Yay us! Day Three

Hi hunnybunny and those readers who love Margareta as much as I do!!

After yesterday's early waking agitation, this morning I could not get out of bed.  I guess my body is asking for some rest.  So yes, feeling a little draggy today, but I'm also fabulously proud of myself for taking in so many nourishing juices and seeing the light of Day Three.

Last evening at work I had way more energy and clarity than usual.  It's amazing how having energy really is a rapid-acting antidepressant for me.  I tend to get really sobby when I feel physically unwell, which has unfortunately been the case a lot this winter. I act like a bit of a baby...but not as cute and adorable as muppet Baby Natasha :P.

I am planning to carry on with this juice FEAST with the goal of physical and mental rejuvenation in mind.  It's so easy to get into the mindset of lack, of feeling like I'm missing out, like I am so deprived if I can't have the cookies and donuts my coworkers are munching.  Poor meeeee!!!

How easily I forget that eating these cookies is what has gotten me to a place of fear of food and watching more and more symptoms emerge as my body cries out in despair (yes, I'm a drama queen).  I can eat a million cookies in a day, but this will obviously not feed my body the enzymes and nutrients it craves to perform it's kazillion functions in a day.

Here are the symptoms I experience that tells me that my body needs some loving:
-fatigue
-depression
-autoimmune issues such as: achy joints, swollen fingers, raynaud's phenomenon, swollen glands
-skin rashes
-mind fogginess
-lack of motivation

It's depressing just reading that list, and I'm sure I could think of more.  The sad thing is that these syptoms are so commonplace now.  I mean, nearly half the people I talk to are sniffling, achy, breaking out, and just so damn tired. 

It's time for us to find a better way.  I want to feel as vibrant as the sun shining outside today (though it's -25C). I want to wake up bubbling with energy and feel excited to face the day.  I want my mind to be clear and my thoughts full of positivity and optimism.  I believe that taking in these fresh fruit and vegi juices and focusing on a plant-based diet is a base to build a beautiful life experience.  When a person is healthy, they then can find fulfillment in every aspect of life, such as spirituality, relationships, work, play, and just lurrrrrve all around.

So I choose see this juice cleanse as an opportunity to take in beautiful, satisfying, gorgeous juices and not as a time of deprivation and lack.  I like to see these yummy fresh squeezed juices as the yummy pina coladas I love to sip on the beach in mexico.
. 

Another quote from "The 7 Day Total Cleanse," by Mary McGuire-Wien

I strongly believe that no one should ever drink or eat anything that is not delicious and beautiful to behold.  I believe that when a food is beautiful to look at, smells fragrant, and tastes delicious, only then will our cells open up to receive it fully.  If something tastes like pond scum or looks like mud and you have to gulp it down while holding your nose, every cell in your body is saying, "Oh no!" 

 When the  cells say, "Oh yes!" they are open to receive, like a sunflower turned to face the sun.  Never ever eat or drink anything, if you do not absolutely love the way it tastes....As you become clear about your true desires, you will no longer feel deprived when you abstain from foods you know to be unhealthy.



Sipping a green juice right now made with spinach, parsley, orange, and pineapple.  Yummers.

xo
Erin

Day Three

Busy busy day which is good on a day 3, where your body is still at the tail end of adjusting but you also realize you still have 7 more days to go. That said, as they say, it does get a LOT easier. Even now I am not experiencing any PMS symptoms whatsoever, like, at all due to this cleanse. No fatigue, grumpiness, cravings for starch, bloat, suicidal tendencies. Just kidding although the winters out here combined with PMS is a recipe for figuring out as soon as possible, how I can apply"The Four Hour workweek" to my life so that just like the author, I can go live off the coast of some warm and sunny island (and just read all day). (http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/about/)

So rather than talk about all the ins and outs of a “day 3” since that is like talking about a Tuesday, I think I’ll just for my own benefit, distract myself my meditating via the typed word, what all I took in from my weekly women's study group.

The primary topic of discussion was on faith, and our dire need for it. We were reminded last night that no matter what circumstances we undergo, having faith is utmost importance when it comes to authenitc Christian living.  Perhaps as a result of this fast my senses were heightened, or maybe because I had a rough night last week, but this topic really came to life for me in a way it ordinarily wouldn't.  Growing up as a Catholic where there wasn't a whole lot of emphasis placed on reading the bible (or "God's word" as they assertively call it in this non-denominational with a tinge of Pentacostal church I've been going to), I saw a lot of faith around me in the people, but for some reason last night the concept of it being a requirement hit me harder than ever. I think just like my drinks, I need my Christianity strong to do the job. My green juices extra green too for that matter...

Anyway, we jumped to Hebrews 11:16, and there it just spells out that it is impossible to please God when we don’t have faith. So [for me] this was an eye opener. I have displeased God countless times when all along I thought I was doing a pretty good balancing act of trusting Him while also doing things my way. It's not to say that I think we just sit there and not do anything but here is an example: right now I want an iphone and normally I'd just go out and buy one without surrendering to John's view and/or paying off bills first. So when I do things my own way because it suits me, I'm not having much faith in God and that is my downfall. I suppose it's everyones', but that is what He is revealing to me more and more lately. I'm sure everyone else can see this is my downfall but what works for everyone else doesn't impact me. Dave Ramsey? I read his book and I wanted to go take out a loan for some things because I was so jazzed I hadn't wracked up debt nearly as bad as the rest of the human examples I had read about! I also feel like I'd rather take out a loan and travel now while I'm relatively young than do it later when I have accumulated wealth but am too old to really enjoy it as much. So I need something more potent to live this out, for too many more reasons. Anyway-

What I am guilty of is that I am not consistent in always having my faith "on". In the first 5 minutes it may be strong enough to withstand whatever is coming my way but then within the next 5 minutes (depending on just how much I was being tested) I just felt like a doormat in not ‘giving it back’ to a person, or I rationalize that this is a chance to possibly turn a bad communication to a redeemed one and therefore redeemed friendship. Not the case!  Last week this occurred with a friend I’ve known since I was seven to twelve-ish and let’s just say there was a really sad falling out. I realize this post would be a lot ‘juicier’ if I got into it but what went down, but anyway, back to my piecemeal of a story if I can even call it that, the situation definitely demanded from me a level of deeper faith than I was ready for. I am now in retrospect, grateful for the heart break since I think that is the usual currency for growth.  Anyway, Emily (that pastor’s wife who is my age and is like a walking breathing Galadriel in the world of “church” + she has 5 kids on me and still manages to do more than anyone) spoke to my situation.

She mentioned, and I agree, that many think that Christians perceive ourselves "holier than thou"and this certainly applied to my situation last week. So I (texted) the whole spiel about Church being a hospital for sinners not so much a chance for people to talk on high!  But it was so frustrating being in this position when it would have been a LOT easier to just obey the God I believe in and *trust* that He'd take care of it, rather than defend my fleshly responses. I instead was in the trap where I had to explain that we realize how broken we are and that we need saving”.  But the problem is, I realized at the time I was talking to someone who reminds me a lot of how I used to think about myself- "that I have a pure heart and therefore I don't think I am a sinner who needs a savior."  I guess I scratched the surface but think it hopefully brings to life where and how Christians go wrong and it reminded me that it is FAR more difficult cleaning up a mess that I made with my fleshly tendencies [as a self proclaimed Christian] than it is to obey.  If I obey our almighty and loving God, I am free. 

It was a reminder to me also that when we’re not having faith 100% of the time, we’re judged. We are hated that much more than if we didn’t have this standard and deemed as hypocrites. To my not-so-humble defense, we’re all just human and some of us are naturally at different places on our faith walk so to speak and I suppose I slipped. I now have a mountain of regret and I mention all of this not because it's fun but hopefully so I can chart my own growth with a further hope that this isn't so darn boring and non-life applicable. My point is this: I have no basis for judging her since that is God's place and I need to trust more. I need to trust more because it makes my life easier and walk the talk. 

So rewinding a bit with regards to the argument, it also brought up for me this universal condition to think it's other people who are ungodly because we each have our own thoughts and opinions as to what that is; it's never us, it's always the other person. That I experienced first hand last week where I chose to give into my flesh in an argument rather than have faith in God while I witnessed her falling into a similar trap in judging me and that makes sense from her vantage point.  Romans 18 clarifies who the ungodly are. They are those that know the truth but instead, choose to suppress it, because it either doesn't seem to comply with our situation or because it's convenient for us not to.

Ironically, and I struggle with this so much--is we think if I do it my way and do my own thing, we’ll be safe.  Anyway, what I got most out of last night is that God is saying otherwise: not only are our lives not our own but we will only be safe when we do it God's way.  Once we acknowledge that our lives aren't our own and we obey because God merely tells us too in His Word, our faith builds.  When we do things our own way and make ourselves into mini-Gods, our faith life will just stay the same. That was so convicting for me because my faith is growing at a slower pace than some of my other peers. It’s not because I don’t intellectually “believe” like they do—it’s likely because I am lazy when it comes to reading the bible and quite honestly, I’d much prefer to live life where I don’t have to follow any standard. Its so much easier and free! But it’s not really and that is the point of this site and I have managed to digress again.

Here are my juices for today:

Quickie green juice (this time went a little "crazy" and mixed celery, lettuce heart and collards); and Beet, Carrot, Apple, Lemon, Ginger juice. Sorry it's not the most professional shot but I had to get to work.

My Juices for the work day

Beet Juice

Day Two

This morning I woke up and wanted to partake of my morning habit:  Mighty Leaf Vanilla Bean tea steeped in ginger root and stevia + (non-organic) Ghiradelli chocolate chips  (which is a big 'no no', I realize since chocolate is considered to have the most contaminants when it's non organic, let alone this lamentable ritual is not even a typical staple for those on a Standard American Diet!)  I won't lie and say I rationalized for a few moments that a few chocolate morsels might not hurt but then I vividly recalled my last failed attempt on a cleanse, whereby it all went down hill after just one 'harmless' allowance. Food was my gateway drug let's just say.  Anyhey, I knew then that I'd only be doing myself a disservice by indulging in this kind of decadence because then that craving and unfortunate habit would follow me for 8 more days and that would be torture. Also,  if I don't stand up for my health, who will?  if I didn't put my foot down this morning on it and say, "no way, margaret -yer not going to put up with this chocolate habit anymore, because you're just bastard chocolate.!" then I might have caved in again.  So I went upstairs back into my bad, sipped some tea and 'bit my pillow' a la Mr. Corky St. Clair from my favorite film ever, Waiting for Guffman.

If you're reading you've gotta see this. It's less than a minute.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=De6AkndwRpM

So back to my story. Even though I'm not 'supposed to drink caffeinated tea' I figured, like Erin with the Kombucha, it's best to pick the better of two evils on a  cleanse like this where I have to marathon it out for 10 days. Plus, who says Kombucha can't be imbibed on this 10 day cleanse--is it yeasted? So what did I do? Aside from making a truly harmless exception,  I watched mindless crap like 'the Hills' (I just love that sunshine and 20 something drama) that affectively managed my perpetual awareness that this was indeed only 'day 2',  the hardest day next to "day 1". So I hear.  When me and myself was finally confronted with my Breville Juicer, I decided that for the first time in 2 years, I am going to get ready (look out??!- branch out again and change the recipe for my morning green drink. I was so motivated by Natasha's videos in terms of thinking of this as something to play around and have fun with and boy did I! (nothing beats changing one's 2 year long stint with the exact same green drink like this..)

Where I happily disagree with Natasha St. Michael's video is her suggestion that if you don't like a certain fruit or vegetable, you likely won't like it's juice either. I think she's probably right on that most of the time but I was so happy to find that there are exceptions to that alleged juicing rule.  Case in point: I find baked or raw beets to rank deplorable as I would liver but in a juice? They are to DIE for. Same goes for celery. I do not "stalk" celery as a celery lover might, let's just put it that way, and that was a joke I stole from the juicefeasting guys I found only semi-funny but I have found raw foodists love their puns and jokes but again, I have succeeded again at wandering off. Back to this lengthy saga of 'day 2", it was SO delicious in my juice this morning and  the celery-I-don't-like-plain- used it as a base tasted like heaven. Last, I loathe parsley and even juices in the past that have had too much have made me make one of those mortified sour faces I'll try to capture soon on film (hint: it would involve inviting John to a seemingly innocuous taste of my 'divine' pineapple, mango and coconut juice only to find that 'surprise! I put about 5 inches of ginger in there! The face is priceless- I shall try to 'punk him' again soon. [To balance the score I make John a ton of fresh juices he wouldn't otherwise have so ...].

Here is the juice (that looks like all the other green juices I realize) next to the pineapple juice I had first:

And here are the recipes: The benefits of these beverages are listed in my mango juice blog (only there's no mango here, duh..) and the benefits of the spinach juice are mentioned in my "quickie green juice" recipe, so I should probably list the benefits. I was going to list them out but I need to get going, this is getting long and there are too many so here they are for now: http://www.naturally-healthy-eating.com/benefits-of-spinach.html


Pineapple 'Punch':
1 small pineapple
3 inches aloe
3 inches ginger root (the 'punch' part) haha get it?? do ya? huh? did yagetit?

Updated Version of Green Juice (this time instead of lettuce hearts forming the base, I used celery; and instead of collard greens, I used spinach)

Superbly Spinach 
3/4 lb of organic spinach
1 organic lemon
1/2 bag of organic celery (a great source of natural sodium)
3 inches ginger root
2 organic fuji apples
1 organic granny smith apple
3 leaves of parsley

To my utter amazement, this juice far trumped the 'green lemonade' juice I've been taking in daily for two years. So lesson learned: things I don't love by themselves can taste amazing when mixed with other ingredients in juice and that I need to try new juices.

BTW-I also chose to have my fruit juice first (before my alkaline rich green juice) for a variety of reasons. 1) When it comes to detoxing, you wanna leave your body with an alkaline ash, not a disease causing acidic one; 2) Fruit should be consumed isolated and alone on a totally empty stomach. The reason for this is that it takes about 2 hours to exit the body and mixing it with a vegetable juice (even though I added apples to it) would  more likely create a situation where the fruit sits a LOT longer and festers. I want to return to this part later because I think it deserves more time.

Ok so back to my day before I take off for my discipleship group, from 11-1pm I had no idea I was juice fasting, I mean "feasting" because I was at the lovely DMV. Nothing quite distracts like the DMV and I'll just leave it at that for now. Then I picked up 3 cases of Coconuts because I simply cannot live without them and drove back to work. I had started this blog this morning so since I'm at work I shall bid you adieu and return to this later on tonight. and Erin? if you're reading, I freaking love you!!!