Ash Wednesday just passed, which marks the beginning of Lent. While this is not a faith-based blog, I am very much a religious person with a deep relationship with God and Jesus, and it is a big part of who I am. So, while I won’t be sharing much Christian content here, from time to time it pops up because it is a part of my own Wellness Journey.

Today, we are talking about fasting – both Intermittent Fasting and the Daniel Fast that I will be doing for the 40 days of Lent. Intermittent Fasting is WHEN I will be eating and the Daniel Fast is WHAT I will be eating.

Lent is a 40 day period leading up to Easter. Fasting during Lent teaches us to lean on God for strength and spend time in prayer. It is a reflection of when Jesus fasted for 40 days in the wilderness before he was crucified. During this period of Lent, some people fast or some people just give up something like TV, desserts, certain foods, etc.

For Lent I will be doing the Daniel Fast. This is a fast based off of the story of Daniel in the bible. Daniel proved his loyalty to the lord by not eating anything off what he believed to be the proper diet. In the end he proved he was strong and loyal to God.

On this fast I am giving up: alcohol, meat, sugar, dairy, and processed foods. I will be eating things such as: all fruits, all vegetables, grains like quinoa, oats, nuts and seeds including nut butters, tofu and tempeh. I did this last year for Lent and looked and felt amazing. I lost some weight, felt great and lighter, and many people commented on how I was glowing.

Intermittent Fasting will be the period of which I eat. I will be starting Intermittent Fasting or IF as well, but continuing this past the Lent period, until I meet my weight loss goals. I have done IF in the past and it made a difference in my weight, and how I looked and felt.

Intermittent fasting (IF) is an eating pattern that cycles betwee periods of fasting (or not eating) with periods of eating. There are different types of IF such as alternate day, 5:2 fasting, or the more popular 16:8 fast which is what I’ll be doing. Eating in a 8 hour window and fasting 16 hours on a daily basis. Basically skipping a meal, which for me will be skipping dinner, 

Because I do the bulk of my workouts early in the morning, I want to make sure that I have breakfast so that I’m able to get some protein and everything into my body as soon as after my workout as possible. I do find that if I do an early morning workout and then don’t eat until lunchtime, I get very low energy. I get very cranky. I feel very dizzy so it’s better for me to eat something close to after my workout. So, my plan is to do my workout, have my first meal of the day or to break my fast at 7 AM which will be my breakfast and then I will have a snack and then I will have lunch and then possibly an afternoon snack making sure that I can completely stop eating by 3 o’clock in the afternoon so that’ll be the period I’ll then begin my 16 hour fast.

You can learn more about my fasting journey at the video below.