The journey continues....

A Healthy Conspiracy

Juice feasting may be over, but you can still follow my path towards good health on my new blog: A Healthy Conspiracy. The journey that begun through juice feasting continues in the form of a healthy raw-food diet. I also explore the psychosomatic side of illness; healing through forgiveness and letting go of resentment. Please visit my new blog!

A Crunchy Conspiracy

I also have another new endeavor; A Crunchy Conspiracy. On this blog, I post yummy raw recipes. Make sure to stop by to find some tasty crunchy raw recipes!

In the meantime, this blog, A Juicy Conspiracy, will live on as a journal of my 92 days of juice feasting. If you plan on juice feasting, I think this will give you great insight on how this journey can play out. Juice feasting is a magical experience; it can also be quite a roller coaster ride. Remember always: take it one day at a time.

Thank you for stopping by,

- Ben Kaelan

Day 98 - Last day of feast-breaking

Well... That's it! I guess juice feasting is really over. What a great journey this has been! :)

Today was another fun-filled salad day. I kept things relatively simple again today. In fact, I opted for the same salads I had yesterday (more or less) since ... they just were so good. I had SO much energy today. It really was just amazing. Not only was I filled with energy but I was also MOTIVATED as hell to get things going in my apartment.

I emptied out all the nice ikea jars that were filled with non raw ingredients (couscous, lentils, flour, sugar, split peas, sushi rice, etc) and I put all of these into ziplock bags which will be donated shortly. I washed them all out and proceeded to start putting all my raw staples into them (nuts, dried fruits, etc). I'm going to need a few more jars :) My kitchen is starting to look more and more raw. I also took my microwave outside yesterday and put a sign on it that said "I still work - take me home". I'm happy to report, when I left for work this morning, my microwave had a new home.

I had a lot of fun reorganizing my kitchen. I guess it's that spring cleaning spirit eh?

Today I had:

8:00am
1.25L water+msm+lime
1 cascara sagrada cap

10:00am
1/2 a small watermelon
1 Intestinal movement cap

1:00pm
1 salad (baby spinach, avocado, alfalfa sprouts, sauerkraut, lime)
sun dried olives (so tasty and herby!!)
enzymes

4:00pm
flax crackers

5:00pm
1L water

7:00pm
Nori rolls (sprouts, baby spinach, avocado, carrot, cucumber, sauerkraut, mung bean sprouts, nama shoyu)
2 small chocolate macaroons
2 apples

10:00pm
1.5L grape/strawberry/orange

- - - - -

It's a bit weird to feel hungry and know that you can actually do something about it. :) Anyway... this journey is over and a new one is about to begin. This will be my last post on this blog (until perhaps there comes a time when I decide to juice feast again). In the meantime, you can continue to follow my healthy adventures at "A healthy conspiracy". I still need to work on making a graphic for that blog but it will come soon enough. Bear with me. :)

The reason why I'm 'moving' is to make this blog a resource that is more easily navigable should anyone wish to look at what I've done while juice feasting. I think that juice feasting was one novel... and "Phase II" as I like to call it is a sequel to this. Therefore, each should be its own 'book'. :)

There will be a really GREAT post on "A healthy conspiracy" tomorrow. I'm too pooped to do it now. :)

Hugs!

- Ben

PS: Thanks to everyone, once again, that has supported me on this journey, sent me love, advice and praise. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart. I truly feel honored to have such great friends on this road to health. :)

Day 97 - Orgasmic salad!

How freakin' wonderful it was to have a salad after all this time. I think I could honestly eat salad for the rest of my life and be completely content. I had the most orgasmic first salad ever... and it was QUITE basic. I wanted to keep things simple but healing at the same time. I used to drench my salads in dressing... I didn't want that at this stage anyway (I make a mean tahini-garlic dressing by the way!). A squeeze of lime was all this salad needed! :)

I also popped open a jar of raw unpasteurized sauerkraut yesterday and couldn't get enough of it. As I've mentioned before, I've been craving sauerkraut like mad but I've only ever had it once in my life at a raw food festival. This sauerkraut tastes nothing like the festival kind. It tasted like... dill-pickle Lays potato chips.... as crazy as that sounds. YUM!!

Halfway through the day, I realized I REALLY was craving juice like mad. I had no fruits left in the fridge so I hopped on the bike and went to the grocery store. I biked home with 40lbs of groceries in my backpack. Thank the Universe for that HUGE backpack I won at work a few years back! :P

The night ended with some tasty nori rolls. It was so much fun to make these. I think I made WAY too much though but I ate the whole thing anyway. :)

Today I had:

8:00AM Water+msm+lemon
1 Cascara Sagrada cap

10:00AM Half a watermelon (small)
1 Intestinal movement cap

1:00PM Orgasmic Salad: Avocado, Sauerkraut, broccoli sprouts, Alfalfa sprouts, baby spinach, arugula, sun dried olives, lime.

3:00PM Dates

7:00PM 1 Litre water

8:00PM 4 Nori Rolls with Carrots, Cucumbers, broccoli sprouts, Alfalfa sprouts, baby spinach, red onions. ( I was tempted to pop open the nama shoyu but I ate them as is)

9:00PM Pineapple/orange/blackberry juice (I was about to strain this through a nut milk bag because the samson juicer leaves little bits in the juice and then I realized... I don't have to do that anymore! YAY!)

11:00PM 2 small apples
2 Enzymes caps

(forgot to take probiotics today but given all the sauerkraut I ate, I don't think that's a problem!)

I'm DEFINITELY having another orgasmic salad tomorrow! :) You have no idea how intense the flavours were. The avocado felt sooo smooth and tasty. I don't think I've ever had a better-tasting avocado in my life! The sun-dried olives were DELICIOUS... I could taste each single herb. My sense of taste has been so incredibly heightened.

I think I have a surprise in store for you tomorrow... stay tuned ! :)

- Ben

PS: Ramona: you asked if I had bought a whole new wardrobe given the 30lbs I've lost. I haven't yet. I'm relying on belts to keep my pants up and I have a few pair of pants that I bought when I was skinner (I dropped to 145lbs when I was on the Pagano diet 2 years ago but quickly gained it back) that I'm wearing more often than others. I DESPERATELY want to go buy new clothes (and I have a 120$ gift certificate for RW&co sitting on my dresser) but I want to see how my weight evens out over the next month as I reintroduce solids. I'm expecting to gain back some weight...whether that's 5lbs or 10lbs or 15lbs remains to be seen. I honestly don't want to gain more than 5lbs because I REALLY like being 140-145lbs but we'll see if I can maintain this weight on a raw diet. *hugs* :)

Day 96 - More fruit.... (and some cheating!)

Today was another fruity fruity day... except for the bag of dulse I broke into later in the day.... I rationalized that the 12 hour difference from end of fruit day to beginning of salad day was negligible so I should be able to pull this off. I must be the first person in the world who feels bad about "cheating" on his diet with DULSE! Dear lord... it's so good for you! :P It's funny how I managed to stay on the straight and narrow and not cheat on the juice feast at all and somehow I couldn't wait 12 hours for a bag of dulse. LOL! Oh well... we all have our weaker moments eh? :)

My body is slowly getting used to the idea of having solids in it again. I'm starting to have regular BMs again and there was significantly less bloating today. My skin is having a major reaction to all this, though. I'm flaking A LOT right now. I'd be tempted to freak out right about now and run back to juicing but I have a feeling this is completely normal given the circumstances. I know that once I start eating salads again and tons of other yummy alkaline foods, this should get better.

I actually saw my chiropractor on day 94 and forgot to report this. It was actually time for my quarterly evaluation. My neck and back have had no pain in the last 2 months which is awesome! Whenever my chiro would adjust me during the juice feast, she would always comment on how fasting had made me much more malleable and receptive to the changes she was making through chiropractic adjustments. My evaluation went really well except when she went down each vertebrae to see if any subluxations were affecting my spine... she found TONS of them. Now.... when I first started going to the chiropractor.... I think I had 7 spots that weren't subluxated out of 56. Can you say majorly fucked up? Back in December, this reversed... so out of 56 spots. only 7 were subluxated. Major improvement!!

This number has now risen which is nuts. This means my spine has suddenly and recently gotten WORSE! My chiro was also surprised and said "you're not normally like this". She had a very simple explanation; through reintroducing solids into my system, I'm creating some chemical changes in my body and most of these changes happen in and will affect my neck area. It's normal apparently for me to feel some neck discomfort over the next little while.

I can only assume that these same chemical changes are affecting the psoriasis. I'm just going to wait it out and see what happens. There are a few "battle elements" I am going to introduce once we reach the end of the feast breaking period.

Anyway. Today was fun and very low stress; a contrast to what Fridays usually look like in our shop. Typically, the shit always hits the fan on Fridays. I actually got to leave early today and took the opportunity to go buy a very sexy OXO mandolin. *droooool* First of all, everything OXO makes is sexy. Second of all, this mandolin is hot. It even does waffle cuts which is great for bringing waffle slices of beets and carrots to work as a snack. :)

I also bought some pine nuts today... I now have all the ingredients I need to make my top-secret delicious pesto recipe. It's unlike any pesto I've ever had... so yummy! :) I'm saving this one for the cookbook. :) I hope to have some of that on Monday but I'm missing a spiralizer to make zucchini noodles. I need to go to the west end and buy one. I can do that next weekend and get a ride there or I can hop on the bus and get there in an hour and take another hour to get back home. Sigh. We'll see how motivated I feel.

Next weekend, my mom and I are going SHOPPING. We're going to IKEA (few items I need to pick up: a clever for young coconuts, LOTS of glass jars for all the nuts and dried fruits I now have...) and a few health food stores. I'm going to bring her to a vegan/raw restaurant in a hip part of town too! :) I also need to pick up some more tupperwear and some nifty lunch boxes I saw (well more like tupperwear) that have many compartments and a space for ice packs. These would be great for sushi, salads, wraps, sandwiches, etc. :) There's also an organic farmer's market in the south end of town I would love to go check out with her. There's even a company there that sells only RAW foods at really great prices. They sell sesame seeds for dirt cheap!! :)

Today I had:

7:00AM
1 cascara sagrada cap
1.25L water+msm+lemon
250ml soak water
260gr prunes!
250ml grape/blood orange/strawberry/acai
1 intestinal movement cap
2 probiotic caps

10:00 AM
1.25L celery/kale/cilantro+kelp+E3live+Hsalt
2 Enzymes caps

12:00 PM
2 cups of watermelon

1PM
half a mango
1/2 cup strawberries
half a cucumber

4PM
1.25L grape/blood orange/strawberry/acai

7PM
2 cups of strawberries
half a small watermelon
half a cucumber

9PM
Totally cheated!! EEP! :P I had 80gr of fresh tender tasty salty dulse! Mmmmm!!! :)
2 Enzymes caps

Tomorrow's salad day! Thank god! :) I can't wait to have me some sauerkraut! :)

- Ben

Day 95 - Fruit! Finally! :)

It’s fruit day! Consequently, this is the first day I’m actually been able to chew really flavorful things. There was no apprehension about the fruit, my friends. I really wanted some tasty yummy fruity goodness. The flavours of the fruits were SO intense... each mouthful was .... almost orgasmic! Here’s a quick overview of what today looked like:

Early morning:
1 Intestinal mouvement cap
1 Cascara Sagrada cap
2 Probiotics caps
260gr soaked prunes
250ml soak water

10AM:
1.25L celery/collar greens/parsley/dandelion

12:30PM:
Half a mango
¾ cup Strawberries
2 kiwis

2PM
1.25L grapefruit/blood orange/acai

4PM
Half a cucumber
1/3 of a pineapple

7PM:
6 or 7 kiwis
1 blood orange
1/3 of a pineapple

Before bed:
1 Intestinal movement cap

Today’s tummy adventures were a bit weirder. The good news is, the ‘plumbing’ is working again. Things are moving down there again. I got REALLY bloated yesterday though. It was not pleasant at all! But yea… all better now.

After work, I went to do ultra-super-duper-mega groceries. I spent roughly 350$ yesterday. Don’t faint or anything… most of that was raw staples; cold pressed oils, raw vinegars, raw nut butters, raw olives, raw nuts etc etc. I got tons of fun stuff to make salads! I especially wanted some SPROUTS. I also got some sauerkraut… can’t wait to have some of that. I think I should be allowed to have this during salad days.

When I got home and ate all those kiwis and pineapple, I managed to ‘burn’ my tongue really badly. You know when you eat too much acid fruit? I think it may have been the bromelain in the pineapple that dissolved my tongue! LOL. I guess that was too much pineapple and kiwis at once.

Bad Mamajama asked me what I use as probiotics. I use the 8 strain Adult blend by Udo’s choice. I find it in the refrigerated section of health food stores. It’s much more expensive than other probiotics but it’s also much better. I highly recommend it! Probiotic powders should only really be used for making yogurts. For therapeutic doses, use probiotics in capsules. Always go for probiotics capsules that are refrigerated for maximum benefit.

That’s all for today (finding it really hard right now not to bust open a bag of dulse and eat the whole thing!... temptation is in my cupboards again… oh my!)

- Ben

Day 94 - More prunes

Well it's day 94. I had that lovely long-awaited BM this morning which was good because I was really getting worried about how nothing was moving. The prunes tasted even better this morning. I actually set two alarms to wake up this morning; one at 3am to get up, add water to the prunes and go back to bed. The second alarm was to wake up at 6am to make more juice and get ready for work. By then my prunes were nice and plump. Mmmmm.

Today I had:

1 Intestinal movement cap
1 Cascara Sagrada cap
1.25L water+msm+lemon
230g soaked prunes
250ml soak water
1.5L pineapple/blood orange/strawberry
2.5L watermelon juice
1.5L grape/blood orange/strawberry
1 intestinal movement cap
Enzymes
Probiotics

(Did I mention how I feel like a pill-junkie right now?)

Thanks everyone for all the nice comments that continue to pour in. :) Very very sweet! :) Today was pretty uneventful. I biked to the grocery store after work to buy a bunch of fruit for tomorrow's fruit day. Super excited about that. I even got MANGO which I'm not the biggest fan of (other than in salad dressings) but for whatever reason... I'm CRAVING it right now. Yay!

Salad day can't come soon enough! hehehe! :)

- Ben

Day 93 - Prunes day, the full story

Day 93 was actually a really good day. I was supposed to take the day off work but there's just so much going on at work right now that I ended up working from home. I think that was a nice compromise. I was able to sleep in, make juices as I needed them and use my half-hour lunch to do a quick video of me eating prunes (which I'm glad you all enjoyed hehe!).

The post-prune moments were very uneventful. I mean, I wasn't sure if I'd get cramps, be running for the toilet, etc. Yea. It was just uneventful. I ended up taking cascara sagrada to get things moving down there. I had already taken an intestinal movement formula capsule early that morning to make sure things WOULD be moving... but yea. Nothing. By the time I was ready to go to bed, still nothing had happened. I took another intestinal movement formula capsule...waited a while... still nothing. This worried me but I went to bed nonetheless. (As I'm writing this on day 94, I can tell you now that things finally 'moved' the next morning. Yay!)

The prunes were kinda good :) Mushy... but good. I was able to eat nearly the whole 260 grams. Suddenly, when I only had 3 prunes left to go my body became adamant that it wanted no more.

Like I said in the video... this has been an amazing journey and I think the best part of this journey was juicing alongside all these other amazing people. Juice feasting just wouldn't have been the same without that kinship. I honestly believe I wouldn't have made it 92 days without this public forum...without this constant symbiosis of encouragement. I have SO many people to thank and I don't want to do it in any particular order (and I'm too lazy to do it alphabetically) so in no particular order... here goes :) Queue the academy awards music?

David and Katrina: you have opened my eyes to a whole new world and have gracefully nudged me towards a path to health. I know deep in my soul that you have forever changed my view of life and health and profoundly changed my inner self. Words cannot convey the gratitude I feel when I think of you two. Thank you so much for bringing juice feasting into my life and guiding me along the more tumultuous times. Thank you so much for all the time you have invested in the global juice feast; I love love love watching your videos! It's like I get to sit down with my water+msm everyday with you two and learn more about health. Thank you!! :)

Carrie & B: despite making me salivate all the time lately, whenever I view your blog... I have to say it's been a pleasure juice feasting alongside you. I can honestly say I've felt a strong kinship with those with whom I juice feasted closely with and you guys are part of that group. Thanks for all your advice along the way and your comments. I can't wait to see you guys and have some fun in NYC ASAP! :) Hugs!!! :) Can't wait to make you guys an awesome "thank you" dinner :P

Hanlie: thank you for commenting so often on my blog. I loved getting your comments all the time and they always put a smile on my face. It's really been great being on this journey with you and sharing the ups and downs of juice feasting. I'll never forget that poignant post for which I awarded you the juice feaster award. I am so proud of you for the commitment you've made for your health and your baby, who is waiting for the right moment to bless you with his/her presence. :)

Michelle: It's been great juicing through the ups and downs with you. I distinctly remember a point where we both were about to throw in the towel at the same time. It was great to know that I wasn't the only one feeling it. I'm really glad we both stuck it through! You're almost done too!! Isn't it crazy how fast this has gone? :) Hugs! Really appreciate all your comments throughout this. Thanks!

Poppy: My juicy sister! :) I loved how we were just a few days apart on this journey. Your blog continues to be an endless source of inspiration. Your writing is incredibly eloquent. I am thrilled to hear of all the positive things that are happening to you right now and am glad you've continued to blog. I definitely want to hear more about your raw-foodie adventures. :) Bisous!

Philip: You're almost there too! :) Thanks for all the great insightful comments and inspiring me to go to bed earlier (well... or trying to) and give up TV during weekdays. You're definitely and inspirational guy and I can't wait to see how your quest for health continues to unfold. What you've done so far is truly amazing! Can't wait to see you when I get to NYC later this Spring!

Kyle: I'll never forget that poop-post! I learned more about poop in one blog post than I knew all my life! Thanks for that :P hehe! Thanks also for all the great comments and the juicy camaraderie! It was awesome to juice feast alongside you :) Can't wait to hang out at Pure Food and Wine with you too :P *giggles*! :)

Kristi: You're another amazingly eloquent blogger that I am truly grateful to have crossed paths with. Thank you so much for sharing your inspirational journey with such insightful details. Definitely proud to have juiced through the cold climate with you! :) Thanks for all the great comments. I hope your computer lets you watch the video eventually; had a lot of fun making it. We'll have to swap raw-recipes soon :) Prunes tasted even better on day 94! :P

Mish: It's been especially nice to feast with someone who was going through the same issues I have. You're one positive ray of sunshine and I can't thank you enough for all that great advice when I was having that rough time with my mom. I also haven't had a chance to formally thank you yet for your amazing gift. I've been going through it and it's freakin' amazing! Thank you so much for sending that to me! I owe you one! :) That was really thoughtful. I know you're out in the middle of an ocean somewhere right now but... when you get to read this... Thanks and lots of love from Ben!!! :)

Malynda: Luuuuv ya! :) *giggles* Nope... Wasn't going to pass out... If I've learned anything throughout this juice feast it's to CHEW!!! I used to be a freakin' hoover and suck down food so fast. I'm not going to do that anymore! :) Aaanyway :) Thanks for making me giggle throughout this and encouraging me through the juice feast. It's really been great making a cool friend like you! :)

Lisa from NZ: Thank you so much for that great advice when that mysterious neck thing came about! Thank you for all the great comments along the way; juice feasting with a buddy like you has been great. To reply to your comment: I totally think, in retrospect, after having watched this video 20 times, that I was indeed high off prunes. It's still really weird to think that foreigners think I have an 'accent' :P But... as long as it's a pleasant sounding accent that's fine by me :P I dated a kiwi once and I liked his accent so hopefully the feeling was mutual... hmmm :P hehehe. Those were indeed some SCARY prunes; they were soaked which is why I think they looked so scary. Juicy on!

Nettle: My fellow Ottawan juice feaster; sorry we never made that juice-luck happen. Thanks for all the great Ottawa-advice. It was really great to juice feast with someone who knew the city, share tips and all. I definitely hope we get to meet soon. We'll have to go to the wild oat for a nice raw lunch sometime! :)
Lisa from TX: Thank you so much for your frequent visits and great comments..... and today's shout out! :) I feel so special!!! *loved* :) Loved the poem by the way... I feel so bad that I've been so swamped and haven't had a chance to thank you for that; super cute and super sweet! :)

Jessica: Where is my Jessica? Sniff sniff. I miss youuuu! Even if you seem to have disappeared, I couldn't do this thank you without thanking you because you ALWAYS brought a smile to my face throughout this juice feast. Your videos inspired me to juice feast alllllll the way back in October. You're a juicy superstar in my world; anyone who can juice feast with a baby, people cooking food around them and crazy-ass storms is a juicy hero in my books! :)

Penni: You're halfway done! That's awesome! Thank you so much for your frequent comments; I read them all and feel really bad that I haven't had a chance to visit everyone else's blogs lately. Totally love Trotter and Klein and will definitely have to post pictures of anything I make out of that cookbook. :) Big hugs!!! :) Still in awe of how radiant you look right now! :)

Loulou: Sorry again; been super swamped lately and have really been bad at keeping up with everyone's juicy journey. I really appreciate all the great uplifting comments (even if you thought you were trying to be my mom hahaha!) :) Hang in there... the last half of the juice feast goes by really quick! :) Just think of it in terms of weeks... you'll be amazed how quickly the countdown goes!

Jack & Jill: You guys seem to have disappeared but thanks for the award and the great comments and thank you for giving me the idea of fast tuesdays :) I think I need a break from juice for the next little but but I definitely will be stealing this idea from you soon :)

SUKI!!: Thank you so much for your advice :) Really appreciate it and yea... we totally need to hang out next time I'm in London. You'll have to show me where to get some yummy raw foods seeing as my favorite M&S Edamame salad is now off the list! :P

There are COUNTLESS other people who have touched my heart on this journey and my thanks goes out to you as well. I thank everyone who has left comments on this blog and encouraged me and cheered me up on the more challenging days. There are so many of you that are on this journey and I wish you all the best of luck. Thank you so much to Lynda, Terilynn, Ramona, bad mamajama (you can send all your cute gay friends my way!! no problem!!)... I hope I'm not forgetting anyone... everyone has been so amazing :)

Anyway.... this took hours to write so I better post it. I just really want to apologize to everyone though because I have been REALLY busy lately and haven't had a chance to keep up with everyone's blogs and ... yea.... I'll try to catch up soon enough. :) Hugs for everyone! :)

Shit I almost forgot:

Today I had:

1 Intestinal Movement cap
1.25L water+lemon+MSM
250ml soak water
230g PRUNES!
3L apple/kiwi
1 cascara sagrada cap
1 intestinal movement cap
probiotics

Today I also did:

3Km bike ride (to the grocery store and back...with 30lbs of groceries in my backpack)
Skin brushing
Zapper

- Ben

Day 93 - I ate the prunes!!! :)

A full write up of today's events will follow but I couldn't wait to post this. :)



The video (sorry it's poor quality) I took on Day 1 can be found here :) Can you see the difference? :)

PRUNES!!! :)

- Ben

Day 92 - Last juicy day

"Life is flowing. It is a river, a constant flux.

People think of themselves as static. Only things are static, only death is unchanging ~ life is constantly changing. More life ~ and more change. Abundant life ~ and there is tremendous change each moment."

Osho

Well that sums it up. I got this in my inbox this morning and I think it was incredibly appropriate given the momentous day that is today. Not much to report, honestly. I had an aversion to green juice, still, today so I started off the day with watermelon juice and had green juice later in the afternoon. At least I got some green juice, right? I biked over to the health food store to pick up some probiotics and a few more juicy ingredients to keep me going this week. I think I might be going shopping for groceries everyday this week because of how daunting this whole feast breaking thing is. I really need to sit down today and plan out what I'm going to be eating over the next week. This seems so anal retentive for someone who likes to be spontaneous in the kitchen. Sigh. :)

Oh! Actually I do have one weird thing to report. While at work, after drinking some watermelon juice... I got some really intense stabbing pains in my stomach, much like the ones I had on days 2-3-4. I have no idea how or why this happened because I haven't had these pains since then. I wasn't too concerned though. I was kind of humbled by the pain because I took it as a sign that my body had come 'full circle' and was ready for the next phase. The pains passed after 15 minutes which was nice! :)

I got home and had TONS of energy. I found myself doing a lot of cleaning. I felt really motivated. I think it's because I felt so rested from having a weekend off. I remember hearing someone say that motivation is like a gas tank and the more you work yourself hard, the less you have any motivation for other things... and that people who are well rested and take more time for themselves can gradually rebuild their motivation 'tank' and feel more motivated to accomplish the things that are important to them. It's interesting how I could have the perseverance to only drink juice for 92 days, get up at 5AM to make juice every morning
and work two jobs throughout this experience... but yet I have no motivation to take out the trash when I get home. LOL. I'm just hoping that I'll have MORE free time now that I'm not juice feasting. I'd like to continue getting up early but do half an hour of yoga instead of 2 hours of juicing.

After that cleaning-spree I pretty much vegged for the rest of the night. I ended up passing out on the couch and waking up around midnight. That hasn't happened to me in ages. This is something that used to happen ALL the time pre-juice feast. My friends and I
used to joke that I was narcoleptic. I would sleep on the couch at LEAST 50% of the time. Juice feasting really seems to have cured much of the fatigue I was experiencing, but more importantly... it seems to have helped with this weird narcolepsy I was experiencing. When I feel sleepy now, I just go to bed.

Anyway. Today (on this momentous day) I had:

3.25L watermelon juice
1.5L pineapple/blood orange
1.25L celery/black kale/cilantro/parsley+E3live+kelp+Hsalt
2L grapefruit/blood orange/acai

8 litres on this last juicy day! :)

Today I did:

Skin brushing
Zapper (someone asked me where I got this.... I got it at: www.worldwithoutparasites.com
8KM bike ride (5 miles)

Well that's all :) Prunes are soaking as we speak! :)

I'm making a wee video tomorrow so if anyone has any questions you'd like to hear me answer on video, now is the time :)

Oops! I almost forgot to mention. I had an TREMENDOUS amount of encouraging and poignant comments from A LOT of people yesterday on blogger, facebook, msn, etc. I've had comments from people who have been reading this blog all along who have never commented before (thanks for finally saying hello!), people with whom I've had the pleasure of sharing this juicy journey (love you guys!) and some of my real life friends that I was worried just wouldn't 'get it'. Who can blame them right? It does sound a bit crazy at first. Even my coworkers were happy about it!! It's kinda funny too because they were really concerned when I first started this.

Anyway... all that to say, I really appreciate all the comments from all my readers and I plan to keep on blogging so I hope you keep on reading! :) It was really heartwarming to get all these comments yesterday and I thank each and every one of you. :)

- Ben

I just woke up on Day 92...

A full post of today's events will follow (later tonight) but... I just woke up and had to do a happy dance because it's day 92 and I FREAKIN' DID IT!!! :)

You know.... back in October, I had no idea if I would have the willpower to drink juice and ONLY juice for a full 92 days. Giving up solid food for that length of time is something absolutely extraordinary. As much as I've 'bitched' about wanting to binge on pesto for the last three months.... I'm truly happy I've done this.

Anyway that's all for now :) I just woke up today and felt like I had crossed the finish line and had to do a wee post to celebrate. I've gotta get in the kitchen and make some juice now! :)

- Ben

PS: Tomorrow... at this time.... I'll be SOAKING PRUNES!!! Whahahaha! Pruuuuuuuuunes! :)

Day 91 - The only greens I want are in salad form

I've been a bad juice feaster today and I could care less. It's almost over! LOL. I didn't want any green juice today so I figured "hell... why not?" So I just drank a lot of kiwi-apple juice and watermelon juice. That's it! I really want some greens... but I want them in salad form.

I think the hard part about feast-breaking will be waiting to have some salads! LOL. I guess there was so much emphasis on day 92... well really.... I don't see myself feeling "free" until salad day.

It's funny. I feel a bit bi-polar sometimes when it comes to juice feasting. I really enjoy it... but sometimes I really hate it too! *giggles* Today was a "I can't wait to be done with this" day.

I want shitake mushrooms!

I took a look at my 'before pictures' today (which I haven't looked at since I took them on day 1) and noticed A LOT of changes. I think I'll post a few pictures after all. I really wish my chest had healed more though... but that's what Phase II is for. :)

Today I had:

1.25ml water+msm+lemon
5.5L watermelon
3L apple/kiwi
2Tbsp bee pollen

Tomorrow's the last juicy day!!! :)

- Ben

Day 90 - Bedroom Bliss

It's day 90 and juice feasting truly is coming to a close. As most of you know, this has been my second weekend off since August of last year. I decided today would be a mandatory "stay in bed all day" day. Pure utter bliss!

I made juice, went back to bed and only got up to get mason jars out of the fridge and to go pee! :P I flipped through all those cookbooks I got and somehow didn't get madly hungry. My favorite cookbook by far is "Raw" by Charlie Trotter. I cannot believe how beautiful this cookbook is. I have to admit... the recipes are daunting and this is definitely not your 'tuesday dinner' type of cookbook. It's beyond five star 'cooking' in my opinion. But that's the kinda thing I like ;) Beautiful. I think this cookbook will live on my coffee table. :)

My second favorite so far is Ani's cookbook mainly because there are tons of recipes without nightshades. I find so many raw recipes have tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes and peppers as main ingredients. It makes it really hard when you're trying to avoid those ingredients.

Totally happy with my purchases. Holy shit though... "Conscious eating" is the size of a bible! (actually... I think bigger than a bible!).

I watched "Crazy Sexy Cancer" today and it was really inspiring. :)

I think maybe something I'll need to do when I start eating again is plan out all my meals a week ahead of time. I need to make a little calendar and write out everything I'm going to eat. I think this will help me stay on track with an alkaline diet and also ensure I don't waste any produce. I'm kind of "getting" what people who have stopped juice feasting are talking about when they mention how they find it overwhelming and confusing choosing what to eat. I think the 'calendar' will help with that :)

....Did I mention how awesome it was to stay in bed all day? :)

Today I had:

1.25L water+lemon+msm
1.25L celery/kale/spinach/dandelion+E3live+Hsalt+kelp
2.5L watermelon juice
3L apple/kiwi
2Tbsp bee pollen

Today I did:

MSM lotion
Stay in bed all day
Inspirational DVD
Napping
(I really need to start exercising again! Le sigh!)

Okay... totally random but... I just got the SWEETEST comment on facebook from my friend and former colleague (from my old flight attendant days) Robyn:

So Mister Ben, I have been reading up on what you have been accomplishing and have been reading your blog and I have to say that I am very impressed. But I guess I always knew that when you said you were going to do something you did and you did it well. CONGRATS!

Robyn... you're so SWEET! :) *hugs* It's still very weird for me to think that my 'real life' friends are reading this blog sometimes. Maybe that's because I talk about enemas so much on here ;) Hahaha. Whatever... in the flight attendant world, we ended up talking about our insides lots... stupid cabin pressure made us bloat like 3 month pregnant women! :P

That's all for today! :)

- Ben

Day 89 - My cookbooks are here!

Yesiree Bob! My cookbooks have arrived. Unfortunately, I didn't have a cute delivery guy as pictured above. I got home to a door hanger advising me I had to go pick up my package at the post office. That's a 30lbs box and I have no car! Solution? Bring the box home Africa-style. I balanced that box on top of my head and made my way home. Honestly, it's the easiest way to carry boxes if you have a good sense of balance. It didn't even feel like I was carrying anything at all!


The pile of books is currently precariously balanced on my night-table and I'm in bed. I plan to stay here (in bed) all day tomorrow and flip through all these books. Yay!

Did I mention that... it's midnight right now and I'm not at work? Urgh... It's going to be so nice to have a weekend off and give my body a break from changing its internal clock.

Anyway... I thought I would have some fun tonight before going to bed so I'm stealing Hanlie's little Friday fun thing: The bucket list. It's a bit corny but here's my top 10 things to do before I croak.

1. Visit Easter Island

2. Make my way through a hedge maze (a really big one!)

3. Go eat at Pure Food and Wine (soon!!)

4. Live in Berlin for a year or two

5. Live in Costa Rica (again... but for longer)

6. Get married (hey! It's legal in Canada, Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands!)

7. Have flawless skin (soon too!)

8. Study at the Hippocrates Institute and the Living Light Culinary Institute

9. Write my own cookbook (soon!)

10. Eat some PESTO!!!! (hahahaha! Soon too... in a week!)


Well that was fun :)

Now onto business. Today I had:

1.25L water+msm+lemon
1.25L celery/kale/parsley/dandelion (whoa! too much parsley today!)
2L grape/blood orange/strawberry/acai
3L watermelon
1.75 pineapple/pomegranate/strawberry/blood orange (possibly the tastiest juice yet!)
2 Tbsp bee pollen
Enzymes

Today I did:

Skin brushing
6.5km biking (in the rain!)
1.6km walk

Lots 'o love

- Ben

Day 88 - Nut mylk bag suicide

Well, this morning was interesting. My nut mylk bags decided to commit collective suicide. One of them literally ripped in half (well not literally… but … ripped in quarter isn’t really common parlance). The other one has a giant hole in it. I’ve been double bagging for a while… but there’s no way I could go on with this. I really was hoping I could make it to the end of juice feasting without buying some more nut mylk bags.

Luckily today was mega-groceries day which means my dad drives my non-driver’s-license-carrying-ass around town to get groceries. We made a pit stop so I could go pick up some nut mylk bags at SimplyRaw. Phew! Crisis obverted!

Oh! I also bought PRUNES today. PRUNES! It felt so weird buying them, after all this time. I mean, I used to go to the grocery store and just stare at them. Now I finally get to buy them. Yipee. I also bought some wasabi powder (some natural stuff with no artificial colorants etc). I can’t wait to have some good raw sushi and I definitely needed to invest in some healthy wasabi.

I still have a few things on my shopping list. Essentially, what I bought today was enough to carry me until Wednesday (Prune II day). I plan to go back to the health food store and buy more ‘watery veggies and fruits’ for “fruit I and II day” and stuff for “salad I and II days” later on next week. I definitely need to go buy some probiotics for when I start eating again. I was re-reading feast-breaking in Angela’s ebook and apparently I need to get some stuff to strengthen my colon? Fuck… I thought I was done buying supplements. Sigh. I guess I’ll go look for some Triphala or something on Monday when I go buy some probiotics.

Today I had:
1.25ml water+msm+lemon
1.25L celery/spinach/apple+E3live+maca+kelp+Hsalt (NASTY SHIT!)
3.5L watermelon juice
1.75L pineapple/blackberry/blood orange
1.75L red globe grape/blood orange/strawberry/acai
2Tbsp Bee pollen
Enzymes

Today I also did:

Skin brushing
6.5KM biking (4 miles)

Well that’s all for today! :)

- Ben

Day 87 - My class is almost full !!! :)

There's only 2 spaces left for both my "Asian dinner party" raw cooking class and my "Raw decadent desserts" class. Whooo hooo! This is really neat because they only posted the class 2 days ago!

I managed to catch my director today and ask him if I could take Tuesday (prunes day) off as a personal day. He said yes and I mentioned how, given the huge workload I have right now, I'll work from home that day, need there be. That works for me!

This weekend will be my first weekend off in a while... well at least, the first weekend off since August 2007 that I haven't had to BEG to get off. Whooo hooo! I think Saturday will be a "stay in bed all day". I'm getting up only to make juice and to go pee. If I knew how to install a catheter to avoid doing the latter every half hour, I would do that! hahaha. The joys of juice feasting eh? While in bed, I plan to finalize my menu... at least conceptually. I'll have to test it out next weekend. I think my brain has a flair for making recipes conceptually. I can't tell you how many times I've had recipe ideas come to me in my dreams. The challenge is going to be to stick to the budget I've been given. It's really tight! I have no idea how I'm going to make it work; I might have to buy conventional over organic and swap some ingredients... and pitch in (as in, take in part of the cost personally to make this work). Oh well... I'm doing it for the experience, not the cash right? :)

Today I had:

(ran out of MSM.... bought some later this evening for tomorrow)
1.25L celery/black kale/spinach+E3live+kelp+Hsalt
1.5L pineapple/blood orange/blackberry
4L watermelon juice
1.75L grapefruit/navel orange/acai
2Tbsp bee pollen
Enzymes

Today I also did:

Skin brushing
Zapper
Biking 6.5km (4 miles)

Picked up some Maca today! It finally arrived! Hopefully this means I won't be so cold all the time. Though, this is improving as Spring comes around. I also got my copy of "Crazy Sexy Cancer" DVD in the mail today... I'm saving that for the "weekend of fun". Cookbooks are still in Richmond BC apparently. Hopefully I'll get them by Friday! YAY!

- Ben

Day 86 - It's really starting to sink in now...

Typing "Day 86" was pretty weird just now. Jeez... these numbers are huge... Jeez... Day 92 is only 6 days away. Where the hell did the time go? Juice feasting was this insurmountable mountain just a few weeks ago. Juice feasting, a few months ago, was something I thought only a yogi on a mountain (with a vitamix) somewhere could accomplish. I'm almost done this thing. Sigh.

Don't get me wrong. I can't wait to have solid food again and have a bit of a 'honeymoon period' with raw foods again but... I can't help but wonder... will I miss juice feasting? I kind of think I will. As much as juice feasting is challenging and alienates you from the social norms... there's something really great about it.... a feeling of lightness perhaps. God... I hope I don't start feeling mega-bloated again.

I read a really great post on my lovely friend Kyle's blog. I think there's a piece worth quoting here:

"Essentially, I unfairly have put juice on a throne and convinced myself that by doing a long term feast it would magically "solve all my problems" and I would be trouble free at the "end" of this long hard journey. Well, folks, as much good as it did do, it certainly did not solve all of my problems [...]"

I feel so relieved to have read this post from someone who has just recently ended their juice feast. I must confess, when I started this juice feast, I too expected juice feasting to solve all my problems and I expected to be 100% psoriasis-free by the end of this juice feast. I'm not there yet. There have been many many improvements that only I can see. Namely, I don't vaccum everyday anymore. I'm flaking A LOT less. I'm not cracking or bleeding anymore. That being said, my arms still have large patches on them and my chest has a lot of healing left to do. On a more positive note, my legs are almost fully healed and my face has no patches on them whatsoever. I'm convinced that a raw diet high in greens will help the healing process further. Let's face it, I haven't been the "best juice feaster" out there. I'm doing a lot of fruit juices and not many green juices lately. There are green veggies I love eating in their natural form that I just can't stand in juices : romaine lettuce, cabbage, field greens, arugula... the list goes on. Once I start eating again, I'm sure this diet thing will balance itself.

With that being said, I have to disappoint everyone and tell you that I won't be posting "before/after" pictureson day 93. I hope you will all respect and understand my decision. I will, by all means, take the before and after pictures for documentary purposes but I won't post them until I've accomplished my goal of fully healing myself. I think juice feasting has spearheaded the healing process. I just don't want to post pictures and receive comments that may make me doubt the progress I know I have done. I don't want to feel like a failure in any minute form because my body didn't respond as quickly as I thought it would.

My plan right now is to focus on a healthy alkaline raw-foods diet high in greens and live foods and continue many of the 'life practices' I've learned through juice feasting. I plan to take another set of photos 3 months of now when I'm convinced more healing will have taken place.

I was VERY toxic and my psoriasis was really severe. It was a bit foolish of me to think I could heal it in 3 months... but the changes that I have experienced so far have been nothing short of miraculous. It may take another 3 months, it may take another year... but I *know* deep inside me that the healing has begun.... and that's what's important.

I hope I haven't disappointed anyone. I will post a video on day 93 (guess what, I have a video I did on day -1 that I never posted... so you guys will have a bit of a 'before and after' anyway!) :).

Today I had:

1.25L water+msm+lemon
1.25L celery/black kale/dandelion/cilantro
1.5L pineapple/blood orange/blackberry
4.25L watermelon
1.5L grapefruit/navel orange/acai
3Tbsp bee pollen
enzymes

Today I did:

Zapper (with a new battery!)
13km (about 8 miles) of biking (I biked to Hull to dismantle my kiosk only to found out someone had already done it... such a waste of time... but at least I exercised!)

Oh... are you wondering about today's picture?? I found money in my mailbox today!!! A 90$ GST refund in my mailbox today along with a letter from Starbucks. I worked at Starbucks last year for about a month when I got laid off; I needed a job and ANY job would do until I found something better. Well apparently there's a 200$ cheque somewhere out there that starbucks sent me that was never cashed! They're sending me a new one! COOOL!!! 290$ in my pocket! :) That totally pays for the cookbooks I just bought.... but... I'm tempted to use this money to buy a 9 tray dehydrator now! LOL (I only own a small 4 tray apartment sized Excalibur right now).

I didn't get a chance to talk to my director today seeing as I was mega-busy and he was in and out of the office. I'll try to catch him tomorrow and ask him about taking a 'personal day' on next Tuesday.

That's all folks,

- Ben

Day 85 - One week to go!

Next Monday will be my last 'juicy day'. Everyone at work is very excited about this and I keep getting questions like "what are you going to eat?" "are you afraid of shocking your system?" "when is your last juicy day?". It's cute! :) My coworker and cell-mate (our cubicles are in the same cluster... people joke we're cell-mates) Eileen actually has April 14th marked on her calendar as "Ben's last juicy day".

I'm considering taking Tuesday (AKA "prunes day") off. I think this would be a good idea... or maybe ask my Director if I can work from home that day. I don't see myself working and eating prunes or feeling rushed in the morning to eat them, have a BM and rush to work. I feel I should take that day to reflect and meditate. What do you think?

I had a kiosk to set up this morning at 7am so I was up at 4AM making juice again. Luckily I had a ride to where I was going so I didn't have to worry about biking to the event with my juices or taking a cab or whatever. That was nice. :) I think kiosks won't be the bane of my existence once I stop juice feasting. I now realize the reason why they annoy me so much is that the logistics of doing kiosks seems to impede on my juice routine and therein lies the source of my aggravation.

Today I had:

1.25L water+msm+lemon
1.25L celery/spinach/dandelion/cilantro
1.5L pineapple/blood orange/pomegranate
3L watermelon juice
1.5L apple-kiwi
3Tbsp bee pollen
enzymes

Today I did:

Skin brushing
(no biking today!)

Well that's all for today. I CAN'T wait for my cookbooks to get here!! They were shipped from Vancouver today so hopefully I'll get them by the end of the week! :)

- Ben

Day 84 - I'm free!

Well, that's it. No more second job. Today was my last shift at the hotel. I was totally wired by the end of it and I spent most of the day watching tele and vegging out. I can't wait to spend my free weekends making tons of food in the dehydrator hehehe.

Today I had:

(shit...forgot the msm again!)
1L celery/spinach/dandelion/cilantro+E3live
3L watermelon juice
1.5L apple-kiwi
1.5L grapefruit/orange/acai
2Tbsp bee pollen
Enzymes

Today I did :

Skin brushing
5Km bike ride

Sleep: 10:00 - 12:00
TV: loads and loads of TV... it's TV day today. Finally caught up on Idol... again! :) Where are my new episodes of House??? Stupid writer's strike! Grrr!

- Ben

Day 83 - Shop 'til you drop!

I freakin' love Barbara Kruger!

Day 83 started like the average Saturday except... I was a man on a mission. I finished work at 8am and took the bus home. I slept from 9:00 to 11:00 and got up to make some juice. I packed those two juices in my backpack and biked all the way 'across the border' (the Quebec border, that is) to go get a haircut. I've had the same hairdresser since I was 15... I like to joke that most people are more loyal to their hairdressers than their spouses lol! Mine is amazing; we speak the same language. I have impeccable trust in her. Sometimes I just let her decide what to do; colour, cut, everything. Today I knew exactly what I wanted... and I forwent getting colour done. I figured, I've done so much detoxing... why add more toxins back in? Luckily, most of the highlights I had from December are still showing with this new cut.

After the cut, I went to the bookstore to get a 270$ gift card so I could buy a plethora of cookbooks online... more on that in a bit.

I also realized I had forgotten to set the kiosk and materials aside for my delivery guy to pick up on Sunday night so I had to bike to work to do that. I totally didn't care that I was "at work" on Saturday (meh, it took 15 minutes). It was SO nice outside and biking around the city was bliss!

I finally biked to Rogers to pay my cell phone bill (which was way overdue! oops!) and biked home. Total: 20KM (12.5 miles) ! The worst part was.... I was running on 2Tbsp of bee pollen for most of that. I only had my green juice after hitting the bookstore. Juicy power baby!!! :)

Today I had:

1.25ml water+msm+lemon
1.25L celery/spinach/dandelion/cilantro
1.75L pineapple/blood orange/acai
1.25L grapefruit/blood orange/acai
1.5L apple/kiwi
4Tbsp bee pollen+agave (eep! ... though I'm sure my body needed that after biking so much)

Today I also did:

Skin brushing
25.5 Km (16 miles) bike ride (added in the 11:30PM bike ride to the hotel)
Got some sun!! :)

Sleep: 09:00-11:00 | 18:30 - 21:00
TV rule: cheated; watched TIVO'd "The Matrix"

Oh so in case you're wondering.... here's what my shopping spree included:

Books:

- Detox your world - Shazzie
- Detox delights - Shazzie
- Living on live foods - Alyssa Cohen
- Conscious Eating: Second Edition - Gabriel Cousens
- Rainbow Green Live-Food Cuisine - Gabriel Cousens, Tree Of Life Cafe Chefs
- I Am Grateful: Recipes And Lifestyle Of Cafe Gratitude - Terces Engelhart, Orchid
- 12 Steps to Raw Foods: How to End Your Dependency on Cooked Food - Gabriel Cousens, Victoria Boutenko
- Raw Food Made Easy: For 1 or 2 People - Jennifer Cornbleet
- Raw - Charlie Trotter
- Living Cuisine - Renee Underkoffler
- Ani's Raw Food Kitchen: Easy, Delectable Living Foods Recipies - Ani Phyo
- Raw - Juliano
- The Raw Gourmet - Nomi Shannon

Ebooks :

Easy Entrees - Kristen Suzanne http://www.kristensraw.com/
Desserts - Kristen Suzanne http://www.kristensraw.com/
Raw 'n Delish - http://www.rawndelish.us/

DVD:

Crazy Sexy Cancer - Kris Karr

Misc:

Perfect Pickler - Whooo hooo!! Sauerkraut!! :)

..... I think it's time for an intervention... no? :P

- Ben

Day 82 - Crazy Juicy Monkey Mayhem

Today was just one of those days at work; I had a million and a half things to do and somehow the shit was hitting the fan left, right and center. I was also asked to run to the other campus (twice) to drop off stuff for a very high-level event. Somehow I managed to get done everything that needed to get done.

I biked to work this morning figuring that the weather network would be accurate; they announced 3mm of rain in the afternoon. I figured I could bike through that. Nope! Totally started snowing in the early afternoon...and snowing a lot! Luckily by the time I left work it had turned to light rain and the roads were just wet... no trace of snow. Once I start biking, I seriously start having an aversion to taking the bus.

I got home and found out that one of the workshop presenters can't teach his workshop that weekend and consequently... I've been asked to teach TWO workshops on raw food in one day! This is exciting cause I get DOUBLE the time. I'm thinking "Asian dinner party" (appetizers, sushi, noodle dish) and "Raw Decadent Desserts I" will be the themes for my workshops. I'm trying as hard as I can to come up with desserts that won't require sitting in the fridge overnight (what's the point of that? you come to a workshop, you wanna taste the food right?). I think I have it figured out.... this is going to take some experimenting. There's definitely going to be a raw date square in there... I'm seriously craving that lately :)

Today I had:

(skipped the water+msm and felt it all day :( poo!)
1.25L celery/red kale/cilantro/dandelion greens+kelp+E3live+Hsalt
3L watermelon juice
1.5L grape/blood orange/strawberry
1.5L grape/blood orange/strawberry/acai
1.75L pineapple/pomegranate/blood orange
1.25L celery/black kale/cilantro/dandelion greens+E3live+Hsalt
1Tbsp bee pollen+agave
Enzymes

Holy shit... I just did the math just now... that's 10.25L of juice! New record lol! That's kinda nuts when you think that your average water-cooler holds 18L jugs of water. I drank more than half a water-cooler jug worth of juice! LOL

Today I also did:

Acupeds
Zapper
Skin brushing
6.5 KM (4 miles) bike ride to work

Sleep: 0:00 - 06:00 + 18:00 to 21:00

Poop report! My coworker at the hotel, Laura, was curious about my poop today! LOL. I thought I would mention, not only am I still having solid BMs on day 82... but I'm having MORE BMs than when I started juice feasting. I'm going 2-3 times a day like 'normal people' which is great. For the life of me, I don't understand where it's coming from but I just shrug and flush now. This pretty much started with the parasite cleanse... which I'm still unsure accomplished anything but giving me clove-flavored burps. Meh! It's preventative right? :)

Schalf gut!

- Ben

Day 81 - Mega groceries and mega watermelons

I must admit, I'm happy today was my second last 'mega groceries' day. I'm wondering just how much money I'm going to spend on a raw food diet now.... I hope it's a bit less than what I'm spending on juice feasting now. I know when I was raw last year (little greens, lots of nuts) I was spending less money. I definitely want a diet that's mainly fruits and vegetables with 10-15% nuts/fats. I was getting way too much protein and fat on my last raw attempt...and that's typical of raw-newbies. Summer's also coming so this means I'll be able to go to the organic farmer's market to get a lot of stuff.

Watermelons are hard to find right now but my dad said he had seen some at Cosco. I hate Cosco with a passion. First of all, all the food in there is processed to no end and sold in huge portions. I noticed something about Cosco for the first time yesterday: there are a lot of overweight people shopping there. The painful thing was seeing my dad buy all this junk for him and the family. A 4 pack of double chocolate chip cookies, 2 huge bags of dorito corn chips, turkey burgers, a huge box of beef jerky.... the only healthy thing I think he bought was a 4 pack of orange juice (pasteurized but still 100% pure). I bought 4 VERY BIG watermelon.... I did, afterall, buy them at Cosco... and they are known for selling things "bigger". I was a bit annoyed that I could have gotten 4 times the amount of organic strawberries for the same price... though, the Cosco strawberries were not organic. I think it's especially important to buy organic when it comes to berries and fruits that don't have thick skins. I really hate to admit it but... I was getting some MAJOR cravings for certain foods when I was in there........ namely pesto (of course!), chocolate croissants, bean salads, tabouleh, tortilla chips, breton crackers, artichoke hearts, mini quiches, smoked meat...... oh yea... I'm not kidding AT ALL... this kid was craving SMOKED MEAT! I needed to get out of that store...fast. I was kind of sad when I realized I won't be able to have "smoked wheat" (a mock smoked meat made of soy and wheat gluten) anymore. That stuff was really good once in a while... with tons of mustard on white bread.

And I thought vegans were "healthy". LOL. Well we are for the most part... but we succumb more and more easily to 'processed foods' as the vegan thing becomes more mainstream and more businesses start to cater to that demographic.

My dad did tell me he was pretty impressed and 'tips his hat' to me for making it this far into the juice feast. That felt pretty good :) My dad has been amazing through this...driving me to 3-4 different places to get all the ingredients I need for a week of juice feasting. He's also pitched in a few times (buying a crate of coconuts here, watermelons there, etc). I have amazing parents... now if only I could get them to change their dietary habits a bit... Soon! :)

I got tons of goodies this week! Very exciting!

Today I had:

1.25L water+msm+lemon
1.25L celery/red kale/cilantro/parsley+E3live+kelp+Hsalt
1.5L grapefruit/blood orange/blackberry/acai berry
1.75L orange/apple/carrot
1.5L pineapple/blood orange/acai

Today I did:

Skin brushing
Acupeds
6.5 KM (4 miles) bike ride to work
(legs still hurting a bit... got to work a bit faster)

That's all for today! :) I have more exciting news for tomorrow! Stay tuned!

- Ben

Day 80 - It's Q & A day

Hello everyone. It's day 80! I can honestly see the finish-line in the distance. It's unreal that this journey is soon coming to an end. There is a part of me that will miss juice feasting... probably more than I care to admit it. I remember (when I first heard about juice feasting last year and read Angela's blog in its entirety) reading about she actually wanted to KEEP ON juice feasting. I didn't get it. I kind of get it now in a way... but I don't have that desire. I'm definitely ready for solid foods.

On that note... I've received a few questions lately and I wanted to take this opportunity to answer them.

Mish asked: How many times did you wanna quit?

I'm sure, unconsciously, several times per day. I'm sure every time I had a craving for pesto, there was a part of me that wanted to throw in the towel. That being said, I didn't feel an overwhelming need or "want" to quit. Those daily 'wanting to quit' moments were maybe a "2" on a scale of 1 to 10. I did have a few moments that were "8"s or "9"s though. Maybe 2 or 3. I remember wanting to quit around day 3-4 when I kept getting really intense pains in my stomach... but the desire to heal was stronger. I will definitely say that something weird tends to happen between day 30-50... there was a period there that I honestly was secretly ready to quit but decided I would make it to day 50 to prove one of my friends wrong (who told me I wouldn't make it past day 50)... once at day 50 I decided I would go to at least day 60. At day 60 it got a lot easier. That second month is killer though... I can see why many people chose to end their feast during the second month; you've already accomplished so much and yet the finish line seems so far away still. All I have to say is David's wise advice kept me sane on my most challenging days: everyone juice feasts for just one day: today. This became my mantra. Just focus on today. Don't look towards the finish line... just get through today. This is the same advice they give alcoholics at AA ("one day at a time") and it works:

In the first few rocky days of recovery, just abstaining for that moment, hour, etc. is truly all we can do. If we can't do that, there's no point in worrying about tomorrow, or next week, or whenever. The One Day at a Time philosophy has benefits far beyond the early days in recovery. It can keep us grounded in the present – that Holy Instant that is so easy to miss in a busy and productive life.

My coworker Eileen asked me a really neat question: Have you decided what your "last juice" will be?

Now... I was quick to point out that there is no such thing as a 'last juice'. Juicing will continue to be a life practice that I will embrace for the rest of my life. Now, she of course knew this... but what she meant was... did I plan on celebrating my last juice feasting day (day 92) by having a special juice to end that day. I never gave this that much thought... but she's right... that day is as important as the pivotal "soaked prunes day". I think I will definitely try to have the ingredients on hand to make some "Ben's orgasmic 69" juice (see day 69).

I also got the following question from an anonymous user: Ben, do you think you'll be strictly raw vegan now? or go back to some cooked?

This is a question I've asked myself several times before and during the juice feast. I still don't have a firm answer. I have come to a few conclusions, however. I believe that the true path for me is raw-veganism and I will definitely happily and willingly embark once again on the raw-bandwagon. I did realize that the pitfall of my previous attempt at going raw was adopting an 'all or nothing' attitude. The night on which I put an end to my last raw attempt, I binged on an entire butternut squash I had cooked in the oven... I felt so inherently guilty... like a weight-watchers champ would feel after caving an eating an entire box of Krispie Kreme doughnuts. But really... there are WORST things out there than cooked butternut squash. With that in mind, I'm going to be 'easy on myself'. My goal will be 100% raw... but if I so choose to have the occasional steamed artichoke or steamed butternut squash... I'm not going to run to the raw-confessional and do 10 hail-Wigmores. I'm definitely going to try my best to not ever have wheat products again... but I fear that the addiction to wheat is stronger than we realize it is. I do feel that through juice feasting though, I have been able to detox myself of most of my addictions to cooked foods (for the exception of artichokes and butternut squash... for whatever reason, I really want those!). I also have a strong craving for the Quiznos veggie sub but alas, I think that's one craving that I'll have to live without in my post-feast life. I'm toying with the idea of having a "cooked day" once per month where I allow myself to have cooked foods (as long as they be whole-foods and wheat-free) in a completely guilt-free setting. I also feel that when going to restaurants, I may allow myself to have some cooked whole foods in much the same manner. But to wrap this up and quit rambling... yes... the goal is 100% raw... with some occasional guilt-free flexibility.

I'm actually really excited about salad and greens... as much as I'm a bit apathetic towards green juices at the moment... I must admit, I can't wait to be getting in MORE greens in my diet in the form of SALADS! :) I also can't wait to have my morning cilantro smoothies and some green soups. I'll definitely become a fan of the 'four means to get your greens' methodology. :)

Penni didn't know it... but she inadvertently asked a question that I want to answer: I can't wait to eat vicariously through you once you are back on whole foods. I know you'll have some really good stuff for all of us, won't you?

Yes! Tons of good stuff. I'll feel bad to torture you poor juice feasters that I leave behind, as I transition back to solids but... I love being in the kitchen and conjuring up recipes and you can bet your mason jars I'll be creating raw-delights and posting them on a raw-vegan blog that I'm already working on. I had a vegan (cooked) recipe blog for a while (see left-hand link column) and I plan on creating one with raw recipes too.

Lisa asked: Are you going to keep blogging???

You bet your Vitamix, I am! I will most likely stop blogging on THIS specific blog so that people can quickly reference my juice feast without having to skim through tons of additional stuff. I plan on creating two new blogs:

"A healthy conspiracy" will document my daily activities, what I eat, how my healing is progressing, etc...

"A crunchy conspiracy" will be my raw recipe blog where I plan to post recipes and LOTS of raw-food porn. :)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I think that covers all the questions. If I've ever missed a questions of yours, by all means, ask me on this post. If you have any more questions... now's the time. I'll do another Q & A post come day 90 if I get enough questions... otherwise I'll just answer your question personally. :)

Today I had :

1.25L water+msm+lemon
1.25L celery/red chard/cilantro/parsley+E3live+kelp+Hsalt
3L watermelon juice
1.5L apple-kiwi
1.5L berry berry good juice
(blood orange/grape/strawberry/blackberry/acai berry)
10 parasite pills
Enzymes
2Tbsp bee pollen+agave
dipped into the honey ... :(

Today I did:

Acupeds
Zapper
Skin brushing
6.5 KM (4 miles) bike ride to work (so out of shape!!)
Chiropractic adjustment

Actually.. about the bike ride to work... biking with 5 litres of juice in a backpack is HARD WORK. Holy moly! Maybe I'm not so out of shape hahaha. :)

My chiropractor keeps saying how smooth the skin on my face is. :) I'm still annoyed at that red spot on my nose which my chiro said is barely noticeable. She mentioned that although, yes, that spot is linked to the small intestine... that doesn't necessarily mean that it has to do with the intestines as much as it has to do with absorption... it was cryptic but I'm happy I'm taking enzymes again because I liked how I felt while I was taking those. Mmmm Enzymes! :)

- Ben

Day 79 - What a day!

I woke up today and felt really intensely depressed for no reason. I hated my life, I hated my job... I honestly would have taken a personal day and wallowed in self-pity but I had a kiosk to host today at work.

Things got better when I got to work and had some juice. I ended up taking the bus home and once I got home I decided I should go to the health food store and pick up a few things. Seeing as it was such a nice day and the roads were looking safe again, I decided it was time to bring out the bike. It was SUCH a windy day though and I quickly realized... after not having biked all winter... that I was really out of shape! My legs were killing me!

I bought tons of veggies and fruits and even some frozen unpasteurized acai berry pulp. Sweet! While at the cash, I was memorized by these raw truffles made by a local company. The girl at the cash said "they're really good!" to which I replied "oh I'm sure they are... it's just... I'm fasting right now.".... there was a moment of silence and I totally didn't realize it but... the cashier was totally confused at the comment "I'm fasting" contrasted with the 75$ worth of produce I just bought! LOL hahahahahahah. I guess that would be like having a client say "I'm vegan" while buying 10lbs of steak, eh? :)

Today I had:

1.25L water+lemon+msm
1.25L celery/collard greens/parsley+E3live+Hsalt+kelp
3L watermelon juice
1.5L kiwi/apple
1.5L blood orange/red globe grape/strawberry/acai
2 Tbsp bee pollen
10 Parasite pills

Today I also did:

Skin brushing
Acupeds
Zapper
7.5km bike ride (4.5 miles)

TV... Well I wathed "The Birds" by Hitchcock... it was commercial-free! :)
Sleep: 12:00 to 6:00... eep! :)

... I'm SO biking to work tomorrow! :) So tired of the bus! :)

- Ben

Day 78 - I'm a newborn again!

Today, I'm supposed to be '0 years old' according to the retracing rule. I checked and well... my belly button is still there. Whoo hoo! I was so tired when I woke up this morning. I honestly am looking forward to not having to spend so much time in the kitchen in the morning. I'm also looking forward to making meals ahead of time (Sunday meal extravaganzas!!).

I found out there's a stupid office pot-luck going on on the 17th. I'll be in my 'watery veggies and fruit' stage. I hate pot-lucks to begin with... because they're not the most vegan-friendly thing. But now... it's just downright inconvenient. Oh... we also have to go curling. Curling!?! Who came up with this idea!? I don't know anyone who actually goes curling.... just in case anyone out there thinks it's something all Canadians do. ;) That should be an interesting week.

Hanlie gave me an award today; the 'nice matters' award. I was at work when I found out so I told my coworker Eileen "I got a "nice matters award" to which she replied "What?!! You're not nice!?!?". LOL!!! I'm a bit of a sarcastic bitch most of the time. I think there's something humorous about being cynical sometimes. :P Anyway... I just thought that was funny. I'll try to remember that 'nice matters'. Thanks Hanlie! :)

Actually... on that note, a lady asked me if I had change for a $10 last friday at the bus stop. I guess she didn't have change for the bus and the bus was within sight. I didn't have the change but I just gave her the 2$ she was missing. She was so thankful. I figured, I can't count the times I wish someone would have done that for me. I don't understand why our buses here don't work like in the UK where you can actually pay with notes and get change! Anyway, I was on the bus today and that lady found me (totally forgot about it lol)... she gave me some bus tickets today to repay me for the 2$. I thought it was so cute that she remembered! :) Awww! :)

Today I had:

1.25L water+msm+lemon
1.25L celery/collard greens/parsley
3L watermelon juice
1.5L pineapple/blackberry
1.5L grapefruit juice

Today I also did:

Skin brushing
Zapper (all day)

Well that's all from this end kiddos :)

- Ben