Day 8

After a weekend of juicing and visiting with a friend who came into town I am back to the blog. Happy Monday everyone. I know it's not a favorite day of the week, but today is such a beautiful sunny January 21 it's hard not to feel uplifted.

So you're probably wondering how it's going? Well since you asked.

The past couple days have been bit a little harder but things are still moving along nicely. I felt a bit head-achy and sick to my stomach yesterday and today but I think that's just a sign of detox. How do I know? Well I know by what comes out. Don't worry, I'm not going to get into any highly descriptive poo talk, but I will tell you that it's black, it's solid and it's been in there a long time. So I know it's time to say goodbye to all the toxic waste! To maintain the outward flow of noxious material I have kept up with the daily enemas not once but twice a day, morning and evening, which I thank the heavens for every time I start to feel sick or bloated because I feel wonderfully better immediately after.

Since I have received a few emails and messages from you about pulling out juicers and wondering about my process of juicing I thought today would be a good day to describe just how I am making a gallon and a half of juice a day.

It's so easy!

First, I am not using a juicer, I'm using my blender. A good juicer (not one of those old 80's champions, but a Greenstar or something designed to juice greens) costs about $500-$1000 and is Really slow. So instead I have invested in:

1) a good blender (which I will continue to use all the time whether I am juicing or not)
2) a few nut milk bags (these you can find at various health food or healing store locations, order online or if you live in Victoria I've been getting mine at a store called Triangle, which is across from Lifestyle Market just off Douglas St. for $9/each)

I start by putting about 1/2 cup of distilled water in the bottom of the blender. Then I add the juiciest fruits or veggies (cucumbers or oranges, etc.) first. Blend them up. Then add the others till its a nice green pulp.

Next I pour the liquid into the nut milk bag, over a bowl, and after closing off the top, gently squeeze the juice out.

Last I pour that into my mason jar and voila! My juice is ready.It takes me about an hour to make 6 quarts of juice.

This is the same method you use to make homeade nut or seed milk except you blend your soaked nuts or seeds with water and a date or two.

Now truth be told I have actually been using a kind of crappy blender, my parent's old Osterizer, and it's been doing the job just barely. But I ordered this blender called: The Jack Lalanne Health 100. Which is supposed to be almost comparable to the Vitamix 5000 but cost $125 instead of $500. Unfortunately it didn't arrive in the mail yet. It should get here in the next day or two and when it does my raw foody friend Heather and I are going to have a blend-off and compare the two. I'll let you know the results after our contest. For $125 if it's even close the the Vitamix I'll be pretty happy.

Alright, so it has been one week since I started and it's time to check up on our stats. Let's start with a photo. It's funny because I usually retouch my photos on Photoshop, but just for you lovely people I'm not doing it, otherwise we wouldn't be able to see the real progress.


The stats are:
I have lost 6 Lbs.
My skin on my face has started to clear up.
Probably about 1/2 of my belly swelling has gone down.
Energetically I have felt pretty good. I've gone for a few long walks and done some gentle yoga classes but I don't yet feel up to cardio so I've been holding off on that.
I haven't been as cold the past few days, but I'm bundling up lots and drinking warming teas to make sure that doesn't happen.

I am feeling quite positive and though I've had some headaches in the morning and some gas, this always goes away as soon as whatever is detoxing passes out of my body.
Generally I'm feelin happy and excited to see what happens as my Feast progresses. I have been told that after day 10 my body will be well adjusted and things will go fairly smoothly after that.

Well we'll see. One day at a time. I know health is a different experience for everyone. I'll keep you all posted. Thanks for reading!