Day 8&9

I did it. I broke my fast successfully with watermelon and later some soaked prunes. In the past I would start out slowly and build up my foods over a course of days. This time I have a different plan. A modified juice feast. I am not ready to give up the juice feast just yet. Even though my weight is 126lbs, I am not so low that I can't continue a bit longer. What I will be doing is eating the foods I would normally juice. I will be consuming lots of green leafy vegetables and some fruit. I will not be eating nuts, seeds, and dried fruit. I will allow soaked prunes only, avocado, or a banana. My whole idea is to continue the cleansing process without releasing to much weight. Juicing is still going to be primary. I found a great Asian Market where I live and I'm excited to try some new fruit and veggies.

Day 7

Day 7. I'm aware that I am getting quite skinny so I have decided to end my juice fast/feast. Tomorrow I will be breaking my fast with watermelon and then later moving on to soaked prunes. I would have loved to go much longer, however I don't have enough body fat to continue. I never thought in my wildest dreams that I would be making such a statement. Four years ago I started the raw food lifestyle and at that time I weighed 175lbs. It is four years later an I am totally committed to being a raw vegan. Sure, it can be tough sometimes and you may fall off the raw food wagon from time to time. The good thing is you can start fresh each day. Once again I received great benefits from fasting and juice feasting. Thank you for following my blog. Until next time...

Day 6

It's Day 6 and up until now my detox symptoms have been pretty mild. I do suffer from a coated tongue and a yucky taste in my mouth, however, I started developing a rash on my tummy around my navel...Interesting. I have had a few little skin eruption in interesting places. The last one was right on my root chakra the #1. What can I say. It was the most appropriate visual I could come up with without being too graphic. Now I have moved up to the solar plexus, The 3rd chakra. How powerful!
I noticed today that my green juice as taken on a chocolate milk taste...also interesting.

The journey continues...

Day 5

It's Day 5 and there is not much to tell today. I am drinking more green juice and and loving it. I am taking care to drink my juice as a meal rather than sipping it continually all day. I am also learning to recognize my real hunger. Tomorrow I will be introducing some fruit juice and B12. I have been vegan for a long time and my levels are low. Well that's it for Day 5.

The journey continues...

Juice Feast or Juice Fast Day 4

Today is Day 4 of my juice feast or should I say juice fast. The reason being, I am not yet drinking the required amount of juice to be considered juice feasting. I did, however, add more green juice today as I re-feed myself after water fasting. I can not say for sure how long I will be Juice Fasting/Feasting. It will be determined according to my weight. From the start of my water fast until now, I have released a total of 13 pounds. For those of you who have read my posts from my first juice feast in 2008 you will see I released 49 pounds. This time weight release is not an issue. My main focus was improving my digestion and detoxifying. I think I will take it day by day.

The journey continues...

Day 2 & 3

Day 2 went very well. As I further awakened my digestive system, I notice that the energy I felt before breaking my water fast is fading a little. Digestion does make you lethargic and I am noticing it more. All I have had was diluted coconut water and water throughout the day.

Day 3
This morning I added green juice to my diluted coconut water. It was awesome, however, I needed to still take it slow. In the afternoon, water. My evening meal was undiluted coconut water. once again I felt as if I drank alcohol. The reat of the evening was just pure water. Tomorrow I will be able to have Green juice twice a day and I won't need to dilute my coconut water.

And the journey continues...

Juice Feasting 2010, Day 1

Yesterday I broke my water fast so that I can transition into the juice feast. While other juice feasters are drinking nutrient dense green juice and fruit juice, I am starting out with young coconut water. I diluted the coconut water with an equal part of water. My first sips were tiny an reserved. The taste of the water was so sweet and lovely. As I continued to slowly drink, I thought to myself, I am nurturing my mind, body and soul as if I were a new born baby. In thought, I asked myself is this what mother's milk is like? It was truly amazing. The after effects, after I completed the coconut mixture was pure bliss. I was feeling as if I had been drinking alcohol. I had to laugh at myself because I had to go to bed at 9:00pm on a Saturday night.

There are amazing benefits to coconut water. If you are not aware of the wonderful benefits, take a look at this link. Coconut water benefits.

The journey continues...

Day 6 Of My Water Fast

Today is DAY 6 of my water fast and I am definitely detoxing. I have an unsightly pimple on my face, just below the left of my nose. Lovely. My mouth still has that terrible taste along with a coated tongue. Water fasting has been quite an interesting experience. My hunger pangs are now gone and I lost a quite a few pounds in the process. I now plan to extend my cleansing long term. I decided to Juice Feast again. The Global Juice Feast starts tomorrow. I'm not sure how long I will be juicing so I'm going to play it by ear. Gradually and easily juicing is a perfect way for me to break my water fast. I can only take small sips of juice at a time in the beginning. Slowly I will build up to the quantity Juice feasting requires(3 quarts of green juice and 1 quart of fruit juice a day).



How you break a fast is very important. You can't just decide "I'm going to eat now". When you fast, your digestive system goes to sleep. Feeding a sleeping digestive system can cause serious illness and damage. You first introduce small sips of diluted juice while continuing with the water fast. Each day you add a little more juice to your water until you can drink your juice 100%. After I complete juice feasting, I will break it with smoothies, following the same pattern until I transition gradually to solid raw vegan food.

Awakening the sleeping giant(my digestive system) is a little challenging for me. I don't wish to unleash "demon hunger" along with it. Mentally preparing myself is the key.

Now my journey begins...

Water Fasting

I decided to do a water fast and I have been fast for the past four days. Today marks the beginning of day 5. If you have read my last post, you know that I have been struggling with a relapse of a few cooked foods. Once again I am rebooting my system. This has been my experience thus far.

Day 1
This was by far the hardest. All I could think about was food, however, I was determined to cleanse and my hunger pangs did not get the best of me.

Day 2
It was much like Day 1 but to a lesser degree. I still would go through waves of hunger, however, I stayed focused.

Day 3
Detox symptoms became apparent. My skin started to breakout a little and I felt a little nausea. I never got a headache, thank God. I did get a terrible taste in my mouth along with a coated tongue.

Day 4
Very Emotional. Everything effected me. I found myself feeling very depressed. I ended up going to bed early. It was good for to rest more as my body was detoxing emotionally as well as physically.

Day 5(Today)
I woke up this morning feeling very well. I feel a sense of new found energy. Some of the uneasy detox symptoms have pasted. One of the things that I have been doing everyday, is testing my urine for ketones. Ketones appear in the bloodstream and is past through the urine when the body stops using glycogen and begin to use fat stores for fuel. In the last 5 days I have released 9 pounds. Some of which is water in the first few days.

I have fasted before, so water fasting is not a major challenge for me. I is not a quick fix to water fast. It takes some reading and mental preparation to do so. I don't recommend it unless you have experience and proper knowledge. There are contraindications for water fasting. People with Diabetes or Serious, life threatening health issues should not water fast. So please do not do this unless you are under supervised care of a physician.
I will be updating daily with my progress.
Until next time,
Namaste

My Mistake

A couple of months ago, I made a mistake that I am paying the price for. I had some friends over and I wanted to make sure I had a variety of food to serve. I had a healthy assortment of organic fruit and vegetables along with raw nuts and seeds. Some of my friends were very open to my raw food lifestyle while others require cheese, bread, and deli meats. being a good host, I made sure I had something for everyone to enjoy. The party was a success and I was happy that all were satisfied. The next night I was invited to a party. My friends know my lifestyle so I assumed there would be some fruit and veggies I could munch on. To my surprise, there was nothing and I hadn't had my usual cooler bag of raw foods for "just in case" situations. I was hungry and my first decision was to eat nothing. After a while, I became uncomfortable watching everyone eat while I just sat there. I then proceeded to the table to see if there was anything that I could possibly eat. I decided to eat some crackers. Now a few crackers may not seem harmful to a "normal person" , however, I am not a "normal person". Food and I have a dysfunctional past. For me, eating was like being addicted to drugs or alcohol. I am a food addict. Those few crackers at a party turned into a nightmare of which I regret. I started craving crackers and found myself buying them and eating some everyday. I justified them by buying organic, whole grain from the health food store. The next thing I know, I have graduated to bread. The result of my straying has now become a habit and is now a major problem. I have been 100% raw for four and a half years and I have been proud of my success. Now my train has derailed, I'm ashamed of myself, I have gained twelve pounds and my digestion is suffering. I'm not blaming my friend's party for my relapse. I made the decision to not take care of myself and now I need to make the decision to correct my mistake. Today is the day I turn it all back around. I am a 100% raw vegan and I am sticking to it.

Tuliza's Daily Raw

To have a successful raw food lifestyle, I had to rid my kitchen of all SAD(Standard American Diet) food. It was hard at first because I started craving all the foods I didn't have around the house. It did get easier over time. I just learned to focus on MIND, BODY and SPIRIT and welcomed the GOOD, the BAD and the UGLY.


MIND: I learned that most food craving was all in my mind. I was told this and I have read this, however, I could not seem to get it in my head. Because I am an emotional overeater, I never learned how to identify when I am actually hungry. This is still a challenge after being 4 years raw.

BODY: The body does not need large amounts of food to be nourished. When I feed myself raw food, I am satisfying my body on a cellular level. I don't need to have the sensation of a full stomach to know I have been fed. By putting healthy nutrients in my body, I now know that my organs, muscles and cells are using this vibrant food and not storing it away to turn into unwanted fat. I lost 49 pounds eating raw when nothing else worked for me. I have maintained 125lbs for the 4 years. This is what I fed my body today.

When I awakened: 32 oz of Water

Followed by 16 oz Green Smoothie w/Kale, Swiss Chard, Spinach, Celery, Lemon, Avocado and a pinch of Himalayan pink salt.

Later snacked on some zucchini slices

Lunch was a 16 oz Green Smoothie w/ Kale, Swiss Chard, Spinach, Celery, Lemon, Avocado, a pinch of Himalayan pink salt w/Raw Sunflower Bread.

Dinner I had Raw Mac & Cheeze

Last I had Raw Cheezecake topped with strawberries.



I will provide the recipes in my next blog. They are so yummy.


SPIRIT: Being creative really helps me stay motivated and inspired. I enjoy playing with flavors and creating raw alternatives for the foods I sometimes crave from my SAD.

GOOD: Following the blogs, journals, and videos of the raw food community. You learn so much. Start a collection of the many raw food books that are out there. You will never get board with the many available recipies.

BAD: Eating Sad Food because I didn't properly prepare or ran out. This has happened to me in the past and I ended up eating the very food I eliminated from my diet. If this happens, don't beat yourself up. Each day is a new chance to improve yourself. Always keep something raw on hand like fresh cut vegetables and fresh fruit. I like to also have some nuts and seeds to munch on too (not too many). I always bring raw food with me wherever I go because I don't want to be forced to eat cooked, packaged, artificially flavored, lifeless food if you don't have to.

UGLY: The poisonous toxic waste that is eliminated from your body when you detox can sometimes look ugly and make you not feel well. This is a good thing and It's temporary. I actually welcome it.

Loose Stools
Coated Tongue
Bad Breath
Skin Breakouts
Fatigue
Mood Swings
Chills
Food Cravings

It may seem overwhelming at first, however, I now think of my body as my baby. I ask myself daily, What shall I feed my baby? The answer is so simple.

Blessings,
Tuliza

Update

Once again I have let some time roll by and did not update my blog. I apologize for that. I left my last post on Day 3 and 4 of "The Master Cleanse", however, I successfully completed 15 days. My body has been reset and I feel fantastic. It's like being reborn. I do have to admit when you resume eating, there are some real challenges. Craving is a big one, as well as overeating. I try to keep it as simple as possible. I am 100% raw and I have been a raw vegan for about four years now. On an occasion I have been 98%. I have, a time or two, given in and allowed myself to a Standard American Diet (SAD) cookie, or a piece of toast, or some "Natural Chips" thinking I am treating myself for being such a excellent raw foodist. I would sometimes find myself somewhere that did not have fresh fruit or veggies, then I would have this crazy dialog with myself convincing myself it was okay, just this one time. I have also been in situations where loved ones who means well say's "you need to eat"or "this little bit of food won't hurt you, you are way too thin". "Just one time" for me was like telling someone with a alcohol or drug addiction that it is okay this one time or a insulin diabetic that they can go off their insulin and have some sugar.. I learned quickly not to make these allowances for myself anymore. What my loved ones don't understand is my long suffering with food addiction and how it has impacted my health. I have had so many health issues over the years. Some have been quite serious. My immune system has been greatly compromised. Last year I was hospitalized for having an illness that they could not identify. My theory, and I am not a doctor, is that I was dumping a huge, I mean Huge load of garbage from my system. I just wasn't able to handle the load all at one time. Raw food is a powerful cleanser. While in the hospital, I managed maintained my raw vegan diet because I believe in it's healing power. The fruits and vegetables offered to me were substandard to what I have been consuming. No matter how bad I looked and felt. I knew that I was going to be okay. My family and friends were greatly concerned and wanted me to end this "raw food nonsense" and eat what they felt was healthier for me, however, my body rejected it. It also rejected the many medications that I was prescribed to take. I am not saying that taking medication is bad in any way. Medication is a must do, in some cases, please do so. I realized that for me, I could no longer take the meds that were prescribed. I am also not saying you have to be 100% raw to be healthy. 100% raw works for me. Today I feel vibrant. I am healthy and I will continue to be healthy as long as I listen to my body, mind and spirit. I love all those who have tried to help me. They meant well, however, they don't live inside my body and I do not live in theirs. Everyone must do what is best for them.

In order for me to remain consistent with my blogging, Starting tomorrow, I am going to post daily where I am in MIND, BODY and SPIRIT. Within my posts I will discuss the triumphs as well as the challenges and I experience on a daily basis, the GOOD the BAD and the UGLY.
Herbs remedies and raw vegan food are my medicine and my nutrition. Even while living in this concrete habitat filled with stress, temptation, and real life situations.

Blessed be,
Tuliza

The MC, Day 3&4

So far I have had only brief episodes o food cravings and they pass very quickly. I feel pretty good today. I am eliminating frequently. The 'Smooth Move' tea, I drink twice daily, makes me cramp a little. Funny thing is, I like the cramps. Having cramps means elimination is on it's way and so will relief. I had a little breakout on my face today. It's not bad, just some more detoxing. I'm really enjoying my cleanse.

The MC, Day 2

This afternoon I experienced the first signs of detox. I started craving food around 3:00pm. It didn't last very long and I really got through it okay. My tongue is already starting to get coated. Towards the evening I started to get very cold so I wrapped up in a blanket. I can't wait to drink a cup of hot 'Smooth Move' tea tonight. I have been urinating a lot and I have had several eliminations. Not bad for Day 2.

I am Master Cleansing again! Day 1

I started the Master Cleanse 24 hours ago and so far so good. I really don't feel the healing crisis that I have felt in the past. Being 100% raw and doing the 2008, 92 day juice feast has really helped clean and balance my body. Being on a raw food diet is cleansing in itself. I wanted to start on 1/1/10, however, I had to much food left in the fridge from the holidays. 1/11/10 seems to be just as perfect a starting day. I reviewed Stanley Burrough's book 'The Master Cleanse to refresh myself with the recipe and elimination process. This time around, I decided to not dot the Salt Water. For some reason, I end up with edema. I follow the directions very carefully and I still retain some water. For me enemas work best. I am also using Raw Agave instead of the Grade B maple syrup. I have read where it was suggested not to use agave, however, It is just as beneficial. I will post everyday to share my 2010 experience with the MC.

Blessings,
Tuliza