Wednesday, August 18, 2010

The Juicy Life--Day 13 of My 40 Day Juice Feast

What Day I'm On: 13 out of 40, about 32% of the way

How's It Going? It's going pretty well, over all, I have to say. I did find it encouraging that I am about 1/3 of the way there. There are two main challenges to juice feasting for me:

1. Time- I don't always get all my juice made before I end up having to go to work. As long as I have two quarts, I know I'll be ok. Juicing is not difficult, at all, but it is time consuming. You're washing and chopping and juicing, and then cleaning up and packing the juice into jars, and reassembling the juicer. I tend to underestimate how long all of that takes. I also have way more to say in my posts than I ever get in, but I run out of time.

2. Cost- Juicing is not cheap. Of course you want organic veggies--why in the world would you add toxins back in while you are working so hard to get them OUT? And you need a LOT of veggies. To get my 4 quarts of juice I use: 1 head of romaine, 1 head of kale, 6-8 cucumbers, 1 head of celery, 10-12 roma tomatoes, 1-2 sweet red bell peppers, and a couple of lemons. That's a PER DAY amount. I didn't know it would be so much produce before starting my juice feast, and if I had, I might not have done it.

I have to say, it is so worth it so far for the benefits I'm getting: 18 lbs of weight release, my skin is softer than it's ever been, I have a lot of energy, my belly is getting much flatter, not only from the weight release but also because the candida are dying off and not making me all bloaty looking "9 months along."

I also find it so incredible how I keep getting "lucky" on this challenge, like meeting Dave to encourage me, Penni writing her great book Real Juice Daily to inspire me, an incredible friend buying me a new juicer, and meeting Annette who was willing to go the distance with me and has just become an incredible friend. Then she tells me she can get me my organic veggies for wholesale cost, and I almost cried for gratitude. I am making so many friends along the way, and so many people have said I was able to inspire them, I feel a huge tidal wave of love and support just washing over me!

I believe that God is blessing my challenge and is clearing my path before me, taking obstacles away. He always wants my highest good. Because the main focus of my challenge is to build a closer relationship with Him, He is smiling down on me and making it easier. I am so incredibly grateful! Thank you, God!

Detox? "When you're sliding into first, and you feel a soggy burst, diarrhea!" Not too bad, lol. To be honest, I hate enemas, so if I'm going on my own, woo-hoo! Just as long as I make it to the bathroom in time!

Emotional Detox? Getting better. I still have the "poor me's" sometimes. I am also having a visit from Aunt Flo, so who can say what is detox and what is my normal hormone fluctuation roller coaster ride?

Emotional Decluttering: Wow, I am making some break-throughs around recognizing my limiting beliefs. This stuff is deep down personal, but I will still share it in the hope that it can help someone else. I have been "unlucky" in love all my life. I had only 2 relationships before I met my ex-husband, when I was only 17. He is a great guy, but he developed a mental illness in his 20s (when it often hits) and his behavior at that time became abusive and I had to leave for the children, and for me. I have stuck by him and supported him all these years, however, and now he takes medication that helps him have a mostly normal life, and he is a good dad. He still has challenges, like anyone. When I made my vows, in sickness and in health, I meant them, and I was prepared to stick by him (but not live physically with him). He ended up asking for the divorce about 8 yrs into our marriage; he fell in love with someone else. I was pretty relieved because adultery is the only out the Bible gives you for divorce. Even before I met him, I had this limiting belief, "There is someone for everyone and nobody for me." I felt so unlovable, due to my weight, that I thought no one would ever truly love me. Then I found men who incapable, because of their own problems, to really be able to love me and be a full partner in the relationship. Later, after my ex, I met a guy online and we fell in love, but he promptly moved to California, and even though we tried to make it work, it didn't. So it kept reinforcing my limiting belief. Now, I am seeing that I must really, truly, honest to Bob love myself before I will ever be able to draw to me someone who can be a life partner. You need to BE who/what you want to attract. Want a fit, healthy, successful partner? Be fit, healthy, and successful. Want someone who's positive and emotionally stable? Get positive and emotionally stable yourself. Like attracts like.

I am willing to open up to the possibility that there is love out there for me. I'll be honest, I don't believe it yet, but I am working to detox that limiting belief.

Advice From Dave: We didn't talk last night, so I will give advice I got from another health practitioner, who is a friend: CHEWING. The not chewing while juice feasting is a problem. The act of chewing actually helps you produce serotonin, the mood elevator. Chewing also helps you get saliva going in your mouth to help you digest your food. You should always "chew" your juice, to get the full benefit from it. I find I need supplemental chewing while doing my juice feast. I will chew on a piece of celery and spit out the pulp. This is kind of gross, so when I get the chance, I chew on my jawcerciser, something Victoria Boutenko invented to do jaw exercises as a substitute for gum, which is full of chemicals. Of course, the jawcerciser looks really weird, so I can only do it in private. It is really satisfying while I am juice feasting and really seems to elevate my mood. Try chewing if you are feeling down.

Have a juicy day!

1 comment:

Kerri said...

You are doing such a fabo job on this! I'm so proud of you!