Day 13

What a weird week. Strange things happening all around. Not as much to me as to others, though today I did burn and kill the kettle, which is very unlike me. Full moon, Mercury in retrograde, the most depressing week of the year...these are all things I've heard by way of explanation. Well the week's almost over, so let's hope that things are shifting.

I finally have my rebounder setup!!! Thanks to the patient and expert skills of Zev Roman. *Snaps for Zev*!!! It's so fun to bounce on. It's a great workout, enjoyable, good for flushing the lymphatic system and I have been told that 10 minutes of jumping is as good as 30 minutes of jogging. Since I don't like jogging and I do like jumping, this suits me just dandy!

I'm not sure what to report health-wise. Monday I'll give the stats tally but things are less noticeably changed this week. I think I have flushed a lot of emotion and internally stored stuff. I feel like my face is looking a bit brighter, though it's hard to gage something you see every day. My energy is definitely increasing though! And that's the biggest goal. Today I was restless for the first time in...oh a year. Now I just have to make sure I don't go and spend all this newly saved energy, which is my tendency of the past.

The juice news must be spreading because people are now calling to invite ME to "dinner" so that we can juice together. How exciting! Tonight I have one such dinner date with my new friend Robin. We'll try to take some fun juicy pics that I can post later.

I have been feeling a little sick of the same juices lately and it was so exciting when I was over at Hezi's yesterday and she had young coconuts. I can drink the coconut water and it tasted like nectar! -yes, when you only drink green juice for 13 days it makes you kind of kooky-

Goodnight everyone, I hope next week is less crazy for all, or only crazy in the good ways!

Day 12

Good Morning Friends!

I haven't blogged for a couple days and now it's time to catch up. As I get further into my feast there are less day to day feasting dramas to report, but still, there's plenty to tell you about.

Things are going nicely. I'm starting to get into a juicing routine. My routine fell apart a little at the beginning of the week and I didn't feel great. I realized it was because I was getting up too late, thus not drinking my first juice until about 10 am, which meant that for the 2 hours before I started to get grumpy. Not so good! So today I got up at 7, got my morning lemon water, enema and hot cold shower done and now it's 8:30 and I am drinking my first juice. Much better, as I don't want to spend all day making juice and doing juice feasting activities. Another hint to any of you thinking of juice feasting is to make your morning juice the night before and leave it in the fridge. That way you can drink that first one on time, regardless if it takes some time to get the other juices made. Minimizing blood sugar crashes is important for mental stability and avoiding cravings.

I may have mentioned before that I was feeling nauseous on and off this past week. I put it down to detox, but now I think it may be remnants of that strange flu bug I had. I talked to Katrina Rainoshek (my juice feasting coach) yesterday and she said it could also be from all the chlorophyll. Either way, it seems to be dissipating. I'm thinking about getting some liquid bentonite and trying a psyllium/bentonite shake to pull any toxins out that are causing these hangover sensations. If I do I'll post a report on the outcome.

Other news...still no Jack Lalanne blender! Every day I think; "today will be the day." But the good ol' Osterizer is still kicking, thank goodness. Maybe today will be the day. I hope so, otherwise I have to wait another weekend.

The best news is that juice feasting is having a rippling effect and I've taken part in some fun juicing get-togethers lately. My friends are being wonderfully supportive and many of them are inspired to try out the green juice! I had a juice lunch party with Hezi and Stacey last week, my friend Allana visited this weekend and we had juice for breakfast and last night I went to Jenny's and had a juicy dinner. I've taken some pictures (I finally located my camera) that I'll post at the end.

Jenny's method for juicing is to use her blender and then strain her pulp through an old, clean t-shirt. And guess what? It worked better at keeping the chunks out than my nut milk bags! I may switch to that method myself, saves money and gives less pulpy juice.

My last delighted tidbit to report is that my squatting post seems to have started a mini revolution! I won't name any names, but some of you out there have decided to take on my challenge, and are now praising the benefits. *Snaps* for squatting while you poo!

Much love to all. Hope you enjoy these juicy pictures!

Ladies Lunch on Juice!

Day 9

Holy Doolie, it's freezing in Victoria!

Now I know compared to rest of the country that's nothing, but for us thin skinned coasties -5 is darn chilly. The semi-tropical plants are all wilty and starting to panic.

Tonight I saw a documentary called "How to Cook Your Life". Funny I know after all my raw foody talk, but it was really good, I recommend it. It's about this Zen Monk/Chef and it reminded me about the importance of awareness and staying present while preparing food. Even while juicing I haven't really been paying close attention, just kind of throwing the fruits and veggies in and pressing the go button. Tomorrow my goal is to really smell, feel and take in what I am juicing.

Oh that reminds me, did I tell you my sense of smell has gotten super sensitive? Yesterday at the pool I could smell the women's shampoo from outside the change rooms, across the building. And the smell of stale coffee on Sunday almost make me puke.

I've been really into oranges the past couple of days.
The favorite voted juice has been orange/ginger. I know it's not green, but today I had a really hard time stomaching the green juice. I have felt pretty nauseous yesterday and today, which is a normal detox thing, but something about the gentle sweetness of the orange combined with the stomach calming spice of the ginger is Yummy!

Today was a "sensitive" day. I cried a lot. And felt edgy. The amazing thing is that I stayed calm even while I was sobbing, part of me wailing away and the other part thinking "hmmm, well that's good, let is all out now, don't want to be carrying that around anymore do we?" Usually when I maintain this sort of awareness while crying I begin to laugh, which is what happened, and then the sadness floods back and I start to cry again. I always think of that crazy scene from Breakfast at Tiffany's, you know the one, during the apartment party when the camera does a long pan across the room and we see the woman looking at herself in the mirror and laughing hysterically, and then the camera moves away only to return a minute later to the same woman who is now looking at herself and sobbing, face streaked with black mascara. I love that scene.

This is my photographic tribute that I shot last year. And yes, I am really crying.



In my health readings today I learned about giving a proper enema and realized that I haven't been doing enough abdominal massaging. Tonight I was more diligent in this respect and cleared out even more "stuff." I also learned about the miraculous healing tributes of natural clays like bentonite and French green clay. You can cure everything from food poisoning and acne to carpel tunnel and gangrene. Amazing!

It's been a total EMO day. I guess that makes sense with the whole feeling sensitive deal. It's just so predictable. Last winter I worked with a girl who would listen to hard metal when she feeling low. I will never be that girl.

Here's my quote of the day. I like how it rings. Goodnight friends.

"If you're green on the inside, you're clean on the inside."
Dr. Bernard Jensen

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!