Day 3 of cleanse

I am on day 3 of the master cleanse, and I feel pretty fine really! I seem to have more energy, and hardly any hunger pains. The only time I seem to feel hungry is when I'm around food, naturally. Still, I don't know how people can do juice fasts for upwards of 90 days. That must be not only a test physically, but an extreme mental battle of will. I am going to be glad when I can start eating food again, and I think I'm going to eat only "raw chili" the first day. It's Alissa Cohen's recipe, and I've made it before. It's tasty! When I make it I'll make sure to post the recipe! One thing that is really easy and nice about juice fasting is that I don't have to think of what I'm going to eat, or put any effort towards it at all! It's kinda nice. Still, unsustainable!

I'm a bum!

Yes, like the title of this post says, I have been a huge bum! So, my ankles are healed, good thing, it only turned out to be my tendons or ligaments that were strained. No fractures thank goodness! Still, I've been so bad about updating anything about myself, either on here, on facebook, emails...anything electronic I've been shunning lately! Mostly it's because I can't get on the computer most of the time, but I don't know what my aversion to it has been! Thus, I am a bum. But, the good thing is that about a week ago I started a program that my chiropractor suggested, and it seems to be going well! I really should have started blogging about it the first day! It's basically a program that helps rid your body of candida, which is a yeast that can build up in all people, and throw off your body's natural hormones and keep your body holding on to fat. So, this program is really interesting, and I am already seeing results. It's probably the hardest thing I've ever put myself on though! But you know what they say...no pain no gain! I guess!

So this program basically consists of a 5 week cleanse, with a special diet, and supplements, and additional cleansing methods. This past week, the 1st week of the program, I ate a diet consisting of plenty of vegetables, lentils, brown rice, eggs, and lean meats, plus olive and coconut oil. I can't have any processed food, fruit, grains, or dairy. The funny thing is, I am eating more raw food than I was before, because of all the vegetables! I can only have 1 serving of lentils or rice, and 1 serving of meat (which I hardly eat anyway) a day, so basically it's bring on the vegetables!! I actually feel very similar to how I felt when I was eating raw, but better because I'm giving my body a break from wheat and sugars, which I think it could use! What I did think would be the death of me though, were the supplements I have to take. I'm not a very good pill taker, but I've since become pro! I have to take 55 pills a day! They are all natural herbs, liquid calcium, omega 3, fiber pills, primrose oil, etc. It's gruelling! But, I definitely feel better when I do take them.

So, week 2 mostly consists of a 5 day master cleanse. Yes, the infamous master cleanse. It's really not so bad, I just finished day 1. Although, I guess we'll see how much worse it gets tomorrow! I drink 2 liters per day of a lemon juice (that's the only fruit allowed) and pure maple syrup and water mixture, lots of water, and continued supplements. It sounds like it wouldn't be healthy, but it can be when done in short spurts. I believe that fasting is very healthy for the body, the same with juice fasts and water fasts. I am actually seeing benefits already that I noticed when doing yoga. I noticed that I had a much better breath capacity, which is odd because I haven't been doing any strenuous exercise lately. I really believe that it's because my lungs are being cleansed, and are better utilizing the oxygen I'm taking in. I don't feel my lungs burning as bad when I hold my breath in or out, so I'm able to hold it for longer. Strange but true! I also had increased mental clarity when doing yoga, and I've been able to figure out some things that have been bothering me.

So, each week I also meet with my chiropractor, and they take my body reading, show me some exercises to do, and let me sit in the super hot sauna for 30 min. Next week I am going to get a lymphatic massage. I hope that it goes well! So as of 2 days ago I lost 4.1 lbs and lost 1.6% of my body fat. Let's hope that the scale is accurate :(

So, I will sincerely try not to be a technophobe and try to update each day on how I feel, and my progress!

Don't do what I did...

I am actually seeing some results from all my hard work!...but they aren't exactly the ones I was hoping for. I was so gung ho for exercising about 3 weeks ago that I seriously was doing my aerobic dvd and yoga almost every day! I felt really good, until my ankles started to get sore. I figured it was just sore muscles, and that they'd feel better once I exercised more, but the pain kept getting worse, until the point where I couldn't walk without pain. So I figured, I better stop. I went to the doctor, but since I don't have insurance I wasn't about to pay for x-rays, and he told me that I either strained the ligaments in my inner ankles, or I might have stress fractures. Joy! Apparently my feet are slightly pronated, and flat (I never knew), and since I was working out without shoes (in my carpeted room), and jumping around and twisting, it was a recipe for disaster. So please, don't be stupid like me, and wear good shoes that are supportive for your unique feet! Better yet, get a medical examination before working out, especially if you've been sedentary for awhile. I know that everyone recommends that, but hardly anyone actually does it! Also, the scale at the doctor's office said that I was actually heavier than what I started out as, whereas my Wii Fit said that I had lost 10 lbs. So I am at a loss as to how much I really weigh, but I guess that's sort of a good thing because I don't want to be preoccupied about weight, just muscle tone.

It was so hard the first few days when I had to just sit around and be lazy. I felt so dejected and frustrated, and I just wanted to cry. I felt like there was no use in trying to be healthy if I wasn't seeing dramatic results, except for those of the injury kind! But of course these were just old, plaguing emotions that need to be conquered just as much as the food emotions, and I'd only been working out for 3 weeks, so what can I expect, really? My body will start to heal itself and release it's extra fat (energy!) when it's ready, I know it. I am wearing 2 foot/ankle braces, just soft velcro things, and they seem to be helping. If the pain doesn't go way in 2 weeks I have to go back and get x-rays, and I'm praying I won't have to! I can still do yoga as long as I don't put too much weight on my ankles, so I don't feel like too much of a lazy bum. It's such a shame because my aerobic dvd (Jillian Michael's 30 day shred) was kicking my butt in a good way, and it's so effective (apparently a little too much so in my case)! I am going to start it up again, but with good shoes next time! Haha. I also can't wait until it gets warmer so that I can start biking more, and playing tennis. So the moral of this story: To get healthy requires perseverance, and not getting discouraged to the point of giving up whenever life throws a stone in your path. Keep doing whatever you can, and work around it! I am still trying to learn this! Good nutrition is also going to be more important than ever now!

My Conquest

My goodness, it's been so hard for me to keep up to date on this blog lately! But I think I have the antidote. See, I'm starting to run out of things to say about raw food, but there are still plenty of amazing raw recipes out there to share, as well as "mostly raw" ones that are very healthy! There is a lot going on at my house too (well, a lot for me, which still isn't that much!), things that keep me preoccupied and away from the computer. So, I think I'd like to take this blog into a more expansive direction. I still want to write about raw food and recipes, but I want to also share other healthy recipes or ideas that I come across that might not be totally raw. I am going to extend it also to include exercise, home improvement stuff, pretty much anything interesting that promotes well-being and health. But mostly it will still be about food!

So this whole new outlook on food has really, truly helped me. I made myself accountable to God, which for me, is really the only thing that works every time. I went to Chuck-a-rama the other day, which was very risky for me since buffets + me = gluttony. But surprisingly you can even eat mostly raw at a buffet like Chuck-a-rama if you have the willpower! I had a giant salad with lots of veggies, and some beans, some fresh fruit, and some mashed potatoes for my "treat". It might seem like a waste of $11 for eating only that, but to me it was worth it, just because I can now say that I once conquered a buffet for probably the first time in my life. Sugar is usually my weakness, but strangely I didn't even crave the cakes or brownies or anything. It's easy to lose your taste for refined sugar when you train your tongue to be satisfied with natural sugar (like fruit)!

My flimsy little fruit bowl is a trooper.

The Plan

First off I wanted to say thanks to those of you (all 3 of you!) who still read my blog after all this time, it's so nice of you to!

As part of my plan to achieve my goals, and achieve my new mindset, I wrote down my strengths and weaknesses pertaining to food. This is so I know what to look out for, and what tools I have to help me. My weaknesses list is much longer than my strengths list, but I know over time this will become the opposite. A great tool that I have at my disposal is my journal. It's going to act as sort of my own personal therapist :). I think that when I start to have emotion driven cravings and disparaging thoughts that I can work through them by writing them down and analyzing them. As far as my food plan goes, there are a few goals that I want to be able to perfect by the end of this year, or sooner if possible!

1. 50% of calories raw. Since I am shooting for around 1400 cal/day, this means I will try to shoot for no more than 700 calories from cooked food. I know that this is a raw food blog, and I will continue to post raw food recipes, and talk about raw food, but I have also learned that a transition is necessary to attain a raw food lifestyle, and stick with it!

2. No deprivation! I am not going to deprive myself of cravings. I am going to indulge in what I want, but to a degree that allows me to keep loving myself afterwards! There is a difference between treating myself to a cookie, and hurting myself by eating the whole box! I'll also count these indulgences towards my cooked calorie count.

3. No feeling guilty. I won't even indulge the thought. Life is too short!

4. Remove temptations. I'll try to keep destructive foods out of my house, or at least out of reach.

5. Do some sort of exercise every day. No health plan is really complete without exercise! Mostly I do yoga and some aerobics dvds.

I would say I'm on "day 3" of my plan, but that does kinda sound like someday there will be an end to it, if days matter. So, let me just say that I am in the baby stages of my new "lifestyle". That sounds better to me :)

All you need is LOVE!

Although I really do hate the whole New Years Resolution thing, only because it's not taken very seriously. I do think that we should reevaluate ourselves often and try to find things to work on! As for me, I think of the saying: "God put me on this earth to accomplish a certain number of things. Right now I'm so far behind I'll never die!". This is so true. But, this year I've decided that I'm going to change my mindset. I'm sure I've said this before, and I'll say it again...I HATE DIETS! Self deprivation just doesn't work! I've also realized that motive makes all the difference. Why do I want to be healthy? Better question, why should I be healthy? I truly believe that for myself, the only way that I can answer this is to give myself a sense of accountability. If I truly believe that my body is a gift given to me and that it will transcend death someday, then I need to take that belief seriously. 1 Corinthians 3: 16 says "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" The answer for why should I is quite simply, "because it's one of the greatest gifts I've been given, and it my duty to take care of it".

Another one of my goals in my life, and one I want to focus on this year, is to learn mastery of mind over body. This is why I like yoga so much, because that is what it teaches. It's true that the mind and body are invariably connected in varying degrees, but the more we can separate the two, and learn "mind over matter", the more that we can see our bodies more as vessels, and not our "true selves". Don't I want the vessel that houses my true self to be the best I can make it? Yes! So, it's my mind set that needs to change.

So, after much pondering, I've decided that it all boils down to one word...LOVE! I'm throwing the words deprivation and self denial out the window to go lie in a muddy puddle somewhere, and I'm embracing the word love. It is my motive! I am not ever going to get healthy with a mindset of self deprivation. I am going to get healthy with a mindset where I love my body so much that I'm going to treat it right. Scenario: an apple vs. a donut. Self deprivation says "You totally should not eat that donut, it's so bad for you, force yourself to choose the apple." But self loves says "That apple is going to do so much good for your body, it's just what your body needs to work optimally! Choose that one!" Now, it's going to take years for me to master this mind set, I know it, but it's my ultimate goal!

It's been too long!

Wow, I can't believe it's been over a year since I last updated! I moved a couple times, lost all motivation to be healthy... and here I am again, back where I started! I have been thinking a lot about the reasons why it's so hard for me to stick with healthy habits, and I am in the process of coming up with a new approach to raw, one that I think will really help me make the lasting changes that I truly want to make. I will share it soon, once I have all the details hammered out. It's a program that most anyone can follow, so anyone can do it along with me if they feel so inclined! I am also going to try to find my old, original journals, back when I had first gone raw for a month. I think they will be an inspiration to me, if only to help me see how I was thinking and feeling at the time. More soon!

Raw Milk?

This book I'm reading has also prompted me to learn more and more about raw foods and what they really entail. I know that most of the raw foodists that are in the the news are vegans, and so naturally people think that all raw foodists are vegans. This is simply not the case. I think we all need to approach animal products in our own ways, according to what we believe may be ethically right as well as how eating animal products makes us feel. As for myself, I don't do well with cow's milk. Actually, I there are few dairy products that I even eat on a regular basis. I simply don't like the taste of plain milk, except in cereal, or with chocolate (which isn't exactly nutritious), or if it's mixed in smoothies or soups/sauces. The problem is, when I do eat it, it goes right through me. That is why I prefer almond or rice milk. However, I can handle cheese in moderate amounts.
So I was reading this author and I was surprised that she advocates drinking raw milk. At first I thought, "uh oh that bacteria will kill you". It can, I learned, but only if you are drinking untested milk from cows who are crammed into smaller areas where disease is allowed to spread and are fed hormone injected feed with all manner of chemicals or whatever else they put in there. That is why the milk in the grocery stores has to be pasteurized (heated to kill most bacteria). However, cows who are allowed to roam as they please, who are fed organically and who are regularly tested for disease, produce milk that is absolutely safe to drink. People have been drinking unpasteurized milk for hundreds of years. Granted, I would only feel safe drinking raw milk if it were regularly tested and certified ok by the Dept. of Agriculture. Also, many people have milk allergies, so it's not for everyone. Still, I went online to see what I could find about raw milk, and found this website: raw-milk-facts.com. It also led me to this page where you can find local people who sell safe raw milk products. I am thinking about maybe trying some raw cheese! I was also surprised to learn that there are many raw foodists who themselves drink raw milk, and advocate its healing properties. Hey, it's worth a closer look!

So...why raw milk?

Well, from what I've learned I think the single best reason that raw milk is better than store bought milk is the degree of calcium absorption. Have you ever wondered why they sell Vitamin D fortified milk? That is because in order for calcium to be absorbed vitamin D must be present. Also, phosphorus aids in assimilating calcium. However, when milk is heated, the enzyme phosphatase is destroyed, therefore the body cannot absorb the phosphorus correctly. That means the body cannot create calcium the way it should. It's a sad but true fact that the countries with the highest intake of milk also have the highest rates of osteoporosis. Why is this? Could it be because this milk that we are led to believe to be such a "calcium rich" food has been altered so much as to be rendered largely useless? Here are some other reasons why raw milk is better in my opinion. When milk is heated/pasteurized it loses:

at least25% of it's vitamin C
about 38% of the B complex vitamins
the factors that actually inhibit bacterial growth
much of it's vitamin A

This debate about milk has been going on for decades, but this is my two cents. Milk, as a food, is probably better in it's raw, natural form, such as all other foods (in my opinion). Why not give it a taste?

I am a slacker

Ok, yes I am a total slacker. I really need to update my blog more!! Well, about that juice fast...

Well, I did a lot of research on high quality juicers, and I've come to the conclusion that the more expensive, better made ones are worth the price. So I really want to get a Champion juicer, and the cheapest one I could find was $220. So, someday I will be able to buy one, hopefully soon. That being said, I did decide to go on a juice fast on Nov. 3rd. However, I didn't do it the right way. For 2 days I drank only herbal tea and bottled juice from the store. Did I feel better? Yes, but it was 2 days in when I started to realize that by only drinking pasteurized, barely fortified bottled juice that I was probably doing more harm than good. I came to this conclusion because at the time I was reading a couple of books that my mother-in-law had me borrow. One of them was written in 1954 or so, and is called Feel Like A Million, by Catharyn Elwood. Needless to say, some of the info was pretty dated (they still used DDT back then), but overall the book was really informative and interesting. Especially when she goes over each of the essential vitamins/minerals/amino acids etc. that our bodies need and how they work together. I took a look at my juice bottle and realized that I was basically only drinking fruit sugar and vitamin C. What about all the other nutrients that my body should have each day? I could definitely get them from juicing my own fruits and vegetables at home, but what I was doing then wasn't cutting it. Therefore, I have decided that I am not going to juice fast until I can do it properly, because that is really the only way to do it!

Fasting

I admit it, I've always been a little bit baffled about the concept of fasting. Why is it necessary? Why do we (some of us) do it for religious reasons? What good does it really do? Well, I've been reading about fasting for 3 days now and it is really fascinating! Fasting has been used for thousands of years to help heal disease and chronic illness. When we allow our bodies a break from digesting, it can set to work on the cleansing. Little did I know, Europe continues to use fasting even to this day as a major method of treatment. Why do we as Americans know so little about fasting, or have a stigma against it? I guess when most people think of fasting they think 'starvation'. But really, most fasts, at least those done for medical reasons, are actually juice fasts. The juice intake provides all the calories our bodies need while at the same time giving our digestive system a break and allowing our body to rid itself of toxins, bad tissue, and poorly formed muscle. Not only does juice fasting offer amazing physical benefits, but many people and many religions use fasting for spiritual reasons. Many believe that fasting brings us closer to our spirits and closer to God by humbling us and reminding us that we rely on the Lord for all we have. Many spiritual fasts are water fasts, but from what I've read doing a water fast for more than a couple days can really wreak havoc on the body. Not because it is necessarily 'bad' but because it is so effective. When doing a water fast, toxins are expelled so quickly from the body that one could be in serious distress if not already used to fasting for long periods of time. Still, the concept of a water fast, for spiritual reasons, is intriguing to me.
So...I've decided to take the plunge. I really want to add fasting, for physical and spiritual reasons, as part of my lifestyle. I am used to fasting on the first Sunday of every month, but I admit, sometimes it's more like starving myself because I don't take advantage of the spiritual benefits. In addition to my monthly religious fast (which is completely abstaining from food and water for 24 hours) I would also like to add periodic juice fasts, such as maybe 3 day fasts every month or couple of months. I also want to add in a large fast of maybe 30 days every year. This would translate roughly, if I did my math right, to almost 1/4 of the year where I am not eating solid foods. I think that if I can do this consistently, when the time is right I might be able to do a prolonged water fast, if I feel it's good for me.
So my new goal is to start off small. I want to say that I could do 30 days no problem but I know myself, and I know I'd cave and probably end up binging. So, starting Nov. 2nd, Sunday, I'm going to fast for 6 days. Day 1 will be abstaining from food and water, and days 2-6 will be my 5 day juice fast. I am going to buy a juicer tonight hopefully. To keep it pretty inexpensive I will juice fruits and veggies that I can buy in bulk for cheap, like apples, oranges, spinach, melons, other greens, carrots, celery etc. I also found a homemade detox lemonade that I could use which only contains lemon juice, water, and pepper. I think I am going to make some vegetable broths with the leftover pulp and drink that as well, along with herbal tea. They say that the hunger pains will subside once the digestive system goes into hibernation, after a few days. To prepare, I am eating less calories and trying to cut out everything but fruits, veggies, and grains until the day I start. More updates on this later! Wish me luck!