Day 47 - My bed

My Bed is a work by the British artist Tracey Emin. It was exhibited at the Tate Gallery in 1999 as one of the shortlisted works for the Turner Prize. It consisted of her bed with bedroom objects in an abject state, and gained much media attention. Although it did not win the prize, its notoriety has persisted.

- Wikipedia

Why the Contemporary Art lesson today? Well I spent the day in bed today.... the ENTIRE day. I managed to score a weekend off from the hotel and a day off from working for the Harper-man. I'm so happy about having a three day weekend (as opposed to working 7 days a week like I normally do). I decided day 1 of 'ben's weekend of fantabulousness' should consist of doing NOTHING seeing as I'm always doing something. I spent all day in bed.... (with my laptop) listening to tunes on last.fm, keeping up the blog, reading other people's blogs, going on giveittomeraw.com and globaljuicefeast.com. I got out of bed for juice, 40 minutes of yoga, to pee all the fucking time and to do an enema... that's it. No TV! :)

I feel SOOOO good right now. Mmmmmmmmmmmm. Can I just stay in bed for the rest of my life? Pleeeeeeeeeeeaaase? :)

Today I had:

1L water+msm+lemon
1.25L celery/cilantro/black kale+E3live+kelp+Himalayan salt
1.25L apple/grape/strawberry
250ml water+chanca piedra
1.25L watermelon
500ml coconut water
250ml water+chanca piedra
1Tbsp bee pollen+honey
2Tbsp honey
1Tbsp (shot glass-style! LOL) hempseed oil
Probiotics

Today I also did:

2L cat's claw/slippery elm enema
40 minutes yoga
Stayed in bed all day!!! :)

I started my chanca piedra pretty late in the game... so I don't know if I should take it for 30 days regardless of how it will overlap with my parasite cleanse or if I should stop at day 60... I'll have to ask David what he thinks. I FINALLY got the tincture yesterday.... I can't believe how long it took for that to get shipped here! Whoa! Chanca Piedra tastes a lot like this tea this chinese doctor used to make for my psoriasis. I'm guessing some of the herbs in the chanca piedra were part of that concoction. I'm starting to wish I had gone with the capsules! LOL

I weighed myself this morning and found out I'm at 144.6lbs. This means I've officially lost 25 lbs! This is also the LEAST I've weighed since my early teens! :) I'm sooo happy! I want to lose another 10lbs and that's it! :) I really like myself at this size.... I feel more compact... like a smart car! :)

I had some really weird toilet moments today; after the enema I kept going to the bathroom and evacuating 'green water'. I have no idea what this means; am I not digesting the green juice I had in the morning?? I took some probiotics and it calmed down all the weird gurgly noises emanating from my tummy. After I took the probiotics, the green water BMs stopped... *sigh of relief* Though, I don't know if the probiotics really did anything; my feeling is that this was all coincidental.

Did I mention how I'm sick of being cold all the time? Thank god for my electric blanket.... I don't care if it's bad for me to be around electro-whatever.... I LOVE this thing! :) I'm allowed to have ONE vice, right? :)

Oh! I also had a really odd dream where I made a raw cake using a really weird butternut squash (with many many tiny parallel ridges... like a starfruit... but with more tiny ridges). I had brought the cake to a job interview as a bribe and the interviewer was concerned that there wouldn't be enough cake for everyone in the office. I was adamant that there was. I had decorated the cake with all these pumpkin-leather loops. It was a beautiful cake and I think I know intuitively how I would make such a cake.... The universe is sending me raw-recipes in my dreams! Nuts!!! :)

- Ben

PS: totally looked at raw-food porn today and was fine... no cravings.... but fuck I can't wait to start cooking again! :) I think I'll order 7 or 8 more raw cookbooks around day 80 :)

Day 46 - Over the hill

This is going to be a long post, so forgive me... I have many items on today's agenda. In the interest of saving you time, I'll index my topics today:

• Advice for those about to begin Juice Feasting
• Today's juice feasting log
• The enema edition
• Special mention - Carrie :)

Advice for those about to begin Juice Feasting

It's day 46 and things are going great. I'm officially 'over the hill' in juice feasting terms; 46 days down, 46 days to go. I'm so happy. Juice feasting has been tumultuous at times and quite enlightening at other times. I’ve learned a lot about my own body and I suggest that, should you be about to start juice feasting, listen to your own body as well.

My new juicy-to-be friend on giveittomeraw who has psoriasis mentioned to me how she would follow my blog while juice feasting and I was quick to mention how I learned a lot from my own body whilst juice feasting and I suggested she do the same. If you do have psoriasis and decide to juice feast, by all means, read my blog in its entirety to get a general feel for what I’ve done… but this isn’t a blueprint for how to rid yourself of psoriasis; juice feasting in general will do that for you (by detoxing the body), along with regular colonics, chiropractic adjustments, supplements to heal leaky-gut syndrome and yoga to calm the body.

I guess the best piece of advice I have for anyone about to start juice feasting on March 1rst is be open to ‘what is’. Don’t have any expectations of how this will unfold and take it one day at a time. I was quite certain around day 15 that the worse was behind me and this was going to get easier as I went forward. That isn’t always the case… I encountered several challenges through juice feasting: intense stomach pains, variation of a torticollis (unable to speak for an entire day), problems with bloating and really intense cravings. Just remember ‘this too shall pass’. Take a deep breath, find your center…. Do yoga; for whatever reason, yoga seems to ‘calm the storm’ for me. Maybe it will do the same for you.

Today’s juice feasting log

Today was great; the hour of yoga I did yesterday really seems to have calmed my cravings and intense desire to stop juice feasting. I’m feeling very Zen. Today was also mega groceries day; I got some really awesome finds. I got TONS of organic grapefruits. I remember reading in the 90’s how they’re supposed to be a fat-burning food but I don’t know if that’s a myth lol! I was unable to find any blood oranges this week; I’ll venture to another supermarket this week to see if I can find some… seriously… I’m addicted to those things. They’re my candy!

Today I had:

1.25L water+msm+lemon
1.25L celery/green chard/parsley
1.25L grapefruit/orange/carrot
1.25L Spinach/Apple
750ml Peppermint tea
500ml coconut water
750ml plum juice (I was so hyped about this one but it was surprisingly not all that impressive)
1 Tbsp bee pollen+honey
2 Tbsp honey
Probiotics

Today I also did:

Skin brushing
Crap… does mega groceries count?

I also woke up around midnight (after passing out on the couch) and had another ‘normal person’ BM. I have no idea where this stuff is coming from…. It’s like a mystery! If nothing comes from nothing (thank you Parmenides) and no poo comes from no food… then where is this coming from? LOL! Someone call Mulder and Scully!

The enema edition

A special edition explaining the whole enema process was added today; it was so long I added it in a separate post; scroll down to view it.

Special mention

Carrie has moved on to the second phase of her healing journey; from juice feasting to feast breaking and soon to whole foods feasting. She has had an amazing journey and probably has one of the most detailed blogs out there. I have learned a lot from Carrie’s experience and I am proud to have had the chance to juice alongside her. Do visit her blog!! It’s awesome! :) I awarded Carrie the Juice Feaster Award yesterday to congratulate her on her amazing journey. Congrats Carrie!!! You’re amazing!!! :)

That's my super long post for today :)

- Ben

Special Edition - The enema edition

Yep… that last bit brings me to this subject. Ramona wanted me to write about the different kinds of enemas I’ve been doing. I think this is a great opportunity to have a little ‘enema edition’.

First of all, I know a lot of people are apprehensive about enemas and colonics. Don’t be. It’s good to do ‘house cleaning’ once in a while. The colon has all these tiny pockets and stuff can get stuck in there and remain impacted for great lengths of time. It weakens the colon and can release toxins into the lymphatic system. When I last had a colonic, I passed a lot of ‘fecal stones’…. Tiny pieces of poo that were stuck in these colon pockets…. Not good! The good news is, fasting/juicing weakens the ability that these things have to hold on to the colon wall. Juice feasting in tandem with enemas and/or regular colonics will help you get rid of these nasty things!

Poo! Yes, first of all… try to poo. The preference here is to have normal BMs over having to do enemas. You shouldn’t rely on enemas to have BMs. Enemas are to help the cleansing process. My newest friend Kyle wrote the best entry about pooping here. I highly recommend giving it a read. Seriously; everyone should be born with this pooping manual! :)

Get the right equipment! I have an open top enema kit that works with gravity. I bought mine here. This is the ideal type of enema bag you want to get. It’s easy to clean, dump your water/tea into and it releases water slowly into the colon. It also has a valve that is easily accessible for you to stop the flow when the bag is empty or if you just need a moment to breathe through a ‘peristalsis’ moment.

The right ingredients! I’ve personally used plain water, coffee, burdock tea and cat’s claw tea so far. That being said, there is a plethora of teas you can use (you can even add a squeeze of lemon to plain water) to enhance the enema experience.

* Remember to be careful about the temperature of this stuff; I personally like to have enemas at a 100F temperature… just above body temp. I have a candy thermometer to make sure that the temperature of the liquid is safe. I wouldn’t have an enema with liquid above 103F. Cooler temps are good to end the enemas as they help the colon contract.

Pure water enemas: definitely start with this if you’re new to enemas. Your first few enemas should just be pure distilled water. When making the other types of enemas, ensure you’re using pure distilled water as well.

Coffee enemas are a great liver detoxifier. They help dilate the bile ducts and get some bad stuff out. They’re a great one to have in the morning. Detailed information on coffee enemas (which are quite common) can be found here. This one can be quite intense! I got the shakes and chills and heard a lot of funny noises coming from my stomach at one point. Be prepared.

Burdock tea enemas: Burdock is a really great blood purifier. Doing enemas with burdock tea is a great way to start if you’re new to ‘special enemas’. It’s good to hold this one for a while before evacuating it.

Cat’s claw tea enemas: by far my favorite. I have to thank Carrie for familiarizing me with this one. It’s a very good enema; but very intense. It’s like it claws at the colon walls and gets all the nasties out. I’m always surprised at how much I eliminate after one of those. I call it ‘the big guns’. Cat’s claw has restorative effects on the colon walls. It’s very good for people with ‘leaky gut syndrome’ (such as those people with psoriasis and eczema).

Cat’s claw is a novel herb that has been researched lately for its, "remarkable ability to cleanse the entire intestinal tract and help those suffering from different stomach and bowel disorders", including Crohn’s disease, gastritis, ulcers, parasites, candidiasis, diverticulitis, hemorrhoids, leaky gut, and intestinal flora imbalance (Dr. Brent Davis, DC Wellness Advocate Feb 1995;5(1):1-4).

Another good one for restorative effects on the colon wall are slippery elm enemas (2tbsp slippery elm bark per quart of pure water).

Google “enema recipes”. There are tons of enema combos out there; wheatgrass enemas, neem tea enemas, catnip enemas…. Also look into implants (wheatgrass, E3live, etc).

Once the concoction is inside you, you need to massage your tummy. There is an awesome youtube video on how to massage your tummy and administer an enema here.

Of course, enemas are no match for a good colonic! Colonics are great for evacuating more impacted material; you basically go through 40L of water in one session. That’s like 20 enemas in a row! The colonic will also introduce a lot more water into the transverse and ascending parts of the colon which are harder to reach with enemas. Those are also spots where stuff tends to get stuck. So… go get colonics! :)

This concludes my enema report! :)

- Ben

PS: Yes.. that is a picture of an enema brooch pin!

Day 45 - Calm after the storm

Today things seemed to calm down craving wise. I still could not stop thinking about the honey jar. When I finally got home from work, I dipped into it a bit and then felt really nauseated. I think I’ve managed to sicken myself off honey for a bit. Whoa!

I’m really proud of myself though because I got a lot done yesterday in ‘the office of healing’. I did an hour of Namaste yoga. The first episode I did yesterday is a kepper! It had a lot of asanas that focused on the abs. I’m also managing to do the warrior 3 pose more easily. I also did a really good cat’s claw enema that came out red from all the beets I’ve been drinking lately LOL.

Today I had:

1.25L water+msm+lemon
1.25L celery/spinach/dandelion greens
1.25L pineapple/blood orange
1.25L grapefruit/orange/beet/carrot
750ml coconut water
1Tbsp bee pollen+honey
A few tablespoons of honey…again!

Today I also did:

1 Chiropractic adjustment
2L cat’s claw enema
1 hour Namaste TV yoga

I felt much better after the yoga. I think it may have calmed the inner chaos. It had been a while since I had done yoga… maybe I just needed to feel grounded again. From now on, I need to keep doing yoga everyday! :)

My chiropractor was blown away today as to how great my skin is doing. She asked me a lot of information about juice feasting and asked me about how the program worked, if anyone was 'supervising me' through this. I told her all about our juicy community and she said she wants to know more about it and may refer some of her patients to juice feasting as well! :) I'm converting people! Whahahaha! :)

- Ben

Today’s photo from http://www.andysartwork.com/

Day 44 - Binge monster

First of all, I just want to thank everyone for their comments regarding yesterday's post. I am so grateful to have juicy friends like you. It's really great to have a support group like this and also know that I'm not the only one having these experiences. It's been a tough couple of days, today has not been any different. I have no idea where this is coming from. The Freud-obsessed part of me is struggling to find a repressed desire that is manifesting as a manic desire for solid food... but as Freud once said, "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar". Sometimes a desire for solid food is just a desire for solid food. I guess I just need to keep reminding myself that "this too shall pass".

I'm afraid there was a lot of dipping into the honey jar today. I saw the amount of calories per tablespoon of honey today and was floored! No wonder I spontaneously gained 1lbs out of nowhere! Fuck... I have to fix this.... no more binging on honey! Maybe I'll cut down on fruit juice over the next few days and try more greens. I may try some self-hypnosis to try and repress this habit too. I've always had a lot of success with self-hypnosis.

Today I had:

1.25L water+msm+lemon
1.25L celery/red chard/collard greens/parsley+kelp+E3live
1.25L pineapple/blood orange
1.25L granny smith apple/kiwi (mmm! mmm! mmm!)
500ml Robois tea
500ml mint tea
750ml coconut water
1.00L grapefruit/blood orange/beet
500ml American saffron tea
1Tbsp bee pollen
Probiotics
Lots of honey :( :(

Today I also did:

Skin brushing
15 min rebounder

You know... it's nuts how much liquid I drank today! LOL

Almost halfway done... :) Thanks again everyone... you guys are amazing :)

Kuß!! :)

- Ben

Day 43 - Teenage lust

I had a really bizarre experience today. I went to buy some raw honey from a local guy and then went to the natural health food store to pick up some agave and a few other veggies/fruits. I love the health food store; I always feel like a kid in a candy store whenever I go there. Now, you'd think, while fasting, I would try to be in and out of there as soon as possible. Nope! You'd think I was into S&M or something. I walked through EVERY aisle and looked at all the food with an intense fascination. I was craving everything I was seeing. I was picking stuff up, reading ingredients (is this vegan?) and imagining how it would taste like. There was so much new stuff... tons of vegan indian food too! I even found some unpasteurized sauerkraut! Yep... I wanted to eat it all... I almost turned into the incredible hulk!

I was STAAARVING by the time I left the store; the torture I put myself through was not a brilliant idea. I asked myself "what the hell was I thinking?". I came to the conclusion that I was looking at this food... not to feel strong (as I felt weak).... not out of fascination .... I was in fact LUSTING for that food. I was looking at it....drooling.... with an intense teenage lust I only feel when looking at pictures of Axel Hermann.

I want solid food... REALLY badly. I'm feeling very week today in that department... I feel like I may not reach day 92 (but I know better). Let me rephrase that.... I know I'll do this until day 92... but I don't want to... I just want to sit back and eat 1kg of cashews (not even the raw ones, the roasted salted ones). What the hell happened? I had it together!

I guess that's why I bought that sugary stuff (honey & agave). I got home and had a few spoonfuls of the honey (try not to do this whilst juice feasting... not good!). It momentarily calmed my inner child that just wants yummy things to eat. Fuck... I feel so deprived of culinary experimentation in the kitchen... I love to mix flavours etc.... God... I just want this to be over... and I'm not even halfway done yet. Arrrghh!

Sorry... but you know what... I thought I had to be honest about my moment of weakness. Sigh. Anyhow... rest assured, I didn't eat anything solid yet :P I'm still in this for the long road.

Today I had:

1.25L water+msm+lemon
1.25L celery/spinach/parlsey+kelp
1.25L grape/blood orange/strawberry (I could live on this juice!!)
1.00L cantaloupe
1.00L coconut water
1.00L grapefruit/beet
1tbsp bee pollen

Today I also did:

Fuck all!... housecleaning! LOL Seriously need to do some yoga again... but I worked a 10 hour day today so I was tired! :)

Mit liebe ♥ ! :)

- Ben

Day 42 - Relaxation time! :)

Today was my relaxation day. Sundays are the closest thing to a day off I get right now. As most of you know, I work 7 days a week. Sundays are the only time I get 24 consecutive hours sans-work.

I basically had an American Idol marathon thanks to my TIVO. Hehehe. I spent most of the day vegging on the couch and I did some rebounding. I think I need those days; those days where you just veg-out. I asked for a paid weekend off at the hotel soon so hopefully in 2 weeks I’ll be able to have some Zen time. I need some time off… I feel like I’m about to have a burnout pretty soon.

Today I had:

500ml water+slippery elm
1L water+msm+lemon
1.25L celery/red chard/parsley
1.25L red grape/blood orange/strawberry (yuuuuuum!... surprisingly thick too!)
500ml grapefruit/blood orange/beet
750ml cantaloupe
1Tbsp bee pollen

Today I also did:

15 minutes on the rebounder
2L Cat’s claw enema

I was supposed to have another green juice in there but I passed out on the couch! LoL. Oh well!

Yesterday I made a new friend on “Give it to me raw”. She’s also suffering from psoriasis and asked me for some advice. I’m so happy that this regimen is working for me. I do hope that my tailored approach to juice feasting (introducing ideas from Cayce & Pagano to JFing) will help others. I’m just happy to have a Juice Feasting buddy who’s also a Flaker (slang for psoriasis-sufferer hehe)! Hopefully we’ll both be ditching that label forever quite soon! J

My parasite zapper was shipped yesterday… I can’t wait for it to get here! I know right, who looks forward to sticking a machine that shoots them electrical shocks? LOL!

- Ben

Day 41 - Bouncy!

Yep! This kid is the newest juice feaster to own a rebounder. There's a store in the city's west end selling Needaks for really cheap; 199$ for a non-folding model, 229$ for a folding model. Needless to say, in a small apartment, the folding option comes in handy....especially with my minimalist penchant for interior design. This thing even has a carrying case and slides right under my designer couch! :) Whooo hoo! I looooooves it! I looooooves it! :)

Today was not-so mega grocery day; we've decided to move mega grocery day to Thursday evenings. Maybe this will be better; I know a few stores get some produce in on that day. I couldn't find organic pineapples anywhere in this city today (well rainbow foods had organic pineapples the size of my fist for sale... hardly worth the price!). Organic greens were dirt cheap at Herb & Spice this week! Spinach bunches were going for 2$! :) Mmmmm... spinach! :) Black kale (which normally goes for $3.99) was going for $2.49!

I didn't drink much juice today because of the overnight thing/napping during the day. I was supposed to get in 4L but I slept through my alarm. I had to choose between taking a shower and making juice... shower won! I'd rather be starving than stinky! :P I'm a bit nervous about how tonight is going to go... hopefully if I drink a lot of water I won't feel hungry (and if I abstain from looking at raw cooking blogs lol). In case you're wondering, I also missed my daily water/msm combo for the FIRST TIME since I began JFing... I know! It's very sad... I just couldn't be bothered this morning when I got home from the hotel; I was sooooo hungry!

Today I had:

500ml water+slippery elm
1L celery/kale+kelp
1.25L granny smith apple/kiwi
1.00L cantaloupe juice+hemp oil (shot glass + chaser LOL)
1L cat's claw tea and/or American saffron tea (throughout the night, I hope)
1Tbsp bee pollen+agave
6 probiotic caps

Today I also did:

30 minutes on the rebounder
(was running late, no time for skin brushing or anything!)

I was on globaljuicefeast.com today and I realized how much we're all so blessed to have this innate kinship with other juice feasters throughout this process. I think, without the company and support of fellow juice feasters in the blogging world or the globaljuicefeast.com website, this would be quite a solitary journey. I don't feel alone at all in this, and it's all because of you guys. So thanks a lot :) If I had a mason jar of green juice with me right now, I'd raise it and toast to you guys ! :) Big hugs! :)

This reminds me, if you haven't joined globaljuicefeast.com yet, get your juicy butt in gear and do it now! :)

- Ben

Day 40 - Confessions of a juice feasting shopaholic

I've been doing way too much online shopping lately. So far today I've purchased:

• Healthforce Parasite formula (day 60 is coming soon!)
• Healthforce intestinal movement formula
• Healthforce intestinal drawing formula
• "Total leaky gut" formula
• Terminator Zapper (Thanks Suki for letting me know where to buy it!)

• Tomorrow... I may possibly buy a needak rebounder...

The office of healing is one hell of an expensive office! LOL. I'm worth it though right? Plus all this shopping is cheering me up.... I've decided no more yoga classes for a while. I think I do better at home and it will be less expensive AND cut down on travel time which means I'll have more time to do other stuff. So that's it; I've compromised by swapping regular yoga classes for a rebounder.

I can't believe it's day 40 and my chanca piedra isn't here yet. I'm kind of annoyed at this. I ordered it a while ago... uuurrrgh! I should have just gone with the capsules I had found in the health food stores here. I really wanted to get the tincture though.

I hope all this other stuff gets here soon. I feel like a druggy at work lately; popping pills left right and centre (probiotics and enzymes mostly)... I can't imagine when it will come the time to take all the healthforce products and the parasite formula... I'm going to wait until AFTER the parasite formula to start taking the total leaky gut formula though. Detox first, repair after...right? :)

I was drinking my coconut water at work today and my senior director asked "how long has this been going on now??" and I said "40 days" to which he replied "so... it's almost over?". I said; "yea... in 52 days".

"You're nuts!"

LOL. Well maybe it seems that way to 'normal people' but I'm quite enjoying touching my legs at night and feeling only smooth skin. From a visual point of view, you can still tell where the lesions were... but it feels very smooth now. There still is a lot more healing that needs to happen on my arms and torso though... so I'm just going to have to keep going with the healing. We apparently get a whole new set of skin every 28 days.... so maybe by the time JFing is over, 2 new sets of skin from now, I'll have beautiful flawless psoriasis-free skin. Keep your fingers crossed! :)

Today I had:

250ml water+slippery elm bark
1.25ml water+msm+lemon
1.25ml celery/collard greens+spirulina+kelp
1.25ml pineapple/blood orange (yum yum!!)
1.25ml pineapple/apple/blood orange/carrot (yum yum yum!!)
1L coconut water
1L apple/black kale
500ml American Saffron tea
1L cat's claw tea (throughout the night shift, I'm hoping)
1Tbsp bee pollen+agave nectar
6 Probiotic caps
6 Full spectrum enzymes caps

Today I also did:

Skin Brushing
No exercise today....but I got a good nap before coming to work at the hotel :)
"Very satisfactory crap"

**Poop report... you've been warned!**
...Yea... to quote Carrie, today I had a most "satisfactory crap". I stood there, baffled as to how this was possible... but I had a 'normal person' bowel movement today... Actually... I had a 'vegan person bowel movement' (which are typically larger than normal people bowel movements and flow out faster). I just had a colonic like... 4 days ago!?!!? Where did this come from??!?!?! I haven't had anything solid to eat in 40 days and I haven't had a BM this size in over a month! Am I sleep-eating? LOL... I could just see myself making artichoke-almond pesto in my sleep and eating it over spelt noodles! Hahahhaa! :)

- Ben

Day 39 - Bummed

I’m totally bummed today. It’s just one of those days where you question everything. Total new low for me. Sigh.

There was a catalyst though. I found out that I’m not qualified to do the job I’ve been doing for the last 6 months. I’ve been a marketing officer now for a while and have been doing an amazing job; my manager and director are both impressed with the work I’ve been doing. Technically, I’m doing the job of two people; kiosks was one person’s full time job and the rest of my tasks were another person’s job. I applied to do this job permanently in November and just found out I’ve been cut from the competitive process. Yep, because my frilly art school diploma isn’t a university diploma, I’m basically not qualified to do the job I’ve been doing.

I’m a bit ticked, sad and pissed off. I started sending my resume everywhere out of spite. This isn’t helping me stay very Zen right now. I’m not feeling like coming into work at all. Urgh. The good news is, I still have a job for at least 2 months… but still! Urgh! I basically got home after work yesterday and went straight to bed; I’m exhausted this week to begin with and well…this….this just made me want to crawl into bed and never return to the real world (this isn’t meant to sound suicidal lol… I just like my bed… I could honestly live there forever if it wasn’t for needing to pee every once in a while!) :P

Today I had:

250ml water+slippery elm
1.25L water+msm+lemon
1.25L celery/black kale/parsley+kelp+E3live
1.25L pineapple/blueberry
1L blood orange juice
1L coconut water
1L Granny smith/kale
1Tbsp bee pollen+agave
6 Probiotic caps
6 Full Spectrum enzymes caps

Today I also did:

Skin brushing
Slept for 10 hours straight

That’s all I have to report today.

- Ben

Day 38 - Yoga Mania!

(late posting… backdated for blogging accuracy…sorry for the delay!)

Today was pretty uneventful. The good news is, I started taking the probiotics as directed by David and Katrina and my tummy is feeling much better already. I was getting pretty sick of feeling like a hot air balloon all the time. I went back to Aylmer today for another fun filled day of kiosk fun. It was another ‘parade of food’ during lunch time. It occurred to me that on day 2 or 3 (I think) of juice feasting, I was at the exact same hotel watching the exact same parade of food. I was ready to hulk out back then, but this time… it all seemed quite weird to me. It was also funny to see other kiosk people being really concerned at the fact that I wasn’t eating. They said things like “you don’t have to be shy eh? You can go eat something!” I told them I packed my own lunch and I was fine.

Seeing as I wasn’t bloated when I got home, I decided to go to Yoga. I decided to take the Kundalini class, thinking it would be like the Namaste yoga show. Nope! It was pretty much all floor and breathwork and heavily based on meditation, mantras and chanting. It was all a bit too much; the chanting especially. I found out later that I should really take a Hatha yoga class or a Vinuyasha class. Something to keep in mind for next time. I’m not entirely sure if I’ll go back to yoga class; I found it really distracting to be aware of other people around me. I find I’m more ‘focused and meditative’ when I’m doing yoga at home, alone. Also, I’m starting to think I’d like to save that money I’d hypothetically be spending for yoga classes and buy a rebounder. I’m going to check my finances and figure out what to do about that.

Today I had:

250ml water+slippery elm
1.25L water+msm+lemon
1.25L celery/collar greens/parlsey+spirulina+kelp
500ml Echinacea tea1.25L watermelon juice
1.25L pineapple/blueberry1L coconut water
1L red gala apple/pineapple/strawberry (YUM!)1L granny smith apple/kale750ml cat’s claw tea

Today I also did:

Skin brushing
1 hour kundalini yoga
30 minutes meditation

That apple/pineapple/strawberry juice was amazing! It made me so happy… plus it gave me tons of yoga energy!

That’s it for me!

- Ben

Day 37 - Super juicy powers!

Yes, while I wasn't wearing my superman underwear today (don't laugh, I do own this exact pair!) I did have quite a super hero day. I woke up at 3AM to make juice. That's right, 3AM. I had to be in Aylmer (about a 30 min cab ride away) by 7:00AM to set up my kiosk. So I made my juices and then realized I had a lot of free time. So I did a sun saluation followed by 30 minutes of various asanas. Then... I realized I had 'morning brain' because I really didn't have all that free time to do yoga and I had to be out the door in 30 minutes. I did it ! :) With all my juices packed away in my rollie, of course! :)

The kiosk day was uneventful. I got home and I *really* wanted to go to a yoga centre near my place for an hour and a half of yoga. Unfortunately I was so bloated I figured that wouldn't be a good idea. I did 10 minutes of asanas designed to help relieve gas... and there was still some trapped. I ended up doing a pure water enema which, surprisingly enough (after having a colonic the day before) made me eliminate quite a lot of stuff. I couldn't believe it. And I knew that was only part of it. So I grabbed the big guns: cat's claw tea! That stuff just gets all the nasties out! I felt SOOO much better after my cat's claw enema. I got rid of it all; some more impacted stuff plus all that gas.

I decided that, seeing as I wasn't going to yoga, I would go for a run. Yes, I went running into a snow storm! hahaha. The weather wasn't all that cold, but it was windy and snowing. It was nice! :) I ran to the book store and picked up a copy of "Crazy sexy cancer tips" and then I went to the health food store to pick up some agave nectar, organic strawberries and some all natural dishwashing soap. When I got in, the salesguy said "I was thinking about you today! Some girl came in and she was buying all this stuff and I thought of you and asked her "Are you juicing??". Yes! It seems I had just missed a fellow juice feaster mere moments ago! Hahaha! :) I'm curious to find out who it was but I have my theory. :)

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

This brings me to my other subject: Listen up, Ottawa peeps!!:

We're 3 people on the Ottawa group on the Global Juice Feast website. I know I've gotten comments from Ramona who's in Ottawa... Ramona! Please join the Global Juice Feast website; it's awesome... and join the Ottawa group! :)

I just got a comment yesterday from an anonymous user in Ottawa. Please also join the Global Juice Feast 2008 website. I think it's a good idea for us to share Ottawa-specific information amongst each other. There is a link to the site on the right column. To answer that anonymous person's question, I get my colonics at the Natural Health Outreach clinic (it's near Hog's back and Prince of Wales Dr). Helga has been administering colonics since 1994. She has VERY competitive rates and has the option of stainless steel or disposable inserts. I've been going to see her for quite some time. She's amazing. If you do go see her, please mention that you've heard of her through me. I don't make commission or anything, but I'd like her to know I'm sending clients her way since she's such a nice lady.

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

To conclude my "super hero day" story... I stopped by a natural health product store on my way home and bought some probiotics to help with the gas. I checked with David and Katrina Rainoshek and they agreed it would be a good idea for me to take some at this point because of all the bloating. I picked up an 8-strain formula by Udo. I also found out that same store offers ionic foot baths! For DIRT CHEAP! $30 a session! :) They also have acuped foot pads for 35$ for a box of 12. This is an amazing deal. I'm pretty broke right now from all the massages, chiro adjustments, the colonic and other stuff.... but in a few weeks I'll be going to get an ionic foot bath plus some acupeds to speed up the detox process.

Today I had:

250ml water+slippery elm
1.25L water+msm+lemon
1.25ml celery/spinach/parsley+kelp+E3live
1.25ml pineapple/blueberry
1.25ml watermelon
500ml fruity cocktail goodness juice (aka; extra pineapple juice mixed with extra watermelon juice... INTENSE!)
750ml coconut water
1tbsp bee pollen

Today I also did:

Skin brushing (really quick, I was running late!)
10 min sun salutation
30 min yoga
10 min gas-related asanas
2km run
2L pure water enema
2L cat's claw enema

I passed out rather suddenly around 7 or 8pm while cocooned in my bed reading CSCT. The book is phenomenal so far... I was just really pooped! :) Sorry for the long blog entry guys! :)

Crap! one more thing! :)

I awarded a Juice Feaster's award yesterday to Hanlie of Fertile Healthy. Her blog is very inspiring and I suggest you all take some time to visit it and welcome her into our juicy community. :)

- Ben

Day 36 - The office of healing

I keep hearing Kris Carr in my head... saying "everyday you're at the office of healing". That's how I feel lately; especially when the whole juice feasting process gets overwhelming. But you know, the office of healing isn't such a bad place to be. I'm going to be purchasing Kris Carr's book today.... Her documentary (DVD) is already on my Amazon.com wishlist; I can't wait for it to come out (sometime in March)! As soon as it does, I'll be buying it from amazon along with a plethora of raw cookbooks.

In a way, I relate to a lot of what Kris has said about cancer. Psoriasis has been *my* guru as well. It's taught me about alkaline diets, cleansing, detoxing, yoga, meditation, juice feasting, edgar cayce..... How different my life would be if I had not been 'blessed' with psoriasis. That's right, I'm finally opening up to the idea that psoriasis is a really f*cked up blessing.

I guess that idea was reinforced yesterday when my colonic practitioner mentioned how I'm lucky to have psoriasis. I was momentarily furious (this disease is nothing pleasant at all, I've enumerated the challenges of living with this disease in previous posts). She then explained how the fact that my body is expelling the toxins through my skin is actually a good thing in a way; for most people, those toxins stay in the body and cause cancer. It was a bit of a different take on it. I guess I'm able to see my psoriasis in a positive light right now because I know it's going away, and I know that, by the time I'm done with this juice feast, I'll never have it again.

Colonics

Now, I'm sure you're all DYING to know how my colonic went! If not, skip this paragraph! I was expecting to go in there and have my practitioner baffled as to why nothing was coming out and the water was coming out clear. Nope! Little did I know, despite doing regular enemas, I was FULL of impacted fecal matter. I told my CP about JF and she thought it was brilliant. I kept elliminating, what she referred to as "fecal stones". These are hard fecal matter that sticks to the walls of the intestines. Unless you fast and get colonics, they pretty much just stay there. I moved out a lot of that stuff along with gas. She could feel impacted waste in my ascending colon so she massaged it; most of that stuff got moved out really quickly. This means my colon is relatively empty! I felt sooo good after that! Very light... I immeditately had some coconut water to rehydrate and replenish my electrolites. Had I known then what I know now, I would have had a colonic 2 or 3 weeks ago. I will be having another one on day 60 and another after I'm done my parasite cleanse and another on the last day of JF.

Today I had:

250ml water+slippery elm bark
1.25L water+msm+lemon
1.5L celery/red chard/parsley+kelp+E3live
1.5L watermelon juice
1L coconut water
750ml grapefruit juice
1tbsp coconut oil

Today I also did:

Skin brushing
1 hour yoga
1 hour colonic

And for those who are wondering; my interview went SMASHINGLY well! :) Honestly, it could not have gone better. I feel so blessed to be so in tune and alert. I know I had some juicy super powers at work during that interview! :)

Today, I leave you with the trailer of Kris Carr's documentary entitled Crazy Sexy Cancer"

- Ben

Day 35 - Namaste.

Namaste: a greeting which reminds us that our highest potential lies in the realm of no ego. Let us meet in that place.

- Namaste TV

I have been having so much fun doing yoga today. I don't know why I stopped doing it for so many years. I especially love doing it to Namaste TV show. It's very challenging and calming. The show is also so well done; the sceneries are breathtaking! My forward folds are improving day by day! :)

I basically slept most of the day away today; working overnights on weekends has a way of catching up with me. Total zombie day. I've been spending a lot of time reading raw blogs. I can't wait to get started on my raw cooking adventure! I'm so psyched! I also know that I have a newfound patience and love for myself; one that will be more forgiving if I have a piece of cooked food here and there. I'm going to look at it as an opportunity to slowly evolve into being 100% raw. My mistake in the past was to think about it as an "all or nothing" thing. I caved and had cooked butternut squash (not the most unhealthful cooked food one can have, really!) and then gave up on raw altogether. Not this time :)

I've also been thinking about "feast breaking". I can't think of a very 'zen' place in Ottawa to do this... (any suggestions?). I was thinking the Montreal biodome would be a great spot. The zen garden at the Montreal botanical garden will probably still be closed given mid April will still be really cold. :( I also think spending a week in NYC would be AWESOME... I'd love to go to Sarma's restaurant.... but it would suck to go and only be able to eat prunes LOL! Maybe this is best saved for post-feast breaking. If anyone has good ideas about nice spots to break my juice feast (on day 92), please let me know. :) Ottawa or Montreal options preferred! :)

Today I had:

250ml water+slippery elm
1.25L water+msm+lemon
1.25L celery/kale/watercress+E3live+kelp
750ml blood orange juice
750ml 'summery juice' (see previous post)
250ml American saffron tea
1tbsp bee pollen
1tbsp coconut oil

Today I also did:

Skin brushing
Mini-enema (bulb)
1 hour of yoga
msm lotion

That's all for me! Colonic tomorrow! Can't wait! :) I leave you with this intro to the Namaste episode that I've been doing for the last few days.



Isn't it so beautiful and calming? It's only missing cute yoga boys! :)

- Ben

Day 34 - The teenage years

Today was mega-groceries day again. If it weren't for the fact that the way I buy groceries whilst juice feasting is exceptionally planned out, I would move mega groceries day to another day. I'll have to explore that option.

Saturday mornings at 8am, my mom or dad picks me up with their car so I can venture out for mega groceries. I don't have a car... so it would have practically impossible to do a week's worth of groceries on the bus. When my dad comes, it's awesome. My dad is the calm and relaxed one. When my mom comes.... Well today was a 'mom' day and it didn't go so well. My mom is the most nervous and stressed out person you will ever meet. Driving in the city stressed her out... on a Saturday. She CONSTANTLY second guesses everything I do (or in this case, purchase). She CONSTANTLY gives advice on what I "should" do.... She can be frustrating to be around. I know that it stems from a good place, a place of caring... but after working an overnight shift, being sleep-deprived and grumpy... it's aggravating. We got on each other's nerves a lot today. I could feel my skin reacting to her negativity. I've tried, in the past, to explain how her stressful nature stresses me out, and impedes my ability to heal my psoriasis.... She just doesn't get it.

Sigh... it feels good to let that out in the open. Don't get me wrong, I love my mom and I really appreciate the fact that she acted like a taxi for me today but man... take a chill pill! I'm wondering if she was harder to handle today because I'm 15 years old (retracing-wise) right now and am reliving teenage angst/rebellion? ;)

I got home and I took a well deserved nap. I made some REALLY awesome juices AND I did lots of yoga to some episodes of Namaste I had TIVOed. That show isn't easy to follow... but I think I did good today. I want to try doing those episodes again. I like the flow.... and the challenging asanas that I'm not quite familiar with.

Today I had:

250ml water+slippery elm
1.25L water+msm
1.25L celery/collard greens/parsley
750ml blood orange juice (I think I'll always think of Carrie everytime I see a blood orange from now on! LOL)
750ml Summery juice (see below)
1.00L Grannysmith apple/Spinach
1tbsp Bee pollen+agave
500ml America Saffron tea

Today I also did:

Skin brushing
40 minutes yoga
Napping

Can I just say... for a 'zombie day'... I'm surprised and really proud of myself for getting 4L of juice in... plus all my 'psoriasis superfoods'. :) Yay Ben!

Summery juice

I noticed today that I was missing being innovative and inventive in the kitchen. Suddenly I conjured up this juice. It's very tasty! Tangy yet mellow... :)

1 grapefruit
2 red gala apples
1/4 cantaloupe
1 cup butternut squash (cut into tiny cubes)
2 dates (pitted, finely chopped, soaked for 5 minutes)

Into the vitamix it goes! Strain through nut mylk bag and enjoy! I was going to add a spice but after tasting it, I decided it didn't really need anything. :)

Restez juteux! :)

- Ben

Day 33 - So bloated!

For those wondering, my neck feels as good as new. I guess that's what happens when you make a conscious decision to do something about an ailment right away instead of going for regular 'western quick fixes'. I'm sure 95% of the population would have taken an ibuprofen and called it a day....

I think we, as a society, need to have more trust in our bodies. We need to understand that our bodies act in our best interest. We buy immodium, rollaids, gasex, decongestants, etc. I remember being a flight attendant and we used to pass gasex around like it was candy; for whatever reason, the more you fly, the more you get bloated on the plane... it goes beyond the gases already inside you expanding.... I have no idea how much damage I've done to my body from being a flight attendant for 2 years. But seriously, look at the rollaids commercials; they basically advertise "hey! eat all that greasy pizza, french fries and chilli you want because you can pop a rollaid later when your body is telling you "you shouldn't have done that!". You're the boss right?". What about immodium? Sure diarrhea is inconvenient but, your body is trying to get rid of something it feels is a threat... do you really want to keep that inside you?

Those were just some of the things I was thinking about today. I had way too much cabbage in my juices today and I felt like a hot air balloon for most of the day. It got me thinking of the old flight attendant days and the gasex parties in the back galley. Conclusion: no more green cabbage in my juices for a while... and red cabbage will be kept to a minimum.

I'm happy to say that I've also started to incorporate items from the Pagano regimen into my juice feast. The Pagano diet, for those who are unfamiliar with it, is a diet specifically tailored to people suffering from psoriasis. It is based on the works of Edgar Cayce and has yielded dramatic results for a vast number of patients. Today, I started to incorporate slippery elm bark in my morning drinking water (apart from the msm water) and American saffron tea (hong hua in chinese medicine).

Slippery Elm

The reason why I'm taking slippery elm is to cure 'leaky gut syndrome'. According to Cayce, leaky gut syndrome and high toxicity in the body are believed to be the root cause of psoriasis. Edgar Cayce suggested that slippery elm bark should be taken in the morning: a small pinch into a glass of water. It's best to let this stand for 20 minutes but not more. I found the quote below just today; I'm thrilled to see that I inadvertently followed his directions; I've been cleansing for some time and have been taking in a lot of liquids. Now it's time to heal those intestinal walls! :)

4841-2
To remove the condition as we have over the system, take that into the system, into the intestines and stomach, those of a nature which acts to the rebuilding of forces and as an absorbent to remove the acidity state in the stomach and intestines: First, into the system what we have now; plenty of water. Cleanse out as much as possible. Then to the system that of water carrying the cellular force of elm. That is, water produced from the bark of the elm, to act as a rebuilding force to the mucus coat of the intestine and lower duodenum itself.

- Edgar Cayce

American Saffron

American Saffron (also known as yellow saffron) has no connection to the expensive Spanish saffron. It is rather inexpensive, especially if purchased from a Chinese herbalist (referred to as Hong Hua). Edgar Cayce recommended yellow saffron for gastro-intestinal healing. A pinch of the herb into boiling water makes a delicious tea. It also acts as a mild laxative.

4264-1
... the action of the saffron to the body is to go through the action of the juices of the stomach, the proper incentive to carry on throughout the system the stimulating force needed to give rejuvenated life to this portion of the stomach when we are rebuilding proper channels through these, then the expressions coming to the nerve force and to all the rest of the body become through the proper channels.

3972-1
... the action of the yellow saffron is to act on the duodenum and the functioning of the small intestines ...

- Edgar Cayce

Important note about Slippery Elm and American Saffron

It's important to note that these two elements should not be taken close together. Slippery elm should be taken in the morning while American Saffron should be taken at night, when one is ready to go to bed.

Whoa! This is getting long... Today I had:

1.25L water+msm+lemon
250ml water+slippery elm
1.25L celery/cilantro/green chard/green cabbage
1.25L apple/red cabbage
1.00L pear/carrot/orange
1.25L celery/green chard/apple/daikon+E3live
1Tbsp bee pollen
1 Tbsp hemp oil

Today I also did:
No exercise...Darn!
No enemas...Darn!
1 nap! :)

Hasta luego!

- Ben

Day 32 - Rest and relaxation

I feel so much better today. I decided to do the right thing and stay home today. I needed some R&R. I spent most of the day in bed. I then cleaned the apartment; I figured some good feng shui could help! I also caught up on like 4 hours of American Idol... okay that last one wasn't too Zen! hehehe.

The neck is as good as new! :) Thanks for all the love and good thoughts everyone sent my way. I'm have no doubt it helped the healing process :)

Today I had:

1.25L water+msm+lemon
1.25L celery/spinach/parsley+kelp+E3live
1.25L pineapple/blackberry
1.5L coconut water+E3live
1.00L Pear/Kale juice
750ml Hong Hua (American Saffron) tea.
1Tbsp bee pollen+agave
1Tbsp coconut oil

Today I also did:

Housecleaning! (come on, that's gotta count for something?)
R&R!! :)
40 minutes of yoga
MSM lotion (before I go to bed tonight, promise!)

I think today was a juicy-record! I'm keeping this entry short today. I work at the hotel tomorrow so I'll have 8 hours to blog; I'm planning a "1 month into juice feasting" special edition where I'll update you all on the status of the Psoriasis and also give a general overview of my juice feasting experience thus far. :)

Schlaf gut! :) Kuss!

- Ben

Day 31 - Torticollis and bullying...

Thank you, everyone, for your concern. I'm doing a lot better. Yesterday was so bizarre. It basically hurt to talk, swallow, yawn and burp (especially burp!). I told my manager I wouldn't be talking if that was okay with her so everything was done by email yesterday... or people coming to my desk and me typing into the computer to answer them lol. It was actually oddly soothing to do a 'silent retreat' at work. I should do that more often.

I went to the chiro in the afternoon and immediately felt better. She also confirmed it was muscular and specifically the sternocleidomastoid. She suggested I go for a massage at that point. Luckily my RMT was available that evening. He gave me an awesome massage; whole back, focusing on the upper neck area and shoulderblades (constant problem for me) and then the front part of the neck along with upper and lower chest regions. When he was about to start massaging the front part of my neck, he warned me it wouldn't be pleasant.... He wasn't kidding! It was really painful. But hey, no pain, no gain? He massaged me with black cumin, chamomile and laurel leaf essential oils! Mmmmm... I can still smell it! :) Black cumin is sooo yum! :) After the massage, I was told what I had is basically a form of torticollis.

My theory is: I either screwed up my neck whilst lifting boxes about 30 min before the pain first shot through my neck.... or, like Michelle and Carrie suggested, it could have been psychosomatic. I'm supposed to be around 15/14 years old right now, through the 'retracing' process.

I had the most aweful teenage years... I basically got bullied everyday from ages 9 through 15. I had insomnia and symptoms of PTS as a kid. I can't verbalize the feeling of dread that would overwhelm me as summer vacation came to an end... not knowing what bullies would be in my class that year or not knowing to what extent I would get beaten up or verbally assaulted. I grew up in a small town and being the only obviously gay kid in a school of 300 people, I became an easy target for that sort of thing.

While that's all a distant memory, I still live with a lot of that still. I sometimes expect for people to backstab me or conspire against me. I never had any friends throughout high school and, now as an adult, the feeling of having friends still feels strangely alien to me. When I hear people laughing on the bus, I immediately assume they're laughing at me. I guess that's what 6 years of chronic abuse will do to a person.

There's a positive side to all this; I'm a much more driven person... I left that small town and went to the city where people are much more open and less conservative and I've been independent ever since. I moved out at 16 and made a life for myself. I've been driven to succeed to prove those people wrong.

Anyway... enough about all that... It's just, I was thinking this morning... I couldn't associate this feeling in my throat to any injury I've ever had. The only exception is, it felt like when kids would pin me against the wall with their hands on my throat and try to strangle me. This feeling was very akin to feeling stifled. It's the only thing I can link it to. Maybe writing this all out, verbalizing it through my blog will help release these repressed feelings.

Today I had:

1.25L water+msm+lemon
1.25L celery/red chard/cilantro+E3live+kelp
1.25L apple/red cabbage
750L cantaloupe
500ml coconut water+E3live
1Tbsp bee pollen
(forgot to take my fats again! d'oh!)

Today I did:
Skin brushing
1 chiropractic adjustment
1 hour massage with essential oils

I finally managed to get some Chanca Piedra in tincture form shipped to Canada! I'm a bit late on it, but I figured I'd rather get it in tincture and take it a few days later (supposed to start on day 30) than to get it in capsule form.

I'm desperately trying to order Healthforce products (parasite formula for day 60 and intestinal drawing formula) but am also having the same 'shipping to canada' problem. I'm waiting on an email from a seller on bluejay.com... You'd think Americans don't realize we're right next door to them or something? It boggles my mind why they wouldn't ship to Canada!

Anyway! :)

- Ben

PS: Officially hit the "lost 20lbs" mark today! I was at 150.4lbs and I was super pissed because I've been waiting to hit 149 for days now.... so I went to pee, came back and I was at 150.0! LOL!

Day 30 - OUCH! What did I do?

Day 30 was supposed to be bliss! I'm 1/3 of the way there! :) The day started off like it normally does, I got up, made 4L of juice and started getting ready. I did an enema with cat's claw tea. Again, intense enema! I'm convinced I eliminated muculoid plaque this time. I felt very lightheaded afterwards but I had to get to work... so I hopped in the shower, got ready and pretty and dashed out the door.

While I at work I found out Jack & Jill gave me the juice feaster's award! Yay! :) I'm so happy! Good timing too... I think day 30 is quite a milestone for juice feasters!

At lunch, I had a kiosk to host. When it was over, I put all the boxes back in the supply closet and went back to my desk. I started working on my to do list (14 items!). I started to get a bit stressed and then it happened.... INTENSE throbbing pain in my neck. Actually, the front of the neck... in my throat/windpipe area. The pain was to the left... near the clavicle... specifically the "sternocleidomastoid" muscle. I have no idea what happened but this muscle is hurting so badly that I could barely speak. It hurt to swallow and when I had a wee burp to make the pain would shoot even worse. I called my chiropractor and she was gone for the day; I have an emergency appointment at 2PM. I'm hoping it's just a rib or something that can be moved back into place. I'm writing this on the morning of day 31 and it still hurts. I'm just hoping I don't have to go to the hospital for this; I don't want to take any drugs while juice feasting... this would ruin all the progress I've done so far. I'll have to look into acupuncture if the chiro can't do anything. Could it be my throat chakra?

Today I had:

1.25L water+msm+lemon
1.25L celery/kale/parsley+kelp
1.25L Pineapple/Blackberry (oh I've missed you!)
1.00L Orange/Apple/Carrot
1.00L Coconut water/leftover pineapple juice
1Tbsp bee pollen

Today I also did:
Skin Brushing
2L cat's claw enema
Yoga is on hold until my neck is fixed :(

If anyone has any tips regarding my bizarre neck pain, please let me know!

- Ben

Day 29 - Intuition

I'm pretty irked right now; I tried to fix a letter "t" key on my keyboard and ended up breaking the metal casing that holds the key. 30$ for a new keyboard, thank you Ebay! Sigh. Oh well! Shit happens right? In case you're wondering, I'm typing "t"s with the little rubber plunger on the keyboard lol

Has anyone else noticed their intuition being really attuned during juice feasting? I swear I've had several dreams that I've interpreted as premonitions that have materialized. I've also had 'gut feelings' were right on lately. Pretty neat eh?

Today I had:
1.25L water+msm+lemon
1.00L celery/red chard/parlsey+kelp+E3live
1.00L pomelo/orange/carrot
1.25L pumpkin pie juice
750ml coconut water+E3live
1.00L Apple+Cabbage (unexpectedly spicy!)

Today I also did:
Skin brushing
Napping!

I was still too knackered for exercise. I really had wanted to do pilates but it didn't work out. Yoga tomorrow!

That's all from me for now! :)

- Ben

Day 28 - Sleepy time bye bye

Sorry for the delayed posting. I'm backdating this posting for blog accuracy. So just pretend okay? :)

I was super super knackered; mostly from the weekend at the hotel. I went from not being able to sleep before my overnight shift to being zombified and, later, comatose. I got home after my shift a the hotel, drank my water+msm+lemon and went to bed. I woke up at 1PM and started getting ready for my date. First, it was time to make some green juice! I was staaarving and pretty light headed by then (it had been 15 hours since my last juice!).

In case you're wondering, the date went very well and I believe the feeling to be mutual. We went to a cute local coffee shop where I had peppermint tea. Afterwards, we went for a walk around the market. There was a man selling local bee pollen. A nice big jar of unpasteurized local bee pollen for 9$! Sweet deal! We ended up going to the fruit market where I got blood oranges. I've been craving them ever since Carrie mentioned them. 10$ for 10 blood oranges.... it made 1L of juice! I know, I thought it was a very expensive juice to make too. But then I thought, I would have paid this for a cosmopolitan a few years ago so.... I'll just think of this juice as a cosmo! :)

Afterwards we went to Winterlude: an annual festival celebrating winter where people from around the world come to show off their ice sculpture skills as part of a competition. It was nice...except for the fact that I was FREEZING! Side note: my body temperature has been considerably lower these past few weeks!

We retired back to starbucks where I had more peppermint tea to warm up.... that is, after I had some cataloupe juice since I was starving. I know, it's daring to pop a mason jar out in public and start drinking from it.... even more so on a date hahaha!

All that to say, it's possible to be social even whilst juice feasting!

Today I had:

1.25L water+msm+lemon
1.00L celery/kale+E3live+kelp
500ml cantaloupe juice
1L peppermint tea
1L blood orange juice
1tbsp bee pollen+agave
1tbsp coconut oil

Today I also did:

Skin brushing
40 min of Yoga
2L enema with cat's claw tea (meow!)

Lowest amount of juice in ages! But I was really knackered for most of the day and I was out and about too! Toooootally stole the cat's claw tea enema idea from Carrie. Sorry Carrie, you're that special! People want to emulate you! :)

That enema by the way was intense. I was able to hold it for 10 minutes. I think I eliminates some really old matter because afterwards I was REALLY tired and shivering too. Nonetheless, I still managed to get some yoga in. Tomorrow, it'll be time to try doing pilates again. I need a flat tummy!! :)

- Ben

Day 27 - Too much energy?

Ahh yes. There is such a thing as too much of a good thing (except pineapple/blackberry juice... that rule doesn't apply there hehe). I work overnights on weekends (midnight to 8am) and I have to say... these shifts have gotten a lot easier to do since I've started juice feasting. I used to have to drink a lot of coffee to make it through the night... not anymore.

When I got home yesterday, it was time for mega groceries. I think I caught a short nap from noon to 4pm and never managed to fall back asleep again. I'm at work now (on day 28) and I'm completely knackered and zombified. I just want to go to beeeeeeeed.

I used to take melatonin, in the pre-JF days, to get me to fall asleep. It's a completely natural sleep aid; the brain already produces that same chemical when it starts to get dark outside.... that's why we get sleepy when it's dark. I've been refraining from using melatonin during the JF... it's tough because I have so much energy... it would be nice to use it to knock me out. Oh well... only 2 more months of juice feasting and hopefully not much longer of having two jobs!

Today I had:

1.5L water+msm+lemon
1L celery/kale+kelp+E3live
1L pineapple/blueberry (yum! Thanks Carrie!)
1L pumpkin pie juice (see previous posts)
1L apple/spinach juice

Today I also did:
Skin brushing
No time for anything else... too tired.

That's it for me! I can't wait to go to beeeeeeeed. Plus! I have a big date tomorrow :) :) Send some good vibes my way! :)

- Ben

Day 26 - Juicing through a busy lifestyle

Let's face it! Some of us have very busy lives, and I'm no exception. This week, especially, has been incredibly busy. I don't believe I've mentioned it before, but I work in marketing for the federal government and as such, I am in charge of outreach activities for my department. This week, I've had 2 days 'off site' where I've hosted a kiosk at a hotel at the other end of the city. I also had another day where I've had to go set up a banner in Quebec, and make my way back to work...only to later go back to tear it down and then make my way to an internal conference at another location. Today I worked at my office in the AM and later went to 'the other side' (Hull, Quebec) to gather data on how our department's call centre works.

That's 5 work locations in 5 days. Some days, I had to be there for 7am!

How does one handle these situations? Here's Ben's top 5 tips to busy feasting!

5) Plan ahead. It's cliche, I know... but if you know you have a long day ahead, don't forget to bring extra juice! Especially if you're in a remote area with no juice bar in sight. You don't want to have to resort to pasteurized stuff! If you know you're not a morning person (juice feasting will solve that, eventually!) make your juices the night before. I've often woken up at 4am to make juices! You can do it! :)

4) Go hunting...for fridges! Okay, so you're not in your usual safe haven that is your office... that doesn't mean there isn't a fridge somewhere! Most office have fridges in a hidden corner; ask around! Put those mason jars back into a cool area so that they don't spoil.

3) Pack some ice packs! I'm lucky in that department; I inherit, from my uncle, all the ice packs used to transport medical supplies. To prevent cross-contamination, they don't use them twice. It's a waste because, they're perfectly safe to reuse and they stay cold for 24 hours. That being said, if you don't have an uncle in a medical field, go to your local department store and stock up on ice packs! Make sure you always have some handy for days where you might be traveling a lot. They'll keep your juices icy cold!

2) Coconut water to go; It's the easiest and fastest juice to make. I rely heavily on coconut water for mornings where I'm late or just really slow. Pop two of those open and boom! You've got almost 1L of 'juice'! Add some E3live to it to make it even more nourishing!

1) Don't underestimate the power of the rollie. As a former flight attendant, I can tell you that rollies are incredibly useful things. You can easily pack 4 mason jars full of juice into them, a few ice packs and a few towels (to avoid clinking noises and to 'insulate' the rollie). It makes carrying 4L+ of juice a breeze! Much better than subluxating your spine from carrying them around in a shoulderbag or briefcase. Don't forget the flight attendant walk!

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

Very quick other random news; I got a call today about an interview with another department in the federal government. It's a job with less responsibilities but it would be DIRECTLY through the government. Right now, I work through an agency... it's a lot like being pimped; the government pays the agency, the agency takes a cut and pays me. If I get this job, I'll be making much more money, have benefits and will be doing less work. This also means, I'll be able to quit my weekend job! So... send lots of happy Buddha energy my way, please! :)

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

Back to juicing! Today I had:

1.25L water+msm+lemon
1.00L celery+collard greens+cilantro+E3live+kelp
1Tbsp bee pollen+agave
1.25L Pineapple juice
1.00L Butternut/orange/pear/date/cinnamon juice! (even tastier with 2 oranges!)
1.25L Coconut water+E3Live
1.00L Apple/Kale

Today I also did:
Skin brushing
45 min evening yoga

5.5L of juice again! I'm totally rocking! Well...except for forgetting to take my fats! eep! I still have no idea if my hemp oil is still good (see yesterday's post). Any ideas?

- Ben