The First Day

There seems to be something about knowing you MAY NOT that makes the NOT ALLOWED thing so much more desirable. Take for intance not eating. That's right. Fasting. Intentions are top of the line. Convinced my life will be more in tune with God and I will hear more clearly His direction for me with more annointing and all that is indicated by His word. So YES! I will fast and pray secretly (though really now, I suppose blogging about it blows the cover off secrecy wouldn't you say?)
In the past I have managed to keep it secret even from my husband and kids. Generally that was a limited fast, meaning I would allow myself to have one meal in the evening while others ate. No seconds though,just one moderate serving! Or maybe soup or salad only one time a day. The length of the fasts differed also. One day, three days, one week, fourty days.
I can tell you as the primary food prep person in the home this is quite challenging. I admit I resorted to lying to myself - just coming clean with you all since God already knows all about it - and told myself the food was PLASTIC. You know like the fake fruit that used to sit on my grandmas dining room table.
The first day though seems to be the worst. If I just didn't have time to eat or felt too sick to eat not such a big deal. But then that doesn't really serve the purpose does it? It doesn't count as a fast. So what happens my first day? Headache, temptations galore for crabbiness and eating, grumbling tummy aching and not thinking quite as sharply and falling asleep instead of persevering prayer.
So what to do, what to do? How do I move past all this into successfully completing a fast? The key I believe is keeping the vision before me. In otherwords, what is the purpose of the fast? Not just a general it is good for my life in all ways reason. But tag it and keep focus.
How about you? Any fasts you feel free to talk about? Results and challenges?