The Daniel Lifestyle to a Healthier Me

I am going to begin with the basis for this lifestyle. It is found in the book of Daniel. Just a little history here.. Daniel and 3 of his friends had been kidnapped and forced to live in King Nebuchadnezzar’s palace. They worshipped God and wouldn't be defiled by the king's food. Here are the verses that are the foundation for my journey: 1:8 But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the royal delicacies or the royal wine. He therefore asked the overseer of the court officials for permission not to defile himself. 1:9 Then God made the overseer of the court officials sympathetic to Daniel. 1:10 But he responded to Daniel, “I fear my master the king. He is the one who has decided your food and drink. What would happen if he saw that you looked malnourished in comparison to the other young men your age? If that happened, you would endanger my life with the king!” 1:11 Daniel then spoke to the warden whom the overseer of the court officials had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: 1:12 “Please test your servants for ten days by providing us with some vegetables to eat and water to drink. 1:13 Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who are eating the royal delicacies; deal with us in light of what you see.” 1:14 So the warden agreed to their proposal and tested them for ten days. 1:15 At the end of the ten days their appearance was better and their bodies were healthier than all the young men who had been eating the royal delicacies. 1:16 So the warden removed the delicacies and the wine from their diet and gave them a diet of vegetables instead. 1:17 Now as for these four young men, God endowed them with knowledge and skill in all sorts of literature and wisdom – and Daniel had insight into all kinds of visions and dreams. Daniel refrained from eating delicacies that he knew would hurt his body. He trusted in God to keep his body healthy and pure. Daniel wanted to keep the temple holy and clean and refused to give in. God rewarded him in his labor by giving him insight to all kinds of visions and dreams. Now I am not suggesting that if you follow the Daniel Lifestyle Plan that you will have visions and dream dreams. Not at all. Your reward may be something entirely different. I am praying my reward will be another child. It taked 30 days to create a new habit, and 15 days to break an old one. Habits are hard to break and some can only be broken by prayer and fasting. Some of us cannot fully fast. I cannot because of the diabetes, but I can give up some things...ok alot of things. The first few days of this new plan will include fasting and praying. Fasting, in it's definition, is to abstain from food or to eat sparingly. I know some people who do a 40 day fast at the beginning of each year. I, unfortunately, cannot do this. I can fast alot of other things besides food. I can fast tv, scrapbooking, reading things other than my Bible, etc. Jesus told his disciples in Mark 9:29 that these things can only come out by prayer and fasting. Although Jesus was referring to demons that the disciples tried to cast out, it can be applied to many other things. Stronghold, bondages, habits..these all can be broken through prayer and fasting. So, beginning in January, I will be fasting and praying alot. I have habits and strongholds that I need broken. I am a compulsive overeater and an emotional eater. I have learned these behaviors since childhood. But the awesome thing is...I do not have to use my past as an excuse for the poor choices I have been making. I can do nothing about the past, but I can choose to make right choices to change my future... (Sheri Rose Shepherd..Fit for my King) She is so very right. I have allowed my past to hold me in bondage and using my past as a crutch for the bad decisions that I make. I am no longer going to do that. God has set me free from my past and I don't have to live there. I can now move forward, onto a healthier me.. In my next post, I will set the guidelines for cleaning out your cabinets, what to throw away, what you can use, and what you will be eating on this lifestyle change. Won't you join me... Emily