Day 52 - Food porn?

No! Not that kinda porn! Raw food porn... as in pictures of raw food that make you drool and wish it was April 14th already so you could start soaking those prunes and dreaming of binging on an entire bucket of raw pesto! :P Just kidding just kidding! :)

Regarding yesterday's slump, I'm happy to report that I'm feeling much better today. I'm just really hungry. Between the kale salads on Carrie's blog and all the raw food porn I've been looking at today (on Gliving and other random sites)... my tummy is rumbling. I honestly cannot wait to start on my new journey of raw foods....especially with all the new friends I've been making on welikeitraw.com. I'm not concerned that I might fall 'off the juicy wagon'... it's more like a kid fascinated with the toys under the Christmas tree....waiting in anticipation for the big day. Feast breaking is 40 days away.... Although that looks like a big number to me right now, I know the end of the month will be here soon and I'll be freaking out about only having 14 days left.

Enough about that. I'm feeling MUCH better today. There was a freak snowstorm out today... we got 1 foot of snow overnight/throughout the day... my bus was 43 minutes late! We've had a terrible winter here. Here's an excerpt from today's Ottawa Citizen (local newspaper):

Snowfall to date (Feb 28) 313.1 cm
Total volume 234.83 m3
Total weight 37,572 kg
WRE 16.34

Mr. Lange says: "Less the additional centimetres we've had the last few days, I've shovelled approximately 41 tons of snow off my driveway - approximately the weight of a humpback whale.

And this from CFRA News Talk Radio:

The winter of 2007-2008 is now the second snowiest on record in the City of Ottawa.

Environment Canada's Geoff Coulson tells CFRA News the winter is now "firmly" ranked second after 28 cm of snow dumped on Ottawa on Wednesday.

Ottawa has now received 355 cm of snow this winter. The record for snowiest winter is 444 cm set in 1970-71.

The 28 cm of snow on Wednesday set the record for most snow on March 5th. In 1993, Ottawa received 15.8 cm of snow.

For the Americans out there... 355.cm is roughly 12 feet of snow. I really want spring to get here soon!

NOW! The good news about having crappy weather is sometimes your branch's VP sends out a cryptic message saying that whenever you feel you should leave to make it home safely, you should do so.... which basically means "meh! leave whenever you want!". :) I was home by 3PM! Sweet! ... I spent the rest of the day under the electric blanket though! Damn... I really should have done some yoga or something.... fuck it! :P It's a snow day for fuck's sake!
Today I had:

1.25L celery/spinach/cilantro+kelp+E3live+Himalayan salt
1.25L pineapple
1.25L grapefruit/carrot
500ml coconut water+E3live
1L apple/spinach+Himalayan salt
Probiotics (lesser dose)
Enzymes
1Tbsp bee pollen+agave

Today I did:

Skin brushing
Parasite Zapper 2-3 hours (more on this in a sec)
Acupeds
MSM lotion (handmade by me)

Okay okay! I know I said I would wait until the weekend to try the zapper but I guess I just wanted to test it out. I was scared of it and fascinated by it. As soon as I had the battery I couldn't help myself. I stuck that thing near my ascending colon and was surprised to see that... I couldn't feel anything. Well 10 minutes later it started to itch/burn there so I moved it (as per the directions)... I stuck it on the descending colon and it didn't take long for it to itch/burn there. I moved it around like that for about an hour and finally stuck it in a sock and wore it on my right foot for a few hours (you don't have to worry about the itch/burn on the palms or feet because the skin is thicker there). I decided I wouldn't wear it overnight though... I'm doing the acupeds tonight and I'm targeting the colon this time; I've got an acuped on each foot, landscape style across the lower middle part of my feet (just above the heel). I know it's nuts... but I already feel tingly sensations there and I've only been wearing them for 20 minutes. I love these things!

I'm craving pesto again! Argghh!

Hmmm... What else did I want to talk about? Tomorrow is mega groceries day which is a good thing... my fridge is almost out of fruit... but I still have lots of greens so that's good. I guess I'll be drinking more greens tomorrow LOL.

I didn't get to this yesterday, but Poppy has begun her transition back to solids yesterday and we are all SO PROUD of her for listening to her body and doing such a great job. Poppy was like my little juicy sister; we were only 2 days apart on this raw journey and it's been great juicing alongside her. I encourage all the new juice feasters out there to check out her blog and read about her amazing journey. Poppy's writing style is very poetic and inspirational, so I'm sure you'll be absorbed by her juicy journal. Congrats again Poppy! Grosses caresses! :)

Whoa! It's fucking midnight already? shit I better get to bed!

Schlaf gut!!! :)

- Ben

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

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 23 - The ex factor

Isn't this knife holder the neatest thing ever? :)

Is my juice feasting conjuring up some bizarre cosmic effect? I had a kiosk today to host and this guy I dated when I was 17 showed up. I was only 17 and I had high hopes about him at the time... but he broke my heart in a very cowardly way. I was crushed. Such is teenage love!

I think I only recognized him because of his name-tag. It's been 8 years! It was bizarre. It's funny to think that I'm going back 120 days on each day of juice feasting, and that right now I'm almost 18 years old. Coincidence? Regardless, he gave me his card and asked me to call him. I have to say, he is gorgeous. I had a weird feeling about it though... so I went online and found out he's married (to a man, it's legal here)! So ha! I put the card in the trash. Normally I would have felt distraught over running into an ex.... but I think the combination of juice feasting and doing yoga has me feeling very empowered and grounded. I'm focusing on myself right now... and doing what's right for me. I'm single... and I think for the first time in a long while, I can honestly say I'm content with that.

It's like the tree pose in yoga... I'm a well grounded tree... balanced and calm... moving slightly with the winds but cannot be easily toppled over. :)

Speaking of calm; my kiosk was right next to the buffet! A few weeks ago, being subjected to this parade of food would have driven me nuts. Today... I was perplexed and apathetic. I remembered something Angela Stokes once said about reaching a point where you don't quite understand what all these people are doing with all that food. It felt alien to me, watching people eat... If things stay the way they are, I have no doubts I'll reach day 92.

Today I had:

1.25L water+msm+lemon
1.25L celery/green chard/parsley+bee pollen+kelp powder+spirulina
1.25L Pineapple/Blackberry
1.00L Apple/Red Cabbage
1.00L Young coconut water/a wee bit of P&B juice that was left over
1.00L Granny Smith Apple/Kale/Daikon
1.00L Water
1tbsp coconut oil
1tbsp hemp oil

I also did:

Skin brushing
20 min morning yoga
40 min evening yoga
20 min meditation

Can I just say... I ROCK!? 5.5 litres of juice, 2 litres of water and 1 hour of exercise. On top of that, I managed to get in all my supplements today! :) *Happy Dance*

I finally got my 2L enema bag in the mail today... so I know what I'll be doing tomorrow morning! yay! I know... who gets excited over enemas? LOL! We juice feasters are an odd bunch. :)

Oh in other news, I was reading on the global juice feasting website (which rocks!) about how to be frugal while juice feasting. It was brought up that paint strainers are cheaper versions of nut mylk bags. I immediately called my dad (who's always in a home depot or canadian tire... aka hardware store) and asked him to pick some up. By the time I got to Katrina's reply about paint strainers being a bit more toxic and not as durable... it was too late! My dad did however, pick up "jelly bags". The packaging says "large reusable bags for straining juice for making jelly". They work AMAZINGLY...dare I say... BETTER than nut mylk bags. The juice comes out FASTER! I was worried that maybe it was letting out more pulp... so I restrained my juice through a nut mylk bag and found maybe 1/4 of a teaspoon worth of pulp. I am a pulp-nazi though... on the juice feast anyway. So maybe I'll just do that.... Strain through the jelly bag first, and second strain through a nut mylk bag... it's faster anyway! :) Did I mention they're 2 for 6$? :)

Okay... sleepy time for Ben! :)

...Z z z z z z z z z z

Day 20 - Ben's msm lotion

Neeta asked me to share my secret msm lotion with her. It's not actually patented (see day 19) ;) ... I was just being cute! So here it is:

*Quick reminder to read the disclaimer at the bottom of the page*

Place 1/4 cup of coconut oil/butter in a small cup and leave it out for 30 minutes to soften a wee bit. Add 1tsp of almond oil. Place a metal spoon under running hot water and start to 'mash' the almond oil into the coconut oil. It's okay if a bit of hot water goes into the mixture; it'll help everything blend in. At this point you can start to sprinkle 1tsp of msm. You want to to sprinkle a bit, mix everything, sprinkle a bit more, mix some more and so on and so forth until all the msm has been combined. Try to mold the mixture into a ball (with the use of the spoon and the cup) and place it back into the refrigerator so it can harden. When it's time to go to bed, crack off a small piece and rub it into the affected areas... the coconut oil will melt into it and help the msm penetrate the psoriasis lesions.

The first time you do this, it may burn a wee bit...but this won't happen the second time around. Also, the day after using the msm lotion, the psoriasis lesions will look worse than they were the day before. The next day, however, they will look much better. I use this every 2-3 days. I would highly suggest waiting until a week or two into the juice feast before using this; wait for the juice feast to heal the cracked skin... I wouldn't apply this on any open wounds (often caused by psoriasis). Coconut oil on its own is fine to apply to these regions, however and will help tremendously.

**Don't forget; you have to heal from the inside out. Psoriasis is an outside manifestation of problems with the colon and the liver. Focus on nourishing and detoxing your body before relying on topical treatments.**

Today was mega grocery shopping day. One week of juice feasting cost me 180$ this week. Ouch! My mom was sweet though, she paid for my 10 young coconuts (20$) that I bought in Chinatown. I also bought a new 'state of the art' skin brush! haha! It has a long handle that is also detachable. The brush itself comes with a strap; when you detach the handle, you can hold the brush in your palm, with the help of the strap, and brush, brush, brush! The one I had was kind of tiny and had no handle...it was time to upgrade! :)

Today I had:

750ml water
750ml water+lemon+msm
1L celery/black kale+kelp
1L cantaloupe
1.1L Orange/Carrot
500ml water
1L Apple/Kale+spirulina+bee pollen+hemp seed oil
500ml water

Tons of water today! I had this dream today where my fish was ecstatic that I had changed the water in its tank. I wonder if that's my subconscious trying to tell me I should drink more water? :)

I can't believe it's day 20! I feel soooo happy about reaching a juice feasting milestone. It's encouraging because I'm telling myself that I'm so close to day 30 which is 1/3 of the way there. I can do this! I'm more and more certain that I'll be converting to raw veganism after this juice feast. Definitely 80% raw. And I know that I'll continue to drink green juices in the morning. Definitely will continue to drink a celery per day. :)

That's all for now :)

- Ben

PS: Random craving of the day...cashews! I almost turned into the incredible hulk when I saw a bag of them at Shopper's DM. I used to loooove Cashews but they always gave me a reaction similar to lactose intolerance; cramping, bloating, diarrhea. I loved them nonetheless........ maybe juice feasting will cure this bizarre intolerance! I hope! :)