Category — 30-day juice fast
30-Day Juice Fast: Reflections
Do the best you can and can the rest! (Words of wisdom from my grandma
)
Someone asked me if I’d summarize what my goals were for the 30-day juice fast and reflect on my journey. So, here it is…
I’ve thought about it, and my goals for this 30-day juice fast were to:
- Cleanse and detox my body from when I fell off the 100% raw wagon.
- Enter a calmer, more peaceful state of being.
- Do some old-fashioned soul searching.
- Break my coffee habit.
And I accomplished all of those things–even though I had to break the fast a tad early due to being attacked by those nasty red wasps and getting sick from that.
While I was on this juicing journey, I also made a decision (well, I made several but this one is about my relationship with food): I’ve decided to stop being so hard on myself.
During my 100% raw “spurts”, here’s the foods I miss the most:
- organic Greek yogurt (Oikos is my favorite!)
- omelets (stuffed with veggies)
- steel cut oats (with cinnamon, raw honey, and nuts)
- steamed brussel sprouts (with coconut oil and herbs)
- steamed asparagus (drizzled with coconut oil)
- mock mashed potatoes (made from cauliflower)
- stir fry
- baked sweet potatoes
As I pondered the above foods, I realized something (an epiphany?)–all of the foods I’ve listed here are on the extreme end of what’s considered “healthy”.
I’m not craving greasy fast food here, people. I’m not wanting
donuts or cake every day. Ice cream isn’t my weakness.
Life is short, you know? So, if I wake up one morning and crave an omelet (made from free-range, farm fresh, organic eggs–from my own farm–and overflowing with yummy veggies, I’m going to eat it!
I have been high-raw for the past several years. The high-raw lifestyle has improved my health, helped me lose over 100 pounds, and is the foundation of my diet life.
Gena, over at Choosing Raw, recently answered a reader’s question about how “perfect” her eating habits are. Her post truly resonated with me.
The message I took away from her post is that while eating an omelet once in a while, or having some cooked steel cut oats is something I feel is healthy and make me feel good, it may make you cringe (whether you’re on the 100% raw side of the fence or the processed, cooked food side).
So, if what I eat seems totally unattainable to you, don’t try to eat just like me. If I can inspire you to clean up your diet (even a little!), that’s fantabulous!
Example:
Maybe, at least part of the time, you could have a big salad with fish on the side instead of your normal fish sandwich with greasy fries. So, if you feel like you can’t live without your fish sandwich and fries, just choose the healthier option I’ve listed (or one similar) at least part of the time. Sound good?
Oh, and I forgot to mention what I ate yesterday:
- small banana for breakfast
- I fasted through lunch
- For dinner, I had a yummy salad:
Yum-O!
(Note: All of the following ingredients are heirloom + organic from my own garden, except for the hemp seeds, spinach, and blueberries!!)
handful baby spinach leaves
handful heirloom lettuce
Manitoba Harvest hemp seeds
raw heirloom okra (it’s delicious, y’all!)
handful blueberries
few heirloom baby carrots
Enjoy the journey; make the better choice most of the time; and treat yourself for your dedication–you deserve it!
Don’t forget about the other contests I’ve mentioned recently! And catch up on the juicy details of my 30-day juice fast.
You’ll definitely want to stay tuned!
So… be sure to subscribe to Healing with Juices’ Feed for free updates. You can get free updates to your email as well (sign up here). You’ll also receive inspiration, juice and smoothie recipes, and juice fasting tips and encouragement to help keep you motivated toward your ultimate health–and more personal posts about stuff that’s going on in my life. 
July 17, 2009 5 Comments
Day 29, Can I Rewind?
Wow, do I ever wish I could hit the rewind button and go back to yesterday morning!
Last night was simply atrocious. My arm kept swelling and throbbing and hurting and I didn’t get ANY sleep. None. Zilch. Zero. That makes for a VERY exhausted raw juice girl! 
I finally gave in and got up at 5 a.m. That’s early for me, but there was absolutely no way I was going to be sleeping any time soon with all that pain.
I probably should have just laid in bed because not long after I got up, it started….
My tummy was turned inside-out! I started throwing up and couldn’t stop. Now, I’m no medical doctor, but guessing from how my body normally works, I’d say that my system must have been overloaded from all those red wasp stings and it made me sick, overall (I’ve never thrown up on a juice fast before, and I’ve done a 52-day juice fast!).
I can’t count how many times I threw up.
My Mom urged me to eat a couple of crackers to try to calm my tummy.
“But, Mom, this is day 29! Day 29!!! I only have the rest of today and tomorrow to complete my 30-day juice fast!!”
I was horrified by the thought of breaking my fast–and not the way I had planned on breaking it, at that!
Since I was way too sick to handle my daily warm lemon water, I tried sipping on a glass if ice-cold herbal tea. That helped a little. But, still, I kept throwing up.
I was really weak and in a LOT of pain from the swelling/throbbing of my arm where so many wasps stung in one area.
I hated to do it, folks, but I know my body. I know how far I can push myself. And I had reached my limit.
Broken
Breaking a juice fast is a very special event. When I decided to share this juice fast with you all, I had visions of sharing photos and details of my first raw meal after the fast. I planned on telling you why I chose raw fruit (because of all the enzymes that aid digestion) and why I didn’t choose vegetables (because they’re harder to digest when coming off a fast).
The fast wasn’t the only thing that was broken here: My heart and spirit were as well.
Cowboy girl Up
So, as my neighbor says: It was time to cowboy girl up and realize I’d reached my limits and that more importantly than stopping at the end of day 30, I should love my health enough to do what’s best for me at the time–and not worry about what the world would think of me for breaking the fast just a tad early.
So, I sucked up my pride (cowgirled up) and listened to mom: I nibbled on a couple of salty crackers. They were organic, but still….
I also nibbled on a piece of ginger.
“You look like death.” Mom said (thanks for the compliment, Mom! LOL). I took that as a cue to lay back down. My tummy finally settled down enough for me to get in a decent nap.
I knew I needed something but I didn’t really have the strength to drag out the juicer. Since I’d already nibbled on a couple of salty crackers (I’m still upset that I did this!!! ) I decided to make a green monster. Next best thing, right?
Amazing Green Monster
1/3 cup fresh blueberries
1 scoop berry flavored Amazing Grass SuperFood powder
1 big handful spinach
4 ice cubes
1/2 cup herbal tea
(This needed “something” so I added a tiny drizzle of raw honey–then it was perfect!
And it wasn’t as thick as I normally make my smoothies, so it was almost juice-like! )
A Monster Alright!
I had all my ingredients in the blender–and it wouldn’t start. Can you believe it?! Ugh. I was really tired and sick and not in the mood for a dead blender at all! I’m not one to waste, so I dumped the contents of the blender into the food processor and started it up. (Where there’s a will, eh?) 
Red Wasp Stings
This photo doesn’t do my arm justice. Several stings were on the other side of my arm (not visible in this photo) and my arm was swollen double its normal size (or more!). Very painful. It felt like burning, heavy concrete that was about to explode and worse.
Since I didn’t get to share a raw meal that broke my fast, I’ll be writing a post with tips for breaking a juice fast, possible foods you could eat, and also share ideas for meals in the coming days after a fast.
What really gets me about this, is that I wasn’t hungry! I wasn’t even craving food and didn’t NEED to break the fast–even on day 30. I could have kept going.
I blame that yoga mat! LOL
Until tomorrow… happy juicing!
Don’t forget to catch up on my 30-day juice fast…
Day 1 of a 30-Day Juice Fast and Juicer Mishaps
Day 2 of a 30-Day Juice Fast–and AMAZING GRASS!!
Day 4 + Wheat Grass Galore + a Juicer!!
Day 8, Let’s Talk About Weight!
Day 11, Grapefruit Juice Heaven!
Day 15 + Living Tree Community Contest Winner!
Day 16 + Books by Dr. Bruce Fife
Day 17 + Green Pineapple Juice
Day 19 + July 4th Celebrations!!
Upcoming Contests Featuring these Fabulous Companies
- 2 books by Nomi Shannon, The Raw Gourmet (These two books have GORGEOUS photos and the recipes are amazing!
- 2 Food Matters DVDs (Haven’t had a chance to watch this one yet, but do check out their site–they have a RAWsome message to share!!)
- Detox 4 Women by Natalia Rose (I read this book last night and it’s awesome; it really helps you understand water retention, etc!)
- Oh Nuts! (raw macadamia nuts and pecans) <— These are seriously delicious nuts–and they’re JUMBO sized!
- E3Live (Green-tasting (which I don’t mind!), but I REALLY notice that it’s making me feel better. It was definitely put to the test through my recent stressful events!)
- 2 books (Coconut Water for Health and Healing
and Oil Pulling Therapy: Detoxifying and Healing the Body Through Oral Cleansing
by Dr. Bruce Fife
- and MORE!
You’ll definitely want to stay tuned!
So… be sure to subscribe to Healing with Juices’ Feed for free updates. You can get free updates to your email as well (sign up here). You’ll also receive inspiration, juice and smoothie recipes, and juice fasting tips and encouragement to help keep you motivated toward your ultimate health–and more personal posts about stuff that’s going on in my life. 
July 16, 2009 6 Comments
