ExperiLent 2012: 40 Days of Solidarity with the Poor

I'm very excited about my Lent experience, 40 Days of Solidarity with the Poor (www.chrisseay.net). So I finally picked a country's staple diet to follow and I picked...Guatemala! I'm going to fast from all other foods (except on Sundays when I feast!) and limit beverages to water and tea. I know that this is going to be a challenge for me on a spiritual and physical level...I just started and I already want something that's not on the list (below). I think this will teach me some spiritual discipline as well. I will add daily devotion to my schedule, something I have been neglecting for a while. I think this will teach me to be more grateful for what I have, as well as encourage me to help those less fortunate than me. And maybe even do missions in or adopt a Compassion International child from Guatemala! I am looking forward to all that I may learn during this Lenten season.

Staple items (not an exhaustive list of what may be available in Guatemala): Black beans, corn, rice, chicken, white cheese, oranges, bananas, onions, tortillas, taquitos, tamales, eggs, corn chips, tomatoes, and avocados.

Reflections on the experience so far:
1. The first thought I had when I thought about the 40 day simple diet: will I have locked bowels?! (Thanks Troy for confirming this thought LOL). But seriously, I thought to myself what type of physical changes will occur while I'm on this diet? Will I gain/lose weight? Energy?

2. Today's trip to the grocery store was probably one of the shortest I've even had. Usually shopping for me is about 2 hours. I walk down every single aisle...sometimes multiple times. Today several aisles were off limits, and I didn't want to walk down the baking aisle for fear of the pain!

3. I have had to think about what foods I am eating in advance, and I have to cook - something I haven't done in a while. Tonight I made chicken tortillas with white cheese, rice, onions and corn. It was pretty yum but I wonder what it will be like a week or three from now. I didn't make time to cook last night, so I had to get up early this morning to make the rice I took for lunch today. I think this will help me be more conscientious about what foods I put in my body and that I need to plan meals in advance.

4. I don't eat two items on the list...hmmm..was that a good idea to pick this list?

Those are all the thoughts for now. I'll continue to post updates during this process. Thanks for reading :-)