Tips To Survive a 21 Day Fast

At that time I, Daniel, mourned for three weeks.  I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips – Daniel 10: 2, 3 (NIV)

At the beginning of the year, many churches and Christians embark upon a corporate or personal fast.  Many of these fasts are based on the 21 Day Daniel Fast where the fast allows eating of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans and water.  Sometimes this list is modified but basically, this is what is allowed.

The Purpose of This Post

I was raised in a very traditional Pentecostal church, so I grew up fasting.  However,  there are many different denominations that didn’t observe this practice.  So, my purpose here is to add some insight to help “rookies” survive a 21 day corporate fast.

Prepare for the Fast

For me, the most important element to surviving a 21 day Daniel Fast, without falling off the wagon, is preparation.

• Positive Attitude:  Approach the fast with a can do attitude.  Christianity is based on faith, so you must believe that you can successfully endure the fast.  A negative or defeatist attitude will most likely result in defeat.
• Caffeine and Sugar Withdrawal:  If you are heavy coffee and soda drinker or eat a lot of chocolate and sweets you will probably experience withdrawal in the form of headaches or cravings.  To help with these symptoms, start to cut back on sweets and caffeine at least a week before the fast begins.  The symptoms won’t last the entire fast but probably for about 3 days.
• Know Your Food Groups:  It’s difficult to survive a fast if you don’t have enough to eat, so you should know your food groups.  For instance, some fasts will say you can only eat fruits and vegetables.  Did you know that nuts are a fruit?  Nuts are also a great source of protein.  Learn your food groups.
• Go Grocery Shopping:  Make a list of what you are allowed to eat during the fast and purchase what you need for at least a week.
• Cook Ahead And Freeze:  Soups and some vegetarian casseroles can be prepared ahead of time and frozen.  You can make a very hearty bean soup with vegetable broth.
• Take Your Lunch To Work:  Taking your lunch to work will relieve the stress of finding what you can eat on a restaurant menu.

Notes About Fasting

• If you have severe medical conditions, check with your doctor before beginning a fast.
• You can pray without fasting but you can’t fast without praying.  A fast without prayer is a diet!
• Be humble in your fasting.  It’s not necessary to announce to the world that you are fasting (Matthew 6: 17, 18).

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It’s been a while since I posted here and I just want to let everyone know what’s been going on.

The Elder Care Workshop that was co-sponsored by Caregivers Health Mart (my company) and Destiny World Church took up a lot of my time.  After the workshop, my god-sister’s condition steadily declined and that also was time consuming.

I’d been taking care of Gladys in my home since 2008.  She passed away Thanksgiving weekend.  Now I am taking care of the last of her legal affairs and bills.

I’ll be posting again soon.  Thanks for your patience.

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Tags: apologies, Elder Care, family

Destiny World Church is partnering with Caregivers Health Mart to sponsor a free elder care workshop.  Whether we want to admit it or not, our parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents will eventually need some help.  We want to think that those people who raised us and took such good care of us will always have a sharp mind and be in good health.  Here’s the problem with that – It doesn’t always turn out that way.

This workshop will give you some tools to prepare you for helping your elderly family members.  The last thing you want is to find out one day that Mom or Dad had a stroke or heart attack.  Mom or dad has developed Alzheimer’s.  Or, they just need help and can’t function by themselves anymore.  This workshop will help you to be proactive instead of reactive.

What’s Gonna Happen To Mom and Dad?

Destiny World Church
Saturday, November 6, 2010
10:00 AM – 2:00 PM

7400 Factory Shoals Road
Austell, GA 30168
(1 mile from Six Flags)

Register Now!  It’s Free

Some people wonder why I care so much about this topic.  It’s because five years ago my god-sister had a stroke and could not longer take care of herself.  She was 78 years old, a widow and childless.  It became my family’s responsibility to care for her and we were clueless.  I don’t want that to happen to you.

Workshop Topics

• Exploring Elder Care Options (assisted living, personal care homes, etc.)
• Let’s Talk About Long Term Care Insurance
• Understanding Advance Directives (everyone needs to have these)
• Hospice is a Service, Not A Place (you don’t have to be dying to receive hospice services)

Statistics from National Family Caregivers Association

More than 65 million people, 29% of the U.S. population, provide care for a chronically ill, disabled or aged family member or friend during any given year and spend an average of 20 hours per week providing care for their loved one.
- Caregiving in the United States; National Alliance for Caregiving in collaboration with AARP; November 2009

The value of the services family caregivers provide for “free,” when caring for older adults, is estimated to be $375 billion a year. That is almost twice as much as is actually spent on homecare and nursing home services combined ($158 billion).
- Evercare Survey of the Economic Downturn and Its Impact on Family Caregiving; National Alliance for Caregiving and Evercare. March 2009

The typical family caregiver is a 49-year-old woman caring for her widowed 69-year-old mother who does not live with her. She is married and employed. Approximately 66% of family caregivers are women. More than 37% have children or grandchildren under 18 years old living with them.
- Caregiving in the United States; National Alliance for Caregiving in collaboration with AARP. November 2009

1.4 million children ages 8 to 18 provide care for an adult relative; 72% are caring for a parent or grandparent; and 64% live in the same household as their care recipient. Fortunately, most are not the sole caregiver.
- National Alliance for Caregiving and the United Hospital Fund, Young Caregivers in the U.S., 2005.

20 hours per week is the average number of hours family caregivers spend caring for their loved ones while 13% of family caregivers are providing 40 hours of care a week or more.
- Caregiving in the United States; National Alliance for Caregiving in collaboration with AARP. November 2009

This workshop is free.  Why not take a few hours out of your Saturday to get some valuable information that can be of great benefit. See you on November 6th.

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Tags: advance directives, caregivers, caregiving, Destiny World Church Elder Care Workshop, eldercare, eldercare options, free elder care workshop, hospice services, long term care insurance