Amy J. Bennett

Extraordinary Faith for Everyday Life

My Experience with The Daniel Fast

by

The Daniel Fast

This is going to be a long one.  Click in if you’d like to read about my experience with The Daniel Fast

What is it?

OK first off, what IS the Daniel Fast?  Well, let’s be clear first that this is a fast, not a diet.  I’m sure you’re familiar with fasting from the Bible.  You take a set time to quit eating and use that time for prayer.  There are many instances when people fasted and prayed.  The first that popped into my mind was Esther telling the Jews to fast and pray before she went to talk to the King.  Daniel’s seemed to be a bit different.  It two cases, he ate but only a limited type of food.  In Daniel 1:

“Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink.  Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see.” So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days. At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food.  To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds.

Now as you noticed it does not specifically mention that it was a fast, only that they restricted their diet.  In Daniel 10, he mentions restricting his food again as he mourned:

At that time I, Daniel, mourned for three weeks.  I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips; and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over.

OK first off, there is a lot of interpretation from this if you ask me.  From what I can tell, neither of these were specifically a set time of fasting and praying for Daniel (unless the mourning means a time of spiritual fasting?).  However, these are the verses from which the Daniel Fast comes from, which is specifically a time of fasting and praying.

What can you eat?

From what I have found (and I have not read books on this), this is left up to great interpretation.  If you take this at face value, you can only have vegetables and drink water.  However, from what I’ve read by vegetables, it would also mean fruits.  By “no choice food”, that would mean no sweeteners or breads.  They also conclude after all this that no artificial or processed foods are allowed.  This is not a case of natural vs. processed.  Coffee and tea are natural but you can only drink water.  Honey is natural but it’s a sweetener.  As far as I’m concerned, a cow is natural but it says no meat.  So basically the guidelines are: eat vegetables, nuts, and fruit and drink water.  Many people make their own interpretation and allow honey.  I would suggest reading and then letting the Holy Spirit guide on what is best for you.  God continually said to me, “I’m not a dictator, it will be ok.”  I chose not to eat honey but a lot of my issues are with sugar so I chose to avoid it.

So what did you eat?

This was a huge change for me.   Surprisingly, I really could care less about the meat, but I never realized how much I relied on sugar and dairy products (cheese! milk! sour cream! cream cheese!).  In all honesty, it was really hard but I found as with many things, once you find your groove, you’re fine.  I found in most cases, I was eating 5 small meals instead of 3 big meals and 2-3 snacks.

Here are some things I ate:

Breakfast

  • Banana
  • Grits made with water, sprinkled with garlic powder, salt and pepper. (Wow, super dry if but filling.)
  • Oatmeal made with water, with strawberries. (YUCK.  I hate oatmeal anyway so I don’t know why I tried this.)

Lunch

  • Homemade hummus with carrots
  • Sweet potato fries
  • Oven roasted potatoes with homemade ketchup
  • Salad with balsamic vinegar/oil dressing
  • Baked potato sprinkled with salt, pepper and seasoned salt
  • Mixed nuts

Fruit with one of the above

Dinner

Snacks

  • Popcorn (not packaged).
  • Plain raisins.  These tasted like nectar compared to what I was eating!
  • Mixed nuts.
  • Fruit
  • Rice cakes with natural peanut butter spread on it

For dinner, I also ate some of the lunch items I mentioned.  Like a salad and potato fries for example.  Basically I just mix and matched whatever I felt like eating.

Since I chose to only do 10 days (many do 3 weeks or even 40 days), you can see I just recycled most of this.  I tried to not make this about the food, but more about the praying.

I bought the Version 2 cookbook found here.  In general, I wasn’t impressed with the recipes but I did use the following recipes: sugar-free ketchup, balsamic, garlic and herb dressing, oven roasted potatoes.

What about the family?

This was actually one of my biggest concerns going in and to be honest, the kids didn’t eat so great.  The first few days I got some chicken from the store and spread that over a few days and let them eat that with a veggie and fruit.  They ate the oven roasted potatoes one night, the sweet potato fries one night and Emma LOVED the sautéed squash.  Other nights, they got pizza or ate breakfast for dinner and I made myself something different.

Scott actually ate what I ate for dinner when he wanted and other times, made himself a salad or sandwich.  He is working nights right now too, so many nights he wasn’t even home for me to cook for.

How was it?

Spiritually

It was unlike anything I’ve done.  I don’t know how to describe it, but I felt very connected to God.  I know He answered my prayers and gave me a word.  I would expound but it’s not really my story to tell.  Let’s be clear though that I did this for spiritual reasons and that is the real motivation I had to stay on top of what I ate.

Physically

I needed to do this from a physical aspect.  I had gotten so lax in what I was eating.  I’d been watching my friend Kristi go through a 3 week sugar detox and all the reasons she did it was why I needed to do it too.  Bottom line, I think my body was addicted to sugar.  I preach to my kids about not having too much sugar.  It shuts your immune system down, it messes up your blood sugar, it even feeds cancer cells.  I just needed to say no.  At one point this winter, I was 10 pounds more than I had been a few years ago when I was eating healthy and exercising.  I knew it was all the sugar and carbs I was eating.

Well, it’s now been 12 days since I did this and I am down 6 pounds.  I feel clean.   I don’t get tired in the afternoon.  I’m not craving food all day.  In fact, after dinner, I rarely eat any snack.  And I am SURE my body is rejoicing from the break!  Who knows what kind of good it is doing!

What about now?

Here’s the thing.  When the 10 days were over, I didn’t gulp down a Mountain Dew and eat the box of Girl Scout cookies that had arrived during my fast.  I got up Sunday morning and ate a banana like I had been.  The bagel and coffee at church didn’t appeal to me.  When we went to Jason’s Deli for lunch, I didn’t use Ranch on my salad, didn’t eat the bread and didn’t have the ice cream.  For dinner, I ate the leftover Vegetarian Chili from Saturday.  I LIKED how I felt and what my body was doing and was so motivated to keep it going.  Yes, I have added some things back in slowly.  I ate corn chips with the chili, had tuna for lunch yesterday and even splurged on ONE Girl Scout cookie last night.  I’m planning to add back in meat and would like to enjoy coffee again.  I don’t know how long this will last or how I will find the balance in what I eat.  But I can say I’ve done food both ways…eat the basics and eat what I want and I 100% feel better eating the basics.

And if you read all that, congratulations, you win the P2P reader award today LOL.  I’d be happy to answer any questions you might have after that if it’s possible.  If you’ve done the fast, I’m very curious as to the recipes you used and would love if you shared!

And in closing, I just want to thank God for sustaining me through this, being close to me and answering my prayers in a very real way.  He’s awesome!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Good for you! I know that the times I have fasted have been a giant spiritual booster for me. I felt really in tune with God. This would be an easy one for me to do right now because I’m on Weight Watchers, so I am going to put it on my calendar. We leave for a cruise in 22 days, so I will need a de-tox after that!

  2. Oh, man. I’m a picky eater so I think I would die if I had to go vegan. But, good for you! I know that when I detox sugar (I really need to do this again), I feel SO much better, look better and tend to lose weight faster. AND I don’t crave the junk like I normally do. And I know the spiritual benefit was the main goal, but yay for the health benefits!

  3. WOW!is all I can say. I can tell that God is working miracles in your life. You have encouraged me! God is good and I am thankful for a friend like you! I think I will try this Daniel Fast. I am sure I could use the spiritual uplifting that will come!

  4. I love this! I have thought about doing it and to be honest I know I am addicted to sugar. Its not as bad as it used to be but I still have my moments of knowing that I don’t need to consume as much sugar as I do. I’m working on all of that!
    Thank you for sharing your experience!
    Becky recently posted…DisciplineMy Profile

  5. Man, can we be BFF? I love your heart!

    I’ve never tried a Daniel Fast but you have me intrigued! Actually the girl that does our video announcements at church was interviewed by our local paper recently and she talked about being in the middle of her Daniel Fast. I have the same concerns tho, the kids, the hubs, etc but I would love to try this soon!
    Trina recently posted…Twister TopMy Profile

  6. I did joy bauer’s 3-day detox diet and loved it so much I bought her book which basically gives you balanced meals of natural foods. It feels so good to get the right amount of vegetables and nutrients, etc. Then I hurt myself and ended up in the hospital and now I’m on the “eat whatever I can eat that doesn’t hurt my mouth” diet. But I plan to get back to it as soon as I am healed.

    It was really interesting to read the biblical references. I knew it talked about fasting in the bible of course but I did not know it went into details about diet restrictions. Congrats on your diet and I am curious to see how it changes your cravings long-term – I know mine were starting to be affected during the week+ I was on it!

  7. It’s so awesome to read about your experience.

    We were miles from home when our fast ended & went looking for a Subway – ended up getting lost & getting McDonald’s (bleh). Talk about indigestion after eating so healthy.

    I’m glad you listed what you ate – gives me some new ideas! One of our favorite snacks was natural peanut butter & grapes. Which we ate, a lot.
    Kayla recently posted…It’s All About YOUMy Profile

  8. I’m four days from the end of a Daniel Fast, and I’ve also been amazed how it has broken my cravings. The idea of breaking the fast with junk foods just sounds so crazy to me! I am looking forward to drinking coffee again, though I’ll start with unsweetened soy milk and stevia in it to avoid dairy reactions and sugar cravings spiking. I will probably eat meat much less often. I truly have been satisfied with the foods I’ve eaten, and my appetite (and hunger) have decreased. I needed to lose about 60 pounds, and I’ve lost 12, so that is an encouraging start.

  9. Today is my last day of my 21 day fast. Like you, my goal was about spiritual growth. I tailored my fast a bit differently in that I did not eat nuts, legumes, or any grain (no popcorn). My fast was literally fruit and veggies to eat and water to drink. I also limited the amount of salt and other seasonings as salt is addictive too. The only time I used minimal salt was when I was cooking homemade marinara and red chili. Everything I ate was fresh and organic other than the organic vegetable stock I bought for the red chili which I read the label to make sure it didn’t have sweeteners or too much sodium. My favorite recipe was spaghetti squash topped with the homemade marinara. When I was feeling lazy I would split open a baked potato, top with the red chili I made, and on top of that I would make a salad. I know, it sounds weird but it was yummy. I cooked separate meals for hubby…he was soooo not into doing this with me. I guess he’s too much of a meat, potato, and sweet kind of guy LOL! Did you notice a heightened sense of smell or am I the only one? The other weird thing that I noticed is that I gave up all sweets and desserts when my baby was in the hospital getting his first blood transfusion after being diagnosed with cancer over a year and a half ago. At first giving up on all that was difficult but it got easier in time and eventually I stopped thinking about it or even being tempted. I would still eat honey or put a little sugar in my coffee etc. The weird part was that when I started this fast, I read about others saying sugar was the hardest part but I kind of blew it off thinking it wouldn’t be a problem for me…boy was I wrong! If I saw a picture of anything chocolate, I could literally smell it! If my husband ate a cookie, I could smell it on him like it was coming out of his pores!

  10. I read your article and it really helped me to prepare for this fast. I’m anxious about how I will do. I feel your article is a blessing

  11. We’re gearing up to do our 2nd Daniel Fast. Our church does it for 21 days in January. It was too overwhelming for me 2 years ago, so I went on a Facebook Fast for the 21 days instead. I think that was actually harder! Last year we jumped in with both feet and it was a great experience. Although, I have to say it sometimes became more about the food than the prayer. It can be challenging, and time consuming, to prepare food for the family that’s “legal.” I enjoyed the experimentation, though. When our small group from church met after being on it for about a week and a half everybody was saying how sick of stir fry they were….”we had stir fry this and stir fry that…!” When we got in the car to go home, my hubby said, “I didn’t want to say anything when we were in there, but we haven’t even had stir fry yet. That sounds really good!” Now I’m racking my brain to try to remember what we ate last year. Loved reading your perspective. I’m hoping to make it more about the prayer this year and less about the fasting.

  12. Fun to read your experience. My husband and I are on day one of a 21 day fast. Feels like it is a long time to 21 days. :). Can’t wait to see how it goes. We are trying to come up with fun things to try, there are more recipes and options than I would have expected.

  13. For the past year, the Lord has established my identitiy and has made me aware of my true purposes and calling. He has shown me several visions and laid it upon my heart to begin the “Daniel Fast” as it has been named today. I am on my 2nd day, and I feel even more connected than usual with him. When entering worship there is hardly (if at all) any need to press pass the junk in my life. I have no desires for anything of the world and have been more focused on him than usual. Even at work I am praising and singing more. (I don’t mind the goofy looks in my giant work area.) The lord is good and is raising up a generation to seek after him to turn the world upside down!
    Adam recently posted…WelcomeMy Profile

    • Adam, that is awesome to hear!! Many people go through life and never find their purpose. I am one of those so far. God has taught me so much along the way so I know that realization of that purpose is coming soon!! Enjoy your fast and I pray that God continues to do amazing things for you! All he is doing is looking for some alone time with His children!

  14. I’m on day 3 of a 40 day Daniel Fast. I’m not sure how it has stretched to 40 but it believe that’s what God wants from us. We’ve done Daniel Fasts in the past and they are so worth it. It’s amazing to get a chance to have great communication with God. I do believe the most important thing to fasting though is setting away some distraction free quiet time in God’s presence. We all live busy lives but we all do have time for God. It will make the fast amazing if you get alone with God. He reveals amazing things during those quiet times. The food is great if you just focus on all the good things you can have and not think about all the things you are missing out on. For us, we will be eating veggies and fruit during the Superbowl 🙂 Good luck everyone!!

  15. I started this on Sunday, and I was wondering if you exercised during your fast, or any sort of physical activity?

  16. Thanks for this post! I’ve been thinking about doing the Daniel fast. Partly because I’ve never done a real fast before and want to the difference in my spiritual walk, but also because I need to get better in self-discipline. I’m a very picky eater and very rarely eat healthy. So it seems like a good thing to try for both reasons. Anyway, thanks for the insight!

  17. Congrats on getting through your fast. My sister recently told me about the Daniel Fast and I decided to join her, as well as my husband. I’m only day 3 into the fast but its not as hard as I thought. However I’m still playing around with recipes to see what I like. My fave so far is a baked potato with baked seasoned broccoli (cooks perfectly in oven without a bland boiled taste) and a little coconut oil for flavor. I also enjoyed seasoned brown rice sauteed in onion and tomato paste, topped with fresh tomato and avocado. (Upon my research I found that you can eat whole wheat pasta, brown rice and quinoa- all natural grains) I do find myself getting hungry through out the day but when I eat I get really full quicker than normal so it’s easier to eat smaller meals/snacks. 18 more days to go! My goal is to get closer to God and continue healthy living. 🙂

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