spring clean: day 2 & 3

headaches
Had a truly evil headache for two full days. Have taken lots of very strong painkillers as well as using lavender oil and trying to get plenty of rest.

I think this is a combination of stress and a touch of the bug that's going round, but just in case it's severe detox, I've swapped my dinner juice for a salad, to slow down detox.

the bearable lightness of being
I'd forgotten how much I like that empty stomach feeling. Is that odd? After months of overeating and comfort eating I've slipped so quickly into loving that delightfully light feeling of fully processed stomach contents!

consumption
Monday and Tuesday were almost identical:
water and herbal tea at regular intervals
1.5 pints carrot orange apple ginger juice
1 pint spinach banana mango pear smoothie
salad with lettuce, spring onions, olives, avocado, grated carrot, apple, tomatoes

I'm looking forward to getting through these first few tough days and getting into the swing of juicing. We had a massive fruit and veg delivery today and I'm so  looking forward to pineapple juice for breakfast, and a big green juice - I'm even ready to get face to face with my dreaded celery.

Keeping it juicy!

spring clean: day 1

daily consumption

green tea with jasmine

1 pint carrot orange apple peach ginger juice

1.5 pint pineapple strawberry mango passion fruit juice

1 pint spinach banana nectarine smoothie

ugli fruit (wow is that just gorgeous! so juicy!)

skipped dinner juice

YummyHubby wasn't well today so I played Florence Nightingale and went to bed early to keep him company. I did abandon him briefly to go to the supermarket and stock up for the next couple of days before we can get a grocery delivery.

Nothing else to share as yet.

spring clean

It's funny how things come together.

I've felt pulled towards lightening up my diet, getting some juices in, generally feeling like it's time to shake off the winter stodge.  I am pulled towards heavier foods and eat lots of hot food in winter.  As winter progresses I seem to erode all my good intentions and end up eating 100% cooked food. Of late I've turned to coffee to keep me awake and when that turned into a daily habit, accompanied more often than not by a slice of cake, that's when I knew it was time to slam the brakes on!

It seems that the rest of the raw world is feeling the same way. I do think it's a Spring thing. Over winter you store fat to keep you alive through times of scarcity. Come Spring it's extra, weighing you down, slowing you down, and you need rid of it. So around the globe people are cleansing through juices, smoothies, whatever feels right for where they are on their journey and what their body needs right now.

I've decided on a week of green smoothies and juices followed by just juice for the rest of the month of March. I'm open to continuing the juicefeast after that, but I'll play it by ear.

YummyHubby is joining in at least some. He may still have solids for lunch, but will have juices and smoothies with me at home.

We're about to move house, so being able to pack up the kitchen already, bar the juicing and smoothie-making equipment, will definitely make things easier! Our usual glass of wine to "christen" a new home that we move to will be replaced by a tall glass of OJ :)

goals, facts and figures:

I got on the scales this morning for the first time in months and was horrified to see that I've gained 20 pounds since last summer. The way my clothes fit backs this up, though. Everything's feeling a little snug. The smaller size I'd moved into last year has been relegated and the year before's jeans are back at the front of the wardrobe. Damn shame.

I've had some kind of eczema on my hand for a few weeks. It got very sore a while back starting to crack and bleed It's the worst I've ever had it. The natural remedies I tried didn't work, and the prescription cream I got hasn't fixed it either, so I'm hoping this juicefeast will work.

I stopped taking my twice-daily asthma medication Autumn last year, and now I carry, but don't need to use, a reliever. Of late I've felt I might need to start using it from time to time, so there's another reason to heal myself.

And last but not least I've had a lot of phlegm and mucous build up over winter. I cough a lot and have blocked sinuses. I want to clear of that out.

So that's where I'm starting from. Four specific things to tackle and an overall goal of feeling better, having mental clarity, physical energy, clearer skin. Man I love the results of juicefeasting. It's tough. Anyone who's tried it knows that. But the benefits are glorious.

BRING IT ON!

autumn juicefeast - days 17 to 23

Sorry, about this. Messing up the usual every-other-day posts.

This week has been slightly unusual in a number of ways and almost every day I've been busy from the moment I got up right up till past a reasonable bedtime. I had some tough emotional stuff to deal with at the start of the week, and it threw me off kilter. So, in summary, I've continued to have, usually, 4 pints of juice a day plus a ton of herbal teas, but I acknowledge that I'm really not getting enough juice. The days I managed to write something are below.

day 19

starvation diet

One day I'm not hungry, not interested in juicing or drinking, and the next day I'm ravenous. Perhaps it takes a while for my body to recognise the hunger for what it is. Hmmm.

I had a big meeting today, followed by the busiest afternoon ever. There's a project with a wildly unrealistic deadline and we're all frantically trying to pull it all together so as not to disappoint those who pushed for the idealistic launch date. Anyway, it meant I didn't have time to make lunch juice despite being hungry and wanting more juice. 

You know, this has been a busy week so far, with lots to do, including appointments after work and I really am starting to feel the strain. I need a long, hot bath and a day of downtime. It's also messing up my ability to tell how well I'm feeling on the juice. Ho hum.

today I had:

carrot-apple-orange-strawberry juice x2

tomato-celery-pepper-basil-coriander-garlic juice with flax oil, salt and fresh ground pepper (tasty!)

day 23

the tipping point

melon juice (I love that frothy, creaminess...)

carrot-celery-romaine-parsley-apple-orange

white miso soup

Got home very tired from a physically and emotionally draining week. We relented and had a cup of miso for dinner. We talked a little about plans for transitioning. YummyHubby is having a 'double smoothie' (one litre of green smoothie which he takes to work) every day, so he's a few days ahead of me. I'll add in one smoothie a day for a couple of days, then move from that onto one smoothie, one juice, one raw meal. I'd like to think I could stick to that as 'the way I eat' - at least if I could do that for a month it would help with a) weight loss and b) to keep me raw when I return to solids. It's time to hatch a plan for post-transition.

autumn juicefeast - days 15 & 16

Hurray for us! We're half way through. It's really been easy so far. I wonder if it's a case of being an old hand, or it's just the right time to do this, or, well, no idea. YummyHubby isn't doing bad either, with barely any detox symptoms, so it feels very comfortable.

day 15

We went for a colonic today. YummyHubby's first time, and we were both a bit anxious, but it was fine. The lovely bottom lady recommended he take probiotics for a while - same happened to me first time. But otherwise he got a good report card. She was very impressed that I seemed to be detoxing a lot. There was a shock in there, too, though: I passed what looked like a parasitic worm. Ewwww!!!! How did that happen? I've been vegetarian for 25 years! The bottom lady said it was dead, probably been stuck in my colon or small intestine for a while but the detox had shifted it. So that bit's good. Better out than in. She also said I could have ingested it via veggie food from somewhere with poor hygiene standards. It's unlikely it's been there since the last time I ate meat. I'm still reeling from the shock!

Today I had:

orange-carrot-apple-ginger juice (soooo good!)

savoury broth

savoy cabbage-carrots-apple-celery

I made the savoury broth by adding chopped ginger, chilli pepper, garlic, onion to hot water on the stove and kept it warm while I added a bay leaf, cinnamon, cumin, turmeric, nutmeg and a splash of tamari. I let it sit for 15 minutes or so and added a spoonful of coconut oil at the end. It was quite tasty and satisfied my savoury cravings. I think it might be salt I'm missing, so I'll remember to put a tiny bit in my savoury juices from time to time.

I also did a weigh-in today. I've lost another 4 pounds, so that's a total of nine so far. Hurray!

day 16

So I might have spoken too soon about dry skin and not much detox... my face is feeling a little taught, so I've bought a richer face cream and will try to up my oils intake. I also spent most of the afternoon-evening with a headache, which felt like a detox headache. Bleh.

We went shopping for a few bits and pieces today then were going to spend the afternoon on the allotment, weeding and planting the spring bulbs. Didn't happen. YummyHubby went up and harvested a mammoth marrow for a colleague and that's about it. I've done a few chores between lying on the sofa not doing much. I entertained myself by watching a video of David Wolfe being crazy and inspirational, and read a few blogs here and there. 

Today I had:

"Pre-Christmas Spirit" juice: orange-apple-lemon-lime-pear juice with nutmeg and cinnamon

coriander-carrots-celery-pepper-ginger with cardamom (another failed experiment!)

mango-pineapple-golden kiwi-passion fruit

We bought a litre size Sigg bottle for YummyHubby today so we can both take smoothies/juice with me. We also had a chat about how he's going to approach his diet post-juicefeast. Avoiding dairy and gluten in general in order to have the good stuff now and again - so no cheese sandwiches for lunch, but perhaps some extra-special cheese at home with great crackers and homemade chutney. So it's a 'treat' rather than the norm. He's going ethical vegetarian, with a handful of 'get out of jail free' cards for special occasions. We talked about choosing the best option when the range is limited. Despite him working in one of the most affluent areas of London the range is not fabulous when it comes to veggie food. In fact, it's extremely limited; so he needs a bit of leeway there. But it's positive stuff. I'm looking forward to seeing how we both step up the healthy eating habits post juicefeast.

autumn juicefeast - days 13 & 14

day 13

Had a bit of a day and didn't manage lunchtime juice. I'm not hungry any more. I mostly want hot tea, and I do get the urge to have savoury broth type teas. I'm avoiding miso as YummyHubby reckons that's what was giving him hunger pangs. 

Today I had:

pineapple, mango, papaya, passion fruit (new soft fruit peeler worked a treat!)

outrageous juice, courtesy of YummyHubby: savoy cabbage-carrot-chili-basil-beetroot-leek-pepper

This needs some explaining. YummyHubby generally takes my lead in the kitchen and asks me what to put in the juice, but this time he was feeling adventurous and decided he would make something up. The result was dinner, and it deserved its "outrageous" name. Oh boy. Super spicy and strong flavoured. We had to sip it, it took forever to drink because of the taste explosion in our mouths. I don't think we'll be making it again!

day 14

melon juice

beet-romaine-cucumber-parsley-apple-pear

pineapple 

We were tired this evening and just couldn't get green juice sorted out, but my 'blood' at lunchtime was substantial and packed with parsley so I figured it would be ok. Last time I juicefeasted I got a bit of candida, so I am aware that I need to keep my greens up and my fruits down.

Wow, and also, we're half way tomorrow. Yeehaa!

autumn juicefeast - days 11 &12

It's going well. We're only getting light detox symptoms - which concerns me, to an extent, as we should surely be getting rid of junk at this stage. YummyHubby has decided to have a green smoothie for breakfast as he's getting too hungry. He had a moment of wavering, wondering if he really was going to last much longer. He's set a target of next weekend and then he'll have another think - whilst also believing that if he makes it half way then he'll want to keep going. So that's positive.

We're still adding crystal manna and flax oil to our savoury dinner juice and having our honey-filled coconut hearts to keep the oil coming in. It seems to be working. My skin is fine - it hasn't started to dry out, though it did threaten to briefly.

day 11

We're both aware that we need to drink more juice in general, and more greens too. It's really quite a challenge some days, but today I think we did quite well, whilst also having yummy treat juice. I had a green smoothie today for breakfast but it was too heavy. It kept me going until dinner time and even then if the juices hadn't been so darn' tasty I might have had to force them down.

green smoothie (banana, peach, spinach with maca and coconut butter)

greens-celery-cucumber-mint

strawberry-mango-orange (gorgeous)

day 12 

I made lots of juice in the morning and packed us off with Siggs and bottles. Then I made more at work with the leftover produce from Monday - only to realise that I'd be having pretty much the same juice all day long. Doh!

carrot-apple-spinach-ginger-celery (x2)

melon juice straight up

Feeling good...