Day 50 (Thursday): Oh Happy Day ... New Crossroads

I'm feeling very happy today. One reason is sorta personal. Another reason is that I find myself at an exciting crossroads. Little did I realize when I began down this road 50 days ago that it would lead me here -- on the threshold of starting a 92-day fast (feast!) on fresh vegetable and fruit juices. I can only conclude that by eating mainly raw foods these last 50 days -- virtually eliminating 95% of the cooked foods, dairy, refined flour, refined sugar, and chicken and beef I was used to eating -- I was paving the way for this next step. If someone had told me 7 weeks ago that I'd be embarking on this, I'd have said they were nuts!

Many years ago (1979) I did an 8-day vegetable broth "fast" after reading Paavo Airola's "How To Get Well". I was living in Southern California at the time and I was a "nomad for Jesus" ... a long story! I remember after day three that my clarity and energy levels rose considerably; by Day 8 I felt almost high. Then I began on solid foods again. I never really got to experience the full benefits of detoxing because solid food was reintroduced (I've since realized) prematurely, before the cell-dumping process could fully kick in.

So the next four days will be spent in preparation for this new terrain on my 'road' to health. In my first post here, I said I was aiming at regaining the health of that 23 year old of 30 years ago. It's interesting (and I don't think mere coincidence) but last night as I was reading Angela Stokes' Juice Feasting Handbook, I read that one of the claims of this 92-day program is that for each day of juicing one sheds 120 days of toxicity! Just for the heck of it, I multiplied 92 days by 120 days and guess what? It came out to a little over 30 years! It's designed to release the body of over 30 YEARS of toxicity. How's that for being exactly what I set out to do! To lop 30 years off of my 53! I love it. See, we don't EVER have to figure out all the "hows" of getting where we want to go ... we just have to intend, decide, and set sail (take action) in the direction we want to go.

Now, I'm realistic and I know I will not get back in every respect the body I had when I was 23. But I'm going to get as near to it -- inside and out -- as I possibly can! It'll take time and effort -- and more months than just the next three -- but I'm heading there. (Wherever "there" is! Oh, that's right ... "here" is actually WITHIN "there.") I'm reminded of Norman Walker, who lived to be 109 -- some say even older -- who wrote the book, "Become Younger," when he was a very middle-aged man!

Here are some interesting links for anyone wanting to know more about this cleansing/detoxing method:

Juice Feasting Facts (by Angela Stokes)

Interview with Angela After 92-day Juice Feast

Juice Feasting Website

A Silly Song About the Periodic Table: The Elements by Tom Lehrer

Relevance? Mineral density is key in juicing. :-)

Today I had only water in the morning and in the afternoon, a large salad of romaine lettuce, croutons and two baked vegetable burgers (that actually tasted great -- not like bland shoe leather). Tonight I'll have my raw pasta dish made from summer squash and zuccini.

There are loads of things I need to gather together for the juice feast, so I'll prepare my list tonight. Hopefully, my new juicer will arrive by Monday.

Outta here.

Day 49 (Wednesday): Losing some momentum :-(

I'm really starting to miss breads/butter and certain cooked foods. Time to psyche myself once again. Today I had a buttered onion roll for b'fast ... just didn't want fruit! Lunch was light, a little spinach salad with a small portion of pesto pasta. This afternoon I had two raw bars. My pattern is all off these last couple of days, so tomorrow I'm going back to the fruit in the morning, salad for lunch and zuccini pasta for dinner ... all raw. No cooked food at all tomorrow.

Friday, I'll have some steamed veggies in the evening again and from then on have just cooked veggies for my cooked food. (I'd been having some grains and pasta in there -- not to mention bread and butter a few times, but that's finished for now.) It'll certainly be "finished" as of Monday when for the next 92 days I'll be drinking 4 quarts of vegetable and fruit juices per day. People who've done it say they aren't hungry in the least, but they detox like crazy ... and ultimately have stamina and energy and a clarity emotionally and spiritually that they've not ever experienced before. It is largely for the latter reason that I'm embarking on this. I have some important things coming up in my life and I want to be in the best possible place to make choices and decisions with wisdom and prudence.

Tonight, I feel like eating a pizza!! Honest. But I won't. I think I'll have a chopped salad instead. Got a new gizmo that tosses and chops at the same time. :-)

Off to the train.

Day 48 (Tuesday): That Gandhi quote . . .

"You must be the change you want to see in the world." (Mahatma Gandhi, Indian political and spiritual leader; 1869 - 1948)

“To heal the environment, you must first heal the environmentalist.” (Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh)

Confucius, in The Great Digest wrote, “. . . wanting good government in their states, they first established order in their own families; wanting order in the home, they first disciplined themselves.”

"Correcting oneself is correcting the whole world. The Sun is simply bright. It does not correct anyone. Because it shines, the whole world is full of light. Transforming yourself is a means of giving light to the whole world." (Ramana Maharshi)

"Through this (92-day Juice Feast), I offer to you a door; a place to begin greater healing through the transformation of your own self." (David Rain, nutrientdensenutrition.com.)

"Transformation of your own self" -- one of the things that makes life an adventure; always becoming, yet loving ourselves exactly as we are now.

I quoted all of the above to psych myself as I prepare (through research and assembling all the "stuff" I'll need) to embark on my 92-day juice fast/feast, which will begin on Monday, May 14. I ordered a new juicer (a Green Star) at a discount shop and it should arrive by then.

Now to the food: had a green juice in the morning and a salad w/ some pasta in the afternoon; had two raw bars as snacks during the day (think they may be high-calorie so need to cut those out for a bit, I think); had a mostly cooked meal at a commemoration dinner in my (and some others') honor tonight on the Upper East Side. Had to be polite and all so had to eat something; still I managed to have a great side salad with it. I skipped dessert AND coffee, but did have a glass and a half of vino.

Days 45, 46 and 47 (Saturday, Sunday & Monday): The "Joy of the Climb"

Thought I'd start this entry with a great quote from Sir Winston Churchill:

"Every day you may make progress. Every step may be fruitful. Yet there will stretch out before you an ever-lengthening, ever-ascending, ever-improving path. You know you will never get to the end of the journey. But this, so far from discouraging, only adds to the joy and glory of the climb."

For over a year now, I've been following the life of Angela Stokes (via her newsletters, live lectures, personal emails, website, blog, etc.) and learned about her 92-day "juice feast" which she recently completed in Costa Rica. I am seriously considering embarking on the very same fast (or should I say "feast").

I did good over the weekend food-wise, not great, just good. I experimented with some recipes (both veggie and fruit) that came out absolutely awful (raw chocolate and apples do not mix well, yuck!) and so resorted to a meal from Il Fornio, Italian take out (I got the eggplant but it was smothered in gook-y cheeses so I ate a smidgen of it and gave the rest to my housemate; I did, however, have a bit too much bread and butter -- which was the only thing I wasn't happy I ate all weekend).

Oh ... said I was going to rate myself weekly on those areas I wanted to strengthen: daily exercise; meditation and prayer; better preparation of food (planning ahead); drinking more water; and taking active detoxing steps (i.e., weekly colonics/dry brush massage each evening, and perhaps even a professional massage).

I'll touch on that tomorrow. Right now I gotta catch a train.

Day 44 (Friday): Six weeks and counting.

Just a quick post today -- have a date with a new raw friend downtown (the friend is Pure Food & Wine's takeout store!) Started out early this morning with two small bananas on the train; lunch was a small salad and some broiled seafood on the side with a couple of pieces of cooked yams. For a snack mid afternoon I had a raw bar w/ all kinds of good things in it. I'm heading for "take out" to bring home tonight and so must run.

The one thing I'm feeling I need to do differently is to DRINK MORE WATER! I forget and then get really thirsty, and by that time they say you're already dehydrated.

Onwards and (down)wards, as the case may be.

Day 43 (Thursday): Spring, Glorious Spring!

Well today I took a nice long stroll in Manhattan at lunch time because it was absolutely gorgeous out ... blazing sun, crisp, clear air (yes, even in NYC) and temps in the low 60's. A perfect day. I ended up soaking up the sun for about 10 minutes on a bench near some lovely flowers. I closed my eyes and saw myself running through fields (like the one pictured to the right of this print) ... I saw myself swimming in the lake near our house, surrounded by evergreen trees, I saw myself floating in the ocean at Lanikai Beach ... I was anywhere BUT Manhattan in those brief, glorious ten minutes. Amazing, the mind ... it can take us anywhere we want to go.

So... to the mundane food recital. Ate two small bananas on the train into work; at about 10:30 I had my greens juice (with an extra cucumber and celery). I decided to have my cooked veggies (recommended to slow down detox process by my hydrotherapist) at lunch today rather than dinner, so I had some roasted veggies on a bed of 3-grain couscous from the caff here at work. I'll have a large salad for dinner w/ a smooth avacado and lemon dressing.

I just printed out three new recipes and hopefully will try at least one of them over the weekend.

Today is very mellow ... and I'm in a really peaceful place. Word is that we'll have this divine kind of weather for the next three days. I'm glad because I intend to do some heavy-duty spring cleaning this weekend and this way, I can use the outdoor deck as my base, where I plan to set up three large bins: give away, throw away, keep. When they're filled up, I'll set up another three bins, etc. I won't get it all done this weekend, but it'll be a good start, I hope. (Actually, I think I'll need about four full weekends to accomplish the cleaning and sorting of junk that I'd like!)

Well this is even boring me to tears ... I'm off to the train.

Day 42 (Wednesday): Good Day!

This will be brief, as I'm running out the door to catch a train ... but today was great in that I started it off well with a mineral-packed green juice (very little carrot, as I'm minimizing those and beets for a while). In the late morning I had two "raw" bars (all kinds of nuts, seeds and some raw cacao).

This afternoon I had my weekly colonic (second in a series of approximately 10) and that was no pleasure. However, just knowing the cleansing effect it is having on my overall physical body is encouraging and makes me realize just how serious I finally am about getting back the body I want -- both inside and out. I'm sorta seeing myself as the masterpiece that lies "within" the block of exquisite marble that the master sculptor chips away to reveal. The beauty isn't revealed until that which is not needed is removed. With my inner eye I am seeing the beauty already.

Tonight I'll have a large salad and perhaps some broiled fish ... haven't decided yet; but I'll have some cooked food, as it'll actually aid in my body detoxing better. Sounds contradictory, but it has to do with not letting the body be too "shocked" by an over abundance of living, raw food when it has not been accustomed to processing so much of it. Moderation is key, so I'm learning.

Off to the train.