Day 59 - Happy Happy, Joy Joy

Thanks to everyone who replied to yesterday's request (day 58). It was neat to hear from all the readers out there that I didn’t even know were there. Thanks again.

Today was great. Oh my god, the sun is finally coming out more and more these past few days and this has definitely elevated my mood. Also, doing some rebounding has really helped that too. Rebounding makes me really happy. I put some corny music on and bounce/dance along. It’s totally goofy but it lifts my spirits and I think that’s an important component of healing.

I started looking more into studying at Hippocrates yesterday and Living light. I don’t think this can be done within the next year but you know what, after listening to yesterday’s video on globaljuicefeast.com about goals… I think I’ll just write it down as a goal and see what happens in terms of the universe delivering on that goal.

Tomorrow is day 60 and I’m planning a really interesting post; one that reflects back on the past 2 months of juice feasting and also looks ahead, at some changes I want to make to the next 32 days. Stay tuned for that okay? :)

Today I had:

1.25L water+msm+lemon
1.25L celery/green chard/cilantro+E3live+kelp+Himalayan sea salt

250ml water+chanca piedra
1.5L Pineapple/blood orange/blackberry (yuuum!)
250ml water+chanca piedra
1.25L Cantaloupe/orange (I think that cantaloupe was a bit off…meurgh)
1L Coconut water
1L Apple/spinach/alfalfa sprouts
2Tbsp honey
1Tbsp bee pollen+agave nectar
1Tbsp hemp seed oil+lemon (shot glass style)
1Tbsp coconut oil+honey

Today I did:

Skin brushing
2L Cat’s claw tea enema
20 min reboundingAcupeds (still targeting kidneys)
Zapper (all day)

Last night’s sleep: 10PM to 5:30PM (eep! Bit later than I wanted!)

That’s it for today… keeping this short!

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 22 - Loving the yoga!

Okay... so I'm not doing the scorpion asana just yet! :)

That being said, for someone who hasn't done yoga in years, I was surprised to see how much my body remembered the poses and is quickly adapting to them. I was able to do a headstand and hold it for about a minute. I haven't done one of those in forever. I remember when I was 17, trying to master that pose... the countless times I fell backwards or forwards... like a tree! TIMBERRRR! That was me! And now? Body memory! :)

I weighed myself this morning, only to discover that I've lost 15lbs so far. I love to touch my tummy randomly throughout the day... kind of like a pregnant woman! But instead of "ohhh look how much it's growing" I'm thinking "you're shrinking!" :)

Skin brushing was weird this morning! It was like someone was using a woodsaw nearby; tons of stuff was coming off! I know, eww! But it's a good eww! :)

Today I had:

1.25L water+msm+lemon
30 minutes of yoga / 10 minutes of meditation
1.25L celery/collard greens/cilantro+kelp+bee pollen+spirulina
1tbsp coconut oil
1L orange/carrot
750ml cantaloupe
1L young coconut water/pear
1L apple/baby bok choi/dailon/kale
45 minutes yoga / 10 minutes of meditation

I know! I surprised myself with that last juice too! It's the most complex juice I've had since day 3 I think. No tummy aches! :)

Sorry; I'm keeping this one short cause I need to get to bed early tonight. I've got another kiosk at the other end of town tomorrow. I've gotta be up super early to juice (4am). I've got to be out the door by 7am. Ouch!

Schlaf gut! :)

- Ben

Day 19 - Kiss my face!

I'm thrilled at how radiant my face is right now. It literally glows. I can't believe this will continue to get better as I near day 92. The psoriasis on my forehead has almost completely disappeared. I think it's time to apply some of my patented msm lotion there. ;)

Day 19 was really good. I'm out of that slump... I was a bit depressed the last few days and was secretly annoyed at times... annoyed at 'having' to juice feast. Those feelings have passed and I'm happy to say that tomorrow is grocery day. I'm looking forward to changing things up a bit and trying out new juices perhaps! :)

I wanted to talk about a company I just discovered called "kiss my face". They have an amazing line of all natural organic products that are both vegan and not tested on animals. Their handcream has been savior these past few weeks. The combination of dreadfully cold, continuous washing of produce and squeezing juice-filled nut mylk bags has wreaked havoc on my hands. I love the smell of my "peaches & creme" hand moisturizer. Tomorrow I'm going to invest in their shaving gel because it's time to get rid of my vichy shaving cream which has ingredients I can't pronounce and therefore must not be good for me. I will also look to see if they have a facial cleanser and moisturizer. I feel bad for ditching Vichy! I loved their products... but it's "all natural or nothing" for this kid now! :)

Today I had:

1.25L Water+msm+lemon
1L Celery/collard greens/cilantro
1L apple/red cabbage
750ml carrot/celery/parsley
1L cantalope
750 apple/spinach
1tbsp bee pollen
1tbsp coconut oil

I woke up late today and I rushed out the door so I didn't have time for skin brushing for the first time since day 1! Sigh. I can't wait to do that tomorrow. I also didn't have time for enemas, contrast showers or add supplements to my juices. I'll make it up tomorrow! :)

I want to join a local yoga studio this month... to motivate me into doing exercise. Does anyone have ideas on where to find cheap yoga menswear? Lululemon is soooooo expensive!

- Ben

Day 15 - Hic !

Yes! Hiccups! I don't know why... but I've had them for most of the day. Off and on, of course. It started last night and continued throughout the day today. Could this be a detox symptom or is it just a fluke? Oh well! :)

I had MASSIVE amounts of juice today! I also discovered that my mason jars, if filled to the rim, hold 1.25L... not 1L! So this means I've been consuming more juice than I thought, this entire time! I won't amend my previous stats... but I feel good knowing that the days where I only got 3L, I actually was getting at least 3.5L.

I also want to mention how I had a f$#%ing kiosk to do this morning, which meant I had to be at work for 7am. Despite not getting a lot of sleep (I don't know why, I stayed up late watching TV LOL), I got up at 4am and made my juices, skin brushed, contrast showered, got pretty and ran out the door. On my way to work I realized... that in my pre-JF days, I would have been utterly knackered; zombie-like, groggy, bitchy and ready to stab anyone that stood between me and a venti soy latte........ This is how much energy you have while juice feasting! It's unreal! And I just thought I wasn't a morning person!

Today I had:

1L water+msm+lemon
1.25L celery/red chard/cilantro+kelp+hemp seed oil
1.25L Cantaloupe
500ml Apple/Orange/Strawberry (BoosterJuice)
60ml Wheatgrass (BoosterJuice)
750ml Carrot/Orange (yuuuum!)
750ml Pear

Total! 4.56L!!!! I'm so happy to have finally broken the 4L mark. I think back to Angela Stokes' blog and how she used to drink 5 or 6L in one day and I feel silly that I can't manage to do the same. Though, I guess, I do have to take into account that I am working 60 hours/week while juice feasting...

I wanted to ask other juice feasters about their juice-drinking habits. When it comes time to drink your juices, do you drink a juice in one sitting or do you find that it takes a while to get through 1L of juice? I personally find that I alternate.... the yummy juices will go down easy... but the morning green juice and the coconut juices might take me an hour to drink down. Don't worry; I am chewing all my juices... despite how much my coworkers think that's weird!

PS: I just wanted to say how much I LOVE all the comments I've been getting on my blog. It's fun to know that people are actually reading this :) I appreciate the comments, feedback, suggestions and little hellos from other juice feasters! I feel the love! :)

Can you believe I'm 1/6th of the way there? I sure can't! :)