Week One of the Daniel Plan Recap

I promised to do an update, hopefully a weekly one, for the duration of 40 Days of the Daniel Plan. So here is week one! It's been exactly one week of clean eating, nothing to drink aside from coffee and water. I'm not doing the detox, but my sister and her husband are doing it and they are killing it!!

Starting Weight: 177
Current Weight: 171
Total Weight Loss: 6 pounds
Starting BMI: 26
Current BMI: 25.2

Daniel Plan Approved Grocery Haul

As the previous post explained, I am starting the Daniel Plan this week. So after evaluating my current "status" and goal setting, what comes next? Well, obviously, filling the kitchen with healthful options. So, I woke up early this morning, took inventory of what I already had that was healthy and Daniel Plan approved, got my shopping list ready and went to Wal-Mart.

Now, Wal-Mart wouldn't be my first option. If there was a Kroger or Aldi anywhere within 20 minutes of my house, that would be my first option. There is an Aldi about 25 minutes from home, but they weren't open yet and I really needed a lot of staple items I didn't think they would have. (You might be asking yourself why I didn't have some staple items, such as corn starch or olive oil. Dude, I just moved into my house two weeks ago and I can count on two fingers how many times I've cooked. Bear with me.)

I knew that shopping all organic and buying so much produce and meat would add up rather quickly. I was prepared for my total to be upwards of $200. It was $164. While I was somewhat relieved it wasn't $200, $164 is a lot for groceries for a single person for one week. But like I said, a few of these items were staples.

Here's what I got:
Disclaimer: The cat was not included in today's purchase. He was here before that. 

Doing the Daniel Plan

It's gonna get real today, guys. Why? Because I'm talking honestly and candidly about weight.

Weight has never been a struggle for me. Around age 12, I was "chubby",  had my share of baby fat but shortly after I got braces, I lost a lot of weight. Since then, I've always been healthy-appearing. I've never had remarkable physical strength or cardiovascular strength when it comes to working out. I've always tired easily and been one to give up when it got too hard. Last year, my doctor started me on anxiety medication for my severe social anxiety. (I'm talking vomiting every morning before work.) As I took this medication, my weight rapidly increased. I noticed I felt hungry all the time. I started eating junk food multiple times a day. I gained around 40 pounds in just a few short months. It's been about 6 months since I quit taking the medication, yet the weight is hanging on. And I'm miserable.

I'm so distant from God. I never talk to Him, never take my concerns to Him. I don't go to church regularly, and rarely read my Bible.

I'm so distant from myself and others. I have a very negative self perception because I'm very unhappy with how I look and how I feel. This translates into me staying home almost every night, rarely going out, and rarely having a desire to go out.

I eat horribly and have no energy to exercise. These probably go hand in hand. But I rarely eat healthily and I have been walking this week, but before this week, I've been fairly sedentary.

All of these are points addressed in the Daniel Plan. 

So, starting today, I'm participating. If you wanna know more about it, check out the website by clicking here.

So what is the Daniel Plan? Well, I'm not a good paraphraser, so here's an excerpt from the official website for ya:

The Daniel Plan is a groundbreaking healthy lifestyle program founded on biblical principles and focused on The Essentials: Faith, Food, Fitness, Focus and Friends. The program offers an innovative approach to achieving a healthy lifestyle where people get better together by optimizing their health in each of these life areas. Each essential supports and influences the others, offering a practical step-by-step approach for anyone to follow. 

I bought the book about a year ago, read it, but put no action to it. Thought, Wow, those verses ARE in the Bible and they are totally relevant! Nobody ever teaches this in the church. Yet, nothing changed for me.