Well, the sinus congestion cleared up, but I had an horrendous outbreak of itching last night which I assume is candida related. I was hoping that would go away by now.
I had to travel and went to where I knew there was a juice bar only to find out it closed 7 minutes before I got there (at 6:07). I guess not too many people in the big metropolis of Jacksonville have juice for their dinner. They weren't too sympathetic and offered me some bottled juice. They knew of no other juice bars naturally. I know there is one downtown, but I don't know how to get there.
Anyway, I bought a smoothie at Tropical Smoothie. The clerk said it had lime juice, orange juice, strawberries, and pineapple in it. They also add a sugar to it which she said they could leave out. I only drank a little bit as it was definately inferior to what I had been drinking for the previous 2 weeks. I was surprised to be that sensitive to it, so it was good for me to experience that. I just drank water for the rest of the night. I have to be better prepared, but it is difficult when we're not feeling well.
I am finding myself somewhat frustrated that I have been duped all of my life about what foods are nutritious. Of course, I grew up in the days BEFORE the food pyramid, and as bad as that is, it is no where as unbalanced as what I heard all my life. I spent many years at weight watchers hearing how many proteins were needed each day and forcefeeding skim milk. I can't believe how much ignorance is in the world all for the sake of the dollar. It is truly cutthroat to tell people that they have to have dairy products, for example, when it is obvious they are killing all of us. I am having some resentment about this, so I need to switch up my attitude to be more positive.
Today is Deseret Academy graduation, so I'd better get busy.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Wow, a True Healing Crisis
Wow, I had a rough 24 hours, but I am feeling much better although worn out by the whole ordeal.
It started as a sore throat that lasted about 6 hours, and then I moved into the sniffles. I was feeling extremely tired by 4:00 last evening, so I went to bed. Resting, I was awakened frequently with extreme pain in my sinus cavities, and in other internal body parts. When I got up this morning, I didn't feel much better, but as the day has worn on, I have definately gotten through the worst of it.
I was very surprised by all of it. I think it is the first time I have ever experienced a true healing crisis. I have had many times I was sick as my body determined to get rid of things it could not bear any longer, but they have been disease crisis situations.
All I could think about was how wonderful it was to rid my body of whatever it was getting rid of. I wonder if the body stores up toxins produced by viruses and such. I wish I understood the whole process better. My next thoughts were of how disgusted I was that I had done these things to my body through neglect of proper natural hygiene, particularly in the path of healthy eating habits. It is truly wonderful to be given a second chance.
I found it interesting that I only wanted to drink water most of the day yesterday and into today. Even juice seemed more of an effort than my body wanted to invest in digesting. I am learning to become more intuitive about what I need. As I was going through the pain, I kept reminding myself that I could trust my body to do what needed to be done. I believe it did that!
One of the things I find truly wonderful about juicefeasting.com and other raw food movements is how young its participants are. I hope you appreciate how fortunate you are to be beginning these things at your young age. In case you haven't noticed, there aren't too many of us old folks involved in it; I guess it is hard for us to accept that there might be a different and better way to do things than we have always thought. Of course, there are some in the movement who picked up on it years ago when it wasn't the popular thing to do. I have known many of these concepts for 30 years plus, but have been unable to adopt them into my lifestyle until now.
You'll notice a new addition (hopefully) today: a video. I heard about this new gadget called the Flip video which is much less expensive than a camcorder and more portable. We'll see how it goes.
Day 17 Healing Crisis
Day 17 Posted May 15, 2008
Angela Stokes makes a comment on Day 18 about how amazing it really is to have a day 18, and I think she is right. We get so carried away with the day to day getting it done stuff that we forget that collectively it is quite an accomplishment. Of course, those of you on day 70 are finding that quite humorous, but I think you know what I mean. If 18 days is an accomplishment, 70 is that 3 1/2 times greater! One foot in front of the other though, right?
I'm still having sniffles and congestion. I had this when I first started the juice feast, and here it is again. I was thinking about the 120 days to a day ratio, and that would put me in 2002. I used to get really sick right after Christmas every year back in those days before I made more of an effort to be healthy, so I'm wondering if I have to detox from every episode. I was sick in January of this year, so I'm figuring that was the stuff I had at the beginning. I wonder what is accomplished through the additional "remembering". Is it the body's way of eliminating virus' that embedded themself or what? I'd like to know how all of that works.
I've also been wondering about how the body eliminates fat reserves. There are a lot of opinions on this , but I don't know how many are substantiated in science. I think I'll try to check out Dr. Graham's forums for an answer. He has more science in his pinky than most people have in their whole lab.
Angela Stokes makes a comment on Day 18 about how amazing it really is to have a day 18, and I think she is right. We get so carried away with the day to day getting it done stuff that we forget that collectively it is quite an accomplishment. Of course, those of you on day 70 are finding that quite humorous, but I think you know what I mean. If 18 days is an accomplishment, 70 is that 3 1/2 times greater! One foot in front of the other though, right?
I'm still having sniffles and congestion. I had this when I first started the juice feast, and here it is again. I was thinking about the 120 days to a day ratio, and that would put me in 2002. I used to get really sick right after Christmas every year back in those days before I made more of an effort to be healthy, so I'm wondering if I have to detox from every episode. I was sick in January of this year, so I'm figuring that was the stuff I had at the beginning. I wonder what is accomplished through the additional "remembering". Is it the body's way of eliminating virus' that embedded themself or what? I'd like to know how all of that works.
I've also been wondering about how the body eliminates fat reserves. There are a lot of opinions on this , but I don't know how many are substantiated in science. I think I'll try to check out Dr. Graham's forums for an answer. He has more science in his pinky than most people have in their whole lab.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Making Time for what's important
Day 16 Posted May 13, 2008
Last night I started feeling a little rough, and that has continued into today. I have not been around anyone who is sick to my knowledge, so I am guessing this is some kind of cleansing reaction in which case it shouldn't be very long-lived. Perhaps the master cleanser drink (1/3 cup lemon juice, 1/3 cup honey mixed with quart of water and cayenne pepper sprinkled in) has kicked the cleansing into a higher gear.
I bought some cilantro at Native Sun the other day for my drinks, and I never realized how strong flavored it is. Wow. I think I like it though, but I might cut back to 1/4 a bunch instead of a half the next time I use it.
I forgot to mention yesterday that we saw Iron Man over the weekend, and he drinks a green drink to help him rebuild after he escapes as a prisoner of war in the Middle East. We suspected he also was drinking wheat grass juice out of his cappacino cup, but that is unsubstantiated. The green drink we know. The nasty looking cup is a dead giveaway! How cool is that???
Graduation is this Friday for Deseret Academy (the school my family and I operate for students who want to earn their diploma through a home school program), and I am up to my eyeballs trying to get everything ready for it.
My mom called today to let me know she wants to have my brother's birthday party here on the weekend, and the refreshments are to be all raw including a cake. I told her there were plenty of dessert type offerings, but a cake, no. I was pretty surprised he'd want that for his birthday, but I guess he's up for something different. I knew if he tried it, he would be intrigued by it even if he doesn't want to do it for life (wihich I hope he will). He is trained as a chef, so we are hoping he will be a raw chef. Wouldn't that be awesome?
I like to write the blog after I listen to the David and Katrina video, but I see it is on walking (exercise), so I'll close now as I don't expect to be particularly inspired. I know I should get out there every day, but I am always surprised at how many other things get in the way. On my way out to the garden today (you may recall that was a goal I talked about yesterday) the phone rang about 5 times all with little "assignments" that needed to be taken care of. Needless to say, I never got out there yet. (I will though as I've used up all my parsley and must have it for my green drink later.) I really would like to have more control of what I do in my life and when I do it. Next to my food choices, I would say the lack of time management has the next most detrimental effect on my life. I think the 90+ days we do this will help me unclog my life as well as my body.
Actually, after listening to their video I was inspired with something that was said about it being important to walk because we need to be outside connecting with nature. I need to look at walking as a form of meditation, not exercise.
Yesterday, I got in my 4 quarts! Yay!
Last night I started feeling a little rough, and that has continued into today. I have not been around anyone who is sick to my knowledge, so I am guessing this is some kind of cleansing reaction in which case it shouldn't be very long-lived. Perhaps the master cleanser drink (1/3 cup lemon juice, 1/3 cup honey mixed with quart of water and cayenne pepper sprinkled in) has kicked the cleansing into a higher gear.
I bought some cilantro at Native Sun the other day for my drinks, and I never realized how strong flavored it is. Wow. I think I like it though, but I might cut back to 1/4 a bunch instead of a half the next time I use it.
I forgot to mention yesterday that we saw Iron Man over the weekend, and he drinks a green drink to help him rebuild after he escapes as a prisoner of war in the Middle East. We suspected he also was drinking wheat grass juice out of his cappacino cup, but that is unsubstantiated. The green drink we know. The nasty looking cup is a dead giveaway! How cool is that???
Graduation is this Friday for Deseret Academy (the school my family and I operate for students who want to earn their diploma through a home school program), and I am up to my eyeballs trying to get everything ready for it.
My mom called today to let me know she wants to have my brother's birthday party here on the weekend, and the refreshments are to be all raw including a cake. I told her there were plenty of dessert type offerings, but a cake, no. I was pretty surprised he'd want that for his birthday, but I guess he's up for something different. I knew if he tried it, he would be intrigued by it even if he doesn't want to do it for life (wihich I hope he will). He is trained as a chef, so we are hoping he will be a raw chef. Wouldn't that be awesome?
I like to write the blog after I listen to the David and Katrina video, but I see it is on walking (exercise), so I'll close now as I don't expect to be particularly inspired. I know I should get out there every day, but I am always surprised at how many other things get in the way. On my way out to the garden today (you may recall that was a goal I talked about yesterday) the phone rang about 5 times all with little "assignments" that needed to be taken care of. Needless to say, I never got out there yet. (I will though as I've used up all my parsley and must have it for my green drink later.) I really would like to have more control of what I do in my life and when I do it. Next to my food choices, I would say the lack of time management has the next most detrimental effect on my life. I think the 90+ days we do this will help me unclog my life as well as my body.
Actually, after listening to their video I was inspired with something that was said about it being important to walk because we need to be outside connecting with nature. I need to look at walking as a form of meditation, not exercise.
Yesterday, I got in my 4 quarts! Yay!
Monday, May 12, 2008
2 Weeks into it - Can you believe it?
Day 15 (+13 & 14) Posted May 12, 2008
I regret that I couldn't write the other 2 days as the last couple of days have been full of awakenings i am anxious to record.
Primarily, I had a "duh" moment when I realized my cravings would likely be with me forever just as my cravings are still with me for the caffeine I used to drink before giving up coffee and tea in September of 1976. While it's not an every minute of every day thing, it is there. My reasons for abandoning coffee and tea were spiritual, (I joined the Church 10 Sept 1976), so I had increased incentive to stick with it, and did. Later when I gave up all caffenated beverages as recorded earlier in the blog, it was again only a spiritual motivation that allowed me to stick it out. Since my main purpose in juice feasting is to overcome my addiction to fat and cooked foods, I realized on day 13 I would have to have a spiritual motivation for this success as well. Not only that, I would have to be truly convinced that it was the right thing for me to do. Intellectually, I know it, but for me, it has to go deeper.
Yesterday being Mother's Day was entered into with a little bit of intrepidation. I ended up preparing 4 sets of meals. The first was a cooked food meal for Dorian and his children who want nothing to do with health foods. After it was prepared, I found out he wasn't coming until later, so his children, who had spent the night, ate. We put it all away, then dragged it out again when he got there. Then Darius and Alicia came and we enjoyed a savory juice together: tomatoes, onion, spinach, parsley, red pepper, carrot, and sol. After that, my mom came over after work with Jaray. They are attempting vegetarianism, so I fixed them a salad and they also had some leftever dessert from Dorian's dinner. It was a little unsettling since things are so different this year for us. We all have a difficult time dealing with holidays now anyway, and juice feasting did not help that except I was more relaxed and at peace with the fact that things will never be as they once were.
The awakening that I had was that if you have raw foods and even juice available, people who don't normally eat this way will partake. (Remember Field of Dreams)? Dorian and Wyatt both requested some of my grapefruit /tangerine blend juice, and I was truly grateful to see mom and Jaray eating salads for dinner. Sometimes little things are important.
As for day 15, I still can't believe I am here. I started to say, it is becoming more real, but I don't think it is. It still seems like a dream. I can't believe all the things I am learning; I really did not know there were that many things left to learn!
Last week, I lost 1 1/2 pounds. I quit weighing in the middle of week and decided to do a weekly weigh-in. I was gaining a pound a day, and I knew if I kept weighing it would freak me out. I also knew that if I kept doing what I was supposed to do, I would lose what I need to. I would have expected to lose more than 1 1/2 pounds, but added to the 8 1/2 from the first week, it makes for 5 lbs a week on the average. I am still having hydration issues, so I'm sure I will not start to see realistic weight changes until that gets resolved.
Juice wise, I read the Master Cleanser by Burroughs over the weekend as I have been intrigued by that, so I am going to try a couple of these each day complemented by a couple of juices. I will probably do a complete master cleanse during the course of this juice feast, but not right now.
I have also set a goal to spend more time in my garden, a few minutes each day. Today I harvested about half a dozen onions. I am trying to get watermelons, cantaloupe, tomatoes, and cucumbers, but it is early for them yet. The onions were a winter crop along with greens that are done and some parsley and fennel that is still going strong. I have a goal to produce as much of our food as possible.
Another thing I have observed is the need I have to clean up my life. Each day I see more and more ways in which my life in cluttered that is no longer acceptable. What a nice side benefit.
Days 11 & 12 revisited
Day 12 (+ 11) Posted May 9, 2008
I thought I was in a habit of recording everyday, but yesterday was such a feeling crummy day that writing seemed a waste of time. Not that it would have been, but in my mind, I could see no good in anything.
This memory of the cells thing. As we regress we live through emotional upsets, etc. I don't recall feeling as down as I did yesterday, so I wonder if the brain dumps a bunch at once like it does in the bowel. I knew it was temporary, but it still sucked.
For the first time ever, I was able to say, "I'm not having a very good day. Can you just leave me alone?" instead of reacting to verbal stimuli in a negative way. I just stayed quiet and became aware of riding the emotional wave until it had run its course. This was also a first for me.
Previously I stuffed such demons with some mind-altering comfort food. What a wonderful experience (even though I felt like crap).
Of course, the wonderful juices got me through it. I read a couple of blog journals, the day of whatever I am on, and I noticed several others were doing some emotional dumping at about the same time. I think I saw somewhere a timeline of what to expect, but I can't remember where that is.
I love the freedom of drinking juices. I'm not usually particularly hungry, but I have the sense that it is time to drink more juices. I'm probably not very good at guessing hunger as I have eaten for more other reasons than true hunger for most of my life.
I've been thinking alot about why I am juice feasting. I have been led through this journey little by little until I came to this point. I have no doubt I will continue this journey with juice feasting being a leg of it. I had been praying for something to help me get through a terrible fungal growth caused by eating a raw diet too high in fat. While I had struggled with these outbreaks during my SAD days, nothing was as terrible as the one which began 3 months into the 100% raw diet. I first thought it was a cleansing reaction, but when it didn't go away, I realized it was systemic. I spent a week at the Hippocrates institute to help support my son who was diagnosed with a brain tumor. It was at its worst that week when the intake percentage of fats was even higher due to the fact that I quit taking in fruits (a common practice there). Nothing I tried would alleviate the symptoms, but I knew there was an answer out there.
I prayed and prayed and prayed and finally ran across a young man named Justin at an organic farmer's market on our way home from Hippocrates. He was eating lettuce off the head, so my husband asked if he was a raw fooder. He said in fact that he was, and they began talking. I didn't think much more about it (although here in Florida there aren't a lot of raw fooders), until the topic of my fungal growth came up, and I mentioned how it had actually gotten worse while doing raw foods.
He said he was not surprised. He asked what kind of diet I was on, and he introduced me to the 811 program by Dr. Doug Graham. What a revelation! I read the entire book on the way home and knew I had received the answer to my prayer. Except for one little thing. I was addicted to fat! When I realized this, I truly had made some headway. But how to break out of my addiction! That was another story. Nothing I did seemed to help including a couple of 2 day juice fasts. I was fine while juice fasting, but as soon as I started eating normally, I had to have my fat again. And the fungal growth would return. Ycch.
Again, I prayed to know how to resolve this issue. Well, you see here the result of that. I was listening to a radio broadcast by Nomi Shannon where David was a guest. I visited all the websites for all of the guests on the program that day. Juice feasting seemed so outrageous that I disregarded it. I can't remember when the aha moment actually happened, but a few days later, I hunted down their website and signed up for a 2 month membership. I read the literature available, and I knew this is where my journey was leading me. I was scared to death for some reason. It really did seem soooo crazy. How in the world would I pull it off? But I knew I needed to try.
How grateful I am for the power that is greater than myself which helps me wander through this life. I can't wait to see where it takes me next.
On the administrative side of me, this morning I made a log that better suits my needs. I like to divide it up into weeks, so I am into my second week now.
I thought I was in a habit of recording everyday, but yesterday was such a feeling crummy day that writing seemed a waste of time. Not that it would have been, but in my mind, I could see no good in anything.
This memory of the cells thing. As we regress we live through emotional upsets, etc. I don't recall feeling as down as I did yesterday, so I wonder if the brain dumps a bunch at once like it does in the bowel. I knew it was temporary, but it still sucked.
For the first time ever, I was able to say, "I'm not having a very good day. Can you just leave me alone?" instead of reacting to verbal stimuli in a negative way. I just stayed quiet and became aware of riding the emotional wave until it had run its course. This was also a first for me.
Previously I stuffed such demons with some mind-altering comfort food. What a wonderful experience (even though I felt like crap).
Of course, the wonderful juices got me through it. I read a couple of blog journals, the day of whatever I am on, and I noticed several others were doing some emotional dumping at about the same time. I think I saw somewhere a timeline of what to expect, but I can't remember where that is.
I love the freedom of drinking juices. I'm not usually particularly hungry, but I have the sense that it is time to drink more juices. I'm probably not very good at guessing hunger as I have eaten for more other reasons than true hunger for most of my life.
I've been thinking alot about why I am juice feasting. I have been led through this journey little by little until I came to this point. I have no doubt I will continue this journey with juice feasting being a leg of it. I had been praying for something to help me get through a terrible fungal growth caused by eating a raw diet too high in fat. While I had struggled with these outbreaks during my SAD days, nothing was as terrible as the one which began 3 months into the 100% raw diet. I first thought it was a cleansing reaction, but when it didn't go away, I realized it was systemic. I spent a week at the Hippocrates institute to help support my son who was diagnosed with a brain tumor. It was at its worst that week when the intake percentage of fats was even higher due to the fact that I quit taking in fruits (a common practice there). Nothing I tried would alleviate the symptoms, but I knew there was an answer out there.
I prayed and prayed and prayed and finally ran across a young man named Justin at an organic farmer's market on our way home from Hippocrates. He was eating lettuce off the head, so my husband asked if he was a raw fooder. He said in fact that he was, and they began talking. I didn't think much more about it (although here in Florida there aren't a lot of raw fooders), until the topic of my fungal growth came up, and I mentioned how it had actually gotten worse while doing raw foods.
He said he was not surprised. He asked what kind of diet I was on, and he introduced me to the 811 program by Dr. Doug Graham. What a revelation! I read the entire book on the way home and knew I had received the answer to my prayer. Except for one little thing. I was addicted to fat! When I realized this, I truly had made some headway. But how to break out of my addiction! That was another story. Nothing I did seemed to help including a couple of 2 day juice fasts. I was fine while juice fasting, but as soon as I started eating normally, I had to have my fat again. And the fungal growth would return. Ycch.
Again, I prayed to know how to resolve this issue. Well, you see here the result of that. I was listening to a radio broadcast by Nomi Shannon where David was a guest. I visited all the websites for all of the guests on the program that day. Juice feasting seemed so outrageous that I disregarded it. I can't remember when the aha moment actually happened, but a few days later, I hunted down their website and signed up for a 2 month membership. I read the literature available, and I knew this is where my journey was leading me. I was scared to death for some reason. It really did seem soooo crazy. How in the world would I pull it off? But I knew I needed to try.
How grateful I am for the power that is greater than myself which helps me wander through this life. I can't wait to see where it takes me next.
On the administrative side of me, this morning I made a log that better suits my needs. I like to divide it up into weeks, so I am into my second week now.
Day 10 revisited
Day 10 - Wow! Posted May 7, 2008
What a wonderful day! I cannot believe I am alive to experience all of the amazing things going on in my life.
I was blessed by some experiences with my granddaughter this morning. I was tending her, and she was bored because I was working. I reached a point where I could stop, and we went for a nice long walk. She loves to go for walk to look for wildflowers. She taught me a valuable lesson when she picked a flower she had not seen before, and after showing it to me, she turned back to the plant and said "Thank you." Her acknowledgement in the plant's participation in her joy was very touching to me. Later she didn't pick a particularly pretty flower because it was too pretty, and she was sure the plant would want to keep it a little longer.
My gift (besides all the others!) was that we found several pitcher plants. I had only seen these in books, so I found them very amazing in person. They were in flower which was interesting, and one had trapped an ant, so she delighted in freeing it even if it meant the plant would not be fed. The idea of a plant needing animal nutrition was a little counter-intuitive.
Then I had some time to listen to the day 10 video and David Wolfe's goal-setting video. This was very mind-boggling. I have written down some goals, but I think I will follow their advice and not liimit my goals to the "important ones" I would usually restrict myself to. I like their idea of a chart with all the types of goals cross-referenced to their level. I can't wait for the CANI (Constant and never-ending improvement) to begin (or should I say continue?).
How blessed we are to be on this journey. I am feeling well and strong so far. Detox is at a minimum, I think. This has opened up so many avenues to me that I feel very naive in the experiences I have had previously. I would never have imagined there were so many opportunities out there.
What a wonderful day! I cannot believe I am alive to experience all of the amazing things going on in my life.
I was blessed by some experiences with my granddaughter this morning. I was tending her, and she was bored because I was working. I reached a point where I could stop, and we went for a nice long walk. She loves to go for walk to look for wildflowers. She taught me a valuable lesson when she picked a flower she had not seen before, and after showing it to me, she turned back to the plant and said "Thank you." Her acknowledgement in the plant's participation in her joy was very touching to me. Later she didn't pick a particularly pretty flower because it was too pretty, and she was sure the plant would want to keep it a little longer.
My gift (besides all the others!) was that we found several pitcher plants. I had only seen these in books, so I found them very amazing in person. They were in flower which was interesting, and one had trapped an ant, so she delighted in freeing it even if it meant the plant would not be fed. The idea of a plant needing animal nutrition was a little counter-intuitive.
Then I had some time to listen to the day 10 video and David Wolfe's goal-setting video. This was very mind-boggling. I have written down some goals, but I think I will follow their advice and not liimit my goals to the "important ones" I would usually restrict myself to. I like their idea of a chart with all the types of goals cross-referenced to their level. I can't wait for the CANI (Constant and never-ending improvement) to begin (or should I say continue?).
How blessed we are to be on this journey. I am feeling well and strong so far. Detox is at a minimum, I think. This has opened up so many avenues to me that I feel very naive in the experiences I have had previously. I would never have imagined there were so many opportunities out there.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)