December 31

By Erin | Published: December 31, 2010

This is the last post of the year.  No more days remain in 2010.

I have fasted 300 meals.

Observations for the year are:

  • I have witnessed grace and healing while drawing close to God during this year of fasting and prayer.
  • I eat far less than I did.  I need and want less food than I used to before this experience. 
  • I no longer have periodontal gum disease that I have had for 10 years and not been able to heal before this.  I have been healed with no assistance from the dentist.
  • I weigh about 7 pounds less than I did a year ago.  I expected more, but my age and desk job with long hours have been a factor in this.
  • I have eaten everything I wanted with no dieting, no restricted foods, and far too little exercise and I have not gained weight. 
  • I have grown tremendously in my spiritual walk by fasting and praying 300 times this year.
  • Fasting brings you close to God and it is so much easier to experience being in His presence when you are fasting.  You can be in God’s presence whenever you would like, but fasting truly increases the intensity of the experience for you.
  • Fasting is humbling.

This will come as no surprise, but I intend to fast each week during the coming year as well.  This has become a blessing and not a hardship.  I don’t know at this point if I will post as I did in 2010.  But I believe I will do this challenge again and fast 300 meals in 2011.  It has been life changing and I am ready to continue on the path.

I wish everyone showers of blessings in 2011.  Fear not, be God’s.

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December 30

By Erin | Published: December 30, 2010

2 days remain in 2010.  I have one meal left to fast.  I have fasted 299 meals this year.

Finishing up at work this week.  Getting ready to pack and go to Shreveport for six months.  There has been a lot to do here at the end of the year.  I feel that God has used the experiences of this year to prepare my husband and I for the next chapter of our lives.

Much healing has taken place in me and I know it is because of the prayer and fasting on a steady and consistent basis for the past 12 months.    My spiritual life has expanded and grown. When life has gotten busy or festive there have been times, even a week at a time that took a rest from fasting.  This has been without the guilt and self loathing that comes with dieting.

My observation is when fasting a particular meal each day, you do get accustomed to it.  In fact I found much of the year I was not hungry at lunch or dinner once I had fasted that meal for a week.  I experimented with both lunch and dinner.  I enjoy having dinner with my husband, but he has been out of town for the past 5 or 6 months.  So I have fasted the evening meal most of the time while he has been gone.  I enjoyed having lunch with friends. Breakfast is important to get our metabolism up and brains functioning.

I have learned much about my unhealthy relationship with eating.  I found I would eat when trying to solve a problem (mindless activity to snack while thinking).  I would eat under stress, and I would eat when faced with a task I didn’t want to do.  I would snack during what I call transition times like early in the morning at work while making my work plan for the day and at night when returning home in an effort to dis-engage from work.  Food was a distraction and avoidance tool for me.  Now I am mindful about hungry and full.  God made us to know hungry and full.  Fasting is kind of like a reset button.  Food tastes better when you are hungry.

There is no bad and good food especially in the homemade arena.  Now I do know that chain restaurant food is loaded with sugar, salt and fat and all the things that make up extra calories.  I would not live on it.  Many chain restaurant hamburgers have between 800 and 1200 calories.  If you cook 4 ounces of lean ground beef at home and add a hamburger bun, you are looking at 300 calories for the meat and 100 calories for the bun.  So something in not right in restaurant-ville.  I don’t know that you can eat out everyday even with fasting and lose weight.

I am fasting the noon meal today.  It will be the 300th meal.  I will write a bit more tomorrow about observations and thoughts from a year of fasting 300 meals.

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December 29

By Erin | Published: December 29, 2010

Three days remain in 2010.  I have three meals left to fast. 

I am fasting two meals today.  My room mate is seeking to be in the presence of God and to understand her higher purpose.  I am fasting and praying with her for 24 hours.  We will eat breakfast, pray and then fast until morning Thursday when we will pray and break our fast.   So exciting.  As we prepare for transition and seek God really wonderful and exciting things do happen.  Whenever you are open to offer yourself to God in service you will witness amazing miracles.  Is is safe?  No.  But God is good.

I am fasting the noon and even meals today.

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December 28

By Erin | Published: December 28, 2010

Four days remain in 2010.  Only four days left and I have four meals to fast.

I am planning to fast the evening meal today.  My room mate wants to fast 2 meals tomorrow together.  That will leave Thursday and Friday to fast another meal.  Whew… tight but it can be done.

Fasting 300 meals this year has completely changed my attitude about food.  I still enjoy quality food, and well prepared food.  But I no longer obsess about it.  That has created such a freedom for me.  Freedom has also come in knowing I am making a sacrifice to God and he is with me; strengthening me to get through.  I am not tied to an eating schedule.  I can in fact, go several days without food.  I can throw food away.  Gasp! I could not do that before.  Better to toss the cake out than wear it around your waistline.  We live in a land of plenty.  What is our deal with eating food that should get thrown out?

I also don’t worry that I will “become hungry”.  This sound silly to someone who doesn’t over eat, but I used to eat before I was hungry so I wouldn’t get hungry.  It is stupid and I am absolutely delighted to leave that behind.  It takes far less food that I ever imagined.  How in the world did I even eat as much as I used to?

The biggest surprise to me is I have only lost about seven pounds.  I started January at 188 pounds. Last summer, I was down to 175 – 176 pounds.  But after daylight saving time ended and it became dark by 5:00 pm, I quit walking at night some of the weight has come back.  I really thought I would lose 50 pounds this year, not 8 pounds. 

There is an astonishing part to this that I should note.  I have lost the seven or eight pounds eating anything I wanted.  No dieting, no low fat, no removing food from my menu, no depriving myself when eating.  There has been no intense exercise, just moderate walking.  I have had steak, bacon, bread, potatoes, salad, vegetables, fruit, dessert, pasta, and everything I felt like eating.  The key is I eat in moderation now.  Fasting and prayer has taught me that I don’t need as much.  Fasting has taught me two bites of cake can be enough.  I used to eat an extra piece if it was good.  God has healed me and I am so grateful for this healing.

For fasting and weight loss I will say that with more than 20 pounds to lose; I would fast two meals a day during the week and one meal a day on the weekends.  My desk job has not helped at all.  In fact five pounds came back right away when we went to 10 hour days and no breaks. We had a huge increase to our work load in the fall.  Sitting all day is really bad for human bodies.  We were made to move.  I plan to dedicate some time to getting back in decent shape after I leave this job next week.

Tonight I fast the evening meal.  I feel a great sense of peace.

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December 27

By Erin | Published: December 27, 2010

5 days remain in 2010.  I have four meals left to fast and can you believe I am not fasting today. 

I have not fasted over the holiday.  Yes, I know I should have done all 300 meals by now and have not.  But I feel strongly about holidays. Christmas is a time of celebration, parties, family and friends, sugar based breakfast.  I have indulged and enjoyed the holiday.  It has been a spectacular one indeed. 

Back to work tomorrow and back to fasting on a regular basis.  What a gift the fasting has been this year.  I will write more this week about the blessings that have come this year as a result of consistent fasting and prayer.

My husband is flying back to Shreveport tonight.  We are goofing off today, walking, talking, making a turkey sandwich.  I am not putting any restrictions on this day.  Tomorrow I will begin again.

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  • "Fast 300 Meals is about freedom to loose weight without dieting. It is about drawing on the power of God to be healed from overeating. It is a project to fast 300 meals in 365 days."