Raw Cheese!!

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Hi Everyone!
I made the most Rawesome Raw cheese the other day- first time too! Here is a picture of the finished product:

Raw cashew cheese, flax crackers and noritos= WOW!! I so love raw food more than "normal" food. When I made my cheese I let it sit out for 48 hours since I like my cheese with muscle aka strong tasting cheese ;-)  I would have eaten it the day before this, but was too lazy to get my camera, so I let it sit in the fridge an extra day, lol. So last night was the big taste test- Rawesomeness!! It wasn't as firm as I would like, but it should firm up more after a few more days of aging in the fridge (if it lasts that long!!) A heart shaped mold is all I have at the moment, which was a bit too small as you can see I had to "mound" the cheese up.

YAY- it slices!! just like REAL cheese!! :)

It's actually more spreadable than slicable, but as you can see it still slices well.

Ingredients:
1 cup soaked cashews
1/2 cup water (which I will try reducing in the future)
1/2 teaspoon acidopholus (any probiotics should work fine)
Blend. I tried putting it in a paint straining bag, but it was too wet so I ended up wrapping the whole thing in 3 layers of cheesecloth too. Set in a strainer over a bowl, place mason jar filled with water on top so as to PRESS the water out (not SQUEEZES the water out- you don't want to squeeze it so you lose all your cheese! Just press gently- a little cheese squishing out is okay, but not too much). Let sit 24-48 hours (lesser for milder cheese).
I unwrapped and placed in a bowl and added 1 t. salt and 2 Tablespoons of nutritional yeast. Then I placed the mold on waxed paper and pressed in the mold and refridgerated- the longer it sits in there the more firm it will become. I got this recipe/method from Russell James, and he says it can stay good for as long as a couple of months! I'm sorry, but I'm sure I will never know! :P

Next time, which will probably be SOON, I will experiment with flavors- garlic in particular :) Can't wait!

This common dental procedure could be interfering with your health!

Hi Friends,
 If you don't subscribe to Dr. Mercola's emails, I highly recommend you do that now. He has great information that could save you lots of health problems, and you can learn a lot to help those you love as  well. 

I'm not sure exactly what it has been that has made me procrastinate getting my dental work overhauled. I have known about the dangers of amalgam filings (and NO- the video/this post is NOT about amalgam) for a long time now, and have had it on my long list of expensive things I'd like to get done. So yeah, probably the expense is one reason I've been putting this off. Another reason is b/c of the dangers of having the amalgam extracted. But b/c of Dr. Mercola's post I was able to find a holistic health conscious dentist at http://www.toxicteeth.org/ near by- woohoo!! I think I'm going to pursue this now. I think I would like to get my root canal tooth extracted (as I had wanted to to begin with, but was talked out of it! argh!) and have all my amalgam replaced with porcelain (probably). And b/c I'll be having a tooth extracted and my teeth are somewhat crooked, I might look into invisalign braces as well. I'm finally feeling like this is the right time to start addressing this issue now that I see a safe and clear path has been presented to me :)

Day 6 of Break Fasting

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Day 6 of breaking the juice fast
Feb. 16, 2012
Thursday AM

Wow, has it been since Monday that I last blogged?! I have not stuck to fast breaking protocol exactly. I kept eating soaked prunes (which I really like), but just couldn't get into fruit much. I couldn't wait to get into a salad!! I had my first HUGE salad Tuesday night for dinner, which was a day early for doing it "right". But from all the other stuff I was eating instead I thought the salad would be much better for me. I was so craving GREENS!

Sunday night I had some tomatoes and cucumbers with a thick ranch dressing (raw/nut based) and man did I pay for that mistake the next day! UGH! The plumbing got completely backed up :(  Everything was going pretty well until I did that. I have had pretty intense cravings for cayenne and salt and those 2 things go perfectly in dressing and humus. I ate Cascara Sagrada all day Tuesday along with a couple of scoops of magnesium citrate to make sure to get things moving yesterday- it worked!! Whew!! I'm still going to continue to take magnesium and cascara for the next couple of days just to make sure to keep things on the move ;)

I'm also eating too much. The day starts out fine, but by evening I'm very full, which I hate. I really do not like the feeling of being stuffed. I'm not sure if it's that my stomach shrank, or if I really am eating that much. If I am eating a lot it might be because my body is used to the nutrient density with the juice that it just isn't getting in chewable food??? or because my body was rebelling at being 126 pounds or because it's just craving stuff it's needed and didn't get, like FAT! or a combination of all of the above. I hope things settle down soon. One other interesting thing I noticed yesterday was a soreness in the jaw, lol!! I hadn't been chewing for over a month, so now my jaw is getting a workout, ha! I've never had a sore jaw from chewing too much before.

I haven't been feeling like going to the gym- I guess that takes some will power I just don't have the reserves for yet. I've been using the time to catch up on my website- and doing a pretty good job with that I must say. I built out 4 more pages including a new section and secured a couple more inbound links- woohoo! I'm also continuing on the action guide and learning about content 2.0, and also need to learn how to link up to my blog.... moving right along! (still so much to do though!)

So, one of the things I was really looking forward to trying when I got off my fast was Dale's Raw Food Protein Bars. He had a sale shortly before I started my juice fast- over 50% off on a batch of bars that they made with some date paste that wasn't up to his standards- it was too moist. Dale makes all his stuff fresh, so the order can take a little time coming, but it's well worth the wait!! I had my first bite of a chocolate cherry protein bar yesterday- oh oh oh my goodness!!! WOW! As a former weight lifting gym rat I have had my share of protein bars. Nothing even comes close to what I had yesterday. Dale uses the freshest, finest and mostly organic ingredients in his bars, and you can seriously take the quality. I want to eat one for breakfast, but they are such a delicious treat that I want to save them as a dessert food! I'm also a little fearful of devouring the entire box in short order!!

As an affiliate I feel it's my duty to try all his stuff ;-)  but for now I've only tried the Chocolate/Cherry bars. 5 stars on that product! And if everything is as good as those, Dale will have a direct link to my checkbook!! It's no wonder how fast his company has grown over the last several months- his stuff is awesome!! I also love his graphics and packaging- quality all the way!! "Best Protein Bars on the Planet"? You betcha!!

Day 3 of Break Fasting

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Day 3
Feb. 13, 2012
Monday AM

Hubby tells me I was so cranky on my juice fast that he couldn't go through it again with me!! (And he wasn't even the one doing it!) I guess it was much harder on me than I realized- so sorry hunny!!

Well I finished off the crumbs of Doritos left in the bag last night. Wow- I can't believe how totally addicting those things are w/o any satisfaction!! They left me craving more, not at all satisfied. On raw food it is easy to stop when "satisfied". I almost never ate until feeling full. But on processed/cooked food- so easy to eat PAST being full and still not be satisfied!!! Wow!! I'm so glad the Doritos are gone!

Nicki- author of Chenaraw suggested I try Noritos! I found a recipe and will be making these babies ASAP!! Going to the health food store today to see if they have raw nori sheets. They DO have Teccino- another suggestion by Nicki to replace coffee- so many raving reviews I can't wait to try it.

So I haven't been sticking to protocol in breaking my fast as you can see. BUT, I do start the day with prunes as I am supposed to, and eat a bowl full at dinner as well. I added a little bit of fruit in yesterday and will continue to do that today and tomorrow. Wednesday and Thursday are salad days- I can't wait for that!

The plumbing is working very well despite veering off the breakfasting path :) I didn't take any cascara yesterday and am doing fine. I do feel full though- almost uncomfortably so. I feel like I've put all the weight back on that I lost, but my clothes tell me that is absolutely not true. I think my stomach shrank down so the least amount of solid food makes me full pretty fast. I try not to eat too much "other foods" that I'm not supposed to be eating, but it's tough. I seriously crave HOT cayenne laden and salty food!!! I am consuming quite a bit of 100,000 HU cayenne on small amounts of raw humus or macaroni salad.

Once I'm done with this breakfasting week I don't think it will be too hard to go back to 100% raw, or very close to it. I'm not happy with how cooked/processed food makes me feel- the reason I went raw to begin with.

Gotta go to class- TTFN!!

Lamaze, Doritos and Will Power

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Day 2 of Break-fasting
Feb. 12, 2012
Sunday AM

So what does lamaze, Doritos and will power have in common that they should all be mentioned in the sentence/breath? This post will seem like random thoughts- kind of like a murder mystery movie. Hopefully all the incohesive parts will come together into an elegant point at the end- bear with me here ;)

So of all the blogs I've seen on Juicefasting- they all end on the first day of eating their prunes....

In 1982 I was the model lamaze student at the hospital classes held 2 or 3 times weekly. I was 19 years old and having my first child. I didn't work so attending classes was a must, in my opinion. I wanted to be totally prepared- I was scared out of my wits! Well nothing could prepare me for the horrendously painful labor that was to ensue. My first son weighed 9 pounds, 11 ounces and ironically was also born on 9/11!! It was a 9-11 experience for both of us!

Labor was 12 hours even with pitocin and doctor directed water breaking! The compassionate replacement doc I had said he "didn't want to have to hang around all day" while I was in labor!!! But I do digress just a tad... So yeah, baby was born... then, then.... what? WHAT?! The baby was out, so what the heck was that... and THAT! Another contraction? for what?! I was totally unprepared for anything except complete and total recovery- I was exhausted after pushing for 2.5 hours!!! Did you know that you "give birth" to the placenta?! They didn't go over that part in class! That totally took me by surprise.

So maybe now you know where I'm going with the whole lamaze thing. There is more to the story than having the baby- not much more, but more nevertheless. And there is more to breaking a juicefast than just your first bowl of prunes.

Will power...

Well you might be able to guess why will power and Doritos are mentioned together, but not so fast! I have some iinteresting facts to share about will power that might surprise you.

Did you know that you have a limited supply of will power, and that you can use it all up? Yep, it's true! A study was done on 2 groups of kids. One group went to the beach and was allowed to play and romp at will- doing whatever they pleased to have fun. The other group was put in a classroom and tortured with math problems the entire day. At the end of day both groups of kids were put in separate rooms, but given the same instructions. A large bowl of cookies was placed on a table in the center of the room, and the kids were told not to touch/eat them. The kids that were allowed to play at the beach had seemingly little problems following the instructions. But the kids who were heavy laden with math burdens could hardly control themselves- it didn't take long for the cookies to completely disappear!

The kids who were forced to do math all day had used all their will power to do the task demanded of them- see where I'm going with this now? ;-)

I was not keeping this in mind when I was battling so hard to stay on the juice. I was really wearing down my will power reserves. And, apparently I was quite cranky too, so reports my husband! He said that yesterday (the first day of breaking the fast) I was a completely different person. But there was a lot involved with that change in disposition, not just breakfasting. The news of a 3 day respite which initiated the break was also huge in my mind. But again I digress (I told you there would be randomness! ;)

So yesterday started off with a cup o' joe!! (as did this morning as well :) Oh coffee, coffee coffee coffee- how I've missed you!! I don't want to start this back as a habit, but I am giving in to my weakened will power for now- I'm tired of battling. Then came the bowl of prunes- yumi! But I also took 2 cascara sagrada caps too- big mistake!! lol I sooooo did not need to do that! hahaha I do believe the prunes would have done an ample job w/o any help whatsoever. No cascara today! Oh the rumblings that took place all day yesterday- wow!! I also had some fruit juice as well- same as today again.

But yesterday I made macaroni salad for Ken and Steve, et em... yeah. I don't usually much care for macaroni salad, but food in general has been a torment to be around. I didn't eat much though, about 3 or 4 condiment bowls throughout the day, but it had turkey meat and I had to put horseradish sauce on it!!! Oh my, how I used to love horseradish sauce on my sandwhiches!! And yes, then there were the Doritos! I didn't have a lot of those either, thank goodness, but the fact remains.... several times during the day I did dip my hand in the bag for a chip... okay, okay... or 2!

I felt badly knowing these things were the complete antithesis of the juicing I had just finished, but I resolved to not feel guilty. The whole will power concept came back to me, and I gave myself compassion. I had just completely run out of fight. I have to admit though, I was concerned about how long that would last. But to my pleasant surprise I'm not a bit hungry today :) And even though I will probably indulge again today in something not especially good for me (raw) I don't feel the compulsion or drive to it that I did yesterday- whew! It kinda feels like I got that out of my system. I'm feeling much more in control today, ahhhhh :)

Lessons learned?
1. There's more to JuiceFasting then your first bowl of prunes.
2. Don't push yourself past your reserve of will power. There will be a resulting backlash.

It's been a long time since I've felt like I have come to the end of myself, but by day 42 I guess I really had (and was practically unaware of it- how is that?!). I'm almost glad for the experience though- it gives me more compassion for those who suffer in life with things that sap them of their reserves. My husband is one such person who uses a lot of will power to do things on a daily basis that he just does not like to do.

I really don't care to see any more green juice again for quite a while though. I did dump a couple of quarts down the drain this morning- just can't do it (Oh the blasphemy! lol). I cleaned up the kitchen- put the juicer away for now, and am getting all my raw things out where I need them again :) sigh.... I love a clean kitchen!

42 Day/ 49 year old JuiceFeasting Body Pictures

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Okay- it's time for the big reveal, drum roll please.... hahaha! j/k
I only lost 9.5 pounds, but all my clothes are so loose! Sorry I didin't take any before pics, but you can tell from the pants that there was a pretty big change. The pants were never tight, but they did fit a whole lot better 43 days ago.

If you read the comments from the previous post you will see that I said I was not at all disappointed that I quit earlier than I expected. The OCD part of me is a little miffed that I didn't make it even half way, but I'll get over it :P  I also said I probably should have quit earlier b/c I feel like a kid who was brought up by over protective parents and has finally been set FREE!! FREE to INDULGE!!! (and bulge- NO!!) I feel a little out of control tasting everything in sight regardless of what it is!! That is so NOT me! I'm forcing down juice to try to help curb that.

I ate my prunes very happily this morning, but 8 oz. was a lot! It took me a while to eat them, and afterward I was pretty full. Transit time? 6.5 hours!! lol   which is pretty good- I heard up to 12 hours is healthy. I'm actually looking forward to 2 rounds of prunes tomorrow. The hubs was out late last night. I called him to ask if he could pick some prunes up for me on the way home- what a sweetheart, he did! So I got up right away and put them in water so I could start to break first thing :)

Oh oh oh- sorry... the drum is still rolling? okay okay!!

Had to throw in bodybuilding pic in there :P

Again, I lost all the fat (9.5 pounds) in just 2 weeks. After that it was detoxing, cleansing, healing and lessons in self control.

So I'm done for now... well, sort of. I do have 6 days of breaking out of this. I will continue posting though as I do plan on making a career of sorts out of the raw food/health/nutrition field. I will continue to educate myself on the culinary arts as well as in nutrition and health. I plan on posting lots on those topics as time goes by.

Celebrate life- keep it raw!
~(RawesomelyFit) Wendy

Time to Break it!!

Day 42
Feb. 10, 2012
Friday night

Well I just got word that the foster care agency is going to provide us 3 days respite next weekend!!! I am so excited! The hubby and I haven't had any alone time since we got Steve back in July- 8 months!! We have Valentine's Day this week as well as his birthday, then 2 weeks later is our 12th anniversary. I am breaking my fast so we can celebrate. Usually every day around here is just like the one before, even if it's supposed to be special. So to have 3 special days in a row and 3 days off is really something to celebrate- I'm so excited and I can't wait to go out to eat with my husband!! :) yay yay yay!!! happy dance!!! Can't wait to shop for prunes first thing in the morning!!! I'll have just the perfect amount of breaking time to go out to dinner next Friday night!! woohoo!!! I am so ready!

Day 42

Day 42
Feb. 10, 2012
Friday, AM

Physical & Psychological:
This was supposed to be PMS week! I don't have any PMS symptoms except for craving FOOD in general- anything and everything!! Smelling food cooking is driving me insane. I broke down last night and had a couple bites of cooked squash and green peppers- YUM!!! I am hungry all the time. I keep telling myself this will be over before I know it, but somehow I know I'm lying!! lol  I'm trying reversed psychology on myself and tell myself to go ahead and quit then, but I just can't (so I guess it works! hahaha). Even if I cheat a little I'm sticking with it as best I can. Every day is a new day, and I want healing!! I'm going to get through the PMS thing and see what things look/feel like on the other side. I actually should have started by now, but haven't... so we'll see what happens. Dinner/night time is usually the hardest, but this morning is pretty tough too. The battle is raging!!! UGH! HELP!! But I'm not going to quit just b/c I'm having a hard time- NO!!

No workout today- I felt too sluggish yesterday so taking the day off from that to do shopping. I am feeling better today, so I'll do some light cardio tomorrow :)

Juicing:
I juiced all fruits this morning: watermelon, pineapple, grapes and strawberries- made 1 1/2 gallons- woohoo!! I tried mixing it with some of my green garbage juice- not too bad, but I can still taste a bit of bitterness,  but it will help get it down without wasting it.

I read a blog yesterday about making fruit crackers out of my fruit pulp- hmmmmmm. Not too sure those would appeal to me, but it got me thinking about what I could do with it. I think I'll buy some dates and make fruit leather :)

I also read her blog on making crackers out of the green pulp- now those sound better, and I can tweak that according to my tastes. Only thing is I don't plan on making too much more green stuff, and what I will make will be used for broth. But it's a good idea for the future when I'll be eating again, and having juice too :) I hate wasting food- even pulp! I've been giving it away as compost up until now- and there will still be compost b/c of rinds and such, but that doesn't bother me.

Gotta run this morning- going to do some fruit shopping before the weather gets really cold again. It's not supposed to be nice/warmer until next Wednesday!

Day 41

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Day 41
Feb. 9, 2012
Thursday AM

Physical & Psychological:
I've been sleeping much better lately- so happy about that. My cough is getting better and better- no serious coughing spells for many days now- even with Kerm moulting on my shoulder! That is about the only result I can see right now except the few things that came before- like improvement in skin condition and loss of body fat.

I made it yesterday on just water until almost 3:00!! So today I am feeling slow and low energy, but that's okay with me. I did go to the gym, but didn't have much umph, so just took it easy for 40 minutes on the Life Fitness eliptical. Did 12 minutes in the Beauty Angel following that.

My body feels a little sore too- in the back mostly.

Oh- no foster parent training at all this week- woohoo!! YES! that was going to be hard. And the Saturday lunch got canceled too. I'll miss seeing my friend, but will not miss sitting in a restaurant smelling all the wonderful smells and watching her eat! I don't know how people who go to work everyday do this!

I will juice fast again, but probably not for this long. After this- a week or two will be a piece of raw cake!

Juicing:
Juiced forever last night and made over a gallon of garbage green juice. No tomatoes- I used apples this time. The juice with tomatoes is tasting bitter to me now. I know b/c of Pam's experience that this is a sign of further detoxing- yay! So the headaches are probably detoxing results too. No tomatoes and still have the pressure in my head.

I have already had broth today and water kefir, but no juice yet- very hungry though. But once I start work it's easy to put off  juice for later.

Day 40

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Day 40
Feb. 8, 2012
Wednesday AM

Physical & Psychological:
Well I decided to water fast as long into the day (everyday) as possible from here on out (maybe :P). I'm hoping to be able to go until noon, at least, but if not, that's okay too. I'm hungry, but it just seems that drinking juice in the mornings gets my metabolism going, and I get hungrier. This is also very healthy for eliminating any tumors or abnormal growths.

I still have a headache- it comes and goes. I don't think I'm doing enough tomatoes for this to happen, so I'm chalking it up to detoxing.

Worked out this morning- 1/2 hour on the Arc Trainer, burned a little over 400 calories :) The Beauty Angel was occupied so I did 5 minutes on the massage chair instead and left.

I think about the stand still I've come to on the building of my website and think that it's very indicative of this fasting period. Fasting is supposed to be a time of rest and reflection and of thought mostly. It feels natural to have slowed down, even though I'm frustrated by it. I was so hoping to be much further along with it at this point.

Very frustrated with my computer- it keeps freezing up on me!! ARGH!

Juicing:
I really miss my broth! I still have juice left from the other day, so I don't need to juice again until tomorrow- not happy with not having any broth today :( I'll just have to have more tea I suppose. I'll be ordering more honey today and also the respiratory pack from a new company I was introduced to- I'll mention more on this company tomorrow.

Day 39

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Day 39
Feb. 7, 2012
Tuesday AM

Physical and Psychological:
I keep forgetting to report my resting heart rate: 48!!! WHAT?! It's always been around 72! This is amazing to me. I have heard that juicing can lower that, but wow! I have noticed that while doing cardio it is much harder to get my heart up to where I used to, but I'm not going to really push myself at this point. Today it was up to 123 or so, and I was sweating. I did half an hour on the Arc Trainer :)  good workout. Then 12 minutes in the Beauty Angel.

I was actually scheduled for foster parent training today and yesterday, but come to find out it really isn't necessary!! >:  which I'm very happy about- just wish these people would get their act together.

I was in such good spirits yesterday- not sure why or what was different. Today I'm feeling pretty good too, but didn't sleep all that well, so a little tired. I am struggling with this whole thing, but am determined to stay on it- even if my heart is not really in it. My cough is progressively getting better- I have a bad day here and there, but they are getting fewer and further between. It is rare that it interrupts my work (phone calls) anymore, which is such a blessing! I wonder how long it takes to remake your lungs??? 6-9 weeks to make a new liver and a whole year to turn over your bones. The lower energy does contribute to feeling a bit down- plus the weather is overcast today too... and still cold, but not frigid.

My head is still feeling a bit "off". I think it's the tomatoes- ugh! I heard they can give you a headache, but I don't care- I like the flavor of the juice, which is uber important to me on this JF.

I watched a video on skin care the other day. I stopped using baby oil on my skin last year after I found out it was all petroleum!! It did do quite a bit of damage by the time I learned that though- very saggy old lady skin :(  But I just found out that almost everything that is not organic has some kind of petroleum product in it- which suffocates your cells and leads to unhealthy metabolic processes. I had just gotten a bunch of skin care for Christmas too :(  I hate waste, but don't want to use it just because I have it if it's not good for me. I went to the health food store and was very happy to see some great organic skin care that didn't cost an arm and a leg!! yay!! :) So- continuing to learn and clean up my own act ;-)

Juicing:
Going through my juices slower- which is fine by me. I could water fast the rest of the way if I wanted, but don't want to do that, hahaha ;)  I should have made more broth the other day, but thought I'd have enough to see me through- NOT, darn it. So I juiced some oranges and will have some with water kefir, and I'll drink another tea instead. I'll juice more greens again tomorrow and make a BIG ol' stock pot of broth.

Day 38

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Day 38
Feb. 6, 2012
Monday AM

Physical & Psychological:
I had a great night's sleep last night- 8 hours!! :) I was pretty tired last night and got to bed by 10:00. I'm feeling restless, restless with my life too, not just my body. I don't want to be in front of this computer all day anymore. I feel like I want to be outside, but it's still cold, and alas, I have to work- which is in front of this computer! And I really do need to work on my website while it is still cold out. I wonder if I'm just trying to distract myself from the discomfort of juicing and not eating???

Which brings me to my next point. It's really amazing how much our lives focus and center around food! It's also amazing how much comfort, enjoyment and pleasure we get from it. And it's also amazing how much it can bring one's life to a stand still. What I mean by that is- if you are always grabbing for food to comfort yourself from the discomforts of life than you aren't focused on the solution to your problems- you're just using food as a pain killer.

Juicing is a great way to remove food as an obstacle to move forward in your life- to solve issues at the core level, not to mention the physical benefits as well. I'm still hating this- it's a struggle every single day, but I'm in a better mood today, I think, hahaha. I'm so looking forward to next Tuesday when I'll be at the "top of the hill" in this journey- it will be the mid-way point, half way.

And I found out that I can break this fast in 6 days- woohoo! Thanks Pam!! :) I thought it was going to take me 3 weeks- what a drag that was to think of, now I'm excited! Back on regular (raw) food in just one week! YAY!! :) So happy about that.

I didn't workout all weekend- will walk today though, and have a Brilliant Mind meeting right after :)

Juicing:
For some reason I didn't mind juicing this morning. I juiced and cleaned up thoroughly in just under 2 hours. I made 6 quarts of juice- enough for 2 days :) And I'm not done- I'll juice some oj later on today sometime- probably at dinner time. And I can't wait to juice my fruits- didn't do that yet either- maybe tomorrow night or Wednesday.

Weigh in:
I weighed in yesterday- down another 1/2 pound. That makes me a solid 126. I'd actually like to lose another couple pounds, as crazy as that sounds, just to get rid of more toxins being stored in the fat cells, but not sure that is going to happen. I think it would almost be easier to water fast- this juicing keeps the metabolism quite cranked so I always feel hungry!! And I'm not drinking more than 3 quarts of juice a day either- I just can't spend that much time or money. 3 quarts plus maybe a master cleanse, teas and broth.

Day 37

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Day 37
Feb. 5, 2012
Superbowl Sunday!

Physical & Psychological:
I'm starting to put these 2 together b/c they always seem to be so tightly bound together... interesting. Or at least they seem to be difficult for me to separate when thinking and writing. On that note- there seems to be a direct corrolation between how my body feels and my attitude about things- kinda low energy... interesting again! It's an effort to push forward.

Feeling rather tired, but sleeping better. I have enough energy to do what I need to do and maybe walk 1/2 hour- so that's good. I feel like my body is really in detox mode now- it's kind of a rocky road. I so want to quit and just eat, but I know this is the most critical time to stay on.

I should be able to weigh in later- probably didn't lose any more, but who knows- we'll see. I know that being hungry is a good thing for this short of a time frame. I'm starving any tumors or abnormal growths that might have been lurking. The body will feed according to priority- and abnormal cells are not a priority.

Juicing:
I'll have to do some shopping today. The weather has gone back to COLD again- ugh! But that means that the produce will keep better in the garage. I can buy a week's worth that way :) I don't like the greens with apple, but I do like carrot and apple- so I'll do some of that this week. I like my greens with tomato, salt and garlic :) I also should order some more honey this week too- I think the master cleanses are a good idea once a day.

I'm glad I have enough juice for today- do not feel like juicing! I don't feel much like shopping in this cold either- just want to take a nap...

Day 36

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Day 36
Feb. 4, 2012
Saturday PM

Physical & Psychological:
Woke up last night with pretty severe side pain- right side abdomin-ish radiating possibly from the back- kidney/adrenal area maybe??? I think yesterday's struggle was a major detox effect. Those are hard to get through b/c you want to return to "normal"- which includes eating solid food. I just had to remind myself that to "break through" I need to push through. It's indicative of life (and I know that!) if I falter on my JF (juice fast/feast) then it's likely that I do and will falter in life. I need to find my way through things. I need to find a way to solve things and push through to the goal. I'm excited I made it!! Today is a much better day, but every day is still a struggle against eating solids. This whole thing is very pschological for me.

Did not workout today.

Went to the Body Systems class and am excited about the business potential I'm finding there- as well as a community that supports healthy living :)

Juicing:
Juiced for quite a while this morning- made my usual green juice (half a gallon), and also over a quart of carrot/apple/a little celery/ a little radish (radish is good for the skin :) I also made a gallon of broth from all the pulp :)

Day 35

http://www.raw-food-for-health.com/
Day 35
Feb. 3, 2012
Friday AM

I feel at this point every day I do this is another day to celebrate. It's tough- I get pretty hungry sometimes. But I seriously want to push through psychological, physical and emotional barriers. I am more drawn toward the fruit juices, I really like those. I haven't had a master cleanse for a while either, but next week I have foster parent training for 3 days- so I will definitely be into the master cleanses for convenience.

I feel like if I can just make it another 12 days to get over "the hump" I'll be okay.

Physical:
I slept great last night except for the 3 times I had to get up to pee! UGH! so annoying. My head can still feel weird/stuffy on and off. This morning when I got home after working out I had a really euphoric feeling- hard to describe, not light headed, but just very light and expansive.

I'm feeling very thin, but I have felt that way for the last couple of weeks without having lost weight- so who knows. Not sure if I'll weigh in on Sat. or Sun. b/c of my schedule.

Did 30 minutes on the arc trainer and 12 minutes in the Beauty Angel.

Haven't done an enema lately- should probably try to do that sometime soon.

I coughed a lot yesterday :( darn it! Still no meds, no alcohol, no chocolate! Something to be proud of! :)

Juicing:
I juiced enough yesterday for today as well :) I like having a day off from juicing. It's though- I'm getting kinda lazy about making enough juice, but I'm trying to keep my intake up there.

Pschological:
I covered this at the top, but I'm really proud of myself for making it this far. Good things have happened since I've been doing this, and I don't want to stop. I feel like this is going to make me a stronger person, and a healthier one. I've been learning so much. I want to continue to see the physical benefits too. Next week will be a challenge with training, but I am determined to make it through, even if I drink mostly master cleanses- that will be fine for a short time. I won't be able to work on my website hardly at all next week :(  ... another set back there- darn it.

The weather has been gorgeous this last week or so- so warm for this time of year! It feels like spring is in the air. It contributes to the feeling of wanting to "change" something, or start something new- like get off the juice, only b/c in my mind I was thinking that spring wouldn't come until I was just about done with it anyhow. I was thinking I'd juice through the winter and be off of it by the time the really nice weather set in. But I'll be fine- I need to deal with it.

Day 34

http://www.raw-food-for-health.com/
Day 34
Feb. 2, 2012, Happy Groundhog Day!
Thursday AM

Well today is Groundhog Day. I live only about an hour and a half from Punxsy, where Punxatawney Phil may or may not see his shadow. I've never been to see the production, but that's okay, I'm not fond of the cold ;) This is the anniversary of the day I met my husband!! We are both living that day over and over, hahaha!

Physical:
Still tired. But new ocurrences are taking place- my head feels weird. It feels kinda stuffy like I'm getting a sinus infection (which I know I'm NOT). I think something is being cleaned out in there, kinda cool! And there have been sightings of UFOs (unidentified floating objects) in the commode! kinda like white bits or flakes. I can't imagine anything passing through that could remain WHITE with all that green dye in there!

I'm doing research on bee pollen for my website. WOW! What amazing stuff. I think it's the pollen that is curing my cough. It's great for just about everything, but respiratory issues are on the top of the list. I have a bit of a confession here to go with this. At night my birds get about a teaspoonful of Ben and Jerry's strawberry cheesecake ice cream while we watch a movie together (Daisy loves to watch TV!) They eat their ice cream and watch a movie with me for about an hour or so before bed (Kerm and I usually fall asleep, lol). Well ice cream is one of my all time weaknesses :( So while dishing it out I probably get about a teaspoonful myself. I noticed that I cough more at night after doing that. I thought- could just a teaspoon really be effecting me like that?!!

So I decided to make a bee pollen concoction for myself for ice cream time to help me not do that. I make: 1 T bee pollen, 1 T honey, 1 T coconut oil (all of which I am allowed to have on this cleanse, however, I'm supposed to take the coconut oil alone- oh well!). I did this last night and hardly any coughing at all! woohoo!! The honey and coconut oil have anti-fungal, anti-microbial and anti-biotic properties, plus the power of bee pollen- powerful medicine I'm thinking, and it tastes great too :)

Today is a day off from the gym- feels good to take a break :)

Juicing:
I decided I do not like apples in my green juice for now. I like it with tomatoes, salt and garlic. That seems to be the only way I can drink 2 quarts of it a day.

I have a 1/4 of a tiny watermelon left, a pineapple, grapes and some apples for a special treat for this evening- can't wait!!

Psychology:
Pushing forward on my website, doing research and taking notes to write up more pages. Hopefully by the time I get this section built out I'll have my 10 inbound links and I can then begin to monetize- woohoo!! I kinda feel like I've hit a wall here, but will press on and press thru! I know the steps I need to take.

I just been too tired to clean- hopefully this weekend! The weather has been nice, so I'd like to hit the garage sometime soon.

Day 33

My website: http://www.raw-food-for-health.com/
Day 33! That means I'm down into the 50's now for days left- woohoo!!
Feb. 1, 2012
Wednesday AM

Physical:
Slept well last night, about 7 hours :) Walked 30 minutes on the treadmill again today- did 2 miles, then 12 minutes in the Beauty Angel :)

I'm not getting all the green juice I'm supposed to. I think I'm getting tired of it :/  I'll make the tomato kind again today and see if I can get that down that any better. I had made apple yesterday. It's so weird- when I drink the hot broth it's like there are gremlins in my system- man! all the gurgling and rumbling!! But not so with the juice- so strange.

Healing: I used to have this tough patch of skin on my lower lip. Almost everyday I could peel it off! It's GONE!! And I never used to be able to put my hands in water w/o the skin around my nails getting tough and hard like callouses- so annoying! I have my hands in water all the time now! wow! The skin still gets kinda hard, but not like before- and if I pick at it it doesn't peel away down to the flesh like it used to- no more sores!! I used to think I was neurotic or something :P

And I think my cough is VERY SLOWLY improving as well. It's not completely gone, but definitely seems better. This one thing is enough to keep me on the juice. I've had this cough for probably over 5 years now. I would be so so excited to see it completely gone/healed.

Juicing:
Well like I said- not getting all the greens I'm supposed to- need to focus on that more. Not too much more to report here. But I can see why people don't make it the whole 92 days!

Psychology:
I did work on my website yesterday. I finished watching a video on The China Study and had to totally revamp my kefir page! Up until yesterday I wasn't sold on Veganism, but after watching that video- I am now! I don't think I will ever knowingly eat an animal product again. The number one predictor of prostate cancer is dairy products! The higher the consumption of animal products the higher the cancer rate and the higher the rate for lots of other diseases as well. I'm done with animal based food. Coming from the bodybuilding community- this is HUGE for me. I am now happy to just be lean, fit and healthy instead of muscular.

I also played around with trying to embed video onto my site- it was easy!! woohoo! So I got that great video on my page about protein :) I also secured another inbound link- yippee!!

Still need to clean out my office! ARGH!