Day 30

Day 30, my Bday AND fighting off a bloody cold. I was feeling so fantastic then it hit - the chest tickle, the cough and head congestion. I've been battling it with eldeberry and lots of lemon juice, agave, cayanne drinks. Sigh this too shall pass. I've taken 2 days off from work - lots of loafing. Not looking forward to going back tomorrow. Feeling more and more like I may need to make a change...

Day 27

I woke up this morning feeling really good. My mood seems to have shifted into positive. Could this be because I finally found those elusive pink grapefruits last night ? Oh happy day! I bought 2 bags and am already through one of them. I love (captial L) pink grapefruit juice and seemingly can not get enough of it.

I "came out" to a few more friends about my Juice Feast this week. My birthday is fast approaching and I've had to explain why I do not want to go out for dinners and or drinks this year. I'm feeling strong enough in my conviction now that I'm not easily swayed by a lack of understanding or negativity. I realize I don't need to justify what I'm doing to anyone and if they don't want to be supportive so be it. On the other hand I've had some incredible support from both my parents who phone long distance and ask daily how things are going :) from some dear close friends and people on the juice feasting site - total strangers who take the time to offer support and encouragement through posts and emails (so valuable to someone like me who is doing this solo in a smaller community with little local support).

So far...
I've released 10lbs - (woohoo - not why I'm doing this but wow how great)
My sinuses are clear both sides (amazing)
My skin is soft and clear
I'm sleeping much more deeply
My creative fire is coming back (what do I mean? - I'm fascinated by colours and shapes, I feel awake and am noticing the beauty in my surroundings)
I feel grateful (not sure how to explain this exactly but, I find I'm saying thank you a lot more and really listening to the messages/insights that are being given to me)
I'm addicted to reading raw food cookbooks/blogs
I've developed super senses (don't laugh it's true!) - smell and hearing
A lot of emotional detox going on but, I think I'm dealing with it well

Grapefruit Super Juice!
4 Pink Grapefruits
2 Cloves Garlic
1tbls of Spirulina

Something that makes me go hmmm

Day 25

Feeling a bit better today - at work and wanting my icepack. I went looking for pink grapefruit last night - I was CRAVING pink grapefruit juice with garlic... 3 stores no grapefruit - almost in tears I went home and thought "why, why, why do I live in this remote place where I can't even find grapefruit when I need it?" then I thought wait a minute "need it? Stop clinging - don't be attached" and I started laughing at myself - how ridiculous to get in such a twist over grapefruit. Sooo Trying to smile at the difficulties that are coming up and realize all the physical and emotional stuff is okay - just observe it for what it is and let it go without analyzing too much.

Things I've noticed...

I'm really sensitive to noise and am craving silence and solitude.

The greens are difficult to get down - wanting sweet more but, noticing after I drink green juice my body feels better than with the fruit juice.

Posting this because it makes me laugh...

Day 24

No yoga for me tonight. :( And no show at the Arts Centre after - poor me. I'm going to be home with an icepack and my grapefruit juice feeling sorry for myself tonight...

Day 23

My stupid, shoulder and back. I barely made it though yoga tonight. Feeling like my body is really letting me down. I am exhausted because I have to lie flat on my back to sleep and work isn't going well :( I've been having strange cooked food cravings - my father told me that the hardest time when he quit smoking was the third week so I'm hoping the food thing is something like that. Hoping the rest of the week goes better.

Todays Juices :
Morning Lemon/msn in quart of warm water
Juice - 3 apples 1tablespoon of Earth Rise Greens blend (1 pint mason jar)
Lunch - salad blend 4 cups salad greens blended with 1/4 cup water strained, 1 handful carrots, 2 cloves garlic, 3 tomatoes, 5 celery spears, 9 radish all juiced and restrained ( 1pint)
Snack - more salad blend but with 3 more apples and 2 handfuls of carrot, 1 inch ginger knuckle
Dinner - 3 grapefruit, 2 oranges, 6 spears of celery 2 tablespoons of Earth Rise Green Blend (1 pint)
Snack Cup of herbal tea 1 tsp of coconut oil

Day 22

Back to work. Mousing with my opposite hand - my neck/shoulder are still aching but it is tolerable. Hoping I'll feel up to doing the wheel at yoga tonight.

I'm back into detox mode. I woke up this am with jungle mouth and had a queezy stomach. I can tell I'm detoxing again/still because I've puffed up a bit and my skin has gone back to splotchy. I keep thinking of what Angela Stokes had to say about feeling like a dirty sponge that is being wrung out filled with water and wrung out again - that is exactly how I'm feeling.

Inspiration...

More inspiration/information from Philip McCluskey who I mentioned in an earlier post. His website is www.lovingraw.com

Day 20 - the winds are changing and I'm adjusting my sails...

A rough day yesterday. I went to the chiropractor because my neck/shoulder have been bothering me for the past 3 days. It turned out the bones at the base of my neck were way out of wack. I talked about it with my chiropractor and she told me this may have been causing the swelling in my neck that I thought was a thyroid problem a few days ago. She suggested I go back to work - tell them I was going home and skip yoga so I could put ice on it and give my body a chance to rest -nooooo! Ordinarily I would have ignored her advice and thought to myself "Suck it up - it's Friday. Just one more day to get through" BUT... something is happening, a shift is taking place mentally as well as physically - I'm changing. I was feeling let down by my body then I realized it was time to adjust my expectations - so I WENT HOME (this is huge for me). I stopped feeling guilty about letting myself or anyone else down and just went with it. I sat on my couch, watched movies and iced my neck. It felt so good just to let myself off the hook.

So day 20 and I'm feeling a little awe stuck at all the subtle changes taking place.



(so strange I just noticed this video is posted on day 24 of the Juice Feast site. I must be in sync - I posted this Saturday...)

The Story Of Stuff

"From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever."

The Story of Stuff

Ahhh

My all time favourite song. I love this remake by Colin James. I went to see him a few months ago - an amazing live show.

Day 17

Day 17 and I'm back to normal. Still not sure what I did to set things off. I'm feeling fairly grounded and starting to notice some physical changes. I've dropped a little weight - I think around 5-7lbs. I seem to be retaining much less water than usual and I'm able to sleep again yay! My skin is still pretty blotchy and dry so I'm taking that as a good sign that I'm still detoxing. I'm starting not to crave fruit juice quite so much and am upping my dark greens daily.

All Praise the Tomatillo!

One of my favourite juice recipes includes tomatilloes (mexican tomatoes).

Liquid Salsa
1 Tomatillo
3 Red Tomatoes
3 Stalks of Celery
2 Cloves of Garlic
Pinch of cayenne
.5 Lime

Day 15

I am worried that my thyroid gland is swollen. I'm trying to track down what I may have done to bring it on - it started Sunday afternoon. I guess it is time for another trip to my doctor to have my levels checked and make sure everything is still in balance.
Juicing is still going well. I picked up some mexican tomatoes and limes yesterday (fantastic) - they give my green juices that little zip I've been looking for.

Goitrogens

There is a class of vegetables that if eaten raw in large quantities (cooking kills the harmful substance) can inhibit thyroid gland functions. A Goitrogen is a substance that prevents the thyroid gland from working correctly by blocking the uptake of idodine. What is a lot? More than 4 cups a week of the following foods in RAW form will interfere with thyroid function. (for juicers that isn't hard to do).

• Brussel Sprouts
• Cabbage (all kinds)
• Cauliflower
• Kale
• Kohlrabi
• Peaches
• Pears
• Rapnini
• Spinach
• Strawberries
• Radishes (I'm going to read up on this more because I've found several sources that say these are good for regulating the thyroid - and they don't seem to be bothering me)
• Rutabegas
• Turnips

Other foods that can interfere with thyroid function are soybeans, pine nuts, peanuts, millet, rapeseed, and canola oil.

Source:

Natural Health Techniques

Old Wives Home Test to see if you are Iodine Deficient

There is a test you can do at home to see if you are iodine-deficient: Paint a small circle of iodine solution the kind you can get at the drugstore on your skin... inner upper arm, the inside of the elbow, the inner thigh, or the lateral abdomen between the lowest rib and the top of the hip. If you are getting enough iodine, the red mark will stay longer sometimes all day. If it disappears quickly (less than 2-4 hours), your body may be deficient and is absorbing the iodine. The more deficient you are, the more quickly it will disappear.

"Iodized salt hasn't eliminated iodine deficiency disorders in the U.S. Recent studies by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey indicate low levels in more than 50% of the population (accounting for all demographic categories including ethnicity, region, economic status, race, and population density)."
Source: http://www.naturalnews.com/023107.html

Day 13

Day 13 and I'm so grateful for the support of others. Yesterday a fellow feaster suggested that I check out the videos on the juice feasting pay site. I spent a few hours going through day 14 to 16 and was re-inspired. I found the video interview with David Rain and Philip from Lovingraw.com so helpful (day 14 page I think). It turns out the emotions, the insomnia et all are part of the process at this point. As long as I know the emotional rollercoaster & insomnia will pass I can ride it out.

Positive stuff...

• The lightheaded feeling has passed.
• I'm retaining less water

Song today: Many Rivers To Cross Jimmy Cliff

Coconut Oil & Young Coconut Water

There is a buzz on the net about taking coconut oil to cure hypothyroidism. People say that 3 tablespoons a day will alleviate symptoms in as little as 2 to 3 months.

Coconut oil is a saturated fat made up of medium chain fatty acids. Medium chain fatty acids are proven to increase metabolism. Coconut oil can also raise basal body temperatures while increasing metabolism.

BTW I've been drinking young coconut water during my juice feast (delicious!). Rich in Potassium and Electrolytes

Orange Pina Colada (one of my favourite treats)

• 3 large oranges
• Coconut water from one young coconut shaken and poured over ice

But how do you get those suckers open?
I found some great videos on YouTube - I always thought it was a hard thing to do - not so!

Day 12

Day 12 and I'm trying to get past a lot of negative feelings. I've not been sleeping well (I mentioned this already didn't I?) which is leaving me pretty grumpy in the a.m. and so tired by 7:30 p.m. that I'm just going straight to bed after yoga exhausted - which always scares me that I'm having a Hash attack - I know I'm not but, being tired like this always sets off warning bells. My skin is pretty rashy/dry so I'm going to try putting more flax oil into my daily diet and looking for coconut oil so I can alternate between the two. And take some vitamin D drops - must snap out of this funk!

Plow Position - Thyroid Stimulator

My yoga instructor told us the other day that the plow position is one of the best yoga moves a woman can do. It massages the thyroid gland which is situated in the lower part of the neck. This move also alleviates backaches, stress, sinus pain, and headaches

Day 10

I've been feeling a little down/negative the past 2 days despite the fact that some good things have been happening (ie I finally was able to pop up into Wheel last night at yoga!). In addition I've not been sleeping well - I find I keep waking up during the night and am feeling 6:00 a.m. is too early to get out of bed after a restless night.

On the positive side I'm glad I'm into double digits with my feast and feeling much better this afternoon. I went for a colonic today and whew what a HUGE difference it made to my mental state. I walked out of there feeling lighter and more clear headed.

It was suggested to me today that maybe part of my strange state is that it is a full moon today? hmmm...
Wondering how many people will be off balance at yoga tonight?

Radish for Thyroid Regulation

Did you know that Radish are said to be one of the most beneficial vegetables for regulation of the thyroid? Radish contain "Raphanin" (a sulfur) which is responsible for balancing the body's production of thyroxine and calcitonin. With enough radish juice the thyroid won't under or over produce these hormones (good news for people with Hashimotos.)

I'm on day 9 of my juice feast and have been juicing a good number of radish daily. I'm not sure if it is the radish juice or just the fact that I'm giving my body a rest but, I'm feeling pretty stable energy wise.

Global Juice Feast 2009

So I've been on a Juice Feast for 8 days today. Yay me. Many other people around the world are doing this as well and planning to go for 92 days as part of David Rainoshek's "92 Day Global Juice Feast" . The Rainosheks have 2 websites that offer support during this extended feast - one is free and has a large community of members who offer support to one another through advice and shared experiences. The other site is a pay site (a little over $30 a month $36 for us Canadians) and is well worth the money for the wealth of information provided. The pay site gives guidelines, day by day support and inspiration as you go along. I'm finding this to be an invaluable tool in my quest to feast long term.
I'd like to document my progress as I go along so to this end I've resurrected my old neglected blog.

So what happened with the Hash?
The herbs and my enzymes along with a restricted diet (I had allergy testing done and cut out all dairy and wheat) worked. My Western Doctor, Chinese doctor & allergy specialist were amazed at the speed that I went into remission. They all asked me a lot of questions about what I did. Basically in addition to the things listed above I discovered RAW FOOD and juicing. I'm so grateful I met the right people on my path and started asking the right questions. One thing I've discovered through all of this is that you have to take responsibility for your own health. Ask questions, lots of questions and if something doesn't feel right for you keep asking and researching. Demand when you have to and be an annoying pest if no one is taking you seriously.