Day 7

One week.  I have been on this new plan for one whole week.  There are some things I have learned even in 7 short days...

1. Not everyone is going to understand what I'm doing and why.  That's okay.  I just need to be obedient and pay more attention to what God says than what people say.

2. While I am doing very well so far, I am more concerned about being obedient to God's plan than Whole30's plan.  I'm not deliberately cheating - don't get me wrong.  If, however I find out after I've eaten something that it has an ingredient I'm not supposed to have,  I am not going to start over at day one.  I will move forward. For me, this plan is not as much about detoxing my body (although that is happening as a result of what I'm not eating) as it is about detoxing my mind and spirit of old thoughts, habits and idols that have held me captive since I was a child.

Thankfully, those "accidental" ingredients have only popped up twice and in very very small increments.  Once I was unable to sleep and mindlessly popped a cough drop in my mouth in the middle of the night.  When I woke up the next morning, I thought "yep that probably had sugar in it."
The second time was just last night.  As I mentioned in yesterday's blog, we had our 1st Wednesday fellowship at worship team practice.  One of my dear friends brought a dish she had prepared especially for me.  She had checked out the ingredients online and told me everything that was in it.  All approved, so I put a small bite in my mouth and then she said, "Oh yeah, there's a little soy sauce in it too."  whoops.  Thankfully it was only one small bite, and certainly not intentional.  I am so grateful for the effort she put into making that especially for me and for going to all the trouble of looking things up.  She just missed the "no soy" rule in the process.

3.  I won't die without the foods I've temporarily  eliminated from my diet - although it feels like I might at times. Yes I miss cheese and bread and soda but even at the end of 30 days, I don't think I can go back completely to the way I ate before.  I'm a little nervous about "what comes after." I want to remain in a healthy state of mind and keep listening to God's voice.  I don't want to dive head-long into a bread bowl of cheese soup (okay, maybe I WANT to, but I don't think it'd be wise - or pretty).  I will need to wait on God's voice at the end of this first road trip and see what He wants me to do next so I can be all He wants me to be

4.  The key is depending on Jesus and letting Him have His way in me.  I have been doing this thing myself for a long time and telling people "I'm on a weight loss journey."  Yeah I've been on a journey; I've just been going in circles!  Have I mentioned that I have a lot in common with the Old Testament Israelites?  I have circled this mountain long enough.  It's time to head north. (Deuteronomy 2:3)

So here's to Week one -  With God's help it's done.  And in one minute it will be Friday so yay God and bring on Week 2!