Three Day Fast – How I’m Starting The Lenten Season – Day 2

A little update on my three day fast. This fast is how I'm starting the Lenten season.

So, Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent and day 2 of my fast.  To quickly review, two years ago, my doctor recommended fasting for a couple of days, which in the end, turned into three days.  At the end of the three days, I felt great.  No inflammation, it was really good.  I vowed that I would do it again, and maybe a couple of times a year.  I never did, until now.

I decided that Lent would be a good occasion for the fast.  I decided, like last time on three days.

Here’s how day two went.  And by the way, as I said in my previous post, my doctor recommended this a couple of years ago, so I felt pretty good about doing it again.  If you’re thinking of doing it, and you’ve never done it.  DO NOT DO IT WITHOUT CONSULTING WITH YOUR DOCTOR!

Now, back to day 2.  Here’s how I’ve found it different than day one.  The headaches I experienced on the first day are gone, but I also made the decision to have about 10oz of Coca-Cola on the morning of the second day.  Making sure I had a little caffeine.  Here’s the thing about being in the middle of a fast.  You haven’t eaten for 36 hours.  You’re getting along fine.  It is a bit of a climb during the afternoon of the 2^nd day, when, knowing that you haven’t eaten in a day and a half, you realize that there’s no dinner in your future.  That’s the thought you have to power through.  I’d tell you it would be easier to just never think about the food, but you can’t and won’t do that.  You’ll be thinking about food.  Stay focused on the task.

I don’t make things easy on me as it’s my job to prepare dinner each night.  So, for the second night, I prepared dinner for her.  Salmon, broccoli and a couple of slices of multi-grain bread.  It certainly doesn’t help, but it’s also not as bad as you think it might be.  Just remember why you’re doing the fast and again, keep focused.

Let me share one more thing I’ve learned.  When doing this the first time, I was under doctor’s orders, and I was trying to correct and avoid a medical situation.  This time, no orders, my choice, voluntary.  That makes it a little harder.  You can always stop when you want.  No harm.  No foul.  Don’t!  Stay focused.  That’s what I’m doing as I get ready to wrap up my three day fast.

Heading into the weekend the weather doesn't look good.  Right now, there are more storms and rain on Friday.  Now Saturday, look out.  Sunshine and a high of only 50.  That's cold.  What goes great with cold weather?  Soup!  When it comes to soups for cold days, we have so many options.

So for me, Saturday looks like a crock-pot cooking slow, a fire built, and a day in front of the TV watching football!  But what will be in the crock pot?  I don't know yet but I'm about to give you some really good options to pick from.  For me, it may end up being a big crock pot full of pinto beans and cornbread.

According to the website Insanely Good  these are some of the most popular soups in America

Then you have the question of, "Are pinto beans soup?  Are Black-Eyed peas soup?  Are Chicken and Dumplings soup?"  To me, the answer is "Yes."

We have some great places to get soup here in the CSRA as well. Try a few of these.

It doesn't matter if you want to get a can of soup or spend the day slow cooking a homemade soup for a cold winter day, it doesn't change anything. It's what works for you.  Make ya some homemade cornbread or biscuits and enjoy a day inside warm and dry.  Here are some soups for cold days to hit the spot to warm ya up.

So many soups really do hit the spot on rainy and cold days but is there anything like a good bowl of chicken soup?  One of the best.

This a very easy one to make and to me when you add more cheese, the better this soup gets.  It's also better the next day.

I love Italian food and this one is super good! It gives you the feel of a great pasta and soup combination mixed together.

This is a new one for me.  I've only had cheeseburger soup one time.  This one looks easy to make and makes a lot of soup

It doesn't get any more southern that a crock pot full of vegetable beef soup.  This classic is so good in the winter, but how can you go wrong having this in the middle of July?

I personally am not a big fan of Broccoli, but I will eat Broccoli Cheddar Soup.  Call me crazy, but I love this.

You can find a million different recipes for chili, but it's the one soup that you can make a hundred different ways and not go wrong.

May catch some heat on Pinto Beans not being a soup, but Ok.  It may not be, but it's great for a cold rainy day.  Heck, Pinto Beans are good for a dry warm day.