Isn’t it amazing that when we deprive ourselves of something, that’s all we want! I’ve only completed one day of the fast and it was pretty hard considering how much baking I was doing yesterday. Normally, when breaking all of the chocolate blocks and discs, there are bound to be a couple that land up in my mouth, and there’s no point putting a bowl in the sink when there is still some chocolate chip cookie dough clinging to the sides…this is my struggle.

Unlike my husband who usually has 2 cups of coffee every morning, there is nothing that I have given up that is such a part of my normal routine so the baking is my challenge. Not an entirely bad thing, it’s about time I broke that habit.

So I’m going to put up my meal plan on these blogs along with any recipes that I have. As I said yesterday, if there is something that I eat that is on your no-go list or vice versa, that is entirely up to you. Just make the decision before you start the fast and stick with it and make sure that you are drinking enough water!

Breakfast:

1 x bowl of cut up strawberries

Mid morning snack:

1 x Loaded Smoothies

Lunch:

Salad of lettuce, tomato, carrots, mung bean sprouts and some avocado oil with lemon as a dressing

Afternoon snack:

2 x Nectarines

Dinner:

Mushroom Risotto (recipe below)

Fresh litchis

I also had a couple of teaspoons of peanut butter during the day. This helped me to not lick my fingers, spoons or nibble on some chocolate pieces. By no means do I claim that this is a healthy diet in that it includes all of the food groups and nutrients that you need, but this is what I ate yesterday.

But a fast is more about the spiritual than the actual food so I spent some time yesterday morning reading through the book of Daniel and praying for the 3 weeks ahead. Our church has also given us some foundational scriptures for the week. I read through them last night and will be spending some more time each day this week meditating on them individually.

Just FYI: I did go for an 8km run this morning and I’m hoping that this way of eating helps my energy levels. If you are fasting from all food I would recommend not exercising, but this is supposed to be quite a healthy way of eating so the exercise must continue.

Now for the recipe for the Mushroom Risotto. I love Mushroom Risotto, but have never made it at home. So when I found a vegan recipe for one I was overjoyed. It’s not quite the same as the one with cream and wine and cheese, but this was really yummy and I will be making it part of my normal recipe book.

I found it on Simple Vegan Recipes.

Mushroom Risotto

• 1 onion
• 200g mushrooms (Woolworths has an awesome 200g pack of assorted mushrooms)
• 1 red pepper
• 125g brown rice (I used brown and wild rice)
• 25g sunflower seeds
• 500ml vegetable stock

Chop and fry onion (in a little olive oil or use non-stick cooking spray) in a deepish saucepan. When onion is glassy add the rice and fry for a few minutes. Pour in the vegetable stock and simmer for 20 minutes stirring occasionally. ( I had to add about 100ml more water).

Add chopped mushrooms. Add salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 5 minutes until rice is cooked.

Mix in sunflower seeds and chopped red pepper. Cook for a few more minutes.

I sprinkled some dried sage on top when serving.

Simple, easy and so worth it.