Yes, it is a corny title, but it was the best I could come up with.

I should have started this diary yesterday, that was when I started the cleanse. But you see, there was this hockey game on (that ended badly) and hence a warm tub to ease the pain of losing was just the ticket.

I've been on a mission to regain my health over the past year and a half. I have slowly been adding more and more raw foods to my diet as times goes by. I don't eat as many raw foods in the winter time - I feel constantly cold if I do. But spring has mostly sprung so here I am attempting to detox yet again.

It has been a sometimes difficult but mostly pleasant transition to a better diet. I am highly toxic and have to take things slowly or else horrible detox symptoms happen. But at least now I am armed with this information, the first time I did this cleanse I didn't. Boils really hurt!

The last five or so days my diet has consisted of green smoothies, huge salads, vegetable juices, some hemp oil and a few nuts and seeds. I started full doses of the cleansing shakes and herbs yesterday.

I had excellent results when I did this cleanse a year and a half ago. It introduced me to the world of raw foods and the hope of actually being able to heal.

I've had no headaches - just a lot of body chills. I read somewhere that this apparently is a common occurance when cleansing and/or eating a raw food diet. I am definately willing to put up with it. I just don't want the boils again!

It's been a good day.

This morning the 'cleansing' portion of the program showed itself. I must have run upstairs to use the bathroom half a dozen times. Good exercise.

My lower back, hands and feet were a little stiff and sore this morning. They haven't been sore in a long while. It didn't last more than half an hour. I was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis in October of 2004. That diagnosis was the push I needed to try and find another way, other than drugs, to control or hopefully cure myself. I've come a long way.

I wasn't overly cold today. Maybe only for a couple of hours this morning. I attribute that mainly to the fact that it was nice and warm outside. Bless the sun!

I had a wee nagging headache briefly. I drank a ton of water a few minutes after it started and it went away quickly.

My green smoothie this morning tasted incredible. My salads and juices were divine. I seemed to have a heightened sense of taste.

I've had good energy today.

It's been a good day

Hi --

Have you tried a food dehydrator or low-warm oven to warm up your foods in the winter? I read books by Victoria Boutenko and Juliano that stated that you can warm your food up to 118 degrees Farenheit without killing the enzymes. Just a thought. I made apricot almond cookies the other day and they were good and better yet -- warm! Good luck -- Elizabeth

Time for me to resurrect my diary. Wow, it's been over a year since I posted in it and I didn't do much with it the first go around. But I've always been lurking around. I enjoy reading the diaries of others. I find they inspire me. Thank you.

Hopefully documenting my days will help me in my journey. I don't have a lot of support in my life for this way of eating and I find that this board helps me tremendously. Thank you again. . .

Hey there welcome back and congrats on geting back into raw foods!! that is awesome
take care
love earthangel
xoxoxoxo

Much peace and love!!!
EarthAngel
Xoxo

Thanks EA . . I appreciate your support!

I passed out last night reading "Vegan Freak - Being Vegan in a Non-Vegan World." Although not a 'raw' book, it does have some good advice.

I was up early this morning (5:15 am). . . good thing I'm a morning person. I absolutely love sitting on my steps in the morning and watching the world come alive.

Yesterday I had some grapes, two apples, two bananas, carrot and celery juice and a few tablespoons of hemp hearts. I wasn't overly hungry. Odd thing that.

Time for some cat maintenance. . . their claws are getting awfully long.

Here's to a good day!

I wasn't overly energetic today, but I did manage to get some house chores done.

I was outside in the flower garden and my daugther commented that "You're always talking to the birds and the flowers. You're weird." I took it as a compliment but I'm not sure that's how she meant it.

Today I had grapes, an apple, a big bowl of spring mix greens and some hemp seeds. Still not much food, but I've been resting on the couch and reading a lot and not expending too much energy. If I get hungrier, I'll eat more. I'm trying to learn to pay more attention and listen to my body when it comes to food.

It's been a good day.

hey there sounds like you had a grea day!! good for you..keep up the good work
love earthangel
xoxoxoxoxo

Much peace and love!!!
EarthAngel
Xoxo

The last few days have gone well. I haven't had a lot of energy in the evenings and find that I pass out way earlier than usual. Healing sleep is good! Today I think I have managed a totally raw day. I juiced some pineapple with an orange; had grapes; two bananas; more grapes and later a handful of hemp hearts. I was already starting to detox. . . I am sporting a few lovely large pimples on my forehead. A few dabs of tea tree oil usually helps with this. The two previous days I added a little bit of rice to the diet to slow the detox down a bit when the pimples started announcing their arrival.

It's been a good day.

hey there...glad you had a good day!! good sleep is good..and yes it is healing so get lots of it!!!!
keep up the good work
love earthangel
xoxoxoxo

Much peace and love!!!
EarthAngel
Xoxo

We got a composter for the office today, yah! The office is a house. Everyone there eats pretty healthy, but I'm the only vegan. If I ever have to go back to working in an office building, it will be a very hard adjustment. I'm spoiled.

My skin is a bit better. Pimples always seem to be the first thing that happens to me when I improve my diet.

I had a lot of energy this afternoon. I had troubles sitting at my desk. Happily, I have a flower garden I can go play in. Like I said, I'm spoiled.

Today was another all raw day! I had pineapple and orange juice; 3 apricots; some grapes; 2 nectarines; more grapes and for dinner I had a smoothie with banana, strawberries and a large handful of greens.

It's been a good day.

hey there....you have a great job to have those wonderful things!!! youa re spoiled and that is okay
keep up the good work
love earthangel
xoxoxoxo

Much peace and love!!!
EarthAngel
Xoxo

Well, it's been five days without a morning coffee. Happily, I never had any side effects from quitting. I was expecting a headache, but then again I had only been drinking it the last few weeks. I haven't been a 'regular' coffee drinker for years. I drink it for a few weeks, stop for a few, start again, etc. Coffee makes me jittery after I've been consuming for a while. I feel much better when I am not consuming it. I love the smell of coffee, the taste, but I like my health more, so I'm done with it. It will be a bit of a challenge as the boss has an amazing coffee machine at the office and he has to have his latte once, if not twice a day. I figure that I like the 'ritual' of coffee. Seems that a cup of warm water with with a squirt of lemon hits the spot just as well and I can socialize with the coffee drinkers and not feel deprived.

Today I had pineapple and orange juice; grapes; smoothie of banana, kiwi and a large handful of greens; two nectarines; a couple tablespoons of hemp hearts; and a large salad of greens for dinner.

It's been a good day.

hey there congrats.....keep up the good work!!
love earthangel
xoxoxoxo

Much peace and love!!!
EarthAngel
Xoxo

I guess I'll be a sporadic poster. . .

Things have been going fairly well since June. I've been high raw since then. I may have cooked veggies or quinoa a few times a week. It's working for me.

I've been calmer. Going with the flow. Nice and mellow. And then it hit about a week and a half ago. ANGER! What the. . .? Where did that come from? I don't know what to do with it. I have these recurring thoughts about how what we're doing with this life as a whole is all wrong. We're screwed up. 'This' isn't what we are supposed to be doing. Our priorities are all wrong. Somehow we got on the wrong track. . . This would be all fine and good if I had some answers. Erg. I don't know why I want to take on the universe.

I’ve stopped taking on the universe. I just think that some people are way too fixated on the idea of career and money and material things. Not enough time spent on spiritual endeavors. But, I’ve let that go. I’ll concentrate on my own spiritual endeavors. No more anger.

I’m still plugging away. I’ve been through some emotional roller coasters the last few months and I haven’t always been nice to myself.

My relationship with my bf of 8 years ended in September. The last of my children moved out of the house at the end of November. For the first time ever in my whole of 41 years I live alone. My bf and I never lived together but I did lose the person I talked to nearly every day. So there I was . . . lost. I’ve been sad, afraid, unsure and tons of other emotions over the last while.

I was a little self destructive for a month or so – poor food choices – coffee – cigars. Needless to say I managed to gain some weight and along with it some depression.

I know that raw food isn’t the end all, be all, but it does help me get to a place where I can work on my emotional and spiritual self. It helps me to feel better and thus take a vested interest in my well-being.

So, in February I started back with adding more raw food back into my diet. I never stopped eating only fruit until lunch time, so that continued. I’ve noticed that if I am going to have some fat I do better with it in the afternoon instead of the evening. If I have avocado, nuts or oils with supper I want to eat all evening. If I have them at lunch I am fine - having a ‘heavier’ lunch and a ‘light’ supper seem to be working well for me.

The fog has been lifting. I am feeling much better. I have been able to incorporate dry skin brushing and rebounding into my morning routine. My next goal is to get some yoga and meditation into my evenings.

Well, that’s a little bit of where I am now. Oh yes, the coffee and cigars are gone too!

Apparently I’m juicing fasting (feasting). I didn’t plan on it . . . it just seemed to happen.

Last Friday night I had juice for dinner and wasn’t hungry after it which left me pleasantly surprised. Saturday I felt like juicing again so I had juice for breakfast and lunch, decided I was hungry and had a few apples and then had juice for dinner. Same thing happened on Sunday. Monday rolls around, I had juice for breakfast, a few apples and then juice for lunch. I came home and had salad (just greens) for dinner and decided that I would have rather had juice. So, I’ve been juice fasting since and today was day 2.

I’ve decided that I will keep juice fasting until the body tells me not too. It told me clearly when to start so I think it will also be clear as when to stop. I already feel a little lighter – according to the scale I’ve dropped 5 pounds in the last week – mostly water weight I am sure.

I’ve been feeling okay – no headaches or anything like that. I’m feeling awfully cold from time to time. Felt a little spacey today for a while though. My colleagues at work had some East Indian takeout for lunch. It didn’t make me hungry but I found the smell too overpowering – kind of like the person on the bus who wears too much cologne. It wasn’t necessarily a bad smell just too strong.

I learned that if you are going to juice cabbage you must immediately take the pulp out to the composter or “Holy Bad Smells Batman”, your kitchen will stink to high heaven. I’m not likely to make that mistake again.

I’m keeping my morning routine of dry skin brushing and rebounding. I drink the juice of half a lemon in warm water as soon as I get up. I haven’t incorporated yoga and meditation into my evening routine yet as I’ve been spending most of the night in a hot tub with Epson salt or apple cider vinegar or a combination of sea salt, Epsom salt and baking soda in the water. A hot bath is a girl’s best friend sometimes. I find it extremely therapeutic. When the weather warms up hopefully I won’t feel so cold.

Thursday – still juice fasting, day 3.

We got a sh*tload of snow today. I mean super duper amounts. If anyone saw Canadian news, Calgary made the headlines.

Things are going well. A few unpleasantries were going on bowel-wise. All kinds of gurgling and I swear if you looked at my stomach it looked like an alien was moving around in there. Wasn’t exactly painful but didn’t feel too nice either. A visit from the “fountain syringe” (that’s what it says on the box, I guess you can’t display the word “enema” in public) and things were much better.

I had a really early night last night and didn’t have much juice due to the rumblings of the tummy and regions south – maybe only 2 liters.


Friday – still at it, day 4.

Felt better this morning. My right ear seemed clogged – kept popping when I was rebounding - seems much better now. I had more juice today than yesterday. The bowels were quiet – thank goodness.

About 3 ½ years ago when I was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis I also came down with an unexplainable pain in the region of my front lower teeth. It was really odd. The teeth themselves did not hurt, I could brush them and pull on them and tap them and nothing. There was just this pain that could not really be described nor found. Dental x-rays and check up revealed nothing. Doctor’s visit came up empty too so I suffered with it for a bit and one day it just went away, it only lasted a few months. All of a sudden I can feel the same sensation, not as strong but it is still there. They say that when your body is healing you can sometimes relive old pains, old injuries – interesting!

I was kind of cranky today, but not for very long periods of time, just off and on.

The weekend is supposed to be warm and sunny. I am so looking forward to getting some sun on my skin. It has literally been since late September that the weather has been nice enough to go outside and bare some skin. And the flowers are starting to come up in the garden – oh joy, oh bliss!

welcome to the board.

Thanks! I've actually been here two years. LOL

April 12, 2008

Saturday – still at it – day 5

As promised the weather was exceptional. Most of the snow is now melted. I was able to sit outside for half an hour and get some sun. It felt amazing!

I walked to the grocery store and purchased a most lovely pineapple – and it was! I really enjoy pineapple-orange juice in the mornings; I liken it to the ‘nectar of the Gods’.

I am reading “How and When to Be Your Own Doctor” by Dr. Isabelle A. Moser – most interesting!

I didn’t have as much spunk today as I did yesterday – I spent most of the day reading after I got some chores done. I know I didn’t drink enough juice today. I did drink a lot of water though. And of course the dry skin brushing and the rebounding and the visit from the fountain syringe.


April 13, 2008

Sunday – still at it – day 6

I know it’s only been 6 days and that doesn’t seem like much but I have never, ever in my whole life consciously gone a single day without some food. Hungry or not I’ve probably eaten every day. Even as a kid we still had to eat if we were sick to “keep our strength up.” I am utterly amazed at not being hungry. Here’s to cleansing and healing!

The retracing thing with the teeth seems to have stopped, well, I sure hope it has.

I am not feeling very perky today. I did rebound this morning – kept it light, it felt good to do so. I am a bit congested today – nose, ears, my lungs feel heavy – can’t seem to take a super deep breath.

The sun hasn’t come out from behind the clouds yet – if it does I will take my recycling to the bins. I don’t have a car so I do get tons of walking in. Tomorrow it is supposed to rain and be about 18 degrees colder, so I would like to get out today if the sun comes out. I have a feeling I will be spending tomorrow night in a hot detox bath.

April 13, 2008

The rest of day 6

Not a great rest of the day. I had a bath late morning and after about 15 minutes of soaking I didn’t feel very good. My ears started ringing, I felt really spacey and nauseous. I managed to get myself to my bed and proceeded to lie there for a while. I felt really weird for about 2 hours. I had little bouts of nausea for the rest of the day. I made a vegetable juice with some beets in it. Well, the beets set off a whole new round of nausea and they went through my system in less than an hour. A visit from the fountain syringe fairy was very helpful.


April 14, 2008

Day 7

Still at it. Had cravings for stupid foods – foods I haven’t had in years and would never, ever entertain eating. Do you still call them foods if they have no nutritional value? Junk, junk, junk. Cravings, but I’m not hungry. Other than this I felt a whole lot better than yesterday.

Amazingly enough orange juice sits really, really well with me right now. I’ve read that you shouldn’t fast with orange juice. Ah well, sits really well in my tummy for the brief moment it’s there. Juice a pineapple or a grapefruit with it and I’m in heaven.

I was kind of shy about having vegetable juice tonight considering yesterday’s fun but it sat okay too.

April 15, 2008

Day 8 – still going

Visions of cantaloupe were dancing through my head today. I don’t want to juice it, I want to eat it. Perhaps it is time to end the juice fast. I will see how I feel in the morning. I wish the weather was nicer, that would probably change my outlook on everything. Considering that I didn’t plan on juice fasting and also considering that I’ve never gone a day in my life without solid food, I think 8 days is pretty good.

I will weigh myself tomorrow and see what the scale says. I know I must have lost some more as my pants are a wee bit looser and my bras don’t fit anymore. LOL! Of course I have to loose it from my chest and not much from my butt.

My skin on my inner left arm between the wrist and the elbow had a bit of a rash today. It had a burning feeling to it and somewhat itchy. Hopefully that was something nasty leaving.

I think I’m going to spend the night in the bath tub – I’m freezing and it doesn’t help that it was a dreary, cool and cloudy day.

I think I will have a greater appreciation for the taste of simple food when this is all over. I think I will enjoy my food more – savor it. My taste buds won’t know what hit them.

April 16, 2008

Day 9 – haven’t stopped yet

I woke up this morning feeling quite blasé. I had my usual lemon water, did the usual skin brushing and within moments of bouncing on the rebounder felt a million times better. I dug my parka back out from the back of the closet – it was cold this morning – I guess it’s not time to put it away yet. It is supposed to snow and be a high of -6 (Celsius) and a low of -11 for the weekend. Boo!

My morning juice sat really well. I had apple and pear juice for lunch – went right through me. Lots of gurgling and churning happening. Had carrot, celery and cilantro juice for an afternoon snack – went right through me. My bowels haven’t done much on their own since I started the juice fast. I guess I don’t need the visit from the fountain syringe fairy tonight. I’m trying not to be too picturesque, but I wanted to jot this down.

I’ve apparently lost three more pounds since last week and I do know where they used to be situated. Breasts are overrated anyhow!

Tomorrow is supposed to be nice and sunny. Perhaps I will do this yet another day. I think I may get some prunes soaking in the fridge just in case I decide to end the fast. Oooh! and buy some strawberries and a cantaloupe too. If I don’t end it tomorrow or Friday I will probably end it on Saturday and then juice fast again towards the end of summer when I have a break from work and the weather is much nicer.

April 17, 2008

Day 10 – pruneage!

I had the most incredible pineapple and orange juice for breakfast – it really is amazing stuff. I’m sure I could solely live off of it for a while.

I broke my fast at lunch time with about 185 grams of prunes that had been soaking in water since the previous night. I ate about 7 prunes at lunch time and was completely stuffed for a good three hours and then was hungry again in the middle of the afternoon and at the rest of them. My stomach must have gotten a little smaller. They were very, very yummy. They sat very well.

I had some veggie broth for supper – not raw but homemade. My tummy liked that too.

A client came into the office this afternoon that had not seen me in a while and asked if I had just had a facial – she said my skin looked amazing. Wow, how nice is that?

I know it was only for 10 days but I think I have benefited greatly from this juice fast. My skin does look better, although it did have a few rough days - around day 3 to 6 – a few rashes here and there, rough spots, some flaking. The skin brushing every morning certainly does help. All kinds of nasty things came out of my digestive system. I’m sure I am cleaner inside. I had the odd runny nose and clogged ear canal. Didn’t really have much for headaches. Only one super sickly day and that was Sunday – dizzy and nauseous – day 6. Had a couple of “retracing” days of a weird sensation with my front lower teeth that happened about 3 ½ years ago for only a few months. I had days and periods of days where I felt really good – clear headed, a sense of lightness, happiness and joy and some days and periods of days where I felt depressed and blasé. But all in all it was a very good experience. I will do it again and hopefully this time it will be nice and sunny and warm outside.

I really did miss using a fork.

Tomorrow I will still do some juicing. I will partake in some wonderful strawberries and cantaloupe. On Saturday I will still juice and I want to have lettuce wraps with cucumber, tomato, sprouts, shredded carrot and a few drizzles of tahini. Yummers! Can’t wait for that.

klandestine Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> I’ve apparently lost three more pounds since last
> week and I do know where they used to be situated.
> Breasts are overrated anyhow!

I cracked up when I read this last night...I definitely understand, since I myself have lost both a bra and a cup size; bad thing is, my derriere's smaller too! Oh, NO!!!

Thought I'd pass by and say hello...have been reading your posts too! Very entertaining and engaging - keep up the great progress, and say hi anytime!

Thank you for the post Soraya!

I don't mind being small breasted anymore. I just wish I would loose more on my butt to be better proportioned. There are two things I really like about being small busted - I don't jiggle much when I work out and guys look into my eyes when they talk to me. LOL!

April 18, 2008

Today was the second day of food.

I had pineapple/orange juice this morning. I really love this stuff! A few hours later I had some black grapes. They were very tasty. I ate them really slowly and chewed and chewed and chewed until there was no flavor left. I got bored of eating.

I had vegetable juice for lunch – tomato, carrot, celery, zucchini, cucumber and cilantro. I basically had to use up what I had left in the fridge at work. It tasted good but I am kind of not feeling the veggie juices – I would rather have fruit juice.

I had strawberries around midday. Wowzers!

For supper I made my veggie wraps – carrot, cucumber, tomato, sprouts and a drizzle of tahini rolled up with a romaine leaf. They were really, really good. It is amazing how everything tastes so much stronger since the juice fast. It took me about 45 minutes to eat four little rolls. I was getting sick of eating.

The weatherman kept his word. It is a winter wonderland out there. Sigh. I thought seasons were supposed to be three months long – not seven.

I didn’t get to buy my cantaloupe today – they all looked like crap and they still wanted 4 bucks each for them. Pineapples were 3 bucks each. Yay! I can’t eat them, I can only juice them or they really do a number on my mouth.

Everything sat in the gut well today. I think I’ve transitioned into eating slow enough. I’ve been calmer and more patient the last few weeks – especially at work – even when I was having detox symptoms. I wonder if my boss will get used to that.

April 19, 2008

It is currently -12 with a wind chill factor of -22. Nice. It snowed all day. It is supposed to snow all day tomorrow and the next day. I did not leave the house – I did not even open the door to the outside.

I slept in way late this morning – 8:15. Did a killer rebounder workout and some squats, pushups and crunches. I think I’m going to be a wee bit sore tomorrow morning.

Because of the late start I didn’t get my liter of liquid sunshine (pineapple and orange juice) until just about noon. Later I had some black grapes and a few strawberries. I had a baked yam for dinner.

Had great energy today and was in very good spirits. Got side tracked tonight – Dirty Dancing was on the TV. I must have watched that movie a million times in the 80’s and early 90’s. Brought back a lot of warm-fuzzy memories.

Weather aside; it was a really nice day.

April 20, 2008

Good rebounder workout this morning. The abs and pecs were a little bit sore after yesterday’s fun. I have been consistent with the rebounding, lemon juice in water and dry skin brushing for 3 weeks.

Had my usual liquid sunshine for breakfast. Lunch was a mixed green salad with some sprouts, tomato, carrot and cucumber. Dinner was black grapes, then a few strawberries. Later still I had two apples.

This has got to be one of the oddest April’s I’ve ever experienced. One day it's 18 degrees and the next day its -12 with a wind chill factor that would make Frosty want to be inside. I had to venture forth this morning and shovel my sidewalk. The wind was just brutal.

Felt good today – good energy. My digestive system seems happy with my transition back into the land of solidness. My sleeping seems to have improved. It was a little hit and miss when I was juice fasting.