"But the bottom line," he added, "is that we already know that the genes that are associated with exceptional longevity already exist, and that they are concentrated in subgroups of the population. And the rest of us don't have those genes, or don't have all of them. Those who do have won the genetic lottery for making it out to exceptional old age. And, unfortunately, if you haven't won, there's no chance you can make it."
--Jay Olshansky, a senior research scientist at the University of Chicago's Center on Aging
from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/16/AR2008121600756_2.html
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Pushups & Cat Food
I just got back from the gym! Yesterday & today were the first days that my legs really felt usable after Thursdays ass-kicking workout. I was limping around like an old lady for most of the weekend, and the pain was almost unbearable when I'd try to go up or down stairs. Overall, I did not feel good.
Anyway, I developed a pretty nasty cold on Sunday/Monday which pretty much came to a head today. Getting out of bed was nearly impossible this morning. I juiced it up old school today (1.5L green smoothie, 2L celery juice) but caved and ended up eating rice/yucca/bacalao from the hispanic place next door. Ugh. I didn't feel that crappy afterwards, but I was a bit worried that it would interfere with my speedy recovery.
I came home right away after school today (after thoroughly clearing my desk in case I decide to take tomorrow off...tehe), sat & rested, caught up with some emails, etc etc, and eventually felt well enough to go to the gym. I did the Week 1, Day 1 of http://hundredpushups.com/ and found it to be a bit challenging. I did a series of 6, 6, 4, 4, 5+ pushups. What made it so difficult is that as my arms get stronger, my form gets better and the number of pushups that I can do with super-correct form decreases. Obviously this will increase over time, but for right now I am really feeling the burn. I also ran for 30 minutes on an 2309283 incline, and feel so much better now (breathing/hackey wise) than I did before I went running.
I've decided I'm going to switch my cats to an all raw diet (consisting of raw meat/bones, some fish, pureed veggies, freshly grown wheatgrass, eggs, oils, and supplements). After months of watching Luscious get even more...luscious, I've decided my planning needs to morph into some serious action. I weighed the cats today (first by trying to coax them onto the scale, then by realizing I could just pick them up and stand on the scale...DUH). Luscious is 17 pounds! Her brother Fred is 12 pounds, and a solid, solid muscular cat. This makes me feel like Luscious should probably fall within the 10-12lb range. If she were a human, she would probably be considered morbidly obese. :( Jack and Dante are both 10 pounds each, and while weight-wise I'm only concerned with Luscious, the others would definitely benifit from raw food as well.
Anyway, I developed a pretty nasty cold on Sunday/Monday which pretty much came to a head today. Getting out of bed was nearly impossible this morning. I juiced it up old school today (1.5L green smoothie, 2L celery juice) but caved and ended up eating rice/yucca/bacalao from the hispanic place next door. Ugh. I didn't feel that crappy afterwards, but I was a bit worried that it would interfere with my speedy recovery.
I came home right away after school today (after thoroughly clearing my desk in case I decide to take tomorrow off...tehe), sat & rested, caught up with some emails, etc etc, and eventually felt well enough to go to the gym. I did the Week 1, Day 1 of http://hundredpushups.com/ and found it to be a bit challenging. I did a series of 6, 6, 4, 4, 5+ pushups. What made it so difficult is that as my arms get stronger, my form gets better and the number of pushups that I can do with super-correct form decreases. Obviously this will increase over time, but for right now I am really feeling the burn. I also ran for 30 minutes on an 2309283 incline, and feel so much better now (breathing/hackey wise) than I did before I went running.
I've decided I'm going to switch my cats to an all raw diet (consisting of raw meat/bones, some fish, pureed veggies, freshly grown wheatgrass, eggs, oils, and supplements). After months of watching Luscious get even more...luscious, I've decided my planning needs to morph into some serious action. I weighed the cats today (first by trying to coax them onto the scale, then by realizing I could just pick them up and stand on the scale...DUH). Luscious is 17 pounds! Her brother Fred is 12 pounds, and a solid, solid muscular cat. This makes me feel like Luscious should probably fall within the 10-12lb range. If she were a human, she would probably be considered morbidly obese. :( Jack and Dante are both 10 pounds each, and while weight-wise I'm only concerned with Luscious, the others would definitely benifit from raw food as well.
I've been reading up on raw food for cats for a while and am absolutely horrified by the things that go into conventional cat food. Kibble contains melamine, preservatives, animal "by-products," and grain/carbohydrate fillers that cause digestive problems. The fats in conventional dry kibble typically go rancid before the food is even consumed. On study showed that 9 out of 10 bags of dry kibble have some type of bug living in them. Gaaaah. Its disgusting!
So now I need to find a meat grinder. And take some before & after pictures of the kitties!
Monday, December 15, 2008
Stolen Cell Phone!
So, as some of you may know, my cell phone was stolen on Thursday night while I was at the gym. I accidentally left it on a treadmill for no more than 2 minutes, and when I went back it was gone. After the initial trauma of being heckled by the ladies who stole my phone when I tried calling it, things started to feel pretty good.
I LOVE not having a phone. The night it was stolen I panicked and spent hours searching online, trying to find something to tide me over on eBay until my contract renews in February (iPhone time!) If I were to replace it with an iPhone through AT&T at this moment, it would cost me over $500. My roommate suggested I wait 2 days, and if I still *NEEDED* to have a phone, I could then figure something out when I'm thinking more clearly. Its been four days (even including a weekend!) and I've decided that I'm completely fine going without. In all honesty, the thing I miss most is being able to tweet at all hours of the (work)day. Haha.
I'm really looking forward to this experience!
Moral of the story: You don't NEED a cell phone. Also, it probably doesn't hurt to spend the $10 or so per month on insurance.
I LOVE not having a phone. The night it was stolen I panicked and spent hours searching online, trying to find something to tide me over on eBay until my contract renews in February (iPhone time!) If I were to replace it with an iPhone through AT&T at this moment, it would cost me over $500. My roommate suggested I wait 2 days, and if I still *NEEDED* to have a phone, I could then figure something out when I'm thinking more clearly. Its been four days (even including a weekend!) and I've decided that I'm completely fine going without. In all honesty, the thing I miss most is being able to tweet at all hours of the (work)day. Haha.
I'm really looking forward to this experience!
Moral of the story: You don't NEED a cell phone. Also, it probably doesn't hurt to spend the $10 or so per month on insurance.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Craaaaavings. :)
Today's Intake So Far:
breakfast:
1L OJ
lunch:
1/2 head romaine, 1/3 avocado, 1/4 cup cherry tomatoes, salt & pepper, cumin, lemon juice
1 apple
1 banana
after work snack:
1 mango
20 cheezy almonds
Due to logistics (mainly the 10 million things happening in the last 36 hours, nearly all unexpected) I didn't have enough OJ on hand to make 2L like I would've liked this morning. I also had no bananas. I wound up having insane-ridiculous cravings for the not-so-good-for-me hispanic food from the bodega next to my school, but since I had an idea of why I was experiencing them (not enough CARBOHYDRATES!) I managed to (barely) ride it out with a couple pieces of fruit. I couldn't finish my salad at lunch today either, I just wasn't feeling it. I think my body is adjusting to the lowered fat intake. Woo! I'm actually feeling MUCH better now that I've eaten my mango.
Its so interesting to think about cravings as being both emotional and physiological. For the majority of the past two weeks, I haven't wanted rice or wheat whatsoever. My thoughts on cravings have been confirmed over the past two days. When my carbohydrate intake dipped too low, I INSTANTLY began craving cooked starches/felt starved -- and even though I had a salad (w/smooshed up avocado) in front of me both times, I didn't want it, because I needed sugar. Our bodies are incredible!
breakfast:
1L OJ
lunch:
1/2 head romaine, 1/3 avocado, 1/4 cup cherry tomatoes, salt & pepper, cumin, lemon juice
1 apple
1 banana
after work snack:
1 mango
20 cheezy almonds
Due to logistics (mainly the 10 million things happening in the last 36 hours, nearly all unexpected) I didn't have enough OJ on hand to make 2L like I would've liked this morning. I also had no bananas. I wound up having insane-ridiculous cravings for the not-so-good-for-me hispanic food from the bodega next to my school, but since I had an idea of why I was experiencing them (not enough CARBOHYDRATES!) I managed to (barely) ride it out with a couple pieces of fruit. I couldn't finish my salad at lunch today either, I just wasn't feeling it. I think my body is adjusting to the lowered fat intake. Woo! I'm actually feeling MUCH better now that I've eaten my mango.
Its so interesting to think about cravings as being both emotional and physiological. For the majority of the past two weeks, I haven't wanted rice or wheat whatsoever. My thoughts on cravings have been confirmed over the past two days. When my carbohydrate intake dipped too low, I INSTANTLY began craving cooked starches/felt starved -- and even though I had a salad (w/smooshed up avocado) in front of me both times, I didn't want it, because I needed sugar. Our bodies are incredible!
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Day 11. :)
Entirely too tired to enter my food in nutridiary...but here goes the intake:
breakfast:
1.5L OJ
1 banana
12 almonds
lunch:
4 cups grapes
31 almonds
dinner:
5 cups mixed fruit salad (melon, grapes, pineapple)
a few bites of cucumber/avocado out of a salad
chamomile tea w/ 2oz honey
2 bananas
EDIT: salad w/1 head romaine, 20 cherry tomatoes, 2tsp olive oil, lemon juice, 20 almonds, salt & pepper
10 cheezy almonds
I'm going to try to muster up the strength to throw something together, its late but I'm too hungry to sleep. Tuesdays are ridiculous and I need to figure out a better plan for getting through them with a full stomach. I don't even want to know how many calories I consumed today. Probably 7. I wound up having to throw out the salad I brought for dinner because I didn't add enough lemon juice to keep the avo from turning. I just couldn't stomach eating it. :(
Today I slid into a pair of pants that hasn't fit me since shortly after my juice feast ended in February. They were a bit snug this morning but totally fit well enough to wear to work. Woo!
I will definitely be stopping at Caravan of Dreams for some dinner tomorrow! I have been craving it all week. While there, I'm going to buy a few containers of hummus to smuggle back to Florida for Thanksgiving. :) This may mean sending it in with my checked baggage, so I will probably wind up sealing it in super tupperware and stuffing that in a lunch box with ice packs!
I can't wait to see my family and throw together some raw vegan deliciousness for Friday, it is going to be fantastic!
breakfast:
1.5L OJ
1 banana
12 almonds
lunch:
4 cups grapes
31 almonds
dinner:
5 cups mixed fruit salad (melon, grapes, pineapple)
a few bites of cucumber/avocado out of a salad
chamomile tea w/ 2oz honey
2 bananas
EDIT: salad w/1 head romaine, 20 cherry tomatoes, 2tsp olive oil, lemon juice, 20 almonds, salt & pepper
10 cheezy almonds
I'm going to try to muster up the strength to throw something together, its late but I'm too hungry to sleep. Tuesdays are ridiculous and I need to figure out a better plan for getting through them with a full stomach. I don't even want to know how many calories I consumed today. Probably 7. I wound up having to throw out the salad I brought for dinner because I didn't add enough lemon juice to keep the avo from turning. I just couldn't stomach eating it. :(
Today I slid into a pair of pants that hasn't fit me since shortly after my juice feast ended in February. They were a bit snug this morning but totally fit well enough to wear to work. Woo!
I will definitely be stopping at Caravan of Dreams for some dinner tomorrow! I have been craving it all week. While there, I'm going to buy a few containers of hummus to smuggle back to Florida for Thanksgiving. :) This may mean sending it in with my checked baggage, so I will probably wind up sealing it in super tupperware and stuffing that in a lunch box with ice packs!
I can't wait to see my family and throw together some raw vegan deliciousness for Friday, it is going to be fantastic!
Monday, November 24, 2008
things have come half circle.
Ah. A full 6 months after my last posting, I have returned.
I called into work today and spent the majority of it sleeping in/lying around, hence the low food intake. I'm not too worried, I had lots of rich food this weekend from Caravan of Dreams (delicious flax chips and hummus) as well as half a bag of Cheezy Almonds (I recently ordered 1/2 dozen bags from Living Nutz and am trying desperately to ration them out, haha!), so my lack of hunger is probably just balancing out those indulgences.
Today's Intake (so far):
breakfast:
1L orange juice
1 mango
0.5L water
lunch: (munched on over the course of a couple hours)
4 bananas
dinner:
4 cups grapes
a few grape tomatoes
12 almonds
1/3 of tomorrow's lunch salad: 1 bunch kale, 1 avocado, 1/2 cucumber, 1 pint tomatoes, 2tsp EVOO, salt & pepper
Total: 1641 calories, 34g fiber
81 carbohydrates/6 protein/13 fat
I've been frustrated with the choices I've been making over the past half-year. I found that even though I started out eating a vegan diet with a high intake of raw fruits and vegetables, things gradually slid back to the point where I was eating vegan & vegetarian junk food (white italian baguettes, anyone?) and even dairy, among other unmentionables. I couldn't just draw up "reasonable" or "moderate" cooked vegetarian dietary guidelines and just stay within them (ie, x percentage raw, y percentage cooked). For months I struggled to change my eating habits -- I attempted 100% raw several times, tried a whole foods vegan diet, juiced, tried a SAD vegetarian diet where I just counted calories...the list goes on. The only positive aspect that I can really note from the past half year is that the emotional binging stopped. Also, even though I was eating crap at times, I generally only ate until I was full and was conscious of portion sizes.
My food choices began to take an emotional toll on me. Not only did I know the damage I was doing to my body, it was impossible to ignore. I'd put on about 15lb over the course of 6 months, was constantly bloated, tired, irritable, and had basically lost hope of ever being on a raw vegan diet again...or pooping on a regular basis.
I've found that over the past week or so, I've had NO trouble staying raw and haven't experienced ANY cravings whatsoever for wheat or cooked starches. At first I was just grateful for the turn of events, until I did some thinking/random reading and realized it wasn't coincidental at all. In my past 100% endeavors, despite drinking green juices and intaking lots of kale salads, I was still craving cooked grains -- particularly rice. The problem with these attempts (not only within the last 6 months, but throughout the two years I've been on this journey), is that I wasn't consuming enough calories or carbohydrates!
In the past, I'd been so focused on getting in enough greens (salads) and the fullness that eating raw vegan comfort foods (onion bread, flax crackers, pates, nuts, etc) offered. Fruit didn't give me a full feeling immediately and wound up slipping by the wayside. Since I wasn't eating the carbohydrates, I wound up craving the cooked carbs. I ate more fatty heavy things to try to fill that, and the cycle continued, eventually resulting in a cooked-carb binge.
I have a less than desirable grocery situation, and over the past week or so, its been cold and I've been too lazy to go to Manhattan or Park Slope regularly. As a result, the majority of my intake has been OJ (1-2L/day) and bananas; two things that are cheap & local to me, and that I also don't mind buying if not organic. I've also been drinking celery/apple juices (both organic), since Whole Foods isn't too much of a stretch for me. Salads have been simple (tomatoes, avocado, lemon juice, some type of green requiring minimal preparation, salt & pepper) because I've really just been too lazy to even deal with olive oil if I'm already hacking open an avocado.
I'm feel so fortunate and grateful to have figured this out when I did! I am going to enter my daily intake into some type of carbohydrate/fat/calorie tracking system on a regular basis now. I'm not striving for 80/10/10 but I do need to make sure that I am taking in sufficient calories (at least 1500-1600/day?). I'd also like to keep the fat under 20%.
I called into work today and spent the majority of it sleeping in/lying around, hence the low food intake. I'm not too worried, I had lots of rich food this weekend from Caravan of Dreams (delicious flax chips and hummus) as well as half a bag of Cheezy Almonds (I recently ordered 1/2 dozen bags from Living Nutz and am trying desperately to ration them out, haha!), so my lack of hunger is probably just balancing out those indulgences.
Today's Intake (so far):
breakfast:
1L orange juice
1 mango
0.5L water
lunch: (munched on over the course of a couple hours)
4 bananas
dinner:
4 cups grapes
a few grape tomatoes
12 almonds
1/3 of tomorrow's lunch salad: 1 bunch kale, 1 avocado, 1/2 cucumber, 1 pint tomatoes, 2tsp EVOO, salt & pepper
Total: 1641 calories, 34g fiber
81 carbohydrates/6 protein/13 fat
I've been frustrated with the choices I've been making over the past half-year. I found that even though I started out eating a vegan diet with a high intake of raw fruits and vegetables, things gradually slid back to the point where I was eating vegan & vegetarian junk food (white italian baguettes, anyone?) and even dairy, among other unmentionables. I couldn't just draw up "reasonable" or "moderate" cooked vegetarian dietary guidelines and just stay within them (ie, x percentage raw, y percentage cooked). For months I struggled to change my eating habits -- I attempted 100% raw several times, tried a whole foods vegan diet, juiced, tried a SAD vegetarian diet where I just counted calories...the list goes on. The only positive aspect that I can really note from the past half year is that the emotional binging stopped. Also, even though I was eating crap at times, I generally only ate until I was full and was conscious of portion sizes.
My food choices began to take an emotional toll on me. Not only did I know the damage I was doing to my body, it was impossible to ignore. I'd put on about 15lb over the course of 6 months, was constantly bloated, tired, irritable, and had basically lost hope of ever being on a raw vegan diet again...or pooping on a regular basis.
I've found that over the past week or so, I've had NO trouble staying raw and haven't experienced ANY cravings whatsoever for wheat or cooked starches. At first I was just grateful for the turn of events, until I did some thinking/random reading and realized it wasn't coincidental at all. In my past 100% endeavors, despite drinking green juices and intaking lots of kale salads, I was still craving cooked grains -- particularly rice. The problem with these attempts (not only within the last 6 months, but throughout the two years I've been on this journey), is that I wasn't consuming enough calories or carbohydrates!
In the past, I'd been so focused on getting in enough greens (salads) and the fullness that eating raw vegan comfort foods (onion bread, flax crackers, pates, nuts, etc) offered. Fruit didn't give me a full feeling immediately and wound up slipping by the wayside. Since I wasn't eating the carbohydrates, I wound up craving the cooked carbs. I ate more fatty heavy things to try to fill that, and the cycle continued, eventually resulting in a cooked-carb binge.
I have a less than desirable grocery situation, and over the past week or so, its been cold and I've been too lazy to go to Manhattan or Park Slope regularly. As a result, the majority of my intake has been OJ (1-2L/day) and bananas; two things that are cheap & local to me, and that I also don't mind buying if not organic. I've also been drinking celery/apple juices (both organic), since Whole Foods isn't too much of a stretch for me. Salads have been simple (tomatoes, avocado, lemon juice, some type of green requiring minimal preparation, salt & pepper) because I've really just been too lazy to even deal with olive oil if I'm already hacking open an avocado.
I'm feel so fortunate and grateful to have figured this out when I did! I am going to enter my daily intake into some type of carbohydrate/fat/calorie tracking system on a regular basis now. I'm not striving for 80/10/10 but I do need to make sure that I am taking in sufficient calories (at least 1500-1600/day?). I'd also like to keep the fat under 20%.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Orange Juice!
Today I got a good run in (the Prospect Park loop in 34 minutes -- roughly a 10 minute mile), and TONS of juice:
- 40oz OJ
- 2 quarts OJ
- 20oz green juice (spinach/cuke/apple/ginger)
- 24oz watermelon juice
I want to work on upping my water intake for tomorrow, but I'm really happy about my workout and juicing today!
- 40oz OJ
- 2 quarts OJ
- 20oz green juice (spinach/cuke/apple/ginger)
- 24oz watermelon juice
I want to work on upping my water intake for tomorrow, but I'm really happy about my workout and juicing today!
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Sunday's Run
Hm...I just returned from a 4.6 mile run. It took me 39 minutes, so I averaged an 8:30 minute mile. I'm REALLY happy about that, considering the run felt VERY easy compared to the 11:ish minute mile run I did on the treadmill the other day. Seems like the speedwork is paying off, so I'm going to continue with it a couple of times per week throughout the training. I'm so stoked to do the next couple of weeks of training while feasting, and am excited to see what will happen performance wise. Running felt SO easy tonight.
Juicing today has been great, today I enjoyed
~ 2qts pineapple/beet/apple/ginger juice
- 1 qt green juice (2 bunches kale, 3 gala apples, 1/2 cucumber)
- 400mL apple-blueberry juice
I might have some orange juice later but I've still got quite a bit of the beet/pineapple to go, and I'm feeling pretty satisfied. On the menu for tomorrow is (DEFINITELY) watermelon, blueberry/apple juice, apple/celery, and my usual green juice...if anyone has any yummy suggestions let me know!
YAY FOR COLD REFRIGERATORS! Mine started to work again randomly, which is AMAZING! The Universe totally hearts me. :)
Juicing today has been great, today I enjoyed
~ 2qts pineapple/beet/apple/ginger juice
- 1 qt green juice (2 bunches kale, 3 gala apples, 1/2 cucumber)
- 400mL apple-blueberry juice
I might have some orange juice later but I've still got quite a bit of the beet/pineapple to go, and I'm feeling pretty satisfied. On the menu for tomorrow is (DEFINITELY) watermelon, blueberry/apple juice, apple/celery, and my usual green juice...if anyone has any yummy suggestions let me know!
YAY FOR COLD REFRIGERATORS! Mine started to work again randomly, which is AMAZING! The Universe totally hearts me. :)
1/2 Training Update & Divine Intervention
Hm.
I'm ashamed to say that my half-marathon training isn't going as well as planned. Right now I'm running about 3 of the scheduled 6 runs per week. I've been doing a little too much goofing off and not enough running. Specifically, spending WAY too much time with my love (and loading up on veggie sandwiches because of it -- but no soy!) I'm taking a sabbatical. I've had enough. I need to get back into juicing and preparing my own healthy meals, so I'm going to spend alot more time alone with my juicer and running this week. :)
Um, and I was supposed to begin a Juice Feast today. I'd only planned a short one -- 10 days or so, to detox my body and kick off raw foods again. I stocked up on some stuff last night to start my day with today, anticipating a larger trip to the co-op this afternoon. When I opened the fridge this morning when I woke up, everything was room temperature. Fuuuuck. I went ahead and juiced everything I had, and am now choking down room temperature green juice. I called my landlord and she said she'd come by TOMORROW. wtf? I'm just grateful this didn't happen when I had a fridge FULL of produce.
After I finish these juices and some water, I'm going tohead out for a couple of easy loops around Prospect Park. I'm determined to run this half-marathon.
I'm ashamed to say that my half-marathon training isn't going as well as planned. Right now I'm running about 3 of the scheduled 6 runs per week. I've been doing a little too much goofing off and not enough running. Specifically, spending WAY too much time with my love (and loading up on veggie sandwiches because of it -- but no soy!) I'm taking a sabbatical. I've had enough. I need to get back into juicing and preparing my own healthy meals, so I'm going to spend alot more time alone with my juicer and running this week. :)
Um, and I was supposed to begin a Juice Feast today. I'd only planned a short one -- 10 days or so, to detox my body and kick off raw foods again. I stocked up on some stuff last night to start my day with today, anticipating a larger trip to the co-op this afternoon. When I opened the fridge this morning when I woke up, everything was room temperature. Fuuuuck. I went ahead and juiced everything I had, and am now choking down room temperature green juice. I called my landlord and she said she'd come by TOMORROW. wtf? I'm just grateful this didn't happen when I had a fridge FULL of produce.
After I finish these juices and some water, I'm going tohead out for a couple of easy loops around Prospect Park. I'm determined to run this half-marathon.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Half-M update!
Okay, so a few updates...my running schedule, while ludicrously inconsistent (I've been skipping out on the stretching/strengthening days REALLY bad, and missed Wednesday's run because my leg was sore), has been good. I felt like I sprinted the Prospect Park loop on Tuesday, and I'm really feeling like my running is improving rapidly. I've been upping my green intake (salads, etc) but haven't gotten into any juicing yet. Lots of crap has been cut out of my diet, and the only soy I've had this week has been soy milk with cereal, and in coffee. There's still some more junk to go, but things are already much better.
I can't wait to see how things go if I do 100% again.
I'm for sure going to incorporate the strength training and stretching on the days I'm supposed to. My goal next week to prioritize my health (sleeping & eating) and half-marathon training. I seriously overdosed on spending time with my darling this week and missed a couple of runs as a result, even though we usually go running together.
Uh, hm. 3-miler today to make up for Thursday's missed run, then a 4-mile run tomorrow evening. Woo! I'm off to professional development (fortunately 10 minutes from my house), to earn $213908234 per hour. Thinking about setting up an appointment to be fitted for a good pair of running shoes next weekend...
Sunday, May 11, 2008
News Flash: KQ is alive! And terrible at blogging!
I'm still kicking. Blogging has been at the bottom of my list of priorities the past few months due to grad school, the end of the school year for my kiddos, and *gasp* HALF-MARATHON TRAINING. I'm back now, and I hope to update every couple of days (at least) with my progress.
I began training for the NYC half-marathon (taking place July 27th) a couple of weeks ago. I've been eating what I consider to be a fairly junky vegan diet (lots of un-chicken patties, vegan bologna, ezekial bread, etc), and not too much as far as greens. This has left me feeling rather crappy as a result. My running has improved regardless, so I'm stepping it up this week and including more green smoothies and tons of salad & green juice. I want to see if I can run this training totally raw, but I'm not rushing anything.
As far as the training, I'm following Hal Higdon's half-marathon program, which involves steadily increasing my mileage over the next 11 weeks until I'm ready for the 13.1 half.
I got a bit behind on my runs the past few days since it was the last week of the semester, and ended up running two longer runs back to back. Late last night I ran the Prospect Park loop (3.35 miles) with my love, and we ran it AGAIN (plus 0.7 for a total of 5 miles) this morning at like 10:00. Note to self: Don't ever fucking do that again. Tomorrow is my "stretching & strengthening" day. I've considered working in some Bikram to those days, but given the absurd intensity of the past two days, I'm thinking about sticking to a regular yoga class.
Anyway, the loop we ran last night felt like one of the best/easiest runs I've been on, and given the fact that my day's intake yesterday basically consisted of un-chicken patty sandwiches, I'm pretty excited to see what tons of fruit & greens will do to my performance. I think one of the reasons it went so well was from the three days of rest I took while scrambling to finish assignments. This morning's run wasn't nearly as good, since I was still recovering from yesterday's loop (heh, I think the two runs were actually within 12 hours of each other). Seriously though, never again, the last thing I want to do is injure myself.
Goals for the week of May 11th:
-- 3+ quarts water per day
-- 2 quarts fresh juices per day
-- no soy!
I began training for the NYC half-marathon (taking place July 27th) a couple of weeks ago. I've been eating what I consider to be a fairly junky vegan diet (lots of un-chicken patties, vegan bologna, ezekial bread, etc), and not too much as far as greens. This has left me feeling rather crappy as a result. My running has improved regardless, so I'm stepping it up this week and including more green smoothies and tons of salad & green juice. I want to see if I can run this training totally raw, but I'm not rushing anything.
As far as the training, I'm following Hal Higdon's half-marathon program, which involves steadily increasing my mileage over the next 11 weeks until I'm ready for the 13.1 half.
I got a bit behind on my runs the past few days since it was the last week of the semester, and ended up running two longer runs back to back. Late last night I ran the Prospect Park loop (3.35 miles) with my love, and we ran it AGAIN (plus 0.7 for a total of 5 miles) this morning at like 10:00. Note to self: Don't ever fucking do that again. Tomorrow is my "stretching & strengthening" day. I've considered working in some Bikram to those days, but given the absurd intensity of the past two days, I'm thinking about sticking to a regular yoga class.
Anyway, the loop we ran last night felt like one of the best/easiest runs I've been on, and given the fact that my day's intake yesterday basically consisted of un-chicken patty sandwiches, I'm pretty excited to see what tons of fruit & greens will do to my performance. I think one of the reasons it went so well was from the three days of rest I took while scrambling to finish assignments. This morning's run wasn't nearly as good, since I was still recovering from yesterday's loop (heh, I think the two runs were actually within 12 hours of each other). Seriously though, never again, the last thing I want to do is injure myself.
Goals for the week of May 11th:
-- 3+ quarts water per day
-- 2 quarts fresh juices per day
-- no soy!
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Easter Weekend...
I wound up having an amazing time on Sunday with the dad's side of my family! It was the best ever, and every time I visit them I realize how lucky I am to have been born into such a great family. I really, REALLY lucked out. :) They're so great! I can't wait for the summer, I'll have my car and will be able to visit them much more frequently (yaay Poconos & Wildwood).
So, on the way to NJ I stopped in Park Slope to fetch my sister...she wasn't ready when I got there so I brought the salad up to pop in her fridge. I wound up forgetting it there, which was pretty crappy. I ended up unloading a bunch of it onto my sister & others (this salad was seriously like 15lb of produce), since I wouldn't have been able to finish it all before it went bad.
Math exam grading is about halfway over...gaaaaaah! There's nothing more soulless than being cramped in a classroom grading standardized tests with 10 other people in the first few days of spring. Oooooooh how I want to be outside. This weekend is going to be crap: 8 hours Saturday, 8 hours Sunday. Ew.
Oh well. I'm going to buy a billion pounds of goji berries with the $392837492834 I earn from all these extra hours. :)
So, on the way to NJ I stopped in Park Slope to fetch my sister...she wasn't ready when I got there so I brought the salad up to pop in her fridge. I wound up forgetting it there, which was pretty crappy. I ended up unloading a bunch of it onto my sister & others (this salad was seriously like 15lb of produce), since I wouldn't have been able to finish it all before it went bad.
Math exam grading is about halfway over...gaaaaaah! There's nothing more soulless than being cramped in a classroom grading standardized tests with 10 other people in the first few days of spring. Oooooooh how I want to be outside. This weekend is going to be crap: 8 hours Saturday, 8 hours Sunday. Ew.
Oh well. I'm going to buy a billion pounds of goji berries with the $392837492834 I earn from all these extra hours. :)
Astelin!
Hm. I was walking through the grocery store today and heard an advertisement for Astelin.
Pharmaceutical companies are obviously hard at work making up ridiculous diseases and even more absurd methods of treating them. Um, not an expert, but hydrochloride seems frighteningly similar to "hydrochloric acid." Yes, thats it...we'll treat your runny nose and sensitivity to chemicals by searing the tissues inside of your nose!
These assholes are taking what is a normal (and healthy) bodily reaction to irritants (their list includes perfume, cigarette smoke, air pollution, CLEANING PRODUCTS, and air fresheners), and classify it as "nonseasonal rhinitis." Then they push a poisonous concotion to "treat" your "symptoms." Wait, we know this story already. And PS, you have to pay for it.
http://www.astelin.com/
Pharmaceutical companies are obviously hard at work making up ridiculous diseases and even more absurd methods of treating them. Um, not an expert, but hydrochloride seems frighteningly similar to "hydrochloric acid." Yes, thats it...we'll treat your runny nose and sensitivity to chemicals by searing the tissues inside of your nose!
These assholes are taking what is a normal (and healthy) bodily reaction to irritants (their list includes perfume, cigarette smoke, air pollution, CLEANING PRODUCTS, and air fresheners), and classify it as "nonseasonal rhinitis." Then they push a poisonous concotion to "treat" your "symptoms." Wait, we know this story already. And PS, you have to pay for it.
http://www.astelin.com/
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Hm...it seems that no sooner than I was celebrating the end of the NYS Math Test, an additional 32 hours of my week got sucked up for grading...luckily it will be over on April 3. At $9823498345/hour, I'm not necessarily complaining...but it would be nice to have time to blog and exercise and sleep and breathe. :)
My sister & I are driving down to New Jersey to visit our extended family for the Easter weekend. I'm really excited, but also a little amused at how drastically different the food around me will be this weekend, compared to last (Garam Masala). I'm bringing a GIANT salad (the biggest biggest salad bowl I own, completely stuffed), with 2 heads of red leaf lettuce, 1 head of green leaf lettuce, sprouts, red peppers, a ton of kirby cucumbers, and vine ripened tomatoes. I tossed it in EVOO, lemon, salt & pepper. Yum.
My sister & I are driving down to New Jersey to visit our extended family for the Easter weekend. I'm really excited, but also a little amused at how drastically different the food around me will be this weekend, compared to last (Garam Masala). I'm bringing a GIANT salad (the biggest biggest salad bowl I own, completely stuffed), with 2 heads of red leaf lettuce, 1 head of green leaf lettuce, sprouts, red peppers, a ton of kirby cucumbers, and vine ripened tomatoes. I tossed it in EVOO, lemon, salt & pepper. Yum.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
@!%&*#
...Woah!
My weekend in the Poconos can only be described as unbelievable. I never imagined that I'd grow so close to 20+ people in the matter of 2.5 days. I don't know if any description I could provide would do the retreat any justice. We laughed, we fell still, we brought sexy back.
The personal growth I experienced over the weekend was remarkable...listening to the experiences of so many raw-fooders of all kinds and discussing with them their challenges and triumphs was like a gift from the Universe.
The overwhelming amount of information and insight brought to the table by Anthony, Drew, and Philip was astounding. The retreat absolutely blew my expectations out of the water.
The food was incredible (another understatement). Everything was gourmet, organic, and freshly prepared with love. The tables seemed to constantly be peppered with Sarma's delicious creations (oneluckyduck.com). Oh, and 20 pints of raw vegan gourmet ice cream from pure juice & takeaway? Yes.
Everyone was so warm and authentic, and the chateau was unlike anything I'd ever seen before.
Fortunately, its all been documented in the form of videos, pictures, and MP3 which will surely be popping up all over internet-land (specifically GITMR), that I can't wait to check out myself. I left totally refreshed mentally, physically, and spiritually. My arms hurt from hugging people this morning!
So, I'm completely blown away. Getting back to reality hasn't been easy so far but I'm working on adjusting my perspective. I'm going to see how long I can go without reading a magazine or watching television with my roommate... :) I really want to stay in my blissful raw-vegan bubble.
Also, my new schedule makes my health a priority -- going to bed at 8:00 or 9:00, waking up early enough (5:00 AM) for a run, morning juicing & smoothie'ing it up, etc. etc. Here's to time management and mental health! After today's super early rising, I'm ready for bed right about now. :)
My weekend in the Poconos can only be described as unbelievable. I never imagined that I'd grow so close to 20+ people in the matter of 2.5 days. I don't know if any description I could provide would do the retreat any justice. We laughed, we fell still, we brought sexy back.
The personal growth I experienced over the weekend was remarkable...listening to the experiences of so many raw-fooders of all kinds and discussing with them their challenges and triumphs was like a gift from the Universe.
The overwhelming amount of information and insight brought to the table by Anthony, Drew, and Philip was astounding. The retreat absolutely blew my expectations out of the water.
The food was incredible (another understatement). Everything was gourmet, organic, and freshly prepared with love. The tables seemed to constantly be peppered with Sarma's delicious creations (oneluckyduck.com). Oh, and 20 pints of raw vegan gourmet ice cream from pure juice & takeaway? Yes.
Everyone was so warm and authentic, and the chateau was unlike anything I'd ever seen before.
Fortunately, its all been documented in the form of videos, pictures, and MP3 which will surely be popping up all over internet-land (specifically GITMR), that I can't wait to check out myself. I left totally refreshed mentally, physically, and spiritually. My arms hurt from hugging people this morning!
So, I'm completely blown away. Getting back to reality hasn't been easy so far but I'm working on adjusting my perspective. I'm going to see how long I can go without reading a magazine or watching television with my roommate... :) I really want to stay in my blissful raw-vegan bubble.
Also, my new schedule makes my health a priority -- going to bed at 8:00 or 9:00, waking up early enough (5:00 AM) for a run, morning juicing & smoothie'ing it up, etc. etc. Here's to time management and mental health! After today's super early rising, I'm ready for bed right about now. :)
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Cheers!
Ah. Here's to the state math test nightmare FINALLY being over. The past month or so feels like it has been the most stressful of my life. I've spent the past three weeks catching up ALL of my students (special & general ed) to the state prescribed curriculum and its been absolutely miserable prepping and training them for this damn test. Its finally over and now we can spend the next few months doing projects & having good times. Also, I can get back to blogging on a regular basis. Woo!
I still have a ridiculous amount of grading to do, and lesson planning is out of control after the March test since we don't really have a solid pacing schedule/guide.
Tonight I made creamy, delicious sesame seed milk for the first time since the end of my juice feast. It tastes incredible and is so super easy to make...
Sesame Seed Milk
32oz cold filtered water
1/2 cup unhulled brown sesame seeds
2oz honey
Oooooh, and I'm heading up to the Poconos for the weekend with all the sexy raw foodies and I can't wait!
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Raw Vegan Stealth
Today:
-- 1 qt water
-- green smoothie w/ 10oz mango, 1 bunch spinach
-- 2 apples
-- 2 avocadoes
-- 1 mango
-- marinated salad w/ 1 head purple kale, sprouts (alfalfa & crunchy), handful of cherry tomatoes, 1/2 cucumber, red onion, a drizzle of balsamic & EVOO, sea salt, pepper, cumin, cayenne, and a drop of honey
-- middle eastern feast! (including but not limited to: tabbouleh (parsley, diced cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, cumin, sea salt & pepper, EVOO, lemon juice); sesame seed pate (sesame seeds, cumin, sea salt, pepper, curry, cayenne, red bell pepper, lemon juice); salad (red bell pepper, green leaf lettuce, balsamic, lemon juice, EVOO, red onion, sprouts), DATES!
I made dinner for Abdul tonight and totally tricked him into raw vegan goodness! I told him to bring some pitas (just in case...I didn't want him to leave for work starving!), and served up delicious tabbouleh, salad, and hommus pate...of course he had no idea it was raw, and kept going on about how good everything was! Haha, good times. I ended up making a ton of food so I have enough to take for lunch tomorrow...yaay.
Hm. I'm finding that post-feast I'm starting to get some breakouts. I definitely overdid it on fat today. Meh. I'll be green juicing it up here in a couple of hours or so, for sure. I also need to get going with the running thing. I'm going to try to get into bed by 9:00 or 10:00 tonight so that I can go tomorrow before school.
-- 1 qt water
-- green smoothie w/ 10oz mango, 1 bunch spinach
-- 2 apples
-- 2 avocadoes
-- 1 mango
-- marinated salad w/ 1 head purple kale, sprouts (alfalfa & crunchy), handful of cherry tomatoes, 1/2 cucumber, red onion, a drizzle of balsamic & EVOO, sea salt, pepper, cumin, cayenne, and a drop of honey
-- middle eastern feast! (including but not limited to: tabbouleh (parsley, diced cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, cumin, sea salt & pepper, EVOO, lemon juice); sesame seed pate (sesame seeds, cumin, sea salt, pepper, curry, cayenne, red bell pepper, lemon juice); salad (red bell pepper, green leaf lettuce, balsamic, lemon juice, EVOO, red onion, sprouts), DATES!
I made dinner for Abdul tonight and totally tricked him into raw vegan goodness! I told him to bring some pitas (just in case...I didn't want him to leave for work starving!), and served up delicious tabbouleh, salad, and hommus pate...of course he had no idea it was raw, and kept going on about how good everything was! Haha, good times. I ended up making a ton of food so I have enough to take for lunch tomorrow...yaay.
Hm. I'm finding that post-feast I'm starting to get some breakouts. I definitely overdid it on fat today. Meh. I'll be green juicing it up here in a couple of hours or so, for sure. I also need to get going with the running thing. I'm going to try to get into bed by 9:00 or 10:00 tonight so that I can go tomorrow before school.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Snow Day!
Ah, we're having a steady snow here in Brooklyn. I think its the first snow to really stick, which is pretty exciting. I've noticed that I'm feeling a lot more resilient when it comes to the weather lately...I'm not sure whether to attribute that to solid food or the extra fats I'm consuming.
I feel like I ate a lot today! Even my co-teacher commented on it, haha. I definitely didn't "overeat," I think I just had an appetite. I overslept today and never had a chance to throw together a green smoothie. I feel like I've been looking pretty beat lately, and its definitely due to a lack of sleep and the fact that I'm not getting in the green juices I was before. I'm going to have a nap, then make myself a quart or two when I wake up. Also considering a more strict sleep schedule that involves more...sleeping.
Teh Yummies
-- 3 apples
--massaged salad: 1/2 bunch kale, 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, 1/4 cuke, a few slices of red onion, handful of crunchy sprouts and a handful of alfalfies, drizzle of EVOO & balsamic, 1/2 bunch rocket, 3 tbs hemp seed
-- chamomile tea w/ 2oz honey
-- 2 mangos
-- 2 avocados (one was small)
-- 10 oz figs
-- small handful of blueberries
-- 1.5Q celery/kale/apple/ginger/cuke (1 heart celery, 1 head kale, 1 cucumber, 2" chunk ginger, 2 of the biggest candycrisp apples I've seen in my life)
I feel like I ate a lot today! Even my co-teacher commented on it, haha. I definitely didn't "overeat," I think I just had an appetite. I overslept today and never had a chance to throw together a green smoothie. I feel like I've been looking pretty beat lately, and its definitely due to a lack of sleep and the fact that I'm not getting in the green juices I was before. I'm going to have a nap, then make myself a quart or two when I wake up. Also considering a more strict sleep schedule that involves more...sleeping.
Teh Yummies
-- 3 apples
--massaged salad: 1/2 bunch kale, 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, 1/4 cuke, a few slices of red onion, handful of crunchy sprouts and a handful of alfalfies, drizzle of EVOO & balsamic, 1/2 bunch rocket, 3 tbs hemp seed
-- chamomile tea w/ 2oz honey
-- 2 mangos
-- 2 avocados (one was small)
-- 10 oz figs
-- small handful of blueberries
-- 1.5Q celery/kale/apple/ginger/cuke (1 heart celery, 1 head kale, 1 cucumber, 2" chunk ginger, 2 of the biggest candycrisp apples I've seen in my life)
Monday, February 11, 2008
Salt & Scheduling
Hm. So I've got about an hour here before I have to head off for the co-op. I think I missed another shift I was supposed to work yesterday. Ha! Such is the story of my life. Now that I hooked it up with a fancy-pants Samsung Blackjack, I should be able to keep all of my affairs in order. Should.
So, I've got a plan for what I plan to do now that I'm transitioning out of my juice feast...since I can no longer bear to wake up at the crack of dawn to get my juice on (at least for now), I am going to do all of my juicing in the afternoon/evening.
This works to my advantage in two ways: Not only does it free up my morning for a solid run and/or pilates routine, it also means I'll be juicing in the afternoons/evenings instead of eating. This means my digestive system will be done doing its thing by the time I go to bed, which will result in maximum healing & rejuvination. Woo!
I'll blend up a green smoothie in the morning for breakfast, and I'll also take a salad or some fruit for work. I'm going to see how that works out. My salad today was DELICIOUS: romaine, spring mix, sprouts, cukes, halved cherry tomatoes, pepper, hemp seeds, with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar & sesame oil...all stuffed into a 1.5Q mason jar, no less. What can I say? I'm in withdrawal. Or just out of containers... :)
Can't be beat. I'm trying to cut salt out of my recipes entirely, to see where it takes me. The food tastes SO much better this way. I can really, really taste things in romaine lettuce, sesame oil, and all kinds of other veggies & fruits -- that I never noticed before. The food is so much more vibrant and delicious.
I feel like using salt kills all of that and everything ends up tasting the same. Who knows? I might start using it again, whatever...right now I'm really enjoying the no salt thing.
Food! (so far)
-- 2 quarts water
-- 8 oz prunes
-- Salad with 1/2 bag romaine, 1/2 bag spring mix, 1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, 1 cucumber, 3-6 tablespoons hemp seeds, drizzle of balsamic vinegar & sesame seed oil, 1/2 carton alfalfa sprouts, pepper
-- 3/4 green smoothie made with 10 oz mango, 1 medium head kale, 1 gala apple
-- 4 gala apples
-- 4.4oz box blueberries
-- 2 larabars (apple pie!)
-- chamomile tea w/ 2oz honey
-- 12 oz senna tea w/ 2oz honey
-- massaged salad 1/2 bunch kale, 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, 1/4 cuke, a few slices of red onion, handful of crunchy sprouts and a handful of alfalfies, drizzle of EVOO & balsamic, 1/2 bunch rocket, 3 tbs hemp seed
So, I've got a plan for what I plan to do now that I'm transitioning out of my juice feast...since I can no longer bear to wake up at the crack of dawn to get my juice on (at least for now), I am going to do all of my juicing in the afternoon/evening.
This works to my advantage in two ways: Not only does it free up my morning for a solid run and/or pilates routine, it also means I'll be juicing in the afternoons/evenings instead of eating. This means my digestive system will be done doing its thing by the time I go to bed, which will result in maximum healing & rejuvination. Woo!
I'll blend up a green smoothie in the morning for breakfast, and I'll also take a salad or some fruit for work. I'm going to see how that works out. My salad today was DELICIOUS: romaine, spring mix, sprouts, cukes, halved cherry tomatoes, pepper, hemp seeds, with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar & sesame oil...all stuffed into a 1.5Q mason jar, no less. What can I say? I'm in withdrawal. Or just out of containers... :)
Can't be beat. I'm trying to cut salt out of my recipes entirely, to see where it takes me. The food tastes SO much better this way. I can really, really taste things in romaine lettuce, sesame oil, and all kinds of other veggies & fruits -- that I never noticed before. The food is so much more vibrant and delicious.
I feel like using salt kills all of that and everything ends up tasting the same. Who knows? I might start using it again, whatever...right now I'm really enjoying the no salt thing.
Food! (so far)
-- 2 quarts water
-- 8 oz prunes
-- Salad with 1/2 bag romaine, 1/2 bag spring mix, 1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, 1 cucumber, 3-6 tablespoons hemp seeds, drizzle of balsamic vinegar & sesame seed oil, 1/2 carton alfalfa sprouts, pepper
-- 3/4 green smoothie made with 10 oz mango, 1 medium head kale, 1 gala apple
-- 4 gala apples
-- 4.4oz box blueberries
-- 2 larabars (apple pie!)
-- chamomile tea w/ 2oz honey
-- 12 oz senna tea w/ 2oz honey
-- massaged salad 1/2 bunch kale, 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, 1/4 cuke, a few slices of red onion, handful of crunchy sprouts and a handful of alfalfies, drizzle of EVOO & balsamic, 1/2 bunch rocket, 3 tbs hemp seed
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Connecticut!
I went to Connecticut today to catch the grand opening of Glen's new cafe. It was packed and the food was delish. Its so incredible to watch raw food places & juice bars open up all over the place!
An accidental sprinkling of hemp seeds on my salad today made me realize that I actually *do* like them, afterall. Now I can't get enough! My taste buds have changed so much. I found myself craving parsley the other day, which is incredible, considering I used to be militantly anti-parsley. I picked some up tonight and I think I'll make some tabbouleh with it tomorrow. Yum.
I'm loving the shifts that are going on...the 40 day flood of green juice (haha thanks Anthony) has opened my eyes to so much.
The Deliciousness:
-- 2 quarts water
-- 12 0z soaked prunes
-- 32 oz orange juice
-- 2 pears
-- 3 coconut macaroons :)
-- 3 cups romaine lettuce with 1/4 avoado, a few slices of cucumber, a few grape tomatoes, hemp seeds, and raw ranch dressing
-- 11oz blueberries
-- 1/4 cup goji berries
-- 16 oz watermelon
-- 1/2 bag romaine lettuce with 1/2 cucumber, a few grape tomatoes, drizzle of sesame seed oil & balsamic vinegar, lots of hemp seeds
I was really hungry all day! Probably because I didn't have any green juice/green smoothies. I'm making that a priority for tomorrow.
Also went on a 20 minue sprint/walk through my neighborhood. Fantastic! Totally forgot that you can't run immediately after consuming food (I'd been nibbling on prunes all morning), hence the "walking" part. I got about .75 miles of a pretty strong sprint in before absolutely having to stop, then walked the rest of the 1.25 of my regular route. Heh. Good times.
An accidental sprinkling of hemp seeds on my salad today made me realize that I actually *do* like them, afterall. Now I can't get enough! My taste buds have changed so much. I found myself craving parsley the other day, which is incredible, considering I used to be militantly anti-parsley. I picked some up tonight and I think I'll make some tabbouleh with it tomorrow. Yum.
I'm loving the shifts that are going on...the 40 day flood of green juice (haha thanks Anthony) has opened my eyes to so much.
The Deliciousness:
-- 2 quarts water
-- 12 0z soaked prunes
-- 32 oz orange juice
-- 2 pears
-- 3 coconut macaroons :)
-- 3 cups romaine lettuce with 1/4 avoado, a few slices of cucumber, a few grape tomatoes, hemp seeds, and raw ranch dressing
-- 11oz blueberries
-- 1/4 cup goji berries
-- 16 oz watermelon
-- 1/2 bag romaine lettuce with 1/2 cucumber, a few grape tomatoes, drizzle of sesame seed oil & balsamic vinegar, lots of hemp seeds
I was really hungry all day! Probably because I didn't have any green juice/green smoothies. I'm making that a priority for tomorrow.
Also went on a 20 minue sprint/walk through my neighborhood. Fantastic! Totally forgot that you can't run immediately after consuming food (I'd been nibbling on prunes all morning), hence the "walking" part. I got about .75 miles of a pretty strong sprint in before absolutely having to stop, then walked the rest of the 1.25 of my regular route. Heh. Good times.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Feast Breaking, Day 1
Hm. I wound up breaking my feast today at Union Square. I did the prunes, but added too much soak water to them last night so they wound up being absolutely disgusting. I don't think I'll do any prunes tomorrow, or at least not a full day.
I started today with a quart of water, and had a quart of celery/apple with 1/2 of the prunes for breakfast. I did a bit of journaling (nothing too crazy) today before breaking the feast, then continued with my day.
In the evening I hung out with Najib & Abdul, and really felt like a salad. Even though it was only Day 1 of the feast breaking, I followed my instincts and had "The Hummus Platter" at Caravan of Dreams. I didn't eat the carrots, radishes or celery as they were heavier/harder to chew thoroughly. I had a couple of flaxseed chips, and ended up leaving most of the almond hummus (which they brought out on the side) Not only was it too heavy, but after a conversation with a certain chocolate lady, I realized it tastes like marzipan. :) I used to love their hummus. Sadface.
On the plus side, Najib & Abdul LOVED Caravan, which I thought was super because they both really like meat. I didn't tell them it was a vegan place (I only told them it was vegetarian), and neither of them happened to notice the difference between the types of entrees (live vegan/cooked vegan). They ordered a veggie burger, and cooked veggies w/polenta. Najib told me he were surprised they didn't leave the restaurant hungry, and they both kept talking about how good the food was all night. Yaay! They also really liked the atmosphere of the restaurant, which is a definite plus.
Anyway, my dinner was definitely not the best ever. I left with a really weird taste in my mouth (I'm assuming from the salt?), and feeling pretty foggy. I probably won't eat there again for a while. I really really thoroughly chewed everything (something I'm working on), and in doing so, realized the food was actually really bland. There just wasn't much there. Merh. Maybe because it wasn't organic? It might be, I don't know.
Even though my feast is over, I'm going to continue keeping track of what I'm taking in each day.
Today's Yumminess:
-- 2 qts celery/apple/cucumber (2 hearts celery, 4 apples, 2 medium cukes)
-- 8oz PRUNES!
-- 2+ qts water
-- tea w/honey
-- Live Hummus Platter from Caravan (sans radishes/carrots/celery, only about 1/4 cup almond hummus, several flax chips)
So, not as much juiciness as I would've liked for today. I'm going to try to work a shift at the co-op tomorrow so that I can stock up on leafy goodness before the opening.
I started today with a quart of water, and had a quart of celery/apple with 1/2 of the prunes for breakfast. I did a bit of journaling (nothing too crazy) today before breaking the feast, then continued with my day.
In the evening I hung out with Najib & Abdul, and really felt like a salad. Even though it was only Day 1 of the feast breaking, I followed my instincts and had "The Hummus Platter" at Caravan of Dreams. I didn't eat the carrots, radishes or celery as they were heavier/harder to chew thoroughly. I had a couple of flaxseed chips, and ended up leaving most of the almond hummus (which they brought out on the side) Not only was it too heavy, but after a conversation with a certain chocolate lady, I realized it tastes like marzipan. :) I used to love their hummus. Sadface.
On the plus side, Najib & Abdul LOVED Caravan, which I thought was super because they both really like meat. I didn't tell them it was a vegan place (I only told them it was vegetarian), and neither of them happened to notice the difference between the types of entrees (live vegan/cooked vegan). They ordered a veggie burger, and cooked veggies w/polenta. Najib told me he were surprised they didn't leave the restaurant hungry, and they both kept talking about how good the food was all night. Yaay! They also really liked the atmosphere of the restaurant, which is a definite plus.
Anyway, my dinner was definitely not the best ever. I left with a really weird taste in my mouth (I'm assuming from the salt?), and feeling pretty foggy. I probably won't eat there again for a while. I really really thoroughly chewed everything (something I'm working on), and in doing so, realized the food was actually really bland. There just wasn't much there. Merh. Maybe because it wasn't organic? It might be, I don't know.
Even though my feast is over, I'm going to continue keeping track of what I'm taking in each day.
Today's Yumminess:
-- 2 qts celery/apple/cucumber (2 hearts celery, 4 apples, 2 medium cukes)
-- 8oz PRUNES!
-- 2+ qts water
-- tea w/honey
-- Live Hummus Platter from Caravan (sans radishes/carrots/celery, only about 1/4 cup almond hummus, several flax chips)
So, not as much juiciness as I would've liked for today. I'm going to try to work a shift at the co-op tomorrow so that I can stock up on leafy goodness before the opening.
Friday, February 8, 2008
Days 39 & 40
Well well. I'm officially finished with my Juice feast, as of 2 hours, 7 minutes ago. I haven't had anything solid. I'm about to throw my dried fruit into the soak water, and will eat a breakfast of prunes and a quart of juice around 11:00 AM (or whenever I wake up and feel like it -- I'm sleeping in!) I don't really...want to end the feast right now. Meh.
Day 39:
-- tea w/ honey
--- 2 quarts apple/celery juice (8 apples, 1 head celery)
-- 2 quarts watermelon juice
-- 1.75 quarts apple/cuke/kale (1.5 lb kale, 2 green delicious apples, 3 gala apples, 3 kirby cucumbers)
Day 40:
-- tea w/honey
-- 32 oz orange juice
-- 2 quarts celery/apple (1 head celery, 6 gala apples)
-- 2 quarts cucumber/kale/apple (5 kirby cucumbers, 1.5lb kale, 5 gala apples)
Yay! Questions from my readers!
What is MSM?
From about.com:
MSM is a naturally occurring sulfur compound found in fresh fruits and vegetables, milk, fish, and grains. MSM is therefore found in the normal human diet, but as foods are processed, MSM is destroyed. MSM is an odorless, tasteless, white, water soluble, crystalline solid in its purified form.
http://affairsoflife.com/msm.htm has a very extensive list of the benefits of MSM...
Day 39:
-- tea w/ honey
--- 2 quarts apple/celery juice (8 apples, 1 head celery)
-- 2 quarts watermelon juice
-- 1.75 quarts apple/cuke/kale (1.5 lb kale, 2 green delicious apples, 3 gala apples, 3 kirby cucumbers)
Day 40:
-- tea w/honey
-- 32 oz orange juice
-- 2 quarts celery/apple (1 head celery, 6 gala apples)
-- 2 quarts cucumber/kale/apple (5 kirby cucumbers, 1.5lb kale, 5 gala apples)
Yay! Questions from my readers!
What is MSM?
From about.com:
MSM is a naturally occurring sulfur compound found in fresh fruits and vegetables, milk, fish, and grains. MSM is therefore found in the normal human diet, but as foods are processed, MSM is destroyed. MSM is an odorless, tasteless, white, water soluble, crystalline solid in its purified form.
http://affairsoflife.com/msm.htm has a very extensive list of the benefits of MSM...
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Day 38
The Juices:
-- 1.5 quarts apple/cuke/kale/spinach/ginger (1 bunch kale, 1 bunch spinach, 4 gala apples, 1 green delicious apple, 1 cucumber, ginger)
-- water of 2 young thai coconuts
-- tea w/honey
-- 32 oz orange juice
-- 1 qt water
-- 1.5 quarts apple/cuke/kale/spinach/ginger (1 bunch kale, 1 bunch spinach, 4 gala apples, 1 green delicious apple, 1 cucumber, ginger)
-- water of 2 young thai coconuts
-- tea w/honey
-- 32 oz orange juice
-- 1 qt water
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Day 37
Hm...I know its uber cliche, but I really feel like I don't have enough hours in my day. I simply can't believe how quickly things fly by when you're busy. I have SO much to do, and no time to freaking do it.
I know that I'm just now delving into this whole time management thing, so hopefully things will smooth out after a solid weekend of planning. Haha, hello Saturday morning. I'm going to take a few hours to enjoy my feast breaking, then its off to lesson plan for next week.
Another reason I'm excited for the feast breaking is that I'll be spending less time preparing food...giant batches of salad every few days, a quart of juice every morning, a smoothie, and fruit = not much time in the kitchen. I can't wait!
I'm really excited to go to Glen's grand opening in Connecticut on Sunday. Catch A Health Habit Cafe --> Go check it out!
Today's Feast:
-- 2 quarts celery/apple (2 celery hearts, 9 macintosh apples)
-- 1.75 quarts kale/spinach/apple/cucumber/ginger (1 bunch ginger, 1 bunch spinach, 5 fuji apples, 1 chunk ginger, 1 cuke)
-- 2 quarts water
-- tea w/honey
I'm really liking the green juices with less fruit. B is really onto something here!
I know that I'm just now delving into this whole time management thing, so hopefully things will smooth out after a solid weekend of planning. Haha, hello Saturday morning. I'm going to take a few hours to enjoy my feast breaking, then its off to lesson plan for next week.
Another reason I'm excited for the feast breaking is that I'll be spending less time preparing food...giant batches of salad every few days, a quart of juice every morning, a smoothie, and fruit = not much time in the kitchen. I can't wait!
I'm really excited to go to Glen's grand opening in Connecticut on Sunday. Catch A Health Habit Cafe --> Go check it out!
Today's Feast:
-- 2 quarts celery/apple (2 celery hearts, 9 macintosh apples)
-- 1.75 quarts kale/spinach/apple/cucumber/ginger (1 bunch ginger, 1 bunch spinach, 5 fuji apples, 1 chunk ginger, 1 cuke)
-- 2 quarts water
-- tea w/honey
I'm really liking the green juices with less fruit. B is really onto something here!
Monday, February 4, 2008
Day 36: Solid Plans for Solid Food :)
Woke up today a little late...had a few minutes to throw together a quick kale/cuke/apple before running out the door. I'm excited to break my feast. I feel like I've gained everything I set out to gain when I began. Having feasted also makes the raw food lifestyle seem so much easier! (and cheaper, lol)
All kinds of craziness is happening around me and it will be so great to not have such restrictive eating habits...grabbing a piece of fruit/pre-made and running is really where things are headed. :) And I'm a million times more grateful for raw food restaurants, and hope to be more conscious of keeping things interesting in the kitchen.
Hm. :)
Today's feast:
-- 2 qts kale/apple/cuke (2 bunches kale, ~2.5 lb apples, 1 huge cucumber, ginger)
-- tea w/honey
-- 1 qt romaine/apple (5 mcintosh apples, 5oz baby romaine lettuce)
[Tuesday, 1:06 AM]
Woo! I'm really stoked about breaking my feast. Despite a year-and-a-half of a raw lifestlye, I feel like I'm experiencing raw foods for the first time! I've seriously never been this excited about salad before. I'm determined not to get into any "ruts," and I'm excited that I'm focused more on mixing up incredible salad recipes than cranking out nut meat burgers, raw bread, and other heaviness.
I'm definitely not saying that these types of foods are bad by any means. They can certainly have a place in a healthy raw vegan diet, particularly for those who are transitioning...but I'm into maximizing my intake of fresh, raw, leafy goodness! I'm also craving parsley for...the first time in my life! I used to hate it so so much. I can't wait to make some delicious raw tabouleh with a smidge of raw humus and a great big salad! Perhaps some raw falafel... :) Yum! The week after my feast breaking is going to include a dazzling array of various salads. Cabbage salad...salad with salsa and delicious Mexican flavors...middle eastern stuff...ginger salad and raw stir fried veggies...asldkflaskjf! Greeeeeeens! Tomatoes and cucumbers!
I'm switching up my raw vegan approach, this time as well. I think every couple of days I'm going to make a huge, giant, ridiculous batch of some kind of marinated deliciousness (be it kale or cabbage salad, etc) and keep it in a giant container in the fridge...this way I'll always have something green and wholesome and delicious ready to eat. This way, I'm not always going for nuts/seeds/heavy stuff, or too much fruit, when I'm starving and feel the need to eat immediately, or if I'm leaving the house and want to bring a snack with me quickly.
(My whole idea before was that the sooner I chop up the salad, the more quickly it would deteriorate, resulting in nutrient loss. My thoughts on this now are: 1. that the leaves are better off chopped up in a sealed environment than they would be sitting intact in a plastic bag in the fridge, 2. Even if nutrient loss does occur, I'm better off eating a marinated salad while out and about than I am eating a raw bar/snack food/trail mix, 3. Plus, the overnight marination of dark leafy greens [ie, cabbage & kale] is just delicious. I mean, who are we kidding?)
Back in the day, when I would run out I would just bring lots of nuts, a raw bar, fruit, or trail mix...or end up spending $15 on nasty Whole Foods salad bar, lol. If I bring some marinated salad instead, I will feel so much more balanced. My mom has these great silicone sealing food storage containers that even keep avocados bright green overnight, they're so airtight! I try to steal them from her when I can, but she always, always catches me. Immediately. Its uncanny. S'pose I'll be ordering them off of Amazon then. :)
I was anti-grain for a while after I sprouted some buckwheat groats into a huge batch of crunchy cereal that tasted delicious but wasn't so kind on the tummy. Perhaps it was the dehydration. I'm going to sprout quinoa this time around, as it will help with my cooked starch cravings. I'm also thinking its more balancing than lots of fruits. I'm so excited to really experiment with raw food again and figure out what exactly makes me feel my best.
I know I mentioned "occasional cooked foods" earlier in my feast...but raw foods are the real deal. Why the hell would I put cooked food in my body, ever again!? AFTER 40 DAYS OF LIVE, FRESHLY PRESSED, CHLOROPHYLL RICH, HAND SQUEEZED-WITH-LOVE-AND-I-HAVE-THE-FOREARMS-TO-PROVE-IT, JUICES!!?
Seriously! What the hell was I thinking!? I could be the laziest schmuck in the world, and not want to prepare anything ever again, and I could STILL stay happily 100% raw in NYC. On gourmet freaking food, no less. The selection that is available to me boggles the mind.
I'm so incredibly grateful (even more so than before) for the raw vegan community since undertaking this journey. Its not even about the food anymore. That part is secondary. Interacting with people who are operating on the same frequency as you is just..indescribable. After trudging along from day to day (okay, so I really don't hate my job *that* much), yelling at angsty 12-year-olds in Bushwick, I'd honestly forgotten what it felt like to have authentic, inspiring conversations with like-minded people. Particularly when these interactions occur over fresh coconut water and leafy deliciousness.
My feast feels radically different now that there's an end in sight. I'm going to spend some time reviewing my intentions and working hard to stay focused. :)
All kinds of craziness is happening around me and it will be so great to not have such restrictive eating habits...grabbing a piece of fruit/pre-made and running is really where things are headed. :) And I'm a million times more grateful for raw food restaurants, and hope to be more conscious of keeping things interesting in the kitchen.
Hm. :)
Today's feast:
-- 2 qts kale/apple/cuke (2 bunches kale, ~2.5 lb apples, 1 huge cucumber, ginger)
-- tea w/honey
-- 1 qt romaine/apple (5 mcintosh apples, 5oz baby romaine lettuce)
[Tuesday, 1:06 AM]
Woo! I'm really stoked about breaking my feast. Despite a year-and-a-half of a raw lifestlye, I feel like I'm experiencing raw foods for the first time! I've seriously never been this excited about salad before. I'm determined not to get into any "ruts," and I'm excited that I'm focused more on mixing up incredible salad recipes than cranking out nut meat burgers, raw bread, and other heaviness.
I'm definitely not saying that these types of foods are bad by any means. They can certainly have a place in a healthy raw vegan diet, particularly for those who are transitioning...but I'm into maximizing my intake of fresh, raw, leafy goodness! I'm also craving parsley for...the first time in my life! I used to hate it so so much. I can't wait to make some delicious raw tabouleh with a smidge of raw humus and a great big salad! Perhaps some raw falafel... :) Yum! The week after my feast breaking is going to include a dazzling array of various salads. Cabbage salad...salad with salsa and delicious Mexican flavors...middle eastern stuff...ginger salad and raw stir fried veggies...asldkflaskjf! Greeeeeeens! Tomatoes and cucumbers!
I'm switching up my raw vegan approach, this time as well. I think every couple of days I'm going to make a huge, giant, ridiculous batch of some kind of marinated deliciousness (be it kale or cabbage salad, etc) and keep it in a giant container in the fridge...this way I'll always have something green and wholesome and delicious ready to eat. This way, I'm not always going for nuts/seeds/heavy stuff, or too much fruit, when I'm starving and feel the need to eat immediately, or if I'm leaving the house and want to bring a snack with me quickly.
(My whole idea before was that the sooner I chop up the salad, the more quickly it would deteriorate, resulting in nutrient loss. My thoughts on this now are: 1. that the leaves are better off chopped up in a sealed environment than they would be sitting intact in a plastic bag in the fridge, 2. Even if nutrient loss does occur, I'm better off eating a marinated salad while out and about than I am eating a raw bar/snack food/trail mix, 3. Plus, the overnight marination of dark leafy greens [ie, cabbage & kale] is just delicious. I mean, who are we kidding?)
Back in the day, when I would run out I would just bring lots of nuts, a raw bar, fruit, or trail mix...or end up spending $15 on nasty Whole Foods salad bar, lol. If I bring some marinated salad instead, I will feel so much more balanced. My mom has these great silicone sealing food storage containers that even keep avocados bright green overnight, they're so airtight! I try to steal them from her when I can, but she always, always catches me. Immediately. Its uncanny. S'pose I'll be ordering them off of Amazon then. :)
I was anti-grain for a while after I sprouted some buckwheat groats into a huge batch of crunchy cereal that tasted delicious but wasn't so kind on the tummy. Perhaps it was the dehydration. I'm going to sprout quinoa this time around, as it will help with my cooked starch cravings. I'm also thinking its more balancing than lots of fruits. I'm so excited to really experiment with raw food again and figure out what exactly makes me feel my best.
I know I mentioned "occasional cooked foods" earlier in my feast...but raw foods are the real deal. Why the hell would I put cooked food in my body, ever again!? AFTER 40 DAYS OF LIVE, FRESHLY PRESSED, CHLOROPHYLL RICH, HAND SQUEEZED-WITH-LOVE-AND-I-HAVE-THE-FOREARMS-TO-PROVE-IT, JUICES!!?
Seriously! What the hell was I thinking!? I could be the laziest schmuck in the world, and not want to prepare anything ever again, and I could STILL stay happily 100% raw in NYC. On gourmet freaking food, no less. The selection that is available to me boggles the mind.
I'm so incredibly grateful (even more so than before) for the raw vegan community since undertaking this journey. Its not even about the food anymore. That part is secondary. Interacting with people who are operating on the same frequency as you is just..indescribable. After trudging along from day to day (okay, so I really don't hate my job *that* much), yelling at angsty 12-year-olds in Bushwick, I'd honestly forgotten what it felt like to have authentic, inspiring conversations with like-minded people. Particularly when these interactions occur over fresh coconut water and leafy deliciousness.
My feast feels radically different now that there's an end in sight. I'm going to spend some time reviewing my intentions and working hard to stay focused. :)
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Day 35
The juices so far today:
-- 2 qts kale/apple (8 apples, 2 heads of kale)
-- 2 qts water
-- water of 2 young thai coconuts
-- 1 qt red chard/apple (1 bunch red chard, 4 apples)
-- tea w/honey
-- 2 qts kale/apple (8 apples, 2 heads of kale)
-- 2 qts water
-- water of 2 young thai coconuts
-- 1 qt red chard/apple (1 bunch red chard, 4 apples)
-- tea w/honey
Day 33 & 34, Feast Breaking :)
Day 33:
-- 1.5 quarts kale/apple (1.5 lb kale, 11 apples)
-- 1 qt kale/apple (1 bunch kale, 4 apples)
-- 16 oz tangerine juice
-- 16 oz orange juice
-- 1 quart water w/MSM & lemon
-- tea w/honey
Day 34:
-- 1.5 quarts green lemonade (1 head red chard, 1 head celery, 4 apples, 1 lemon)
-- 12 oz bottle coconut water
-- water of 2 young thai coconuts
-- (2) 12 oz bottles organic orange juice
-- 24 oz orange juice (non-organic)
-- 1 quart water
-- tea w/honey
Today was quite unlike anything I've ever experienced. I met up with the WLIR squad (including fellow juice feaster Philip, of lovingraw.com ), Carrie & Raw B, Nancy, among many others! I met several new people...its so exciting to know that there are highly motivated people who share many of my visions. There was so this incredible flow of energy in the room.
There has been so much synchronicity the past few days thats really pointing me towards actively creating change of my own. I'm really busy with school, but things only get done when people actually do them.
I don't really have anything else to say about today. It left me quite speechless. I was in a really big hurry to leave because so much was said and I was so inspired that I felt weird just sitting there, even though I truly enjoyed my company...
So many books to read, things to do, people to connect with...I'm stoked.
Oh, and PS? Bonobos is 100% raw vegan! Who knew? I sure didn't. Its pretty awesome that they're sneaking raw food into people's lunches everyday.
Today was the first day the rice cravings went away. I hope they're gone for good. I feel like its time to transition back to blended foods & solids. I've done some thinking, and I don't know that 92 days without fiber is really best for me. Even when my green consumption is really high, I'm still thinking about solid (raw) foods a lot, probably to a point where its not healthy. Its no way to foster a good relationship with food.
Juice Feasting has been hard for me. Not in the realm of cravings, or getting the juices in...but the preparation and the fact that I have to haul around 3 quarts of juice/mason jars all day long. When I've already got all of my stuff for work, it adds up to a lot.
This has been a fabulous, fantastic experience on what is only the beginning of an amazing journey of health & enlightenment. I got so much out of my feast and have really been able to critically examine my relationship with food.
In lieu of the soaked prunes, my first "solid" meal will be a green smoothie. I'm going to follow the remainder of the feast breaking protocol to include juicy fruits for the next phase, and tender greens for the last. I'm pretty excited about eating again. :)
I will still be making regular posts to this blog, and am so very blessed to have shared this adventure with all of you.
Post Script: (Feb 3, 2008)
The above italicized text was published last night, then removed. While I haven't changed my decision to break the feast, I will be doing so after 40 days (Saturday will be Day 1 of Feast-Breaking). My first meal will be the prunes, as I will have the time to procure them after all. :)
-- 1.5 quarts kale/apple (1.5 lb kale, 11 apples)
-- 1 qt kale/apple (1 bunch kale, 4 apples)
-- 16 oz tangerine juice
-- 16 oz orange juice
-- 1 quart water w/MSM & lemon
-- tea w/honey
Day 34:
-- 1.5 quarts green lemonade (1 head red chard, 1 head celery, 4 apples, 1 lemon)
-- 12 oz bottle coconut water
-- water of 2 young thai coconuts
-- (2) 12 oz bottles organic orange juice
-- 24 oz orange juice (non-organic)
-- 1 quart water
-- tea w/honey
Today was quite unlike anything I've ever experienced. I met up with the WLIR squad (including fellow juice feaster Philip, of lovingraw.com ), Carrie & Raw B, Nancy, among many others! I met several new people...its so exciting to know that there are highly motivated people who share many of my visions. There was so this incredible flow of energy in the room.
There has been so much synchronicity the past few days thats really pointing me towards actively creating change of my own. I'm really busy with school, but things only get done when people actually do them.
I don't really have anything else to say about today. It left me quite speechless. I was in a really big hurry to leave because so much was said and I was so inspired that I felt weird just sitting there, even though I truly enjoyed my company...
So many books to read, things to do, people to connect with...I'm stoked.
Oh, and PS? Bonobos is 100% raw vegan! Who knew? I sure didn't. Its pretty awesome that they're sneaking raw food into people's lunches everyday.
Today was the first day the rice cravings went away. I hope they're gone for good. I feel like its time to transition back to blended foods & solids. I've done some thinking, and I don't know that 92 days without fiber is really best for me. Even when my green consumption is really high, I'm still thinking about solid (raw) foods a lot, probably to a point where its not healthy. Its no way to foster a good relationship with food.
Juice Feasting has been hard for me. Not in the realm of cravings, or getting the juices in...but the preparation and the fact that I have to haul around 3 quarts of juice/mason jars all day long. When I've already got all of my stuff for work, it adds up to a lot.
This has been a fabulous, fantastic experience on what is only the beginning of an amazing journey of health & enlightenment. I got so much out of my feast and have really been able to critically examine my relationship with food.
In lieu of the soaked prunes, my first "solid" meal will be a green smoothie. I'm going to follow the remainder of the feast breaking protocol to include juicy fruits for the next phase, and tender greens for the last. I'm pretty excited about eating again. :)
I will still be making regular posts to this blog, and am so very blessed to have shared this adventure with all of you.
Post Script: (Feb 3, 2008)
The above italicized text was published last night, then removed. While I haven't changed my decision to break the feast, I will be doing so after 40 days (Saturday will be Day 1 of Feast-Breaking). My first meal will be the prunes, as I will have the time to procure them after all. :)
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Day 32
Today's Juices:
-- 2 quarts apple/celery (2 heads celery, 12 apples)
-- lots of tea with honey
-- 1 quart water w/MSM & lemon
Wow. Definitely not the best day ever. So Thursdays are ROUGH. I just started my grad school classes this evening. This means I leave my house in the morning at 7:30 to go to school, go directly from school to class, and classes at 8:40 night. I don't have time to stop at home to make an additional quart of juice, and carrying more than two quarts with me at a time isn't feasible (I already have a laptop bag + bag full of juices/papers/teacher stuff). I suppose next week I could have two quarts waiting for me at home, so that I could swing by and pick them up...other than that I don't know what to do. I could also find a juice bar in Queens near school.
What I do know is that I drank enough tea with honey today to sustain me energy/calorie/blood sugar wise, but I am really feeling it now. I am really out of whack and...feeling ugh. I'm too exhausted to make juices/deal with the VitaMix at this point, so I'm just going to have some water w/MSM and hit the sack.
I was thinking about it, and I'm going to just drink bottled water at Starbuck's from now on. I don't need their lame tea. Most of its not even organic! Besides, I absolutely don't like drinking it without honey anyway. I'm also going to bring a quart of delicious apple/blueberry juice to drink while I'm taking care of business. :) I'm over the honey.
I am also considering making all four quarts of juices in the morning to better facilitate the feast. When I get home from school in the afternoon, I'm not very motivated to squeeze out a quart of juice before heading out to Manhattan. If I get it all done in the morning, I can just grab it and go.
Merh. I'm in a bit of a poopy mood. I'm sure it will lift once I get some serious kale into my system tomorrow morning! :)
-- 2 quarts apple/celery (2 heads celery, 12 apples)
-- lots of tea with honey
-- 1 quart water w/MSM & lemon
Wow. Definitely not the best day ever. So Thursdays are ROUGH. I just started my grad school classes this evening. This means I leave my house in the morning at 7:30 to go to school, go directly from school to class, and classes at 8:40 night. I don't have time to stop at home to make an additional quart of juice, and carrying more than two quarts with me at a time isn't feasible (I already have a laptop bag + bag full of juices/papers/teacher stuff). I suppose next week I could have two quarts waiting for me at home, so that I could swing by and pick them up...other than that I don't know what to do. I could also find a juice bar in Queens near school.
What I do know is that I drank enough tea with honey today to sustain me energy/calorie/blood sugar wise, but I am really feeling it now. I am really out of whack and...feeling ugh. I'm too exhausted to make juices/deal with the VitaMix at this point, so I'm just going to have some water w/MSM and hit the sack.
I was thinking about it, and I'm going to just drink bottled water at Starbuck's from now on. I don't need their lame tea. Most of its not even organic! Besides, I absolutely don't like drinking it without honey anyway. I'm also going to bring a quart of delicious apple/blueberry juice to drink while I'm taking care of business. :) I'm over the honey.
I am also considering making all four quarts of juices in the morning to better facilitate the feast. When I get home from school in the afternoon, I'm not very motivated to squeeze out a quart of juice before heading out to Manhattan. If I get it all done in the morning, I can just grab it and go.
Merh. I'm in a bit of a poopy mood. I'm sure it will lift once I get some serious kale into my system tomorrow morning! :)
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Day 31...ramblings of a cooked food addict.
Juices:
-- 2.25 qts kale/apple (1.5 lb kale, 12 apples)
-- 2.5 qts celery/apple (2 heads celery, 12 apples)
-- 2 qt water w/MSM & lemon
-- tea with honey
Exercise:
-- 20 minute jog (2 miles)
Haha, thats a lot of apples! They were a lot smaller than usual, so the juices still tasted basically the same...
Woah. Woke up a bit late today (but still with plenty of time for juicin'), so I didn't get to squeeze my morning update in. Merh. I've been running around the house like a madwoman, sweeping, scrubbing juice remains off of the stove, sinks, blender...I also did laundry and slated even MORE clothing for recycling.
I'm getting rid of stuff faster than it can be replaced! Awesome? I'll be hitting some thrift stores this weekend for sure. I am a little sad about the $300 Banana Republic suit that no longer fits me, though. Haha. I'll get over it! I can safely say that none of my work pants fit any more. The couple of pairs I am holding on to is just for the sake of having something to wear to work, lol. I am also down to three dress shirts, I think I tossed out five already. Luckily I just wear sweaters/knitted shirts most of the time or I'd be in trouble.
Hm, so I'm really productive/not sleeping, can't complain. I feel great right now! All day I was really craving solid food...mostly raw, and a good deal of whole cooked foods. For about an hour or so after I got home today, I kept debating as to whether I could continue with my feast or end it after thirty days. I stayed with the feast again this time out of laziness. Things are going really well and I don't want to screw anything up. I look great and feel amazing.
I should also mention that I'm slightly terrified of how my eating habits will turn out when I return to solids. I haven't made a decision as to what I want to do. I feel like I'll definitely be eating intuitively, but I also don't want to get back into solids without a concrete idea of what I want for myself. Right now, I really want raw food. I love the way it makes me feel, and the past 1.5 years has been predominantly 100% raw.
The problem is, when I eat cooked food, I EAT COOKED FOOD. We're not talking brown rice & steamed veggies here. I eat really really god awful, terrible (but pescetarian at worst & mostly dairy-free) things when I eat cooked food. This can last for days.
One time, I ate shitty cooked food for nearly a month before I absolutely had to stop because I'd become so sick and my clothes stopped fitting me. Its not even eating -- its nonstop binging. I blame these patterns 100% on the raw/cooked dichotomy that I'd instilled in my thinking. It really brought out these awful, compulsive behaviors full force. Its unlike anything I've experienced while eating raw foods, or ever in my life before I began a raw vegan lifestyle.
What I want most from this feast is for that type of compulsive thinking to stop. While 100% is amazing and I feel best there, part of me feels like "allowing" myself 2-3 whole food, cooked meals per week. This would be much better for me than eating 100% for three months then causing serious damage to my health by binging on all kinds of imaginable junk food (read: fast food veggie burgers & fries).
Today I was craving rice. Badly. The more I thought about it, I've been craving rice for the past 31 days. I don't know if this is because I work in a public school where I can smell lunch cooking all day. I don't know if its because I smell starch cooking all around me everywhere I walk in Bushwick. I might just like rice! A lot. At what point do I determine the difference between, "You want rice because you are addicted to it," and "You want rice because there is something in the rice that your body really needs."
Victoria Boutenko argues that you can never really get rid of the addiction, you've got to stop cold turkey, you can't be 95% raw foodist, etc etc. I mean, I can't promise that the 2-3 vegan cooked meals per week won't turn into vegetarian, then to pescetarian, then to fried crap, then to whatever the hell else. I can't promise my plan isn't going to backfire, and thats why it makes me really nervous.
I do know that whatever happens, keeping myself on a consistent exercise program, as well as 1-2 quarts of fresh green juices in addition to whatever else I'm eating is going to help immensely. Feeling like I'm being healthy and doing okay is really what makes or breaks it for me.
This where I get really confused. When I finish the 92 day juice feast...the physical addiction to cooked food should be, for the most part, gone. Dormant. Right? So, at what point do I decide to reintroduce these addictive substances? While I'd rather reintroduce them in a controlled manner that is acceptable to my mental and physical health, instead of returning to my former habits, why reintroduce them at all?
Why the hell would I choose to eat cooked food? I almost feel like eating cooked 2-3 meals per week is like giving up on myself ahead of time. Kind of like, "well, I know you're going to eat it eventually Alison, this is just preventative damage control." I know I shouldn't feel that way. Negative thinking got me here in the first place.
To me, reintroducing cooked food after a 92 day juice feast feels a lot like a recovered heroin addict showing up at a methadone clinic three times a week.
-- 2.25 qts kale/apple (1.5 lb kale, 12 apples)
-- 2.5 qts celery/apple (2 heads celery, 12 apples)
-- 2 qt water w/MSM & lemon
-- tea with honey
Exercise:
-- 20 minute jog (2 miles)
Haha, thats a lot of apples! They were a lot smaller than usual, so the juices still tasted basically the same...
Woah. Woke up a bit late today (but still with plenty of time for juicin'), so I didn't get to squeeze my morning update in. Merh. I've been running around the house like a madwoman, sweeping, scrubbing juice remains off of the stove, sinks, blender...I also did laundry and slated even MORE clothing for recycling.
I'm getting rid of stuff faster than it can be replaced! Awesome? I'll be hitting some thrift stores this weekend for sure. I am a little sad about the $300 Banana Republic suit that no longer fits me, though. Haha. I'll get over it! I can safely say that none of my work pants fit any more. The couple of pairs I am holding on to is just for the sake of having something to wear to work, lol. I am also down to three dress shirts, I think I tossed out five already. Luckily I just wear sweaters/knitted shirts most of the time or I'd be in trouble.
Hm, so I'm really productive/not sleeping, can't complain. I feel great right now! All day I was really craving solid food...mostly raw, and a good deal of whole cooked foods. For about an hour or so after I got home today, I kept debating as to whether I could continue with my feast or end it after thirty days. I stayed with the feast again this time out of laziness. Things are going really well and I don't want to screw anything up. I look great and feel amazing.
I should also mention that I'm slightly terrified of how my eating habits will turn out when I return to solids. I haven't made a decision as to what I want to do. I feel like I'll definitely be eating intuitively, but I also don't want to get back into solids without a concrete idea of what I want for myself. Right now, I really want raw food. I love the way it makes me feel, and the past 1.5 years has been predominantly 100% raw.
The problem is, when I eat cooked food, I EAT COOKED FOOD. We're not talking brown rice & steamed veggies here. I eat really really god awful, terrible (but pescetarian at worst & mostly dairy-free) things when I eat cooked food. This can last for days.
One time, I ate shitty cooked food for nearly a month before I absolutely had to stop because I'd become so sick and my clothes stopped fitting me. Its not even eating -- its nonstop binging. I blame these patterns 100% on the raw/cooked dichotomy that I'd instilled in my thinking. It really brought out these awful, compulsive behaviors full force. Its unlike anything I've experienced while eating raw foods, or ever in my life before I began a raw vegan lifestyle.
What I want most from this feast is for that type of compulsive thinking to stop. While 100% is amazing and I feel best there, part of me feels like "allowing" myself 2-3 whole food, cooked meals per week. This would be much better for me than eating 100% for three months then causing serious damage to my health by binging on all kinds of imaginable junk food (read: fast food veggie burgers & fries).
Today I was craving rice. Badly. The more I thought about it, I've been craving rice for the past 31 days. I don't know if this is because I work in a public school where I can smell lunch cooking all day. I don't know if its because I smell starch cooking all around me everywhere I walk in Bushwick. I might just like rice! A lot. At what point do I determine the difference between, "You want rice because you are addicted to it," and "You want rice because there is something in the rice that your body really needs."
Victoria Boutenko argues that you can never really get rid of the addiction, you've got to stop cold turkey, you can't be 95% raw foodist, etc etc. I mean, I can't promise that the 2-3 vegan cooked meals per week won't turn into vegetarian, then to pescetarian, then to fried crap, then to whatever the hell else. I can't promise my plan isn't going to backfire, and thats why it makes me really nervous.
I do know that whatever happens, keeping myself on a consistent exercise program, as well as 1-2 quarts of fresh green juices in addition to whatever else I'm eating is going to help immensely. Feeling like I'm being healthy and doing okay is really what makes or breaks it for me.
This where I get really confused. When I finish the 92 day juice feast...the physical addiction to cooked food should be, for the most part, gone. Dormant. Right? So, at what point do I decide to reintroduce these addictive substances? While I'd rather reintroduce them in a controlled manner that is acceptable to my mental and physical health, instead of returning to my former habits, why reintroduce them at all?
Why the hell would I choose to eat cooked food? I almost feel like eating cooked 2-3 meals per week is like giving up on myself ahead of time. Kind of like, "well, I know you're going to eat it eventually Alison, this is just preventative damage control." I know I shouldn't feel that way. Negative thinking got me here in the first place.
To me, reintroducing cooked food after a 92 day juice feast feels a lot like a recovered heroin addict showing up at a methadone clinic three times a week.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Day 30
[7:10 AM]
Thirty!? When the hell did that happen?
Last night I had lots of tea at Starbuck's. I feel okay about it. I wasn't dumping honey in like mad as usual, and at no point did I actually put a spoon into any type of honey container and begin eating it directly...haha. I actually had to get a LOT of work done, since I have a meeting with my boss today and as of yesterday was frighteningly unprepared. I was there for over three hours, working nonstop (this says a lot), and wound up getting around 3 hours of sleep as a result.
Despite the lack of sleep, my energy feels GREAT! I'm really excited about juice right now! Haha.
I discussed it with my roommates...and this is the first time in a really long time my procrastination has hit the fan. I made a plan to go out for tea EVERY DAY after school for two hours, to get all of my work (planning/grading) done. The few tablespoons of honey I consume will pale in comparison the benefits this will have on my mental health. Right now I'm putting EVERYTHING off until the very last last minute, and spend the majority of my day dreading work. If I can get everything done immediately after school, in a place I want to be (ie, Starbuck's), then I'll be able to genuinely enjoy the rest of my day! I CAN'T work at school or at home. School is really draining and there are way too many distractions at my house. I'm really excited for this new plan and I hope it works...it will also free up lots of time for me to pursue yoga/ballet/running...awesome. My productivity is going to quintuple! :)
I also went for a run yesterday with a coworker, and felt AMAZING afterwards! I was surprised at how well I did, considering I hadn't run in quite some time. I'm not sore yet today, so I might go again this evening.
Menu so far for today:
-- 1 qt water w/lemon & MSM
-- 2 qts kale/cuke/apple/ginger (1.5 lb kale, 1 cuke, 8 apples, LOTS of ginger)
-- 2.5 qts celery/apple (2 heads celery, 8 apples)
-- 1 qt water w/lemon & MSM
-- tea w/honey
[7:23 PM]
Just woke up from a well deserved (and SERIOUSLY needed) nap. It was much shorter than I'd expected (less than 3 hours!). Behold, the power of the juice feast. I'm off to Starbuck's to put in a serious 2 hours of work. I find that while I'm juice feasting, I want to get things done! I have a very strong drive to be productive right now.
I really feel that procrastination, and the act of numbing one's emotions with foods, go hand in hand. I feel a little more...wired? edgy? type-A? now that I'm on just juices as I'm not being placated with food anymore. Consciously & subconsciously, I don't want to suffer the consequences of procrastinating ever again. Its almost as if my mind is pre-emptively opting me out of putting things off, altogether. I feel like I just can't do it! Even writing this entry is...painful. I have to go get something done! Aaaaaah!
Thirty!? When the hell did that happen?
Last night I had lots of tea at Starbuck's. I feel okay about it. I wasn't dumping honey in like mad as usual, and at no point did I actually put a spoon into any type of honey container and begin eating it directly...haha. I actually had to get a LOT of work done, since I have a meeting with my boss today and as of yesterday was frighteningly unprepared. I was there for over three hours, working nonstop (this says a lot), and wound up getting around 3 hours of sleep as a result.
Despite the lack of sleep, my energy feels GREAT! I'm really excited about juice right now! Haha.
I discussed it with my roommates...and this is the first time in a really long time my procrastination has hit the fan. I made a plan to go out for tea EVERY DAY after school for two hours, to get all of my work (planning/grading) done. The few tablespoons of honey I consume will pale in comparison the benefits this will have on my mental health. Right now I'm putting EVERYTHING off until the very last last minute, and spend the majority of my day dreading work. If I can get everything done immediately after school, in a place I want to be (ie, Starbuck's), then I'll be able to genuinely enjoy the rest of my day! I CAN'T work at school or at home. School is really draining and there are way too many distractions at my house. I'm really excited for this new plan and I hope it works...it will also free up lots of time for me to pursue yoga/ballet/running...awesome. My productivity is going to quintuple! :)
I also went for a run yesterday with a coworker, and felt AMAZING afterwards! I was surprised at how well I did, considering I hadn't run in quite some time. I'm not sore yet today, so I might go again this evening.
Menu so far for today:
-- 1 qt water w/lemon & MSM
-- 2 qts kale/cuke/apple/ginger (1.5 lb kale, 1 cuke, 8 apples, LOTS of ginger)
-- 2.5 qts celery/apple (2 heads celery, 8 apples)
-- 1 qt water w/lemon & MSM
-- tea w/honey
[7:23 PM]
Just woke up from a well deserved (and SERIOUSLY needed) nap. It was much shorter than I'd expected (less than 3 hours!). Behold, the power of the juice feast. I'm off to Starbuck's to put in a serious 2 hours of work. I find that while I'm juice feasting, I want to get things done! I have a very strong drive to be productive right now.
I really feel that procrastination, and the act of numbing one's emotions with foods, go hand in hand. I feel a little more...wired? edgy? type-A? now that I'm on just juices as I'm not being placated with food anymore. Consciously & subconsciously, I don't want to suffer the consequences of procrastinating ever again. Its almost as if my mind is pre-emptively opting me out of putting things off, altogether. I feel like I just can't do it! Even writing this entry is...painful. I have to go get something done! Aaaaaah!
Monday, January 28, 2008
Day 29
Uh, woke up this morning at 7:15. Absolutely no time to juice, so I ended up grabbing a liter of Tropicana "Mixed Berry" (100% juice) and a 16 oz bottle of Welch's Grape juice. Eh. I felt really sick after drinking them, so.....that can't happen again. I must say, though, that the grape juice was quite enjoyable. More later, I'm off for a run with a co-worker.
Juices:
-- 1 qt water w/ MSM
-- 2 qts apple/cuke/kale (8 apples, 1.5 lb kale, 1 pretty big cucumber)
-- 1 L Tropicana Mixed Berry (pasteurized)
-- 16 oz 100% Welch's grape juice (pasteurized)
-- 3 venti teas w/honey
Exercise:
-- 45 minutes running @ Prospect Park
Juices:
-- 1 qt water w/ MSM
-- 2 qts apple/cuke/kale (8 apples, 1.5 lb kale, 1 pretty big cucumber)
-- 1 L Tropicana Mixed Berry (pasteurized)
-- 16 oz 100% Welch's grape juice (pasteurized)
-- 3 venti teas w/honey
Exercise:
-- 45 minutes running @ Prospect Park
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Day 28 -- End of Week 4 :)
Woah, I can't believe I've feasted this long so far! I'm feeling great. I haven't had any honey yet today, and instead made a huge batch of green green juice. I like making my juices ahead of time on weekends, its nice to be able to just grab a juice when I want it rather than having to break out the blender/nut milk bags/etc whenever I want something.
I had a super busy weekend (four hours of professional development on Saturday morning, painting my room last night, etc) and never got around to going to the co-op...gaah. I have to work a couple of shifts before getting off their shit-list, so I think I'll do so on Tuesday and Wednesday...
In the mean time, I'm going to go buy a hat then go for a run since the weather is fairly agreeable today.
Getting Juicy:
-- 3 qts turnip green/kale/apple/cucumber/ginger (.5 lb turnip greens, 1.5 lb kale, 4 kirby cucumbers, 12 apples, 4 inch cubes ginger, 2 tablespoons hemp oil)
-- 2 qt water w/MSM & lemon
-- 1 qt apple/cuke juice (7 apples, 1 kirby cucumber)
[10:01]
Hm...I felt AMAZING today. I think it was because the majority of my juices were green, I upped the water intake, and I didn't have any honey! It was really hard earlier today...I was at Herald Square with my roommate and I was SO cold. I was looking all over for a Starbuck's and probably would have bought a tea had I been able to find one. I'm glad I didn't though. :)
I think the reason I've felt so cold lately is that I've been going outside too soon after drinking my juices. I'm going to buy a few more sweatshirts and keep layering up.
Oh! My roommate and I went out shopping, and I fit into a size Large (pants) at Forever 21! Pretty impressive considering their clothing is designed for 8th graders, haha. I don't think I've ever fit into pants there. Fun! I wound up spending more time than I'd planned in Manhattan and never went running earlier. Poo. I'm going for sure tomorrow. My goal is to run at least 4 times this week, and to get some yoga/pilates in. I feel that now that I'm getting into my fifth week of the feast, I'm ready to start rebuilding.
I'm really excited that juicing is feeling so second nature. Four weeks feels like an accomplishment. :)
I had a super busy weekend (four hours of professional development on Saturday morning, painting my room last night, etc) and never got around to going to the co-op...gaah. I have to work a couple of shifts before getting off their shit-list, so I think I'll do so on Tuesday and Wednesday...
In the mean time, I'm going to go buy a hat then go for a run since the weather is fairly agreeable today.
Getting Juicy:
-- 3 qts turnip green/kale/apple/cucumber/ginger (.5 lb turnip greens, 1.5 lb kale, 4 kirby cucumbers, 12 apples, 4 inch cubes ginger, 2 tablespoons hemp oil)
-- 2 qt water w/MSM & lemon
-- 1 qt apple/cuke juice (7 apples, 1 kirby cucumber)
[10:01]
Hm...I felt AMAZING today. I think it was because the majority of my juices were green, I upped the water intake, and I didn't have any honey! It was really hard earlier today...I was at Herald Square with my roommate and I was SO cold. I was looking all over for a Starbuck's and probably would have bought a tea had I been able to find one. I'm glad I didn't though. :)
I think the reason I've felt so cold lately is that I've been going outside too soon after drinking my juices. I'm going to buy a few more sweatshirts and keep layering up.
Oh! My roommate and I went out shopping, and I fit into a size Large (pants) at Forever 21! Pretty impressive considering their clothing is designed for 8th graders, haha. I don't think I've ever fit into pants there. Fun! I wound up spending more time than I'd planned in Manhattan and never went running earlier. Poo. I'm going for sure tomorrow. My goal is to run at least 4 times this week, and to get some yoga/pilates in. I feel that now that I'm getting into my fifth week of the feast, I'm ready to start rebuilding.
I'm really excited that juicing is feeling so second nature. Four weeks feels like an accomplishment. :)
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Day 27
I feel addicted to tea with honey. Its official. I've been drinking it a lot over the past couple of days, as I absolutely, positively have not been able to get/stay warm, regardless of how much I'm wearing while I'm ouside. Perhaps I'll up my ginger intake? I really don't want to be consuming this much honey. Its not raw, and I feel bloated/like I'm getting sick. I'm also starting to crave crap food. I'm going to stop it cold turkey (for at least the next 7 days) and see what happens.
-- 2.5 qts celery/apple/cucumber (2 heads celery, 3 kirby cucumbers, 8 apples)
-- tea w/honey
-- 1 qt blueberry/apple/cucumber (1 cup blueberries, 3 gala apples, 4 kirby cucumbers)
-- 1 pint blueberry/apple (2 gala apples, 1 cup blueberries)
-- 1 qt water w/MSM & lemon
-- 2.5 qts celery/apple/cucumber (2 heads celery, 3 kirby cucumbers, 8 apples)
-- tea w/honey
-- 1 qt blueberry/apple/cucumber (1 cup blueberries, 3 gala apples, 4 kirby cucumbers)
-- 1 pint blueberry/apple (2 gala apples, 1 cup blueberries)
-- 1 qt water w/MSM & lemon
Day 26
I think I've stumbled upon my favorite juice combination...I made it all day today. Kale, cucumber, apple, with ginger is simply divine! I found out the other day that kale is a warming food (along with ginger), which makes so much sense...the more of it I consume, the warmer and more balanced I feel.
Yesterday's Juices:
-- Tea w/honey
-- 2 qts kale/cuke/apple/ginger (1.5 lb kale, 3 kirby cucumbers, 6 apples, 2 inch cubes ginger)
-- 2 qts kale/cuke/apple/ginger (1.5 lb kale, 3 kirby cucumbers, 6 apples, 2 inch cubes ginger)
Juice on, lovely feasters!
Yesterday's Juices:
-- Tea w/honey
-- 2 qts kale/cuke/apple/ginger (1.5 lb kale, 3 kirby cucumbers, 6 apples, 2 inch cubes ginger)
-- 2 qts kale/cuke/apple/ginger (1.5 lb kale, 3 kirby cucumbers, 6 apples, 2 inch cubes ginger)
Juice on, lovely feasters!
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Day 25
Juices!
-- chamomile tea w/ honey
-- 2 qts celery/pineapple/cucumber (1 cucumber, 1 head celery, 1 pineapple)
-- 1 qt apple/cucumber/spinach (5 apples, 1 cucumber, 1 handful spinach)
-- 1 qt apple/blueberry/spinach/ginger (2 inch cubes ginger, remainder of 9 oz bag spinach, 4 apples, 1 cup blueberries)
-- 1 qt apple/blueberry/cucumber (2 gala apples, 2 kirby cucumbers, 2 cups blueberries)
[10:59]
This morning...I meant to put an entire 9 ounce bag of spinach into my green juice. It didn't all fit at first, so I threw in a handful with the intention of smooshing the apples & cucumber in, then adding the rest of the spinach. I totally forgot until I took a sip of the juice and realized it didn't really even taste like a green juice. At that point it was way too late to start the rest of the spinach/strain/deal with additional cleanup. Annoying, but I'm over it. I just kept thinking about my Omega Juicer. :)
So, today I'm sitting in the teacher's lounge and my co-workers were talking about teeth whitening...I'm just sitting there listening, not saying much. One of them is like, "Haha, Alison there's probably a juice for that, right?" and I (half-jokingly) say, "Yep, there's a juice for everything!" Then one of them was like, "MERH, there isn't a juice for everything." I just looked at her.
It never fails to astound me when people absolutely can't even acknowledge the connection between diet and health! Its so frustrating, especially when these same people (and their poor children) are drugged out, miserable, broke, and in pain because they're still subscribing to the SAD & Big Pharma mentalities!
At the same time, I'm so blissed out on green juice that I can't really get too mad about it. Good times.
[10:19]
I just stopped at my local grocery store because I don't have time/money for "real" groceries (aka organic food, haha) until tomorrow...so I dropped a total of $6 on a 3lb bag of gala apples, 1.5 pounds of (unwaxed) kirby cucumbers, and 3 pounds of kale. If you don't consider the carcinogenic, planet destroying chemicals they've been doused in, its not a bad deal! *grins* I made my last juice of the night, apple/cuke/blueberry with conventional (though unwaxed) apples and cucumbers, and organic blueberries I had stashed in the freezer. I was fairly surprised that I could tell a SERIOUS difference! Interesting.
Oh, and I'm ditching the tea with honey habit I've fallen into the past week. I'm drinking WAY too much of it, and as a result am consuming entirely too much freaking honey. Its sending me on a blood sugar roller coaster! Also, I'm anxiously welcoming back my AM water w/lemon & MSM.
T-minus 2 days until I get my Omeeeeeega! Wooo!
-- chamomile tea w/ honey
-- 2 qts celery/pineapple/cucumber (1 cucumber, 1 head celery, 1 pineapple)
-- 1 qt apple/cucumber/spinach (5 apples, 1 cucumber, 1 handful spinach)
-- 1 qt apple/blueberry/spinach/ginger (2 inch cubes ginger, remainder of 9 oz bag spinach, 4 apples, 1 cup blueberries)
-- 1 qt apple/blueberry/cucumber (2 gala apples, 2 kirby cucumbers, 2 cups blueberries)
[10:59]
This morning...I meant to put an entire 9 ounce bag of spinach into my green juice. It didn't all fit at first, so I threw in a handful with the intention of smooshing the apples & cucumber in, then adding the rest of the spinach. I totally forgot until I took a sip of the juice and realized it didn't really even taste like a green juice. At that point it was way too late to start the rest of the spinach/strain/deal with additional cleanup. Annoying, but I'm over it. I just kept thinking about my Omega Juicer. :)
So, today I'm sitting in the teacher's lounge and my co-workers were talking about teeth whitening...I'm just sitting there listening, not saying much. One of them is like, "Haha, Alison there's probably a juice for that, right?" and I (half-jokingly) say, "Yep, there's a juice for everything!" Then one of them was like, "MERH, there isn't a juice for everything." I just looked at her.
It never fails to astound me when people absolutely can't even acknowledge the connection between diet and health! Its so frustrating, especially when these same people (and their poor children) are drugged out, miserable, broke, and in pain because they're still subscribing to the SAD & Big Pharma mentalities!
At the same time, I'm so blissed out on green juice that I can't really get too mad about it. Good times.
[10:19]
I just stopped at my local grocery store because I don't have time/money for "real" groceries (aka organic food, haha) until tomorrow...so I dropped a total of $6 on a 3lb bag of gala apples, 1.5 pounds of (unwaxed) kirby cucumbers, and 3 pounds of kale. If you don't consider the carcinogenic, planet destroying chemicals they've been doused in, its not a bad deal! *grins* I made my last juice of the night, apple/cuke/blueberry with conventional (though unwaxed) apples and cucumbers, and organic blueberries I had stashed in the freezer. I was fairly surprised that I could tell a SERIOUS difference! Interesting.
Oh, and I'm ditching the tea with honey habit I've fallen into the past week. I'm drinking WAY too much of it, and as a result am consuming entirely too much freaking honey. Its sending me on a blood sugar roller coaster! Also, I'm anxiously welcoming back my AM water w/lemon & MSM.
T-minus 2 days until I get my Omeeeeeega! Wooo!
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Juicy Haiku :)
chop, dice, spiral slice!
food food food food food food food
solids would be great.
Haha. No more recipes for me.
food food food food food food food
solids would be great.
Haha. No more recipes for me.
Day 24
Hm...I'm sneaking up on Day 30 pretty fast, and thats really exciting! I know I say it all the time, but the juice feast has really been flying by.
today's juices, so far:
-- 2 quarts kale/spinach/apple/cuke (1 bunch kale, 5 oz spinach, 6 gala apples, 2 cucumbers)
-- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
-- 8 oz chamomile tea w/ honey
-- 1 qt apple/blueberry (5 gala apples, 1.5 cups blueberries)
-- mint tea w/ honey
today's juices, so far:
-- 2 quarts kale/spinach/apple/cuke (1 bunch kale, 5 oz spinach, 6 gala apples, 2 cucumbers)
-- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
-- 8 oz chamomile tea w/ honey
-- 1 qt apple/blueberry (5 gala apples, 1.5 cups blueberries)
-- mint tea w/ honey
Day 23
It was so great to be greeted by all of your inspirational comments this morning! I am truly ecstatic to be juice feasting with (and encouraged by) such an astounding group of bloggers. I can't believe yesterday was already Day 23! My internet was out last night, so here's yesterday's update before I head out into the war zone. :)
The Juices:
-- 1 qt celery apple (2 celery hearts, 5 gala apples)
-- 2 qts kale/spinach/cuke/apple/ginger (1 bunch kale, 5 oz bag spinach, 1 cucumber, 4 apples, ginger)
-- 2 qts kale/celery/apple/cucumber/ginger (1 bunch kale, 1 head celery, 6 apples, ginger, 1 cucumber)
-- Moroccan tea with honey
-- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
So, I had an incredible amount of energy yesterday! I think I'm ditching plain fruit juices for the most part from now on...particularly orange juice. The past 2 days have been mostly green based juices and I'm feeling amazing!
I actually had so much energy that I didn't even sleep through the night. I went to bed at 10 PM, woke up a little after midnight, and ran around my apartment trying on clothes/getting rid of stuff that was too big. My closet is almost empty now. Oops. :)
I ended up going back to sleep around 4:00 AM and was awake again at 6:30 to start my juices.
Reasons I hate VitaMixin' it up:
1. The enzymes in the juices are seriously chapping/killing my hands (and of course the weather played a role in this as well).
2. I can't can't for the life of me squeeze all of the juice out of the pulp.
3. I manage get the pre-juice pulp EVERYWHERE.
4. My VitaMix has overheated/crapped out on me TWICE so far during my morning juicemaking (really, really really bad) and a couple of times in the evening (at least then I can afford to sit around while it cools down)
5. It takes forever.
6. Hypothetically, if I wanted 4 different juice flavors, I'd have to blend, pour, and squeeze 4 separate batches of juice.
7. If I make a green juice that ends up not being quite sweet enough....its really annoying to chop up an apple, add water, blend, and THEN squeeze out the juice. I like that with a masticating juicer you can taste things as you go. I've wound up making juices that are far too sweet as well, and it would be great to have the power to fine-tune the flavors. :)
Even thought lots of the masticating juicers take a while to clean up, I've heard the Omega isn't that bad. In my opinion it would be far more efficient to run 4 quarts of juice through the juicer then clean it up, than try to do 4 quarts in the VitaMix. I could see the VitaMix being VERY convenient if you only wanted to make 1 quart of juice (which I often do in the evenings), but as far as my morning industrial strength juice production fiascos, I think I'll invest in the Omega.
And, she's off!
The Juices:
-- 1 qt celery apple (2 celery hearts, 5 gala apples)
-- 2 qts kale/spinach/cuke/apple/ginger (1 bunch kale, 5 oz bag spinach, 1 cucumber, 4 apples, ginger)
-- 2 qts kale/celery/apple/cucumber/ginger (1 bunch kale, 1 head celery, 6 apples, ginger, 1 cucumber)
-- Moroccan tea with honey
-- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
So, I had an incredible amount of energy yesterday! I think I'm ditching plain fruit juices for the most part from now on...particularly orange juice. The past 2 days have been mostly green based juices and I'm feeling amazing!
I actually had so much energy that I didn't even sleep through the night. I went to bed at 10 PM, woke up a little after midnight, and ran around my apartment trying on clothes/getting rid of stuff that was too big. My closet is almost empty now. Oops. :)
I ended up going back to sleep around 4:00 AM and was awake again at 6:30 to start my juices.
Reasons I hate VitaMixin' it up:
1. The enzymes in the juices are seriously chapping/killing my hands (and of course the weather played a role in this as well).
2. I can't can't for the life of me squeeze all of the juice out of the pulp.
3. I manage get the pre-juice pulp EVERYWHERE.
4. My VitaMix has overheated/crapped out on me TWICE so far during my morning juicemaking (really, really really bad) and a couple of times in the evening (at least then I can afford to sit around while it cools down)
5. It takes forever.
6. Hypothetically, if I wanted 4 different juice flavors, I'd have to blend, pour, and squeeze 4 separate batches of juice.
7. If I make a green juice that ends up not being quite sweet enough....its really annoying to chop up an apple, add water, blend, and THEN squeeze out the juice. I like that with a masticating juicer you can taste things as you go. I've wound up making juices that are far too sweet as well, and it would be great to have the power to fine-tune the flavors. :)
Even thought lots of the masticating juicers take a while to clean up, I've heard the Omega isn't that bad. In my opinion it would be far more efficient to run 4 quarts of juice through the juicer then clean it up, than try to do 4 quarts in the VitaMix. I could see the VitaMix being VERY convenient if you only wanted to make 1 quart of juice (which I often do in the evenings), but as far as my morning industrial strength juice production fiascos, I think I'll invest in the Omega.
And, she's off!
Monday, January 21, 2008
Juice Feast, Day 22
[2:21 PM]
Well, well! I'm still here. :) I did some thinking last night and staying on the feast is definitely the best thing for me. Its also, in my opinion, probably a lot easier than coordinating a feast breaking right now. I still have a lot of juicing and healing ahead of me, and I'm looking forward to it.
Since the VitaMix is causing me lots of frustration right now & my nut milk bags are completely destroyed (and the main reasons I want to stop the feast), I promised myself an Omega Juicer on Wednesday of this week. Ideally I'd get a GreenStar, but its a bit too expensive for me right now. I think getting the Omega is really important whether I continue my feast through Day 92 or not. I can say with confidence that after my juice feast, I will NEVER make fresh juices in the VitaMix ever again. I hate, hate, hate it so much. All I can think about is how wasteful it is! The pulp is never dry, I can never all off the pre-juice pulp out of the container, and its just a mess, on top of all that. I want to continue drinking huge green juices every day after my feast ends, and it honestly won't be happening if there's no juicer to do it with.
I think when it comes right down to it, the final reason I didn't break my feast was because I knew I'd have to make juices for the feast breaking period anyway, so I may as well continue juicing anyway.
Today's Juices:
-- 1.5 qts apple/cuke/celery (4 apples, 1 cuke, 1 head celery)
-- earl grey with honey :)
-- 1 qt water
-- 1 qt apple/spinach/ginger (4 gala apples, 10 oz spinach, 2 inch cubes ginger)
-- 1 qt apple/blueberry (5 gala apples, 1.5 cups blueberries -- still my favorite!)
[10:54 PM]
I'm also going to start shopping primarily at the co-op again, it is so much cheaper (and more convenient in the long run) to make the trek to the co-op three times per week than to end up at Whole Foods every day. I need to come up with some type of plan....I think I'll make out a sample shopping list (*cough*, produce order lol) that will last me 2-3 days then base my trips off of that. :)
PS! I had cough syrup taste (robitusson style) in my mouth for about five mintues today. How weird & exciting is that!!?
Well, well! I'm still here. :) I did some thinking last night and staying on the feast is definitely the best thing for me. Its also, in my opinion, probably a lot easier than coordinating a feast breaking right now. I still have a lot of juicing and healing ahead of me, and I'm looking forward to it.
Since the VitaMix is causing me lots of frustration right now & my nut milk bags are completely destroyed (and the main reasons I want to stop the feast), I promised myself an Omega Juicer on Wednesday of this week. Ideally I'd get a GreenStar, but its a bit too expensive for me right now. I think getting the Omega is really important whether I continue my feast through Day 92 or not. I can say with confidence that after my juice feast, I will NEVER make fresh juices in the VitaMix ever again. I hate, hate, hate it so much. All I can think about is how wasteful it is! The pulp is never dry, I can never all off the pre-juice pulp out of the container, and its just a mess, on top of all that. I want to continue drinking huge green juices every day after my feast ends, and it honestly won't be happening if there's no juicer to do it with.
I think when it comes right down to it, the final reason I didn't break my feast was because I knew I'd have to make juices for the feast breaking period anyway, so I may as well continue juicing anyway.
Today's Juices:
-- 1.5 qts apple/cuke/celery (4 apples, 1 cuke, 1 head celery)
-- earl grey with honey :)
-- 1 qt water
-- 1 qt apple/spinach/ginger (4 gala apples, 10 oz spinach, 2 inch cubes ginger)
-- 1 qt apple/blueberry (5 gala apples, 1.5 cups blueberries -- still my favorite!)
[10:54 PM]
I'm also going to start shopping primarily at the co-op again, it is so much cheaper (and more convenient in the long run) to make the trek to the co-op three times per week than to end up at Whole Foods every day. I need to come up with some type of plan....I think I'll make out a sample shopping list (*cough*, produce order lol) that will last me 2-3 days then base my trips off of that. :)
PS! I had cough syrup taste (robitusson style) in my mouth for about five mintues today. How weird & exciting is that!!?
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Juice Feasting, Day 21
Hm....Day 21 of my juice feast. Today really feels like the end...I am unsure of whether I am going to continue. On one hand, my skin is great, I've lost lots of weight (with a lot more to go...), I'm feeling really good, I love not being hungry, and I'm enjoying the feast overall. On the other hand, I'm sick of carrying around mason jars and waking up at 6:00 AM (I could throw my VitaMix out the window). I want to eat something solid. I miss putting time and creative energy into the dishes I create.
I'd like to look into a modified juice feast...the past 3 weeks have made me re-think greens entirely. I want to consume at least a quart of fresh green juice every day...the benefits are incredible.
As of right now I feel really, really unbalanced. My energy levels have been low at times, and I feel like I'm taking in way too much sugar...I'm not sure that 100% juicing is the best thing for me. At the same time, I feel like if I started eating solid food tomorrow, I'd probably be eating cooked food again. I still crave it. Would that be so bad? I'm trying to avoid the raw/cooked dichotomy that has caused me quite a bit of misery over the past year and a half...if I could just get over it, I'd be able to eat brown rice and unprocessed, vegan cooked foods every now and then. Would I feel my best? I don't know. Would it be the best thing possible for me? I have no idea!
Am I afraid of being successful? Of course. The thought of being 100% happy with myself and my body is a fairly daunting thought. If I actually finished the 92 days...where would I be?
The Juices:
-- 1 qt water w/lemon
-- 1 qt chard/pineapple/cucumber (2 bunches rainbow chard, 6 cups chopped pineapple, 1 cucumber)
-- 20 oz orange juice
-- 2 quarts orange juice
-- black tea with honey
-- 1 qt kale/apple/cuke (1 bunch kale, 4 apples, 1 cucumber)
-- 1 tablespoon hemp oil
I'd like to look into a modified juice feast...the past 3 weeks have made me re-think greens entirely. I want to consume at least a quart of fresh green juice every day...the benefits are incredible.
As of right now I feel really, really unbalanced. My energy levels have been low at times, and I feel like I'm taking in way too much sugar...I'm not sure that 100% juicing is the best thing for me. At the same time, I feel like if I started eating solid food tomorrow, I'd probably be eating cooked food again. I still crave it. Would that be so bad? I'm trying to avoid the raw/cooked dichotomy that has caused me quite a bit of misery over the past year and a half...if I could just get over it, I'd be able to eat brown rice and unprocessed, vegan cooked foods every now and then. Would I feel my best? I don't know. Would it be the best thing possible for me? I have no idea!
Am I afraid of being successful? Of course. The thought of being 100% happy with myself and my body is a fairly daunting thought. If I actually finished the 92 days...where would I be?
The Juices:
-- 1 qt water w/lemon
-- 1 qt chard/pineapple/cucumber (2 bunches rainbow chard, 6 cups chopped pineapple, 1 cucumber)
-- 20 oz orange juice
-- 2 quarts orange juice
-- black tea with honey
-- 1 qt kale/apple/cuke (1 bunch kale, 4 apples, 1 cucumber)
-- 1 tablespoon hemp oil
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Day 19 & 20 of Juice Feasting
Friday morning I woke up LATE...slept in again due to all of the healing that was taking place. I suppose I should start going to bed at 6:00 PM on a regular basis, haha.. with all the lateness I only had time to make 1 batch of juice. There was no way I was going to do the whole OJ thing again. No way. So I made a jar of delicious chard/apple/cucumber. I sipped on that the whole day, and my energy felt consistent and good.
Oh, and PS. The kids yesterday? ANGELS. I can safely say it was the best day, behavior-wise, I've had, all year. They learned something! They were quiet! They were well behaved! All I had to do was give them cut out shapes of the types of figures we were measuring, etc and they were completely, 100% placated. As I was teaching I looked around the room and they were all just sitting there, holding/looking at their shapes quietly. It was adorable. Then, I told them if they didn't finish their classwork that they'd have to do it at home. It was almost...too easy. *shifty eyes*
Yesterday's Juice:
-- 1.5 quarts chard/apple/cucumber (2 bunches chard, 6 apples, 1 cucumber)
-- 16 oz fresh strawberry juice
-- 32 oz fresh OJ
-- more peppermint tea w/honey than I can accurately account for :)
Saturday:
The inside of my throat was still slightly swollen yesterday, but today I'm feeling 100%.
Also, the swelling over my thyroid glands has gone down and the golf balls are almost gone. I attribute this to the 98238923 heads of celery I've been pounding, and the fact that I've been getting more sleep at night...last week I heard someone mentioning that your thyroid recharges while you're asleep at night. Good to know!
The Juices!: [so far, anyway]
-- 2.5 quarts celery/apple (8 apples, 2 bunches celery)
-- 1 quart orange juice
-- peppermint tea w/ honey
-- 1 quart spinach/apple (10 oz bag spinach, 4 apples)
Oh, and PS. The kids yesterday? ANGELS. I can safely say it was the best day, behavior-wise, I've had, all year. They learned something! They were quiet! They were well behaved! All I had to do was give them cut out shapes of the types of figures we were measuring, etc and they were completely, 100% placated. As I was teaching I looked around the room and they were all just sitting there, holding/looking at their shapes quietly. It was adorable. Then, I told them if they didn't finish their classwork that they'd have to do it at home. It was almost...too easy. *shifty eyes*
Yesterday's Juice:
-- 1.5 quarts chard/apple/cucumber (2 bunches chard, 6 apples, 1 cucumber)
-- 16 oz fresh strawberry juice
-- 32 oz fresh OJ
-- more peppermint tea w/honey than I can accurately account for :)
Saturday:
The inside of my throat was still slightly swollen yesterday, but today I'm feeling 100%.
Also, the swelling over my thyroid glands has gone down and the golf balls are almost gone. I attribute this to the 98238923 heads of celery I've been pounding, and the fact that I've been getting more sleep at night...last week I heard someone mentioning that your thyroid recharges while you're asleep at night. Good to know!
The Juices!: [so far, anyway]
-- 2.5 quarts celery/apple (8 apples, 2 bunches celery)
-- 1 quart orange juice
-- peppermint tea w/ honey
-- 1 quart spinach/apple (10 oz bag spinach, 4 apples)
Thursday, January 17, 2008
A slightly more centered Day 18...haha
So, I was feeling much better today. Actually, so much better, that I realized how truly drained and awful the days prior really had been! Exhaustion! Fatigue! No energy! The list goes on. I was dragging myself around the school like I weighed a million pounds.
Anyway, today was totally a different scenario. I wasn't...bouncing around, by far, but still had a fairly decent amount of energy. My throat is feeling MUCH better, due to more sleep + not screaming at children. I've pretty much given up on it, screaming is way too stressful and terrible for my health, and really counter productive anyway.
Also, the juices I drank today had more greens in them and weren't a sweet as usual...I think this had more of a balancing effect...I didn't feel a "sugar crash" at all like I usually do mid-afternoon at school.
Thanks so much to Jack & Jill, and Doug your kind words. :)
I actually felt 2398234 better (emotionally, at least) right after writing last night's post..but decided to leave it up anyway. The ups and downs are certainly...interesting, and looking back on yesterday's misery is pretty amusing. Good times.
Today's Juices...
-- 1.5 qts apple/celery/cucumber (4 apples, 1 bunch celery, 1 cucumber)
-- 1 tablespoon hemp oil
-- 1.5 qts apple/kale/cucumber (2 heads kale, 6 apples, 1 cuke)
-- 2 qts blueberry/collard/cucumber/apple (2 giant collard bunches, 4 cups blueberries, 4 apples, 1 cucumber)
-- 2 cups peppermint tea w/ honey
I actually really liked the apple/kale/cuke blend from this morning...since there was a lower apple-to-kale ratio than usual, the juice tasted much fresher and lighter...you could really taste the kale! Its hard to describe. However, I'm not so pleased with the blueberry/collard concoction that I'm currently slurping on. I didn't add enough apples to the mix since I ran out...and the blueberries just don't do enough to mask the collard-y flavor. Its not awful tasting, but the blueberries and collards just don't complement each other well. I don't care that much, I'm just excited to be getting 4 bunches of greens in (5 if you count celery) in one day! I'm going to shoot for 4 again tomorrow...I'm feeling pretty good.
Anyway, today was totally a different scenario. I wasn't...bouncing around, by far, but still had a fairly decent amount of energy. My throat is feeling MUCH better, due to more sleep + not screaming at children. I've pretty much given up on it, screaming is way too stressful and terrible for my health, and really counter productive anyway.
Also, the juices I drank today had more greens in them and weren't a sweet as usual...I think this had more of a balancing effect...I didn't feel a "sugar crash" at all like I usually do mid-afternoon at school.
Thanks so much to Jack & Jill, and Doug your kind words. :)
I actually felt 2398234 better (emotionally, at least) right after writing last night's post..but decided to leave it up anyway. The ups and downs are certainly...interesting, and looking back on yesterday's misery is pretty amusing. Good times.
Today's Juices...
-- 1.5 qts apple/celery/cucumber (4 apples, 1 bunch celery, 1 cucumber)
-- 1 tablespoon hemp oil
-- 1.5 qts apple/kale/cucumber (2 heads kale, 6 apples, 1 cuke)
-- 2 qts blueberry/collard/cucumber/apple (2 giant collard bunches, 4 cups blueberries, 4 apples, 1 cucumber)
-- 2 cups peppermint tea w/ honey
I actually really liked the apple/kale/cuke blend from this morning...since there was a lower apple-to-kale ratio than usual, the juice tasted much fresher and lighter...you could really taste the kale! Its hard to describe. However, I'm not so pleased with the blueberry/collard concoction that I'm currently slurping on. I didn't add enough apples to the mix since I ran out...and the blueberries just don't do enough to mask the collard-y flavor. Its not awful tasting, but the blueberries and collards just don't complement each other well. I don't care that much, I'm just excited to be getting 4 bunches of greens in (5 if you count celery) in one day! I'm going to shoot for 4 again tomorrow...I'm feeling pretty good.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Day 17: Mega-Crap Detox, Part III
Ugh. Today has been an awful day physically and emotionally. I'm sick, feverish, exhausted, and can barely speak. This isn't a good match for a room full of middle school students...So I was feeling better last night, but then felt really off again this morning. I think I really needed more sleep than I got yesterday (even though, taking the nap into consideration, was a decent amount).
I'm really, REALLY feeling the, "I hate the world" emotional detox. For sure. I'm so sick of bubbly happy people that I want to scream. The last thing that I want crossing my path after a frustrating, rage-inducing, can't-be-placated-with-solid-food day of working with what might be the most ill-managed group of children on the planet is someone's perky, smiley, world outlook. Come to Bushwick, asshole! Try being optimistic for five minutes after you take a look at the future of America!
Forcing politeness while I'm in line at Whole Foods for what was probably my first live juice of the day, and making small talk with the freaking bank teller are NOT my cup of tea.
Today's Juice:
-- 2 qts orange juice of questionable origin
-- 1 qt freshly squeezed OJ
-- 16 oz cucumber/apple/ginger
-- 1 qt water w/MSM & lemon
This morning I wound up over sleeping until 8:00 AM (ha! school starts at 8:02), so I had NO time to make my juices. I ran to school and drank orange juice from the corner coffee shop which I highly, highly doubt was raw. On my way into Manhattan I grabbed another quart of OJ, and then afterwards had an apple/cucumber/ginger concoction from a really cool juice spot in Harlem. So, I didn't even come close to hitting my greens/celery quota today, but this was due to entirely crazy circumstances. It was also nice not to have to make any of my own juices today, even though it set me back $20. :)
I'm going to bed early tonight...this detox business is serious.
I'm really, REALLY feeling the, "I hate the world" emotional detox. For sure. I'm so sick of bubbly happy people that I want to scream. The last thing that I want crossing my path after a frustrating, rage-inducing, can't-be-placated-with-solid-food day of working with what might be the most ill-managed group of children on the planet is someone's perky, smiley, world outlook. Come to Bushwick, asshole! Try being optimistic for five minutes after you take a look at the future of America!
Forcing politeness while I'm in line at Whole Foods for what was probably my first live juice of the day, and making small talk with the freaking bank teller are NOT my cup of tea.
Today's Juice:
-- 2 qts orange juice of questionable origin
-- 1 qt freshly squeezed OJ
-- 16 oz cucumber/apple/ginger
-- 1 qt water w/MSM & lemon
This morning I wound up over sleeping until 8:00 AM (ha! school starts at 8:02), so I had NO time to make my juices. I ran to school and drank orange juice from the corner coffee shop which I highly, highly doubt was raw. On my way into Manhattan I grabbed another quart of OJ, and then afterwards had an apple/cucumber/ginger concoction from a really cool juice spot in Harlem. So, I didn't even come close to hitting my greens/celery quota today, but this was due to entirely crazy circumstances. It was also nice not to have to make any of my own juices today, even though it set me back $20. :)
I'm going to bed early tonight...this detox business is serious.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Day 16 :)
The Juiciness:
-- 1 qt water w/MSM & lemon
-- 3 qts celery/cucumber/apple (2 bunches celery, 2 cukes, 8 apples, 1 tablespoon hemp oil)
-- ~0.75 qts apple (4-5 gala apples)
-- ~1.5 qts celery/watermelon/mint (1 oz mint, 1 bunch celery, remainder of VitaMix filled with watermelon)
So, I missed the Gabriel Cousins event this evening. I'm pretty disappointed because I was really looking forward to it, BUT Philip is bringing me the copy of his book I ordered so its all good. :)
I got home from school exhausted today, fell asleep at 4:00 and set the alarm for 6:00 PM. When I woke up at 6:00, I didn't feel better at all so I went back to sleep and woke up around 8:30...my throat still really hurts, but I feel much better & rested. Even though I slept for 9 hours last night I was exhausted when I woke up this morning. Sunday night I only slept for 3 hours, which really set me back. I'm going to go bang out a lesson plan for tomorrow then go back to bed ASAP.
Over in Juice Feasting Land...this morning I pulled on a pair of jeans straight from a hot hot dryer and they slid on perfectly, no "jump--jump, squat--squat, shake--shake" stretching out dance required! I also squeezed into a couple of pairs of pants that haven't fit me in years. I'm not sure why I'd been holding on to them for this long, but its certainly a good thing as I won't have to buy pants for about a month. :)
Really really upped my celery intake today (3 bunches!) and I'm going to continue to do so for the rest of the week. The inside of my throat is still really, really swollen and it hurts to swallow or talk loudly...it feels about the same as yesterday, but the pain is not nearly as intense. I think the golf balls on my neck have shrunk significantly, and if they're not vastly improved/completely gone in about a week or to, I will be hitting up a naturopath. I'll probably do another three bunches of celery tomorrow, since I'm already feeling much better today.
I'd been giving some thought to how long I will continue the feast. As of right now, I see no reason not to finish the 92 days other than the fact that thinking about the length of time is extremely daunting! The thought of going another 15 days is no problem, and I don't even feel weird thinking about 60 days...For some reason, when I think forward to Day 60, and deciding whether or not to continue to Day 92, the following 32 days seem really long.
So, I guess what I'm saying is that I'm taking it one day at a time so I don't give myself an anyeurism (is that even possible on raw foods? lol), but I still have my goal set for 92.
-- 1 qt water w/MSM & lemon
-- 3 qts celery/cucumber/apple (2 bunches celery, 2 cukes, 8 apples, 1 tablespoon hemp oil)
-- ~0.75 qts apple (4-5 gala apples)
-- ~1.5 qts celery/watermelon/mint (1 oz mint, 1 bunch celery, remainder of VitaMix filled with watermelon)
So, I missed the Gabriel Cousins event this evening. I'm pretty disappointed because I was really looking forward to it, BUT Philip is bringing me the copy of his book I ordered so its all good. :)
I got home from school exhausted today, fell asleep at 4:00 and set the alarm for 6:00 PM. When I woke up at 6:00, I didn't feel better at all so I went back to sleep and woke up around 8:30...my throat still really hurts, but I feel much better & rested. Even though I slept for 9 hours last night I was exhausted when I woke up this morning. Sunday night I only slept for 3 hours, which really set me back. I'm going to go bang out a lesson plan for tomorrow then go back to bed ASAP.
Over in Juice Feasting Land...this morning I pulled on a pair of jeans straight from a hot hot dryer and they slid on perfectly, no "jump--jump, squat--squat, shake--shake" stretching out dance required! I also squeezed into a couple of pairs of pants that haven't fit me in years. I'm not sure why I'd been holding on to them for this long, but its certainly a good thing as I won't have to buy pants for about a month. :)
Really really upped my celery intake today (3 bunches!) and I'm going to continue to do so for the rest of the week. The inside of my throat is still really, really swollen and it hurts to swallow or talk loudly...it feels about the same as yesterday, but the pain is not nearly as intense. I think the golf balls on my neck have shrunk significantly, and if they're not vastly improved/completely gone in about a week or to, I will be hitting up a naturopath. I'll probably do another three bunches of celery tomorrow, since I'm already feeling much better today.
I'd been giving some thought to how long I will continue the feast. As of right now, I see no reason not to finish the 92 days other than the fact that thinking about the length of time is extremely daunting! The thought of going another 15 days is no problem, and I don't even feel weird thinking about 60 days...For some reason, when I think forward to Day 60, and deciding whether or not to continue to Day 92, the following 32 days seem really long.
So, I guess what I'm saying is that I'm taking it one day at a time so I don't give myself an anyeurism (is that even possible on raw foods? lol), but I still have my goal set for 92.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Day 15
Hm, unfortunately juice feasting won't fix my crappy job! My students are as unmotivated as ever, and their nasty behavior throughout the day escalated into a full-fledged "incident" in PM homeroom. Yaaay, violence and frustration! I swear the children would be in more control of their emotions if their diets weren't so freaking atrocious. I thought about it, and I think today was the WORST day since I started teaching this September.
I was actually so stressed out that when one of my classes left the room (this is before shit even started hitting the fan!), I started crying uncontrollably. That's never happened to me, even once. I can't imagine what the stress of working at that middle school is doing to my body. Honestly, I'd quit if I could afford to. I should start saving...Maybe I could start selling flax seed/juice pulp crackers to help my cause. :)
Anway, on an even more serious note...the "one head of celery per day" advice (I feel like I've been getting a decent amount of leafy greens and cukes in otherwise) is to be fucking heeded. I think I'm on the cusp of what could be a serious iodine deficiency, or some kind of weird detox.
After never going back to the kelp flakes after day four (yuck), I'd only been using celery very, very sporadically as its not my favorite vegetable. At all. And by "sporadically," I mean basically never. I've now got these mountainous bumps near my thyroid glands, which is a clear indication of an iodine deficiency, and they've only been getting bigger the past few days. Yuck.
Since I can't really handle the celery + apple + leafy green combination, I will just add an entire head of celery to all of my apple juices...Making all of my juices for the day green! I find that pretty exciting, haha. Also, as mentioned in my previous post, I'm going to try to up the daily green intake overall.
So, I went to Whole Foods and bought 2 bunches of collards, 2 bunches of kale, and 3 heads of celery. Believe it or not, that put me back $20. Yep, $20. For seven bunches of greens! I'm sure the farmers didn't even see a third of that. Gaaaah. I hate Whole Foods...and at the same time the co-op seems so far away. Bleh. I'm going to look into ordering my greens in bulk, as it just seems to make more sense that way.
On the brighter side, Trader Joe's was fully stocked tonight! I grabbed 6 of the ever elusive organic cucumbers, 3 3-lb bags of apples, some frozen blueberries...and some mint. I'm going to try the watermelon & mint combination tomorrow, I believe. I also grabbed some cilantro and some ginger from the corner vegetable stand.
I LOVE cilantro. Smelling the freshly peeled garlic, cilantro, citrus, and ripe fruits and veggies really had me craving some fresh salsa & salad! I'm still amazed by the heightening of my senses...while blending up the celery for my juice this evening I could smell it from across the kitchen when I ran to the fridge for more ingredients!
I'm really starting to crave fresh, raw foods instead of whole cooked foods, which I wasn't entirely confident would happen. I think I"ll appreciate solid food SO much more than I did before! The first few days of the feast I was thinking about any and every possible type of crap junk food (haha, detox?) and last night I fell asleep thinking about raw pizza. I'm sure I could write a really, really great un-cookbook at this point, as my mind is swirling with recipes (and kale juice).
Onto the Juices!:
-- 2 qts water w/lemon & MSM
-- 1.2 L apple juice w/1 tablespoon hemp oil (9 red delicious apples)
-- 1 qt red chard/apple (5 gala apples, 1 bunch red chard)
-- 1 qt orange juice
-- 1 qt celery/apple/lemon/cucumber (1 cucumber, 4 gala apples, juice of 1 lemon, 1 cucumber)
I was actually so stressed out that when one of my classes left the room (this is before shit even started hitting the fan!), I started crying uncontrollably. That's never happened to me, even once. I can't imagine what the stress of working at that middle school is doing to my body. Honestly, I'd quit if I could afford to. I should start saving...Maybe I could start selling flax seed/juice pulp crackers to help my cause. :)
Anway, on an even more serious note...the "one head of celery per day" advice (I feel like I've been getting a decent amount of leafy greens and cukes in otherwise) is to be fucking heeded. I think I'm on the cusp of what could be a serious iodine deficiency, or some kind of weird detox.
After never going back to the kelp flakes after day four (yuck), I'd only been using celery very, very sporadically as its not my favorite vegetable. At all. And by "sporadically," I mean basically never. I've now got these mountainous bumps near my thyroid glands, which is a clear indication of an iodine deficiency, and they've only been getting bigger the past few days. Yuck.
Since I can't really handle the celery + apple + leafy green combination, I will just add an entire head of celery to all of my apple juices...Making all of my juices for the day green! I find that pretty exciting, haha. Also, as mentioned in my previous post, I'm going to try to up the daily green intake overall.
So, I went to Whole Foods and bought 2 bunches of collards, 2 bunches of kale, and 3 heads of celery. Believe it or not, that put me back $20. Yep, $20. For seven bunches of greens! I'm sure the farmers didn't even see a third of that. Gaaaah. I hate Whole Foods...and at the same time the co-op seems so far away. Bleh. I'm going to look into ordering my greens in bulk, as it just seems to make more sense that way.
On the brighter side, Trader Joe's was fully stocked tonight! I grabbed 6 of the ever elusive organic cucumbers, 3 3-lb bags of apples, some frozen blueberries...and some mint. I'm going to try the watermelon & mint combination tomorrow, I believe. I also grabbed some cilantro and some ginger from the corner vegetable stand.
I LOVE cilantro. Smelling the freshly peeled garlic, cilantro, citrus, and ripe fruits and veggies really had me craving some fresh salsa & salad! I'm still amazed by the heightening of my senses...while blending up the celery for my juice this evening I could smell it from across the kitchen when I ran to the fridge for more ingredients!
I'm really starting to crave fresh, raw foods instead of whole cooked foods, which I wasn't entirely confident would happen. I think I"ll appreciate solid food SO much more than I did before! The first few days of the feast I was thinking about any and every possible type of crap junk food (haha, detox?) and last night I fell asleep thinking about raw pizza. I'm sure I could write a really, really great un-cookbook at this point, as my mind is swirling with recipes (and kale juice).
Onto the Juices!:
-- 2 qts water w/lemon & MSM
-- 1.2 L apple juice w/1 tablespoon hemp oil (9 red delicious apples)
-- 1 qt red chard/apple (5 gala apples, 1 bunch red chard)
-- 1 qt orange juice
-- 1 qt celery/apple/lemon/cucumber (1 cucumber, 4 gala apples, juice of 1 lemon, 1 cucumber)
Sunday, January 13, 2008
2 weeks!!
Today's Intake:
-- 2 qts water w/ lemon & MSM
-- 1 qt apple/cuke/chard (1 cucumber, 1/2 bunch chard, 6 apples)
-- water of 2 young thai coconuts
-- 3 cups crappy tea w/un-raw honey
-- 1 qt red delicious apples (~5 apples)
Another day of embarassingly low intake, haha. The thing I miss about weekdays is my routine...I usually get about 5 quarts of juices in, lots of water, and things start super early.
So...today was interesting. I still felt a lot of detox symptoms (really ache-y scratchy throat), and didn't drink nearly enough water to flush out whatever was bothering me. That was my own fault, I was in Manhattan spending time with my sister and some good friends. It was certainly worth it, though.
I sipped on a few cups of Lipton tea (lol, ew) while out at a cafe with some friends who don't even understand/know that I'm raw vegan, and would be flat out appalled if they knew that I was juice feasting, lol. They're from the middle east and eat a very meat centered, cooked carbohydrate based diet and think I'm crazy and deprived for being a vegetarian. :)
So, I lied to my friends and told them I had a huge lunch with my sister before meeting them...it was so much easier than spending the next 3 hours explaining that I hadn't eaten solid food in 2 weeks. The entire time we were out they kept looking at me wistfully as I sipped my tea, and continued to offer me french fries, fish cakes, and all the other junk they were eating. :)
I'm so super excited for the Gabriel Cousin's lecture on Tuesday! My goals for this week are:
+ go running 4 days (2 miles each day -- to and from my school)
+ consume 1 bunch celery & three bunches of greens each day
+ drink 2 quarts of water w/ lemon & MSM each day
[12:59 AM]
After taking my shower and doing my dry skin brushing last night (Day 13), I looked in the mirror and I couldn't believe it...I was glowing!! I felt so ecstatically happy, and could really, really see the difference in my face. Its so much thinner, and the entire constitution of my face & body are rapidly changing for the better. I really wanted to take a picture but realized I was out of AA batteries (bleh). I'm going to buy some for sure and post some pictures for Day 15 (tomorrow), because the transformation is undeniable at this point.
-- 2 qts water w/ lemon & MSM
-- 1 qt apple/cuke/chard (1 cucumber, 1/2 bunch chard, 6 apples)
-- water of 2 young thai coconuts
-- 3 cups crappy tea w/un-raw honey
-- 1 qt red delicious apples (~5 apples)
Another day of embarassingly low intake, haha. The thing I miss about weekdays is my routine...I usually get about 5 quarts of juices in, lots of water, and things start super early.
So...today was interesting. I still felt a lot of detox symptoms (really ache-y scratchy throat), and didn't drink nearly enough water to flush out whatever was bothering me. That was my own fault, I was in Manhattan spending time with my sister and some good friends. It was certainly worth it, though.
I sipped on a few cups of Lipton tea (lol, ew) while out at a cafe with some friends who don't even understand/know that I'm raw vegan, and would be flat out appalled if they knew that I was juice feasting, lol. They're from the middle east and eat a very meat centered, cooked carbohydrate based diet and think I'm crazy and deprived for being a vegetarian. :)
So, I lied to my friends and told them I had a huge lunch with my sister before meeting them...it was so much easier than spending the next 3 hours explaining that I hadn't eaten solid food in 2 weeks. The entire time we were out they kept looking at me wistfully as I sipped my tea, and continued to offer me french fries, fish cakes, and all the other junk they were eating. :)
I'm so super excited for the Gabriel Cousin's lecture on Tuesday! My goals for this week are:
+ go running 4 days (2 miles each day -- to and from my school)
+ consume 1 bunch celery & three bunches of greens each day
+ drink 2 quarts of water w/ lemon & MSM each day
[12:59 AM]
After taking my shower and doing my dry skin brushing last night (Day 13), I looked in the mirror and I couldn't believe it...I was glowing!! I felt so ecstatically happy, and could really, really see the difference in my face. Its so much thinner, and the entire constitution of my face & body are rapidly changing for the better. I really wanted to take a picture but realized I was out of AA batteries (bleh). I'm going to buy some for sure and post some pictures for Day 15 (tomorrow), because the transformation is undeniable at this point.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Thirteen.
Today's feast (so far):
-- 80z saltwater flush [ew]
-- 1qt blueberry/apple (1 cup blueberries, 2 gala apples, 4 small golden delicious apples)
-- 1qt apple/pear with spirulina (3 gala apples, 4 small golden delicious, 3 bosc pears, 1 tsp spirulina)
-- 1qt apple/chard (1/2 bunch chard, 1 red delicious apple, 5 small green delicious apples, 1 tablespoon hemp oil)
-- 1 qt water w/ lemon & msm
I woke up with a scratchy throat feeling. Not quite scratchy, but the feeling that would normally indicate that I was getting sick. I'm guessing this means my body spent the 9 hours I was asleep detoxing? I'm not entirely sure, but I took it easy today regardless. I'm going to make it a point to sleep more during the week next week.
I tried a salt water flush this morning, and was rather unimpressed with the results. I think I'm going to take the senna tea a little more consistently than I have been (lol, once). I don't like the idea of taking it nightly, but maybe every other night would be a good choice.
Hm..I've been cranky all day, but I really shouldn't be. Things always fall into place for me, so the way I've been seeing it, I'm causing myself unnecessary stress by worrying about things that are essentially irrelevant.
I headed up to the Union Square farmer's market to pick up a billion of bags of the McIntosh apples to juice by themselves...but they were out! They're not organic, but they're local & minimally treated, and a sweet $1 for a 3lb bag. I ended up buying a bunch of red delicious apples for 75¢/lb. Not bad. They're very fragrant and...delicious. :)
We finally got our DVD player hooked up to the television. Yoga time!
-- 80z saltwater flush [ew]
-- 1qt blueberry/apple (1 cup blueberries, 2 gala apples, 4 small golden delicious apples)
-- 1qt apple/pear with spirulina (3 gala apples, 4 small golden delicious, 3 bosc pears, 1 tsp spirulina)
-- 1qt apple/chard (1/2 bunch chard, 1 red delicious apple, 5 small green delicious apples, 1 tablespoon hemp oil)
-- 1 qt water w/ lemon & msm
I woke up with a scratchy throat feeling. Not quite scratchy, but the feeling that would normally indicate that I was getting sick. I'm guessing this means my body spent the 9 hours I was asleep detoxing? I'm not entirely sure, but I took it easy today regardless. I'm going to make it a point to sleep more during the week next week.
I tried a salt water flush this morning, and was rather unimpressed with the results. I think I'm going to take the senna tea a little more consistently than I have been (lol, once). I don't like the idea of taking it nightly, but maybe every other night would be a good choice.
Hm..I've been cranky all day, but I really shouldn't be. Things always fall into place for me, so the way I've been seeing it, I'm causing myself unnecessary stress by worrying about things that are essentially irrelevant.
I headed up to the Union Square farmer's market to pick up a billion of bags of the McIntosh apples to juice by themselves...but they were out! They're not organic, but they're local & minimally treated, and a sweet $1 for a 3lb bag. I ended up buying a bunch of red delicious apples for 75¢/lb. Not bad. They're very fragrant and...delicious. :)
We finally got our DVD player hooked up to the television. Yoga time!
Friday, January 11, 2008
Day 12
Today's Feast:
-- 2 qts water w/ lemon & MSM
-- 2 qts apple/chard/kale/cucumber (my new favorite: 2 gala apples, 4 small golden delicious apples, 1 bunch chard, 1 bunch kale)
-- 1 qt apple/carrot/ginger (10 small golden delicious apples, 4 carrots, 1" cube ginger)
-- 1 qt orange juice
-- 16 oz apple/ginger juice
-- 1 qt chard/cucumber/apple (1 bunch chard, 4 gala apples, 1 cucumber, 2 teaspoons hemp oil)
Yummo!
-- 2 qts water w/ lemon & MSM
-- 2 qts apple/chard/kale/cucumber (my new favorite: 2 gala apples, 4 small golden delicious apples, 1 bunch chard, 1 bunch kale)
-- 1 qt apple/carrot/ginger (10 small golden delicious apples, 4 carrots, 1" cube ginger)
-- 1 qt orange juice
-- 16 oz apple/ginger juice
-- 1 qt chard/cucumber/apple (1 bunch chard, 4 gala apples, 1 cucumber, 2 teaspoons hemp oil)
Yummo!
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Day 11
Woo! Things are trucking right along here in Juice Feast Land. Finally found organic cucumbers at Trader Joe's the other night, and totally grabbed the last three packages (and totally felt like a jackass doing so, haha). They're sooo good, and my body is so so so happy to finally be consuming fresh cuke juice.
I missed out on my water w/ MSM again today, because I woke up later than ever before. 10 minutes more and I wouldn't have had time to make my juices. Eeek. I really, really need to start getting to sleep earlier. I always overbook myself, and its so bad when it cuts into sleep...even if I'm doing things I love (ie, shopping for 29304 lbs produce, chillaxing, etc etc). So, I need to make sure I'm getting the full 9+ hours, because a Juice Feast is no time to slack on the shut eye...my body is going crazy detoxifying from years of accumulated crud (1,320 days so far, to be exact!). That being said, I'm out.
Day 11's Feast of Freshness:
-- 1 qt apple/carrot (4 carrots, 4 small golden delicious apples)
-- 2 qts kale/apple/cucumber/chard (1 bunch kale, 1 bunch chard, 10 small golden delicious apples, 1 cucumber)
-- 1 qt orange juice
-- 1 qt spinach/apple/pear/cucumber (5 0z bag spinach, 2 gala apples, 4 bosc pears, cucumbers)
-- 1 qt water w/lemon
I missed out on my water w/ MSM again today, because I woke up later than ever before. 10 minutes more and I wouldn't have had time to make my juices. Eeek. I really, really need to start getting to sleep earlier. I always overbook myself, and its so bad when it cuts into sleep...even if I'm doing things I love (ie, shopping for 29304 lbs produce, chillaxing, etc etc). So, I need to make sure I'm getting the full 9+ hours, because a Juice Feast is no time to slack on the shut eye...my body is going crazy detoxifying from years of accumulated crud (1,320 days so far, to be exact!). That being said, I'm out.
Day 11's Feast of Freshness:
-- 1 qt apple/carrot (4 carrots, 4 small golden delicious apples)
-- 2 qts kale/apple/cucumber/chard (1 bunch kale, 1 bunch chard, 10 small golden delicious apples, 1 cucumber)
-- 1 qt orange juice
-- 1 qt spinach/apple/pear/cucumber (5 0z bag spinach, 2 gala apples, 4 bosc pears, cucumbers)
-- 1 qt water w/lemon
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