I truly believe that He is trying to show me how all the things I am putting in my body affects it.

I normally would have several cups of coffee, tea, and even diet soda a day… no wonder I never slept at night!

Tuesday:

Breakfast-Banana Nut Bread Lara Bar, 1 serving of organic steele cut oats with dates and slivered almonds.

Snack: Figs, dates, and an apple

Lunch: Homemade veggie soup

Snack: 1 small apple and a tangerine

Dinner: Homemade veggie soup with rice and a cherry pie Lara bar

Now if I had time and energy and money I would have bought fresh veggies and tomatoes.  I would have spent hours cutting, chopping, sautéing, simmering, and tasting… I did not have that kind of time….

I allowed the store to do most of the work for me.  I bought 2 cans of crushed tomatoes, 1 can of tomato juice, 1 bag of chopped frozen onions, 1 bag of chopped frozen mixed veggies, and 2 bags of frozen soup veggie mix…

I put all ingredients in the crock-pot and add a touch of extra water… I let this cook overnight Monday night….on low...

Deliciousness! 

Tuesday evening I got to spend some QT with my uncle and then hit they hay relatively early… It was another restless night…

I did however wake up this morning feeling great… Like a weight had been lifted off of my shoulders and like I was back to me again… I think that the caffeine withdrawal I had been suffering from for two days has finally lifted.  Today I want to focus on not eating so much dried fruit… although tasty it is rather calorie dense… and really not all that filling…

I made an adjustment to my normal breakfast and I’m truly pleased with it!

Breakfast: 1 medium banana cooked, 1.5cups of cooked steele cut oatmeal, 1/4cup of walnuts, and 1 tsp of cinnamon... 

I had the banana frozen as I always keep a stock pile of frozen bananas for banana bread…. I peeled it and microwaved it for 2 minutes… it became mushy and runny… I then mixed in the precooked oatmeal I had made on Sunday… with some walnuts and cinnamon… This was amazing… it was like eating hot banana bread… definitely a keeper!

Snack: 1 small apple + 2 cups of grapes

Lunch: 1.5cups of homemade veggie soup with ½ cup of brown rice + 1 small apple

Snack: 1 tangerine +1 Peanut Butter Jelly Lara Bar (seriously my favorite flavor)

Dinner: Mixed raw veggies, slivered almonds, beans, and couscous… all drizzled in balsamic

Dinner was on the fly tonight as I had to stop by my mother’s to wish her a happy birthday and then go to bible study at church… Right now nothing is friendly at the drive-thru and that is normally where I would head between the gym and church… I needed to stop by Giant Eagle to grab my mom a few surprises for her b-day… so I headed to the salad bar.  I got the smallest container they had and began to stuff if with raw veggies including : peas, soy beans, celery, cucumbers, red green and yellow peppers, topped with slivered almonds, black beans, kidney beans, and garbanzo beans.  It was satisfying and crunchy!

Monday my calories were a little high at 1800… Tuesday I came in at around 1591… Today at about 1450

Now I’m not purposefully trying to go super low on calories… nor am I in anyway starving myself…  I am simply eating when I’m hungry and following the guidelines of the Daniel Fast… I eat almost constantly yet I find I’m not taking in that many calories all at one time because they food is all naturally low calorie.

Since water is the only drink I can have I am drinking plenty!

You may wonder at this point how the fast is affecting my weight… well I can say on Monday morning pre-fast I was up 1lb… this morning I was down 3lbs… Although I am not doing this fast for weight loss purposes I am very glad it is helping… Also I am much more aware to the how processed most foods are and the amazing amount of chemicals they put in food… especially ‘natural’ chemicals…. I told a friend I feel clean on the inside now… and that’s the truth I feel like all the toxins are working their way out of my body.

The true test is still to come for me… Sat I am going to see a Christian comedian named Tim Hawkins (seriously you-tube his Chick-fil-a song you won’t be disappointed!) I am going with a group and we will be eating out.  I don’t know where we will be eating so that part is up in the air for me…. I am hoping I can either get just some salad or some veggies.  I will pack a snack in my bag! Sunday my church has its spaghetti dinner and although I can’t eat spaghetti I am going to support the church.  I plan on bringing my own rice or barley and just getting sauce.  It seems wrong that I’ll be paying $10 just for sauce, but since the money goes to the church I won’t feel so bad!  The bread and dessert are going to be big temptations for me.  I love bread.  I really love desserts.  I however now know that those things don’t love my body from the inside or the out.  Those things must be avoided.  I may also bring some veggies to snack on as well. Monday I have my monthly Girlfriends night where we eat! I volunteered to bring something.  I’m going to make a tossed salad.  I’m going to buy some ranch dressing and then I’m going to make some raspberry vinaigrette and/or balsamic vinaigrette.  I will make sure there is plenty of salad so I definitely have enough to eat!  I think that these things are where the devil is going to try to tempt me the most!  In these settings I’ll be with large groups eating whatever they want… I may struggle with these days, but I know that I will hold true to my vowels with God and this fast.

I’m praising God that I am over this caffeine addiction… I don’t think I realize how dependant I had become… I think that when I quit smoking in January that my body just clung to the next fix that came along and that was caffeine… I now need to make my fix Jesus and healthy living… Those are the two things I want my body to yearn and crave.

xoxo