the week that was

hello all. so, some of you know, cos we're twitter buddies, and some of you don't know... i broke my juicefeast last weekend.

i'd had enough. i tried to explain myself to YummyHubby and the thing that i kept coming back to was that 'my heart's not in it' then went to look at the feastbreaking protocol on juicefeasting.com and what was the first reason to quit on their list? your heart's not in it (and you know you're going to eat something) so i'm sure it was the right thing to do. so i kind of feel rubbish because i didn't stay the course, but you know what, i juiced for an amazing 65 days, and the last 15 days were really tough, so i say 'go me!'

i broke the feast with the prunes - which i didn't enjoy so much. the first 5 or 6 were fine but i struggled to eat the whole 8oz. YummyHubby helped out by picking at a few and i left three in the bowl.

on my first fruit day i had a charentais melon for breakfast, which was divine, and the second day i made papaya whip (i love this: blend coconut meat, papaya, mango and passionfruit. eat. worship at the altar of tropical fruit) which is soooo decadent for breakfast. i love that.

my first salad meal was a soft green lettuce with a few bits of tiny chopped up pepper, tomatoes, spring onion. my alfalfa sprouts are still sprouting. not ready yet. i added half an avocado, thinking i'd need the fat for my crinkly skin but i ended up picking it out and leaving it as i really didn't want avocado. i've been all over the place all week. one minute craving salty things then the next thing tastes too salty. wanting fat then feeling sick, because i don't want fat. hmmm. i'm a bit out of whack and need sorting out. 

it's kind of disappointing that i'm tempted by some cooked stuff, too. ben's comment on my previous post is inspiring and yet doesn't seem to be working 100% for me. no, i don't want beer or curry(!) but cheese and, bizarrely, chargrilled artichokes are still tempting. i could say that perhaps if i'd stuck it for the remaining 27 days i might have dealt with the rest of the cravings but i think that's unhelpful conjecture and i'll spin it around and say that i know i will still have stuff to work through and deal with during my raw life. hell, even uber-raw karen knowler continues to up the ante with her raw lifestyle at regular intervals, so why should get a different paradigm? it's a spiral. onwards and upwards. cyclical and metamorphic. it's a journey i'm looking forward to.

when i knew i was going to quit the juicefeast i saved some juice pulp and i made some flax crackers. i split the 'dough' into two batches and added piles of fresh herbs to one half and to the other i added curry spices (a generous present from a house guest - i have an awesome collection of yummy fresh herb and spice blends.) i made the herb ones into thick rounds for pizza bases and the spicy ones for crackers. then i took a couple of crackers and some hummus to work for elevenses, which worked really well. i made a bruschetta topping for the pizzas and had them for dinner. yesterday i added a pile of rocket on top and then tonight i had a big green salad separately. it was tasty both times :)

i've got a few plans for food and i'm looking forward to making stuff. the optimism is there, which helps. i don't feel defeated at the thought of organisation and preparation. after a juicefeast, this is just a walk in the park.

i've been happy about not having to spend so long in the kitchen each morning. i've had a couple of lie-ins compared to the ridiculously early hour i got up at during the juicefeast. i've taken shopping bags to work and prepped a big lunch salad there, which only takes a few minutes, not like prepping and cleaning up after juice. this is all good :)

i'm trying to be more aware of the food as it goes into my mouth. the temptation to shove it down quickly is still there, so i need to get a handle on that. don't think i'll go quite as far as fletcherism, but i do need to concentrate, taste everything, and chew thoroughly before i swallow. i'm still learning.

oh, right, before i forget. those vital statistics. i wrote down my various measurements at the start but haven't measured myself since, so i'll do that tomorrow and let you all have the final weight loss and size loss figures. in non-specific terms we're talking substantial :)

top photo: pizza bases about to go in the dehyradator. they're slightly pink from beetroot. YummyHubby thought they looked like meat patties. gross. bottom photo: tonight's pizza. both taken by YummyHubby.