Here I Go Again!

Cucumber Express juice for breakfast

May 2013, I participated in an extended juice fast for the purpose of losing weight, rebooting my body and retraining my taste buds so I could eat healthier when it was over. I accomplished each goal and actually juiced longer than I've ever managed to in the past. It went so well that I told myself that if it was at all possible, I would do some form of a juice fast each May.

Well, here it is May 2014 and to be honest, for the last month I have not been looking forward to juice fasting at all. Many bad eating habits have slipped back in and frankly...I love the taste of pizza...and cheesy Mexican food (happy Cinco de Mayo, by the way!)...and sugar. Ahhh...sugar!

But I also have a daughter that has shown me since last fall, it is possible to live a disciplined vegan lifestyle, eat out at restaurants and other homes, exercise faithfully, avoid processed, refined foods and thus...have more energy, vitality and stay healthy when the rest of the family has the flu or the now ever-present allergies.

Does it cost more? Yes...but we're also not paying out for any co-pays or prescriptions for chronic illnesses either. I'm thinking that over a lifetime, it all balances out. If not, at least she'll feel better in her old age than her peers who spent their youth eating fast food and, let's face it, convenience food garbage.

Additionally, I'm involved in a book group with my friend, Kari, where we're digging in monthly to the book 7, by Jen Hatmaker. Ridding your life of excess and the hold that stuff, food and media have on us is the primary thrust of the book. And for the last two weeks, my friend, Becky, has been leading a book/Bible study of Mark Patterson's All In. I'll review both of these when I've completed them, but for now it's enough to say that I am being deeply challenged to rid my life of anything that has a hold on me. If I need to eat simple meals, give up most (or dare I say all) my possessions and free up time from my entertainment and "fun" so that others can know there is a God who loves them...then shouldn't I be willing to do it?

I've been stuck since Christmas. I've shared this before. God is so good, so loving and so gracious that I've been overwhelmed at all He is doing. I have been keeping Him at arms length though because I can't even begin to process it all. But where He is guiding me right now is the reminder that I don't have to have it all figured out and understand how it will come to fruition. I simply should wake up every day and ask how do I live today like Your vision for my life is complete? Live for today, not next year or even next week.

So this time, it's a little more than a juice fast. Yes, I want to lose more weight (I'm starting out 16 pounds less than last year); I want to retrain my taste buds to rid my desire for meat, dairy, sugar and gluten; and I want to reboot my body to be ready to make the life changes I'm hoping will occur this time. Because in addition to these goals, this year I'm adding in exercise (starting with yoga to increase my flexibility) and placing boundaries on my media time. Today, I'm running late because I usually do on Mondays, but next Monday...I'm going media free again. I'm also limiting my Facebook and game usage to before 9 a.m. and one half hour to quickly check messages around bedtime. This is a work in progress and doesn't mean that I want to compensate for the loss with something else online. I do hope this frees up time for blogging, more book reviews and other pursuits. If not, it will be restricted further. 

Join my journey if you want. The media restrictions start tomorrow because today I have to focus on juicing and there some loose ends I need to tidy up before I downsize my media usage. Essentially I feel the Spirit leading me to join others I know who are risking everything and going All In.

I'm ready...or at least He's getting me ready! And I can't wait to see what He's up to!!

**I will be updating and sharing the juice fast through Twitter which posts directly to my Facebook account. If you'd like to follow the juice fast and aren't my Facebook "friend", you can click the link above and to the left to follow me on Facebook.**