Day 14 of 21

Still going strong although I have not posted. Even went to a raw foods workshop this past Saturday which was really inspiring. It was great to meet other folks live that drink green smoothies for breakfast.

The workshop motivated me to dive in to one of my intention’s for this cleanse: explore what, beyond food, gives me energy? What keeps my life force going? Here are some ideas I am chewing on in my exploration from Natalia Rose’s Book, “The New Energy Body”:

“One of the main reasons people overeat is because they are feeding the body from the intense spinning energy of the brain…May I suggest that as you put the emphasis on creating peace and expanding your vision, you will no longer need to self regulate in this way.”

“We must do it (meditation) as regulary as we would take in food. Food is only minimally sustaining to our being. Filling up on our inner essence is maximally sustaining!”

“Energy really comes from Life Force Energy/Pure Love Essence, not sugars or proteins.”

These quotes make me think of something that I often hear the teachers says in the Anusara yoga classes say as we begin class with our eyes closed and bring out attention and intentions inwards: “Feel yourself being breathed.” I love this poetic reminder that this force of love and life is constantly acting upon us and is what keeps us alive, not our own wills. If we just tuned in, connected, and surrendered to this force a dramatic transformation in our lives would automatically take place.

I feel this transformation taking place inside myself through this detox process.

Another quote I will end with:

“Regardless of what goes on ar0und us, we serve ourselves best by remaining closely aligned with our inner light. You can walk in the inner bliss of stillness moment to moment. Simply keep practing holding the belief that this state of being is entirely possible and you will see it gets easier and easier…The goal is not to become a great meditator or a great breather or a great eater–the goal is to be in alignment with truth moment by moment.”

It is radical for me to focus on aligning with truth instead of being hyperfocus on counting calories! But I am willing to be radical, a willingness I am proud of.

DAY 10 of 21

I have made it into the double digits. And I just want to keep on going.

My intake for the day (not eaten all in one sitting)

2 bananas

frozen cherries

almonds, almond milk

celery

beets, carrots, jicama, mache, lemon juice, avocado, parsley

tomato sauce

grapes

2 apples

maybe i will have something desserty before bed.

tomorrow i need to make sure i get 3 servings of greens to meet my daily calcium needs.

i had a great compliment today from a gal at yoga class. she said i had very glowy skin, that i was radiating. made me feel so good. I need some motivation. I also had 1 piece of candy corn at work.  But one piece only. And I did not say “oh screw it, the whole day is blown, might as well go get some fro yo.” I did not let it get me off track at all.

Day 9 of 21

I am not gonna log my food today as I just signed up for the online food/activity log nutriday and logged everything there. I wanted to see if I was getting enough of all my essential nutrients. I am getting way less calcium than I need, for starters. Also, as long as I do not eat tons of chocolate it looks like my calorie intake is pretty low. My poor thyroid is still sluggish.

Not much to report today. Beautiful fall day. I was really tired this afternoon and am gonna go to bed early. I had yet another raw soup recipe failure today. Tomorrow I am gonna try the hot day soup recipe and hope it turns out well.

Day 8 of 21

Had my first ever colon hydrotherapy treatment today in the beautiful oceanside town of Pacifica. Before and after the treatment I took a walk along the ocean. Pacifica is notorious for being cloudy and chilly. Today was a sunny, almost balmy October day. Today was my gift to myself for completing 1 week of detox. The colonic left me feeling bouncy, energetic, full of gratitude for life and the beauty of the world. Later on in the day I felt lots of emotional stuff bubble to the surface which I think was related to the emotional nature of the physical release of the colonic. The colonic itself was relatively comfortable and I will definitely do it again in the near future.

I did not eat enough in the morning as I was afraid to eat much before the 12pm colonic. Got way too hungry. By the time I got home I wanted to eat everything in the kitchen. You are supposed to eat lightly after a colonic–preferably something green and easily digestible. I wanted fruit and nuts, dense stuff. So I had a bunch of fruit and nuts in the late afternoon topped off with a all veggie salad(no oil or avocado, just lemon juice fro dressing) after an hour of dancing.

All in all was a great day. Had cocoa powder in a fruit smoothie, but none of the chocolate bars that have been a big part of my diet lately and I want to steer clear of. Tomorrow is my hectic work day. I am going to bring coconut water with me to stay hydrated as I talk for about 3 hours straight leading meetings on Tuesdays! Will have a big green smoothie before I leave because that worked well last week.

Day 7 of 21

Today was the kind of day that makes me feel very grateful to live in California. There was a chill in the air as I left the house early this morning to go to the Farmer’s Market, but the sun was shining. The incredible variety and abundance at the Market never fails to amaze me.

I have made it through seven days of no artificial sweeteners, coffee (no caf or decaf coffee), no dairy with the exception of a little butter, and something like 90% raw. Yay me!

My energy and mood are great. I feel an great improvement in my overall sense of well being.

I feel armed and ready for another successful week–I am really looking forward to making some of the recipes I plan to make this week.

A awesome salad I just made for dinner:
thin sliced fennel
shredded carrots
shredded beets
chopped tomato
arugula
avocado
dressing of olive oil, pinch of stevia, meyer lemon juice, sea salt, pepper

I ate a ton of fruit today! It started out with a concoction of juice orange and giner blended up with pineapple and a pinch of nutmeg in the blender. I am trying to keep a cold at bay.
I then had a ton of fruit samples at the Market, and a banana.
For lunch I had a pint of fresh figs and 1 pear.
My snack was my chocolate ice cream made with a frozen banana, mejdool dates, cocoa powder, stevia, and ice. Yum!
Dinner was that awesome salad.
I feel like I need something more to eat…but am trying to stay away from chocolate.
I ate an entire bar of dark chocolate last night plus 2 gluten free chocolate chip cookies I made for my sweetheart! I could not sleep due to the mix of the chocolate/sugar high and indigestion!
I think that I am not physically hungry, just always used to getting desert.

Day 6 of 21

I am trying to get organized for a successful week. Tomorrow is one of my favorite days of the week: my favorite yoga class and the local farmer’s market trip.

Some recipes I want to try out this week:

I am feeling really chilly now that it is fall, the mornings are so cold! So I am craving soup and am gonna make (all from goneraw.com)
on Sunday:Creamy Red Chard Soup
Monday: Hot Day soup
Tuesday: Winter Wellness Soup
Wednesday: Creamy Tomato-Avocado Soup
Thursday: Zucchini Pasta
Friday: Comforting Creamy Soup
Saturday:

To make for my sweetheart with a fast metabolism (from goneraw.com too):
Complete Food Almond Butter (has hemp protein and coconut butter in it)

I need to get some alfalfa seeds to make some sprouts again!

Day 5 of 21

Today was easier than yesterday. Yesterday after I blogged I ended up eating some more dates, a cashew cookie lara bar, some nut butter, and then some very non-raw sweet potato chips!

When I have an overeating experience the next day is always easier to be on track.

Went to a Bikram Yoga class first thing in the morning to get my day started off right. My body felt so alive and the sun was shining here in norcal as I stepped out of class into the fairyland of perfectly manicured downtown Palo Alto.

I had a vegan organic food bar for breakfast, a chocolate-bananas-date shake for lunch along with a couple of almonds & a bite of chocolate, and then tried out  a new recipe for dinner I found on goneraw.com: cream of celery soup. I mixed a head of celery with 1 cup homemade almond milk, 1 small clove of garlic, onion powder & salt in the vitamix until warm.  I added some chopped celery for some crunch. It was delicious and so simple. I had a salad with a raspberry vinaigrette and 2 apples for dessert. Not a good dessert as there was oil in the dressing–oils don’t combine well with fruits, but I am not quite that advanced.

I am going to dedicate tomorrow to planning the upcoming week’s recipes as I learned a lot from the past 5 days: I need to do a lot more planning to have the kind of success I want to have from this diet and life in general. I sit and wait for good things to happen to me too much. I feel more and more compelled to be proactive–seems like I get this motivation to take charge of my health and my life every fall. Interesting.

Day 4 of 21

I was fighting cravings all day. Knowing I was committed to writing this food blog kept me from totally going off the deep end.

Breakfast: Green Smoothie with 2 bananas, frozen cherries & pineapple, spinach, 1 date

Lunch: tomato, caulfilower, romaine salad with balsamic, 1 coconut cream pie lara bar (those are sooo good)! I small piece of chocolate

Snack: coconut water and carrots

Dinner: leftover carrot soup, homemade sweet potato fhashbrowns with butter (a ton of them!), a bit of cashew butter and almond butter, way too much newman’s sweet dark chocolate.

I never made the new recipes I wanted to try out today. Tomorrow I have to or I will end up eating too much of the wrong foods like I did at dinner. Am mad because the scale is not going to the direction I want it to and I feel I am being so disciplined with what I put in my mouth. I think I am eating too much fruit, and when I had 2 days in  row an entire avocado in my salad that is too much, I know. 2 things for me to work on. Progress not pefection.

Day 3 of 21

One of my favorite quotes from one of my favorite authors and teachers of how to compassionately nurse yourself to health from dieting and binge eating, Geneen Roth, concerns how inspiration from a book, person, or teaching can impact our lives. This inspiration can allow “More space in us for life to unfold so that we don’t have to squeeze our big starry hearts into the psyche of a two- or three- or eight-year old…Allow your big starry heart to open, your jewled being to unfold.” This is from the foreword to the book The Spiritual Dimension of the Enneagram by Sandra Maitri.

I was reminded of this quote as I left my yoga class late this evening and saw a group of people flocking to the new “healthy” fro yo place down the street. My little five-year-old inside said “Oh, please, just let me go get a sample. I deserve it. I worked so hard today.” I threw my yoga mat in the back seat of my car and told that little one inside that it was time to get thee home to bed. The internal temper tantrum was only momentary. As I drove away from the scene of the tantrum I passed one of my favorite shoe stores that also sells unique crafty items. In the window display were those huge hanging star lamps that I have been wanting for years but never get because I think they will make my house look like a dorm room. The star lamps were beautiful and all sorts of colors I had never seen them in before.

The beauty brought me back into the present moment and far away from craving. In the present moment there is no craving. And the gift of the present is always, always available. I felt my big starry heart open this evening as I turned away from the fro yo and acted like an adult for a few moments.

Today I ate 3 apples and 2 bananas (oh, and 3 walnut halves) for breakfast as I did not have greens for my green smoothie I snacked on fruit all morning. My blood sugar never felt stable as a result. Lesson learned.

Had a raw food bar as a snack–did not like this brand. After my late morning bike ride had a salad with balsamic and leftover carrot soup from Monday nt.

For dinner I have caulfilower, tomato, romaine salad with balsamic yet again. Was craving protein so had some sole baked with a bit of butter–really tasty. Topped it off with two kinds of dark chocolate–newman’s own sweet dark and rapunzel. newman’s is much sweeter and I prefer it.

Later had some almond milk,  bite of a clif nectar bar, 2 dates, 2T of almond and cashew butter (totally did not need this 2nd desert!)

Will try a new salad dressing and 1 new recipe tomorrow as my meals are already getting way too repititious and one of my intentions for my 21 day detox was to get a new repetoire of meals down. Maybe I will make a warm raw soup in my vitamix if the weather is cool.

I am so grateful for my body today. I got up in a handstand in yoga class yesterday and balanced without the wall for the first time EVER. Miraculous! I used to be an obese teenager, and now everyday I work in a job helping other people lose weight and improve their health–and I can do a handstand to boot. Life is good.

Day 2 of 21

What I ate today:

Breakfast of green smoothie: 2 bananas, swiss chard, little bit each of frozen cherries & pineapple

Lunch: big ol’ salad: red leaf & romaine lettuce, jicama, sweet onion, red pepper, cucumber, entire avocado again, shredded beets, carrot, balsamic vinegar–dessert was this awesome concoction: 1 frozen banana, a couple dates, stevia, 6 ice cubes, green & black organic cocoa powder, unsweetened pacific almond milk=chocolate ice cream.—Noticed my blood sugar is feeling much more balanced. I went over 5 hrs btwn breakfast and lunch and did not feel like I was going to eat my arm if I did not have lunch ASAP. This is the result of no coffee and no gum.

Dinner: few sips of carrot soup from yesterday, zucchini pasta, tomato sauce, alta dena raw goat cheese topped off with dagoba organic 70% dark chocolate.

Dig my dry body brushing today and got grounded for my busy day with some deep breathing, a bit of yoga, and some dancing.

I ended up not drinking the kombucha because it often gets me too buzzed. Was super tired in the afternoon after my big lunch and had to lay down for awhile. I think I am really going through a deep detox right now. I feel so much more calm than just 2 days ago. I feel myself shifting into an attitude of open heartedness and gratitude.  Went to yoga class and felt so present and receptive.

Am really proud of myself for passing up the candy dish I passed @ work already full of halloween candy, and for passing up the gum I found in my purse.

My reasons for doing the cleanse that I am going to read every morning and evening and hopefully add to:

1. When I have gum, frozen yogurt, gluten, compulsive sample from the bulk bins at grocery store, or have coffee as an option–I choose to go towards one of these poisons instead of reaching out and reaching withing–connecting with intuition, my guides. I use all of these poisons/distractions to avoid facing life and the pain of disconnection from my Essence directly. I want to feel the amazing gift of presence available in every single moment instead of being in a state of constant craving to quote kd lang.

2. I want to be free of pimples and cold sores that scar my face.

3. Develop deeper relationships with fellow raw food bloggers by blogging daily for at least the 21 days of this detox so I can develop a supportive healing community for myself.

4. Get off the weight rollercoaster and maintain my weight within a range I am happy with.

5. Heal my immune, digestive, and endocrine system–possibly get off my “natural” pig thyroid medicine.

6. Get in touch with the ways I get energy from sources beyond food.

7. Release psychological and physical dependence on addictive/eating disorder inducing foods.

8. Learn to be be in social situations involving food and not eat compulsively.

9 Develop a repertoire of several days worth of raw menus I really enjoy.

10. Balance blood sugar.

I realize that 21 days is just a start on the path to achieving some of the above. I do believe deeply in the power of changing your diet can have on every single aspect of one’s life. I feel inspired enough to continue tomorrow. It will be an easier day to stay on track as I am home most of the day.

Off to meditate before bed.

 

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