Thursday, September 2, 2010

The Juicy Life--Day 28 of My 40 Day Juice Feast

What Day I'm On: Today marks 28 days, or 4 weeks! Alright, now we're talking! I am 70% of the way to 40 days.

How's It Going?
Yesterday was a stressful day--I found out a friend was in the hospital. And for some reason, my kitchen table completely collapsed. There wasn't a lot of stuff on it at all--but it did have one bad leg, and it must have leaned to far that way. At first I was really upset, but then I was just thankful that no kids or cats got hurt. I am worried for my friend, but I have peace around that situation. At no time did I think, "Oh, man, I'm stressed, I want to eat something really harmful to me!" lol That sounds ridiculous, because it is. How does eating bad food make anything better? It doesn't, and yet, that was my go-to coping mechanism for years and years and years. I think it's nothing short of a miracle that I can be on the juice for 28 days, no problem, and the thought didn't even have to be beat down, or anything. It just didn't occur to me. Amazing! Thank you, God, for all you are doing and for being in control of all my situations and for having everything turn out for the highest good!

Today, I'm so tired that I can't see straight. Well, it is 4:18 a.m. right now, and I rilly, rilly, rilly want to crawl right back in to my cozy, welcoming bed instead of getting busy and making my juice. I think I will have some Rooibos tea and see if my body will be fooled into thinking it is getting caffeine from all the years I drank black tea. It's worth a shot, and Rooibos is so yummy!

What I'm Drinking:
I scored a whole bunch of rainbow chard, heirloom tomatoes, apples, bell peppers and carrots at Limbo yesterday. Limbo is my favorite produce stand--they have awesome prices on organic produce, they try very hard to get local first, and they routinely take their overstocks, put a ton of them in a bag, like a big bunch of swiss chard, 5 apples, one bell pepper and 2 cumbers, and sell them for a dollar! Yesterday I helped myself to 8 (!) dollar bags! Since I will be using up all that rainbow chard, I am calling today's juice Rainbow Juice. I think that's a good name for all the beautiful colors of produce that go into a good juice.

Yesterday, I juice beetroot greens, which I'm not fond of, but are good for you. It kind of made my juice taste icky to me all day. I want yummy juice today!

Emotional Detox:
Too much emotion coming in to process much old baggage right now. I am just resting in the wonder of being at peace and knowing that it's all going to be ok. I know not what the future holds, but I know WHO holds the future.

Physical Detox:
Because I have so much stored fat that is being metabolized, and fat is where your body stores toxins, I have a lot of detox, even when I am not juicing. I don't want people to think they will have all these joyous symptoms when they juice. Most people have just very mild things happen, and nothing all that bothersome. Most people did not start out over 400 lbs! I feel like detox symptoms are a small price to pay for many more years being added to my life. And honestly, I had tons more ugly symptoms BEFORE, when I was so heavy: terrible acne till I was 38, eczema, boils, weird dry flaky patches, skin yeast outbreaks, boils, all this on top of the sheer PAIN of dragging around that much weight, on my back, my joints, especially my knees and feet. The effort of just living, lugging around those pounds of pain, left me utterly exhausted.

Detox is a good thing! Better out than in. Yes!

Decluttering:
I came home from work yesterday to find that Nora had cleaned the whole house while I was at work! That was an awesome surprise! (Better than finding the remains of the dead kitchen table in my room! lol) She is a great kid! I am feeling lucky and happy. I've been doing my method of taking a box, and getting rid of 40 things, every day. Some goes in the garbage or recycle, and some goes in a box for charity. 40 things,every day. I thought it would be challenging, but it is not, a thought that gives me pause. (If I can get rid of 40 things daily, with very little compunction, it is pretty clear evidence that I HAVE TOO MUCH STUFF!) I am tossing toxic cosmetics and lotions and cleaning products, giving away too big clothes, and all the kitchen stuff from when I was a fabulous baker. Everything I release seems to have an attachment in me--I feel emotions well up as I let go of it. I'm thinking it's kind of like the emotions getting released that were present when you stuffed down food, that I think happens when you burn a lot of fat, quickly. The emotions I had when buying the stuff, or receiving it as a gift, are welling up as I release it. It is tough to process, hopping from a good riddance feeling, to a guilt at spending so much money on that feeling, to a "glad-I-don't-fit-in-that-anymore-but-sad-because-it-was-my-favorite" feeling, all in the course of a few minutes. It is a roller coaster ride! But when I am done, and the stuff is tossed or donated, I feel lighter, and freer. Stuff weighs you down, dudes. Better to bless someone else than carry all o' that around.


Don't Forget:
We are toasting Dave and sending him some love along with our juices and smoothies if you are so inclined. Toast Penni and Susan and anyone who has helped you along this path of radiant health and life abundant. Lift a glass and drink to their health, and to your own!

No comments: