Watermelon Juice Fast (Day 8)

After a good night's sleep, and waking at 4:00 AM for meditation, I went back to bed at 6:30 for another couple of hours.

So far, my focus is on the liver detox and taking those herbs three times a day.  This morning I had some flatulence, a bit of feeling achy in my body, and lots of sneezing.  

After taking the herbs this morning, I drank some water.  Before I left the house I ate a few cut oranges knowing that fruit juice would not be enough substance for the day.  I am feeling like the only way I could continue this fast would be if I just stayed in bed and rested, not because I am so tired but because it is the best for healing.  Instead, I will be going to a friend's house for a massage.

Great natural morning elimination!  An awesome massage at my friend's house too, except that it was very exhausting just being out in the day and driving, etc.  At my friend's house I ate a nectarine and drank water until dinner.  On the way home I stopped at Whole Foods market and ordered the only vegetable juice that could be verified "guaranteed" organic produce of carrots, parsley and kale.

Then I stopped at my daughter's house to drop something off and by the time I got home I was so hungry that I intuitively knew that it was time for me to break the fast.  One of those times, where in spite of discipline, I knew that it was time to start my raw food diet.  I also had previous business plans the next day that kept reminding me to end the fast.

I will continue the liver detox for another 1 or 2 days more, and instead of juicing I plan on eating solid food and modify the detox to raw foods.

For dinner I ate plain (no dressing) Romaine lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumber.  About 2 hours later I was so hungry again, I repeated the same meal only this time I added a no-oil sesame seed dressing.

It felt good to take a hot shower and go to sleep early.

Watermelon Juice Fast (Day 7)

After having a good night's sleep, I woke refreshed and feeling very energetic.  I've started thinking more about the time I switch to another type of juice, and ultimately when I begin to break the fast.

I had great elimination today, which is somewhat surprising since I've had only juices for the past week..

I spent part of the day working on the raw mushroom veggie burgers and putting the mixture onto the dehydrator trays from the bowl in the refrigerator. At least if I am not eating, as I said before, I enjoy working with food while I fast.  It seems to satisfy me in ways.

A friend came over this afternoon who I'm coaching through the watermelon fast, and we talked about the fast while we went for a walk.

This afternoon I switched to orange juice, diluted with water.  I was feeling so full from liquids and still hungry, and began to feel that because of my increased work schedule commitments I should transition to solid fruits if the hunger continued.  Later in the evening I cut up a few chunks of watermelon and a few chunks of cantaloupe, and chewed it slowly, while we watched another movie.

I made my husband an Amy's burger for dinner, and I didn't feel any temptation, as my determination and focus is on my goal.



 

Watermelon Juice Fast (Day 6)

After having a good night's sleep, I woke refreshed, but with a slight headache, which passed very quickly.  We went to a spiritual discourse early in the morning where I made my juice into a "to go" bottle to carry with me, and brought lots of Kangen water. to drink.

I had some more hiccups a couple of times today (my mom taught me that hiccups were a form of gas) and my nose was slightly running.  I still wasn't too hungry for the juice, so I mostly focused on drinking water.

I started the liver detox early this morning.  Almost immediately I could feel a diminishing of my nervousness and twitching.  I found this to be amazing!  I'm having a lot of insightful clarity about my body and my life!  I am now starting to love the way I am feeling,  especially because of these visible results. The benefits of the fast are also showing less puffiness and darkness around the eyes.

My body feels MUCH CLEANER and my mind MUCH CLEARER!  Naturally, my mind is still trying to tempt me into eating, but I know that is the job of the mind and the senses.  I'm going for "the gold ring" for health's sake.

I decided I am going to go deeper into the cleanse by continuing on vegan raw foods, when I gradually do break this juicing fast.  Because of this decision, I started preparations for it by getting the raw food diet organized so I will be ready when the time comes. I made 10 trays of onion crackers and 10 trays of mushroom-veggie burgers in the dehydrator which will have a great future shelf life. at a time when I am no longer fasting.

I also really enjoy being in the kitchen preparing food when I fast.  I savor the aromas and since I love cooking, it's fun for me to handle the food,  Besides, I have a husband to care for, and a panty and refrigerator to manage.

I allowed myself to get overtired with all of my kitchen work so I asked my husband to give me a "Raindrop Therapy" massage, with essential oils. Then he read me a few short  spiritual stories.
I did not take any Melatonin and I drifted off to sleep.

Watermelon Juice Fast (Day 5)

I woke today feeling good and rested.  I had some major sneezing this morning.  In the morning I had a masseur come to the house and give me a massage, and of course it was wonderful to nurture myself this way.  I had a good steady energy and decided to go out and see the movie "The Butler".

I can feel the withdrawal  of this fast creating some physical tightness in my body, which is obviously coming from my mind!  Other than thinking about food, I am having less and less cravings for it. In fact, I am not always even hungry for the juice, so I am drinking a lot of water, which seems to be more appealing for me.

Today I also started on an herbal detox.  I took what I had left in the bottle from previous times, for detoxing the kidneys. Now I've finished with the herbal kidney supply, so I'll have to buy some more.  However, I plan on starting the liver detox tomorrow.

I'm still having a lot of nervousness and facial twitching, which feels draining to me, but it's making me go deeper into the cleanse.

My mind was not as active and anxious tonight as it has been, but I still took Melatonin to get to sleep.

Watermelon Juice Fast (Day 4)

Today I have mostly been feeling good, although I started feeling some detox symptoms towards the early evening.  I continue to have great energy, with no soreness in my shoulder area.  I'm noticing that my skin has good color and it's looking tighter and my buttocks feels firmer.  I'm drinking as much water fluids as I can.  In fact, right now, between the watermelon juice and the water, I feel like floating away!

I've been doing some intermittent sneezing, and two rounds of hiccups.  Some puffiness underneath my eyes seem to be going down, yet I can see some darker circles around my eyes.  Probably with this fast I'll include Dr. Richard Schulze's Kidney dexox, and possibly if I have the stamina I'll add Liver dexox, but I'm not sure when and at what point.  https://www.google.com/webhp?source=search_app#bav=on.2,or.r_cp.r_qf.&fp=1782dd863d06f61c&q=dr.+richard+schulze

Symptoms that I experienced were nervousness, manifesting in face twitching that I found bothersome, but I realize that these are all of the poisons being stirred up and coming to a head, before they dump.
After I went to bed I felt some nausea, some flatulence, and lots of anxiety from my restless mind while wondering if the nausea was going to get worse. In spite of some discomfort,  I look forward to the symptoms because it lets me know that the toxins are releasing!  I took some Melatonin and eventually fell off to sleep.

While I think of it I want to mention that the white part of the watermelon called the rind, is also valuable for the body, so when you cut your melon, add it to your blender. Watermelon is a diuretic, good for flushing toxins from the kidneys.

A USDA study found that the tart white rind offers a high dose of citrulline, an amino acid that helps dilate blood vessels to improve circulation. (In this article it mentions adding sugar to the juice, but of course this is a No-No, fasting or not!

Read more: http://www.oprah.com/health/Nutritional-Benefits-of-Eating-Peels-Stems-and-Rinds/5#ixzz2cAd2eXt2

Watermelon Juice Fast (Day 3)

Well, day three was a bit uncomfortable feeling the withdrawal of eating and enjoying the sensual taste pleasures.  I had less soreness in my upper shoulder area than the day before. I also had some flatulence. I felt myself feeling nervous and anxious. I could feel some slight irritability (toxins circulating through the system before they leave) which manifested in a lack of patience and restlessness.

Naturally, my mind was trying to tell me that if I ate food I wouldn't feel the way I was feeling, but knowing the tricks of the mind and the senses and watching for it's tricks, is a huge support for someone attempting to juice fast.

I'm grateful that the watermelons that the farmer picked out for me so far have been sweet, so I am enjoying drinking the juice.  Today I drank a lot of juice, and although I felt full, my mind and tastebuds conjured up images of romaine lettuce leaves, with no dressing and other simple food fantasies.  My mind was tempting me to slide from my commitment, but I kept drinking the juice.

It helped me to remember that the first 3 days of a fast are the most challenging, in spite of the mind's silent pleas for food, but since I am looking for physical changes in appearance and how I feel, I am focusing on continuing to nurture myself with the discipline of focus on the goal - Detox!

I recall that after the 3rd day, the body no longer calls for food in the same way, because it gets the message, and the mind calms to a relaxed state. The first 3 days of a fast the mind is usually over-active, especially at night and then calms down to a very relaxed state. (This is an aside) When people remove coffee from their diets, there is usually some headaches from the withdrawal. Toxins being released promote this effect.

My energy level was high all day long, and my thinking clear.  I went to a spiritual discourse (lecture) and came home, took a hot shower and some Melatonin and fell right off to a great night's sleep.

This morning I made breakfast for my husband, and I  enjoyed the aromas of the meal.  It takes me a few minutes to prepare the watermelon for juicing each time I'm hungry and it's guaranteed fresh!

Watermelon Juice Fast Diary (Day 2)

Yesterday I posted a blog about "Detoxing for Energy" which you can archive and read, which accounts for my first day on the fast.  Basically, the first day I was busy shopping at Farmer's Market preparing for the fast.  Since I have a husband who I'll be cooking for, I had to stock the kitchen with groceries.

This may sound crazy but when I fast, I have no problem cooking for my husband.  I feel some pleasure and satisfaction from the aromas of the flavors, without being tempted to taste the food.

I've done a fair amount of fasting throughout the years, and each time the results are worth the discipline of giving digestion a rest!   I've gone as many as 30 days on organic, fresh juices and continued working during these fasts.

During one of my previous fasts, I was very fortunate to have had access to a powerful commercial juicer in our work kitchen, so I could juice easily and abundantly whenever I got hungry.  I remember that I worked 10 hours one of those days without a 5 minute break off my feet (we were so busy)  and my energy level was soaring. I don't say that working like this is ideal, but one does the best one can do, right?

Below, is my first glass of watermelon juice today, fresh from the blender!

In between drinking the juice I will be drinking as much water as I can.  Guess where I'll be visiting frequently? You guessed it, the bathroom.  This is all a part of the detoxifying process.

I felt satisfied with the watermelon juice last night and wasn't craving anything other than the juice.  I had color in my cheeks and soreness in my back and shoulders.  I'm not sure if it was my positioning on the computer, but that's the way I felt.  Although I was tired from a busy day, my mind was active and I ended up taking some Melatonin to help me sleep.  I woke refreshed with lots of energy, raring to go!

The Value of Detox for Energy (Day 1)

While juicing today it occurred to to me to write this blog because so many of us take our energy for granted, until there are days when the supply seems exhausted.  Unfortunately, if we don't heed this signal, more and more days begin to show up where energy is depleted.  As children there is an unlimited amount of energy, yet as we grow older, that storehouse gets depleted.

Intuitively, when I get a day or two like this, I know that my body is giving me a signal to detox. I could rationalize and make excuses by telling myself that I've been working too much and too hard, or that life at this time is too stressful.  We all have spurts of varying indicators that gives us messages to slow down and relax, but we don't always listen.  If we take the time to listen to our bodies, it is our best guide to a healthy quality of life.

I'm convinced that learning to nurture ourselves is one of the hardest lessons that many of us are in the process of learning.  I find that when I do a detox, I am nurturing myself.  My goal is to take the best possible care of myself and ward off sickness or disease.  I would rather make my OWN car payments instead of helping to make car payments for the doctor.

I went shopping today at Farmer's Market in Santa Monica (I have the farmer pick out the watermelons and guarantee that they are sweet or they will replace them for me) and bought 4 beautiful, very large watermelons for a juice fast for the next few days.  I cut up the watermelon and put sections of the melon in the Vitamix blender.  (You do not need to have a special kind of blender)   Whenever I get hungry, I'll cut a section of the watermelon and blend it and drink it.

I've also prepared for when I break the juice fast.  I may prepare other fruit juices afterwards, or if the spirit moves me, I'll gradually start back eating fruits.  The important thing about fasting is that when the fast is over, there should be a gradual starting of solid foods, such as fruits for 1-2 days and then vegetables and slowly introduce simple foods back into the diet.

I know from my past experiences with watermelon fasting, that after a few days a relaxed and steady energy is back with me, and my body is thanking me!

I'll keep you posted about how I am feeling on this detox.

Unlabeled GMO products! Become a conscious shopper!

The fight is not over until we win "our right to know" what's in our food!

It has become a real challenge to know what products to buy since GMO's are not labeled.  Yes, we CAN look for USDA organic labels and also non-GMO certified icons (images below) on packages or products.

What is safe these days is to shop at a Farmer's Market where organic is lush, reasonable and plentiful. Or order from an organic farm that delivers.  It also helps to have a relationship with the farmer you trust.  Most farmers are happy to answer any of your questions about their growing methods. When you have a relationship with your farmer, if something you purchase doesn't taste right or spoils quickly, and you are not happy, they will do their best to keep a good customer relationship by gladly replacing your purchase.

I find that although I'm a chef, it is best nowadays to prepare simpler, healthier meals.  For instance there are staple products I know are vegan and organic, so I don't prepare the processed dishes any longer because they are not marked organic.  I rather choose good health over gourmet dishes.

Not everyone may be a "stickler" like me, but this non-labeling of products, I am taking seriously. Knowing that all organic produce is still plentiful (although I notice that Whole Foods has plenty of conventional produce, as well as a lot of organic produce from Mexico.  Why can't the store buy locally and support independent, local farmers?

So rather than mess up my health with GMO ingredients, I would rather simplify my meals. Besides, I don't want to give any business to the manufacturers that don't support our health.