Day 2 of juice cleanse.

Last night shortly before I settled in for bed I started getting REALLY emotional. I believe this detox is bringing about all sorts of interesting things. I know it seems really fast to be experiencing such emotional side effects from the detox but like I stated in my previous post, I feel I am pushing this detox on my body rather quickly. 

I have been doing to reading on some of my favorite Raw forums about detox and what it can do emotionally. There seems to be a lot of people who suffer pretty extreme emotions while doing some kind of detox program. What's funny is that I was reading these forums a day BEFORE I started and thought to myself  'that seems weird, maybe these people are going through something else because it doesn't seem like a very plausible explanation'. Well I was wrong and now find myself all sorts of down. The last 24 hours I have been doing nothing about doubting pretty much everything. My decision to move back down to California, my relationship (which is damn amazing I might add), my future career moves...everything. When I did my reading on other's stories I noticed they all had a theme. They didn't seem depressed as a whole, they were past feeling that maybe weren't resolved, like relationships. Mine doesn't have anything to do with past relationships of any kind rather more feeling upset about my accomplishments or lack thereof so far.... then wondering where the relationship fits into me getting me, to where I need to be! In a sense I like feeling like this and I feel it's an opportunity for me to really figure some things out and start making a plan. I have communicated all of my 'downs' with my boyfriend so he is always in the loop and we are going to use this to our advantage to create a timeline for us and ourselves (Told you he was great).

Besides the emotional aspect of this juicing, things seem to be going alright. Not good, not bad, just alright. Being away from food is never a great time for me. I love it too much and it is such a staple in my everyday life. It almost seems as if my entire day is planed somehow around food. Making sure I get some good food going for my boyfriend as well as myself. Being how I am raw I do take a good while to prepare my food so between that and cooking al three meals for him, my days is full! I don't mind it though....in fact I love it. 

I have been taking my time in writing this all day and now that it is 7pm, I must say, I am going to prepare myself some raw pasta. We have been in and out of the house nearly all day and I honestly cant deal with the mood swings I have. Someone weird came out while doing this and I don't like them! It's not fair for my boyfriend as well. The poor guy has just been dealing with this monster. 

I am not going to beat myself up about it. I have ALOT of things going on in my life right now... primarily transitional and I take pride in the fact that I at least eat Raw. Eating Raw in itself is a major detoxifying way of life so I will take with me that knowledge and move forward. When my life seems a little more 'stable' I will work on a cleanse I know I can follow through with. If I am not there emotionally I feel I can not 100% benefit from the results. Things have to be lined up!

Thats all for now,

Cheer!

COMING SOON:

• Dry Brushing Progress
• Overall Mood
• MSM 

Day 1 of Juice Cleanse!

I am starting my juice cleanse this morning and I am VERY excited about it. Now there are a number of reasons for wanting to do this but the biggest contributing factor is the side effects I am having with MSM. I recently started taking this supplement and am having a difficult adjustment period. Side effects vary for everyone but for myself, I am experiencing HEAVY bloating, digestive discomfort and water weight gain. I discussed my digestive issues in a previous post and after some thought, I realized it was the new addition of a supplement that was causing my discomfort.

So here we are at day one and I started my morning off with juicing a 1/2 pineapple, 2 cups spinach and 2 pears. The pineapple is a good source of vitamin C which is said to help with MSM absorbing. I take my MSM supplement first thing in the morning so I thought that would be a good juice to start off the day!

As I am writing this I am thinking I am going to go for another juice already! I have never had a really easy time with fast's so it is really going to take ALOT of discipline to get through these next couple days!

I'll continue at the end of my day........


7:20pm

I have had a decent day.  I have only juiced 4 times today and I am not sure what it is, but I am craving more fruits than I am vegetables. Needless to say I never got around to making my second green juice. I was rather busy running around doing some errands so my mind was preoccupied which was nice. Overall though, I feel extremely tired and cranky. I have a pretty big headache coming on so I decided to make no attempt at going to the gym. My energy is simply not there.

I hear so many stories of how people feel amazing after their juices and I think I have yet to get there!? I woke up relatively late today and I am already ready to crawl back into bed with my favorite "Office" box set!  I believe I may be pushing a detox on my body rather quickly. While I was already eating a raw diet, I did just recently incorporate a new supplement (MSM, which helps with detox in and of itself) and a new bathing regimen (Body Brushing, yet ANOTHER form of detoxification). Overall, I feel I am putting my body through a boot camp!

I am hoping that tomorrow brings a slightly easier day thats filled with a little less fatigue, a little less grogginess, and a little less cranky pants.... for my boyfriends sake :)  If my energy levels permit it, I would like to make it to the gym in the morning while I am still refreshed and ready to go.

Til tomorrow!

Cheers!

3 Day Juice Cleanse

It seems every so often (actually not often at all, but enough) that everyones digestive track needs a little attention. While living a raw foods lifestyle in itself can be cleansing, sometime it just isn't enough. This past week I have been exploring more with vegetables I have never used as well as more nuts and seeds and I believe that it could be responsible for some serious bloating and cramps. I consider myself to be incredibly in tune with my body and these past two to three days has not been 'My Normal'.

I am preparing myself today for a 3 day juice feast so I can cleanse, detox and heal my system from it's current problems. There are of course other reasons in which a juice feast seems like a excellent idea. I have recently begun a process called 'BODY BRUSHING' in which it's believed you can remove toxins and improve skin circulation (among other things) by massaging a soft natural bristle brush on your body before showering. I believe these two processes can go hand in hand and in fact they can work together to deepen detoxification results.

My plan for the following 3 days is as follows:

BREAKFAST~ Green Juice of some kind. It might be different every morning. One things is for certain and that will be that it will include spinach. I will require that for my energy source to start off the day as I have no plans on reducing my work out intensity.

SNACK~ Fruit juices of various kinds. I have grown particularly fond of Orange/Pineapple and Strawberry as of late. I tend to drink it after my workouts and I feel great afterwards!

LUNCH~ Green juice with one added fruit.

SNACK~ More fruit juices. I may try and stay away from fruits that are highly acidic

DINNER~ I am sure this will be different each day as by the end of the day I will be going off what my body tells me to do. Could be greens, fruits or both.

I am hoping at the end of these 3 days I will have resolved my tummy issue and I will see a noticeable difference in my skin in certain areas (legs). I am also hoping this detox will push out some toxins that may be hiding in my joints near my hips because my bursitis (which I'll get in to in another post) has been acting up horribly as of late. I will post daily as to how I am doing and feeling (energy wise).

Cheers!

~COMING SOON:

• Brewing Kombucha Tea at home.
• My experiences with MSM

*EDIT*

I am starting my 3 day Juice Feast tomorrow due to having an excess of fresh produce in my house that I don't want to go to waste!

Dry Brushing!

Yesterday I went to Whole Foods and I bought myself a really nice natural bristle body brush for roughly $10.00. I have heard nothing but great things about this process and thought I could really benefit from the results that people seem to get.

I like the idea of minimizing detox symptoms by assisting the skin with pushing out the toxins as well as helping blood circulation. I have always had a problem with poor circulation and can easily get spider veins on the backs of my legs. Lets not forget about the success some find with helping out with unsightly 'fat toxic build-up' or cellulite. It honestly does sound like an all around fantastic process to include in a daily regimen.

I started yesterday and plan on tracking my progress here but being how the results do take some time I will most likely be updating on this particular matter once a week or so. I plan on doing this everyday for 10-15 minutes before I hop in the shower with the possibility of moving it to twice daily. I will discuss any physical differences as well sightly differences I notice on my body. I am very excited to get started on this and hope that the information I post is useful for anyone considering this practice.

I have found an amazing source of information that really breaks down everything that this method has to offer. I hope you find it as useful as I did!

http://ezinearticles.com/?Dry-Brushing:-How-To-Do-It,-And-Its-Benefits&id=415652

Welcome!

This is my very first post so I would like to welcome any readers out there! This Blog is honestly more for myself than anything. I don't think I can educate anyone on anything involving the dynamics or nutrition of raw foods where the information is not already available. What I want this to be is a visual documented resource for myself...a journal if you will. How am I feeling and when I am feeling it? How is this lifestyle working for me and most importantly how is this transformation making me a better person to those around me. Thats what life is about....being a better person for yourself and the people around you.

I am 30 years old and have led a very exciting life to this point. That could indeed be an understatement. Movies have been made of my life (not mine particularly but certainly my lifestyle) up to this point. I have always 100% been about living in the *Now* and have never been too much concerned about the long term outlook of things. Needless to say things have changed for me. I have found the supportive loving relationship that allows me to be me and move forward with developing myself. It's my time to think about where I want my life to go and how I plan on getting there.

Here you will witness my trials of living a raw foods diet. My triumphs and my pitfalls. I will also be posting my experiences with holistic/alternative health and body care! This is not just about what goes into my body, it's also about the extra measures I take to take care of my body. I will be documenting my experience with Supplements, Recipes, Oil Pulling, Colonics, Detoxing, Body Brushing, Fasting/Feasting and a world more! There is so much out there to explore and I believe people owe it to themselves and mother nature to live the *cleanest* life possible. Saving our resources, giving animals the respect they deserve and treating our planet like our home...not our dumping ground.

Now that the hippie stuff (I mean no disrespect) is out of the way I do want to mention that I still know how to go out and have a damn fine night and I will be posting about my adventures as well. I love going out dancing and traveling to other cities to do just that! While I am primarily raw, I do allow myself alcoholic beverages once in a while. Once in a while being the key word. You'll see two sides of my life posted on here...both equally exciting, just very different!

Cheers and good health.