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Juice Fast Blog
By Dr. Denice Moffat
Ever wonder what you'd experience if you undertook a 40-day Juice Fast? Well, here are my notes on the experience. My husband Michael's comments are in purple. I hope it entices you to try it because it's definitely worth it.
July 30, 2006: Well, I’ve done it. I’ve decided to join a client of mine in a Juice Fast. She’s going to try to get through 30 days. I’m attempting a 40-day juice fast to see what people go through at the Mexican and European spas to overcome severe problems like cancer and arthritis. If I don’t do one, how can I counsel my clients on how to do it?
I don’t know how it will turn out for me or what will come of it. Maybe my spider veins will go away, my vision will become perfect, I’ll lose a bunch of body fat, my allergies will go away (or at least I won’t be as sensitive to herbicides and pesticides and other food additives), and my lymphatic rosary will dissolve (I’ve always had little white dots on the outside of my edge of my pupils which indicates a sluggish lymph system. Maybe leftovers from almost life-long chronic skin disease from my younger days—like birth to age 40?)
Hey, maybe I’ll have a Spiritual awakening of some kind. That would be neat if God granted me even more healing gifts than I already have. . .or maybe I’ll just have the experience to say I’ve done it. I wonder what will happen to me emotionally as I go through this. Maybe I will leave all shreds of negativity behind and have clean, pure thoughts of everyone and everything. That would be nice.
My husband, Michael is going to do this with me. A little over a year ago he was having more brain dysfunction than normal. I’ve been his doctor for several years, so I could tell there was some progression in that area. We went to a neurologist—actually three of them. He got an MRI and the first neurologist determined that he had Multiple Sclerosis as evidenced by “over 100 plaques in his brain.” He certainly didn’t show any classical symptoms of the disease, so we went to another neurologist. He said there were no signs, but then, in his findings noted that there were signs in his spinal cord of the disease.
Since I was the referring doctor and received the findings, I was confused. So we went to a third doctor. He wants Michael to come back every 6 months to recheck him neurologically. Michael’s decided not to take the daily or thrice weekly “Dose of Confidence” in the form of very expensive injections that cause lots of side-effects suggested by first neurologist. None of the three neurologists offered any suggestions for alternatives, so I kept following his symptoms and supported them with various supplements and I put him on the Swank Diet. He has been limited to 15 grams of saturated fat and 30 grams of unsaturated fat per day now for over a year. Tell me that wasn’t stressful in our house for a few months. I felt like Jack Sprat’s wife who could eat no lean. I was sneaking pizza and chocolate like crazy because I didn’t want to have it in the house and tempt him. I think I gained about 10 pounds from all the emotional eating.
A girlfriend of mine was asking me about Michael’s fat grams trying to put it into perspective (as she was eating a salad and putting the second individualized-sized packet of Ranch dressing on her salad.) “Well, let’s put it this way,” I said. “One of those packets is 48 grams of fat, so you’ve just eaten way over the limit of polyunsaturated fats for the day—and that’s just ONE meal!”
“Oh my God!” She said. Yep.
Now he’s going to a no fat diet with this juice fast. I wonder if he will have more brain power after the fast. He sure doesn’t seem like he has brain power now. Of course he’s cut way back on his “perk me up—coffee.” I’ve told him I’m forgiving him for anything he forgets for the next few weeks. It’s not like my brain is working any better.
My Guides say it will help his brain about 30%. That’s a lot considering it looks and sounds like he’s about 50% improved from about 14 months ago. We shall see.
There’s just one thing that I’m totally queasy about. It’s the enema thing. Why on earth would anyone want to do an enema? Can’t I just take some herbal laxatives and get things cleaned out before I start? And to do them once or twice a day for 40 days? I think I’ll pass and just do the juicing. . .
Saturday, August 5th, 2006: Well, here I am in the bathroom with my enema bag. I can’t believe I’m doing this. The directions say to take two enemas for starters to get the toxins flushed out before starting the fast. I’m starting to build the web pages other people will need to read to learn all about how to do this as I go. Yes, I guess it makes sense to keep the toxins moving out of your body in any way that I can as I’m detoxifying. I’m using water only. No need to use special preparations at this point. Water should work fine.
Man. . .that was not fun. Bleck! I can’t believe I’m really doing this. It pretty much went the way all the directions said they would. Wonder why I thought this was such a big deal. Oh well. I’m off to make a big batch of Potassium Broth so we will be prepared for breakfast tomorrow.
This particular batch of potassium broth contained: Broccoli, comfrey leaves, celery, red onion, pesto, yellow crook neck squash, and a teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes. I know this stuff is pretty bland and the directions say in the books not to put the salt in it. Maybe the red pepper flakes will help.
From Michael’s view… today I’ve performed my first ever, enema. It wasn’t bad at all! I was imagining an offensive intervention and discharge. While the discharge wasn’t pretty it wasn’t any big deal and the actual enema, well… it was just no big deal, at all.
Day 1 of our Juice Fast (August 6, 2006)
Breakfast: Big mug (2 cups) of Potassium Broth. This will be our breakfast for the next 40 days. We can have more of it in the evening just before bed if we want, but of course we’ll have to get up several times during the night to urinate because of all the fluids. All-in-all we’ll be drinking about 12-15 cups of liquids every day.
I tested we are to take certain supplements during the fast. We’re taking the liquid minerals, Visual eyes, RNA (for our brain function), Ligaplex II for our tendons and ligaments and I’m taking one half of the AM/PM formula for my hot flashes. Wonder why I’m not testing I need the B-Stress. I've taken it every day for years. Guess there’s lots of B vitamins in the juices. So, how come we need double the vitamins and minerals? Hmm. Michael will also be taking 5-HTP for his brain and Viactive calcium citrate chews for his back issues.
Dry Brushing: We don’t have a bore-bristle brush yet, so we are using our cheap $1.88 back brush we got from Wal-Mart. Seems to work just fine. I can’t see how this process is going to take 15 minutes though. A thorough brushing only took about 7 minutes. Oh well, it’s off to the shower to be finished with the cold, hot, cold, hot rinse.
YIKES! That is COLD! How to people do this anyway? Wonder how I can make this better. . .
Fruit Juice (FJ): This one was a 5-Star juice. Wow. If this is the way the entire fast goes, then count me in. This will be our lunch, which we will have anywhere from 10am to 3pm during the day. The juice recipes make about 4 cups of concentrated juice. That is enough for Michael and I. We then dilute it out to 50% strength with water. I used ice cubes and found that 2 cups plus 8 ice cubes make about 4 cups. It’s cold and frothy. I drank all mine at once around 11am (it was SO good!) then was hungry about 2pm. Hmm. In the future I’ll pour small coffee cups and sip on them during the day to make it last.
FJ 5-Star: Blueberries (2 cups), Cherry (4 cups pitted), Pineapple (1/2), Fresh Ginger (2 Tablespoons), Apple (6 small)
Vegetable Juice (VJ): The directions say to drink this around 3 p.m., but Michael is saying he’s hungry and it’s only noon! OK, so we’ll make our dinner now. Maybe we can have some more juice or Potassium Broth tonight. The directions say that vegetable juice is ingested as straight and undiluted. Maybe it will fill us up.
VJ: I have lots of salad in the refrigerator, so I juiced half of it for our first veggie juice. It made about 4 cups. I brought it up to volume with half carrot and half celery to make another 4 cups totaling 8 cups. It was better than I expected. I give it a 4 Star rating. Then I made a big vat of potassium broth (no potatoes this time, but I added some Irish Moss and Red Clover Blossoms as per my Guides help) I have a sneaky suspicion that this won't be tasting very good.
I’ve got a headache. And that juice perked me up a bit. Hope that lasts.
From Michael’s view… while the potassium broth, fruit and vegetable juices are fine, I miss “real” food and coffee!
Day 2 (August 7, 2006):
Well, in spite of each of us getting up 4 times last night to urinate, we got a pretty good sleep. We are practicing the routine. Day 2 seems a bit easier.
Potassium Broth: Next batch includes all the vegetables plus pesto, rosemary, sage, thyme and parsley. I was trying to give it a little more flavor. It smelled great when it was cooking, but it didn’t seem to make it taste any more interesting.
It’s only day two and I think we have the dry brushing down. There sure are a lot of skin cells that come off with each brushing! I’m heating cocoa butter every other day or so to apply after the shower to keep my skin supple. If all goes well, I may lose some weight and I don’t want any wrinkles! And massaging those fatty areas that have some cellulite in them will be good to mobilize toxins as well. Each person has a different oil that works best for their body. Almond, avocado, apricot and sesame oil are all light oils that penetrate the skin easily. I just do better with cocoa butter. And I don’t have any arthritis or I’d use the Edgar Cayce formula which includes peanut oil, olive oil and a bit of castor oil. This particular combination really helps take some of the joint pain away. Kind of thick and messy though.
OK, this time I’ll pretend I’m on a beach with Michael and it’s really hot out. Wouldn’t it be nice to go stand under a waterfall and cool off with some nice cold water? Then go back and heat up again on the beach? Ahh, the cold water feels so good on top of your head. I still don’t like it on my back though.
Ahh. Did it. That shower wasn’t half bad today. Maybe if I just keep up that visualization process. Michael isn’t going for it. He’s refusing to do the cold, hot, cold rinses after his shower. Oh well, it’s not my responsibility to make him do everything perfectly.
FJ: 4-Star—Apricot, blueberry, apple and ginger. This one could have been better with a half of a pineapple. It was a bit too sour.
It says in all the books to get 20 minutes of sunshine daily. So, I put my swimsuit on and laid on the lawn on a beach towel for 20 minutes. Well. . .maybe 15 as I got tired of the ants and bugs crawling over me. There must be another way to "relax!" You know, I think I’ll just skip this and wear shorts or work out in the yard when I can. This is for the birds.
VJ: The other half of the leftover salad, cucumber, carrot and tomato. Yech! So we added some Frank’s Red Hot sauce. Ended up with spicy Yech. Oh well. It’s only one meal.
We drank this one for lunch. We’ll give it a go again for a veggie dinner drink. The directions say you can have either fruit juice, vegetable juice OR potassium broth around 7 p.m., so I thought we’d alternate for awhile.
I’m thinking it would be best to limit the fruit juice to mornings only. Seems that would be better on our pancreas in not causing too much of an insulin spike and not feed any unnecessary yeast in our bowels.
VJ: Carrot, zucchini, parsley, corn.
Hmm. It sure is amazing how much juice a zucchini makes. I guess I never realized how much water is in that vegetable. The parsley should be put in after some other vegetables (or between veggies) as it stuck to the bottom of the juice cup and I think I accidentally washed it down the drain. It was pretty thick. I’ll know better next time. This one was OK. I like raw corn. Makes it a bit sweeter.
I’m using as much organic produce as I can—carrots, apples, pears and melons especially as they have a tendency to suck in the pesticides. My guts wrench and my eyelids swell and get itchy if I eat any of these as non-organic contaminated, death traps. And I don’t want to take any homeopathic drops to detox myself during the detox if I can avoid it—or any antihistamines.
Still producing residue from the water enemas, so I guess I’ll continue until I feel I can do one a week (I hope!) I still don’t like this, but I’m getting used to it. Laying on my right side and massaging my gut really does seem to help release lots of stuff.
From Michael’s view… I’d prefer to not be hungry and could us more sleep than I managed last night but all-in-all, I’m finding juice fasting much easier to do than the water fasts I’ve done in the past. I have to admit it, I’m not at motivated enough to do the hot/cold showers. The dry brushing feels pretty good.
Day 3 (August 8, 2006)
The showers are a real hassle. I don’t enjoy that cold water at all. Dry brushing doesn’t seem to be a problem and is easy to add to your routine.
FJ: Orange, Apricot, Pineapple, Apple.
Those apricots are a bit under ripe. Wish I had not bought a whole box of them!
FJ: Watermelon (with the rind). I heard this was excellent for your kidneys. I’ve always had weak kidneys and make stones very easily. And I read that only 5% of the nutrients were in the flesh, but if you juice the entire rind (after you scrub it with soap and water to get all the stuff off of it) that you get about 95% of the nutrients in the juice.
Bleck. I’d rather eat the watermelon and only get 5% of the nutrients! I’ve read that if you are super hungry during your fast that eating watermelon helps. It’s comprised of 97% water anyway. Guess I’ll save it for later in the fast. Besides, the chickens LOVE the rind. It doesn’t seem quite fair to short them of it. They don’t seem too open to eating all the pulp we are producing! Darn, I was hoping they’d love that stuff. Oh well, our compost pile will be awesome.
VJ: Carrot, Celery, Green Bean and Green Pepper (The green peppers are for Michael only as it seems to cause fibromyalgia-type pain in my skin when I eat them.)
Good news. For the first time in three days my low grade headache is subsiding. The only thing that came out with my enema was water. Looks like the detoxification process can fully engage. I think I’ll skip the enema tomorrow. I don’t think I need it.
I think we got our exercise in walking to and from dropping off the pickup truck twice to be worked on. Gee, it’s hot out. Must be in the 90’s.
Michael mowed the lawn next door and found that the lawnmower died, so he tried to fix it. Got it all cleaned and kept working at it which took him about an hour, then he found it was out of GAS! (Gee, that’s the first thing I check, but he doesn’t mow the lawn often and I’m grateful for the clean air filter!) He's really loopy. Keeps whining about wanting food, but my Guides say, "don't give in!"
From Michael’s view… I’m “loopy?” Is that the word that describes mental deterioration to the point I forget to check the fuel level? Duh!
Day 4 (August 9, 2006)
OK, I’m skipping the cold water rinse today. Maybe the dry-brushing activity will help move those toxins.
FJ: Mango, Kiwi, Lime, Pineapple, Banana, Ginger. VJ: Cucumber, Beet, Carrot.
Now I have been resisting juicing beets for a long time. Ugh. Well, I was pleasantly surprised. Kind of tastes earthy. . .I wonder how much you have to ingest to turn your urine magenta. . .
VJ: Yellow crookneck, carrot, sweet potato.
This was OK as well. I just wanted to try sweet potato juice. Sweet potatoes seem to be really good for most blood types and especially for blood type O. They are on our Highly Beneficial list. We often try to include them as a cooked vegetable for dinner in the wintertime. The juice is kind of grainy. We have to stir it or it settles.
Found cherries at the Co-op for $1.99/lb. and baby carrots for .99/.lb so we bought a couple bagfuls. Winco is definitely the cheapest source of pineapple. I'm off to Lewiston tomorrow. Hope the day goes fast as usual. I'm taking extra juice just in case.
It’s 6 p.m. I think I’m too tired to drink anything for dinner. I know there is a learning curve, but I sure hope it goes faster than this the rest of the 40 days! I can see where sitting down, relaxing, and watching a movie at night will be the thing to do.
“Let’s go to bed early, honey.”
“OK.”
Day 5 (August 10, 2006)
FJ: Watermelon (just the red part), grape, banana. Not the most inviting juice.
For dinner, we had surprise visitors from Seattle. They wanted to take us out to dinner. We didn’t want to discourage them from ordering what they wanted at Applebee’s, so we didn’t tell them we were fasting until it was time to order.
Instead of ordering some good, hearty food, they ordered soup with us. We had peppermint tea and a cup of tomato bisque soup. We ditched the croutons and crackers they supplied on the side. It seemed to be the only soup on the menu that didn’t have meat or dairy in it. It was wonderful! We drank some more vegetable juice after they left that evening.
Day 6 (August 11, 2006)
This morning we were thinking that we should add in some kind of very digestible protein to our drink, so I added in a raw egg. Mistake.
We were both starving all day. Guess it must have started the digestive juices flowing in our system. I was just goofy all day trying to keep up with all my appointments. I knew I had to concentrate to do a good job for my case load, so I asked my Guides what to do. “Eat a teaspoon of honey before your next client.” They said. I did and that helped.
I finally realized that I hadn’t had an enema the last two days. I had been working on the enema handout and had read about the benefits of the coffee enema. Hmm. Maybe that’s a way to get caffeine into my system. We went to the store for a refill of supplies and picked up some organic coffee. A man in line behind me noticed all the good things I had in my cart and we started talking about our juicing program.
“No Diet Coke?”
“Nope. It’s really bad for you and sucks calcium out of your bones.”
“No protein?”
“Nope.”
“No coffee?”
“Only through an enema.” I said.
We were all laughing by the time I left. His cart was filled with junk food, beer, diet coke, and nitrate-laden meat.
So I went home and tried the coffee enema hoping for a renewed and better attitude. I got that and more. I couldn’t believe the extreme benefit of that coffee enema. Why would anyone want to use water only? The amount of stuff that was hiding in my bowels was just astounding. Where was all that stuff coming from? I’m definitely a convert. Man, that coffee was strong!
Then I juiced something that had pesticides on it. I accidentally rubbed my eyes which started that scratch-itch cycle. Aargh! Can’t stand it. I took an antihistamine, washed my face with soap and water and went to bed and slept 12 hours.
From Michael’s view. . .a coffee enema? What a great idea! I’ll take my caffeine any way I can get it. Oh, I forgot I am supposed to be detoxing. And yes, my coffee enema was far more effective than with water only. I think I’ll use less coffee next time.
Day 8 (August 13, 2006)
FJ: Cherry, Plum, Grape
I’ve decided only to write down new combinations of juice. There seem to be very few that stand out in the 5-Star category, but most all the fruit juices are tasty and the vegetable juices tolerable. I can see that if we do some vegetable juice twice a week that we could easily get our minimum volumes in. We’ve committed to do that after the fast is complete.
New batch of Potassium broth: Collard Greens (I heard that one serving of collard greens equals your entire RDA for calcium), Kale, Parsley, Potato, Garlic, Celery, Crushed Red Pepper, Comfrey, Oregano, Horsetail (for the silica—for some reason my Guides told me to add a couple teaspoons), Mushrooms, Spinach and Shallots.
Michael keeps asking, “Why are we throwing out all those wonderful cooked vegetables?”
I give them to the chickens. We’re only supposed to drink the broth. Sorry!
“Can’t we freeze them?”
No, our freezer would be full of cooked vegetables. I’ll make you a batch (with some real flavor and a chicken in it) when we get done with the fast.
“Sigh. OK. . .”
Decided to skip the enema and do it every other day, only with coffee from now on. I’m still doing the dry-brushing every day, but those cold showers? Forget it. I’m thinking that when I open my retreat center, I’ll substitute a hands-on massage to get those toxins moving in my client’s systems. I can’t imagine having the energy to withstand that drastic change in temperature, especially when your body is so weak from cancer. But, maybe some people like that kind of thing. People do swim in the ocean or in cold streams. Well, let them. . .I’m not doing it.
I’ve lost 8 pound in 8 days but I must have had about 8 pounds of intestinal contents. It can’t be fat loss at this point. I am doing the dry brushing extra on my thighs and triceps to get that cellulite moving.
Had watermelon juice
this afternoon (Michael was hungry and needed something extra.) We gave the
rind to the chickens. They do this little “jump for joy” dance when they see
us coming with watermelon rinds. They are pretty much refusing the juicing
fiber now as they are leaving lots in the pen and covering it up with straw.
The neighbors keep
grilling BEEF!!! Bastards. I’m closing the windows so I don’t smell it.
From Michael’s view… drinking my juice in several 6-ounce servings spread throughout the day keeps me from being hungry as much. I’m actually doing quite well physically and mentally, too. . .except I keep thinking about solid food. I’ve lost 7 pounds. Apparently, I actually was “full of poop” as a friend once suggested.
Day 9 (August 14, 2006)
FJ: Papaya, Mango, Crenshaw melon, Ginger, Lime.
Kind of bitter, so I added a banana. The juice was OK, but I decided that next time I’ll also add Pineapple.
VJ: Corn, Zucchini, Spinach, Cucumber, Carrot.
Looks really green! The corn made it kind of bearable though with its sweetness. Make a note not to be out of corn.
Well, I'll have to tell
you I NEVER lose much weight when I do something like this. I'm sure it was
all in my bowels. Had to be! Anyway I'm down to 139 tonight. Started at a
bloated 148 and started my period the same day I started the fast. So, I'm
sure it must have been some water weight as well. Well, maybe I overdid it a
bit when I knew I was going to fast. I did eat a bit more that week before
fasting. Supposedly you will lose more weight with the highly beneficial and neutral foods in your blood type category. That first week of produce we used, I tried to purchase only foods on those two lists. That could be why we are dropping weight so fast. Who knows.
It’s hard to talk about
some things. This process is kind of taking in-to-me-see (intimacy) a bit
too far if you know what I mean.
Day 10 (August 15, 2006)
VJ: Collard greens, Kale, Carrot, Crookneck squash, Celery, Corn
Today I was feeling sorry for myself as I had no energy. Gee, I have so much to do and the summer is going by so fast. All those projects! I feel sorry for vegetarians. I need meat! And the neighbors are barbequing again! Gee, how rude can you get? I need an enema.
Day 11 (August 16, 2006)
FJ: 5-Stars Cantaloupe with ½ cup Knudson’s Simply Nutritious Lemon, Ginger, Echinacea juice (I was trying to clean out the refrigerator to make room for more produce or I would not have used this pre-bottled juice in the drink. What a nice surprise. Probably all that extra sugar!)
I was so busy today I didn’t have time to do that enema I needed yesterday. I felt negative again all morning. Must be those toxins in my bowels as I knew it wasn’t hormones. I crossed off some time in my appt. book to do a coffee enema. I noticed at the end of the day that I had my perky, optimistic attitude back.
VJ: Collard Greens, Kale, Carrot and Squash (ran out of corn)
Mistake! BARF! I couldn’t even finish the juice. Should have had that ear of corn in it! My payback for having that sugar in the fruit juice earlier?
Michael asked me if I drank my juice. “Uh huh” I mumbled. (No, I put it in YOUR mason jar!)
From Michael’s view. . .vegetables have never made it to my “favorites” list and now. . .well, while I still don’t care for veggies even in liquid form, in this form they are much easier to take. Note: While today’s veggie juice was VERY green, I was fine with it. The Frank’s Red Hot Sauce must have done the trick.
Day 12 (August 17, 2006)
Made extra juice just in case today as I was headed down to the Lewis-Clark Animal Shelter to do my day of spaying/neutering. Boy, am I glad I did that.
“Don’t look at the board.” Kathy, my excellent surgical technician, said as I glanced at the white board where they write all the animals down who are going to have surgery that day.
Twenty seven animals later, my legs are aching, it’s 4 p.m. and I still have more energy than those days I am not fasting. A record day, and no real food for 12 days now! OK, I’m sold on the benefits of fasting.
I somehow bruised my middle finger tightening a knot during surgery. I felt the pop and could see the bluish tinge by evening. I’ve never done anything like that before. I’m hoping nothing is deficient in my diet to exacerbate bruising. Maybe it’s just a healing crisis. I have had many years in my life where I bruised easily and I haven’t bruised easily in several years. We’ll wait and see.
I would have taken some arnica had I remembered, but my mind is a bit rummy. Went to bed around 8 p.m., but there’s a fire around here somewhere and lots of smoke is coming through the bedroom window making it difficult to breathe. We shut the windows and turned on the air conditioner to finally get to sleep around 10 p.m.
Day 13 (August 18, 2006)
FJ: I’m calling it “Tropical” now with all the Mango, Papaya, Banana, and Pineapple in it. We like that. Sure does taste better with the Ginger added.
VJ: Parsley, Jicama, Celery, Zucchini, Corn, Turnip, Parsnip.
Well, I was wondering what Jicama, Turnip and Parsnip tasted like raw, so I took a small bite of each as I was preparing the juice. And I tasted the juice as well.
Jicama juice was OK, but both the turnips and parsnips were a bit hard to juice properly. The parsnips seemed a bit slick. Wondered how old they were. Yuk. I’ll put the rest of those in the next batch of Potassium broth.
And I didn’t know too much about Jicama. I had to throw away almost half of it. There was some kind of bruising on it that I must not have noticed and the flesh had big brown spots that didn’t look too edible in it. Better luck next time. I guess that’s the cost of the learning process.
Michael and I both had low energy all day today. Broke down and had a cup of coffee, but no enema. I was also cold all day even though it was in the low 90’s outside. I kept going out every hour or so to walk in the garden and get warm. I had some muscle pain in the back of his thighs and buttocks. It seemed to be similar to the pain I feel when I eat green peppers. Wonder if I reacted to one of those new vegetables. Drank another couple of cups of water just in case to flush toxins out. My finger has a full bruise on it today, but it doesn’t seem to hurt as much as I thought it should for the color it is.
From Michael’s view… just thought I’d mention how wonderful the coffee tasted! Wow! I have upper back pain in two locations, one on each side about where there are a couple of glands, I think. I’ll stick my Nikken magnets on those spots and see what comes of it.
Day 14 (August 19, 2006)
Well, the pain in the back of my legs is almost completely gone and the bruise on my finger is completely healed.
FJ: Fresh Coconut milk, Lemon, Peach, Mango, Banana, Pineapple.
Well, coconut has a lot of juice inside it. We used that first. I read that you could juice the coconut and that the pulp would make really neat coconut to use. Not in our Braun juicer! So I tried the food processor since I knew we weren’t going to get coconut juice anyway…nearly broke the food processor. So, we took the chunks of fresh coconut and put them in the blender. That worked. We froze the coconut for after the fast.
It was a big day for us. We had a booth at Palousafest and had to haul five 5-Gallon water jugs about 100 yards to our booth. We took our cooler with extra juice to drink, but it wasn’t enough (poor planning) we were there from 3-8:30 pm so we broke down and had a Starbuck’s Mocha which tasted like water, watered down coffee, and a little chocolate flavoring! Gee, and I waited 2 weeks for this? I was SO looking forward to the chocolate! I drank about 1/3 of my 12 ounce drink and dumped the rest. Thanks. I’ll starve.
My left kidney hurts. I'm testing it is a small stone. I keep doing Qi Gong exercises over the area every once in a while by rubbing really fast over the kidneys up and down to get the circulation going there. I don't think I'm drinking enough water. I’ll add in some parsley juice (3-4 bunches/week) as it has lots of bioavailable calcium and minerals and helps flush the kidneys.
And I’m hungry. I don't really think we will be disrupting the benefits of the fast by adding in a couple of cups of watermelon or a serving of fruit. We’re occasionally eating a half-cup serving before we go to bed. I can’t believe I scheduled the fast during the time our tomatoes will be ripe. What was I thinking? I found out that tomatoes don’t taste very good juiced.
I've lost 14 solid pounds so far.
I think we will have to be careful not to put ourselves into starvation fat-building mode once we go off the fast. I don't want the fat back!
From Michael’s view… I’ve lost 15 pounds and I’m enjoying that! Today I wore pair Wrangler’s that have been too tight for comfort . . . and they were a bit loose. The addition of a tiny bit of “solid” food in the form of a half cup of fruit before sleep is a pleasure. Oh yes, the magnets took away the pain in my upper back.
Day 16 (August 21, 2006)
FJ: 5 Stars! Apple (4 cups), Pineapple (1/2), Mango (1), Plum (2), Banana (2)
VJ: Carrot, Celery, Parsley
I was just craving celery juice for some reason. I think it was for my lungs. Noticed I was taking lots deeper breaths during the night last night. Actually, it seems like I’m breathing better than I ever have. The lunulae on my fingernails have not come up though (indicating good oxygenation). I’ll watch that in the future.
Parsley juice--not so
bad. It only makes about a couple tablespoons of juice per bunch though. The
general rule is to not add more than 25% green juice to whatever veggie
drink you make. BUT I noticed you have to juice it about in the middle of
the process because if you do it first the juice sticks to the bottom of the
container.
6:30 p.m. Some good friends of ours are celebrating their 50th Wedding Anniversary today and we’ve been invited to a dinner. There are 45 people coming. Oh man. We went to honor them, but when the salad came (and it didn’t look very good) we couldn’t take it anymore and snuck out the back door. At least we showed up.
Day 17 (August, 22, 2006)
Added string beans into the vegetable juice. OH GAG! Geez. Maybe I’ll become a fruititarian instead on this fast. Adding more carrots. Maybe I can dilute out the flavor. . .Woof! No, it’s not working. . .
OK, I know we need the minerals. Get a grip, Denice. This is dinner. Tomorrow is another day after all. No more green beans! I’ll put them in the Potassium broth next time. I hope we still have them coming on after the fast. I just love them sautéed in toasted sesame oil with some toasted almonds and a squeeze of lime juice over the top.
“How can we make it taste better?” Asked Michael.
“Close your eyes before you drink it?”
Having a bit of a healing crisis on my chest area, probably left over from pneumonia and lung surgery a couple of years ago. I feel a pin-pricky feeling on my right upper abdominal. I also have a bloody nose (slight) in my right nostril. Haven’t had one of those in years.
I actually ate a banana today. I was getting dizzy and weak. This is getting to be difficult. I think we may add in a cup of raw whole fruits or veggies along with the juice for awhile. I did a coffee enema yesterday and absolutely nothing came out. Nothing except the coffee anyway. That was a first.
Enemas. . .go figure. I just can't believe how much better those coffee enemas are than water enemas. How can this be? Weird. And it's so weird to go shopping and fill your cart with only raw fruits and veggies.
The area that felt pin-pricky yesterday not has a bit of a rash, but it doesn’t itch. I’ll watch it.
FJ: 5-Star! Peach (2), Plum (3), Ginger (2 Tablespoons), Pineapple (1/2), Kiwi (1), Orange (2)
Today my hands are a bit sore, kind of like mild arthritis. The rash is gone on my abdomen/chest area.
VJ: Red Radish makes the prettiest color juice! Kind of fuchsia color. It really didn’t influence the taste of the basic Carrot, Celery, Squash juice too much. We thought it would be a bit spicier.
This evening I’m having that pain in my skin on the back of my legs again. Thank goodness it’s mild. We went for a long walk today. Actually too long, but we got to where we were going then had to get back home.
Day 19 (August 25, 2006)
Thought I’d do some yard work to take my mind off food. I ended up working 2 ½ hours raking. I was almost ready to drop. Maybe I over did it.
Twenty days without chocolate! This is not easy. I’ve wanted chocolate every day since we started. Blah. I’m having a teaspoon of almond butter. Maybe that will kill the hunger pangs before bed.
Day 20 (August 26, 2006)
Well, today I ate a
tomato and a piece of watermelon. I'm SO hungry that I don't know if I can
do a total juice fast any longer. I don't know quite what to do. It's
apparent that it's time to stop the fast according to my research, but on
the other hand I said I was going for 40 days. Hmmm. What to do. My Guides
say to continue, but I don't have enough energy to think straight!
FJ: Crenshaw melon, Nectarine, Banana. Not very interesting. Needs something more. . .like. . .something to chew!
Went to the yard sale at Beasley coliseum and bought a bike for $10 and a brand new Braun just like the one we have for another $10 (the box said $100 from the Bon Marché). What a steal!
That’s it. This whole thing really sucks. I’m starving and I want to quit. I think this is called a fasting dip. Michael is being very supportive (but hungry as well). We had to drive to Endicott to check out some client’s water systems for his Ecowater business. I made him stop at a grocery story to buy a jar of peanut butter. We ate about 2 tablespoons each dipping it out of the bottle with our fingers. Sad.
And my attitude is not very nice either. I want meat and I want to chew! I probably need an enema. Michael said we could talk about revamping our plans tomorrow. We had a piece of watermelon (boy, did that taste good--I took my time in eating it,) I did a coffee enema, watched a movie, split a one-ounce stick of cheese with Michael then went to bed early.
From Michael’s view. . .we “fell off the wagon” a bit today, with a little peanut butter, watermelon, cheese stick, and I drank a cup of coffee. Funny thing about this. . .I’m ready for the next 17 days of fasting.
Day 23 (Monday, August 28, 2006)
OK, we had our morning juice and I have a full day of clients. Seems like my attitude is better this morning. Hope it lasts. I did some meditation and have decided to take it one day at a time. Even if we go off the fast somewhat, if we don’t eat any protein, we’ll still get the benefits of the raw juices and the potassium broth.
My guides tell me to slow down, concentrate and just pay more attention when I have a client. For exercise, I’m just supposed to do the best that I can, but not overdo it. (I really wiped myself out last weekend raking the neighbor’s backyard for over 2 ½ hours.)
I asked my Guides if I needed a nap during the day. “No.” That was good. I don’t usually nap, but I sure have been sleeping like a rock. I’ve noticed I’m needing about 9 hours a night to feel rested. That’s good for my body and it will help all those cells be happy and healed.
Before I go to bed, if I really need to, I can eat an ounce of mozzarella cheese. I asked if I needed extra calcium because we have been testing that we need extra vitamins and minerals all along. No on that.
Well, can I have some yogurt? I asked my Guides. “No, too much sugar.”
Can I add in cooked vegetables? “Not just yet.” They say.
How often do I have to do the enemas?
“Every three days, and continue with the coffee enemas. They seem to be working well.”
OK, back to work. I can do this. . .
Guess I was just having a fasting dip. I can be strong at least for today. I think I’ll just plod forward one day at a time. Last night we had to have something hot, so I made tomato soup. I figured that was as close to juice that I could get. Here's what I blended up:
Spicy Tomato Soup
1 Bermuda Onion, sliced very thin 4 Cloves Garlic, minced Sauté the above in 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil then add:
2 14 ounce cans Tomato Sauce 2 14 ounce cans Water 2 Tablespoons Pesto 3 Teaspoons ground Cumin 1 Teaspoon Celtic Sea Salt 1 Tablespoon Frank's Red Hot Sauce
Cook it, blend it in your blender, serve. Yum! (I think. . .who can tell at this point. Anything may taste good.)
We had an 8 oz. mug of it and it seemed to satisfy us. I didn't bloat, but I did use the Celtic sea salt which has all kinds of extra minerals in it.
Prep time and cooking time about 15 minutes. Heck, we couldn't wait any longer than that anyway!
Cumin is an antibacterial herb good for the liver and digestion, increases libido, and good for migraines associated with digestive causes. Garlic and onions are both antibacterial and antiviral.
From Michael’s view. . .the soup is wonderful! I loved it!
Day 24 (August 29, 2006)
Michael made the juice this morning while I was exercising out in the yard. We are trying to move a pile of dirt from the side yard so that we can build a bed and shift the strawberries over so they’ll have more sun and be more productive next year. I tilled up the pile, added peat and manure then hauled about 15 loads of dirt to the raised bed area. Then I mowed the lawn. Hmm. Might have overdone it again.
FJ 5-Star!: Apple (3), Peach (1), Banana (2), Blueberries (1 cup), Mango (1), Plum (2) and Lemon (1)
That was SO good I drank it down in about 30 minutes! Lots of energy today. The yard work was invigorating and gave me a sense of accomplishment.
VJ: Carrot, Collard Greens, Celery, Sweet Potato. Looked green but tasted OK.
Been working like crazy to get all these new handouts in order and posted onto my website so I can tie in the Newsletter topics to them. It seems to be taking forever. I know I haven’t had the concentration skills at peak production since I started the fast, but this is getting ridiculous.
We had a mug of that tomato soup at 8 p.m. Almost done with the newsletter for this month! That vegetable juice made my glands swell, but it sure does perk you up. The vegetable juice makes my glands swell every time come to think of it. Maybe I’m allergic to vegetables (I wish!)
From Michael’s view. . .so far I have lost 21 pounds. I feel great and have enough energy to do what I need to do. I’m still not as mentally sharp as I’d like to be but I am completely functional. I completed a face reading this morning and it went quite well, so I’m actually “sharper” than I may think I am.
Day 25 (August 30, 2006)
FJ: That juice was so good yesterday that Michael is repeating it this morning.
He pointed out something to me this morning that was fascinating. He’s had a Morton’s neuroma on the inside of his right hand now for about a year. Sometimes it hurts and he’s tried manganese and hot packs to make it go away, with minimal success. Well, today, he showed me that it has disappeared.
Wow. How did this happen? Was it all the juices and which vitamins/minerals are a body deficient in to cause something like that. Lord knows when we aren’t fasting he takes enough supplements! I’ll have to do more research on this one.
When a client comes in with bowel problems (their own or their pets) I ask them about the color of the stool as it should be the color of the diet. Well, mine was orange this morning. Must be the carrots.
And another interesting thing. I’m finding my sweat doesn’t stink like it did when I ate grains and meat. Not that I’m going to give up either after this is over! I’ll just wash my pits more. Wearing underarm deodorant plugs up your pores and can lead to breast cancer. I sure don't need that!
I finally got all those handouts together. Here they are:
Hot and Cold Alternating Baths How to Pick a Great Piece of Fruit
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