Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Loveliness, Juicyness and Stress

With day two complete of my juice feast I am sitting at home reflecting on a pretty hectic day. On my drive home (my car is my seat of contemplation) I realized that I have some serious digestive issues. What I have noticed is, although I am consuming only liquids, I have had a fair amount of really good energy. Comparing this to how I usually feel is like night and day. I am usually very tired especially after a meal. I have also been dealing with some abdominal pain that has lessened quite a bit in just these last two days. Of course I have been hungry, that goes with out saying, but the juice has truly been sustaining me.
This is because liquids are the most easily digestible food.
Today I drank 16 oz. of green veggie juice with spirulina and coconut oil, 32 oz. of carrot juice, 16 oz. kombucha tea, and 16 oz. of mango guava loveliness!

I didn't hit the gallon mark unfortunately, but that is only because I was extremely busy today with work (and the coconut man is on hiatus). Being on the juice has also allowed me to really tune into when my emotions trigger my appetite rather than hunger. When I get stressed or under pressure I turn to food to ground myself. But I must ask the question is this really healthy? Is this really what my body needs? If I eat when I am stressed, not when I am really hungry will my food be properly digested? Probably not. When the mind senses stress it sends a message to your body to send blood and hormones to your muscles in your arms and legs. Where does this extra blood come from? From organs that aren't need to fight or flee, such as the digestive tract and the brain. So our digestive capabilities are compromised when we are under stress, so it doesn't help to eat right at that moment.



From now on I am going to make time to relax before, during and after my meals. I am also going to notice the emotional triggers to reach for a snack and look into dealing with the emotion in a more appropriate way.



Until tomorrow, I am Herbally yours!
Eranah

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Juice Feast Extravaganza


Wow I can't believe how long it's been since I posted...oops! Anyways, I am updating with an entry on The Juice Feast. What is Juice Feasting you ask? Well, it is similar to a juice fast, abstaining from solid foods while consuming only fresh, raw fruit and veggie juices. However it's called a feast because there is no maximum limit to how much one can drink. In fact, it is recommended to drink at least a gallon a day. Why am I doing this you ask? For many reasons, I have been contemplating this for about a year. You see fasting and I really don't get along, I usually can only last to day 3 on a "long" fast. But this time something has shifted in me, it's like my spirit is finally saying "ok, let's do it!" and I am so excited. More on the why below....So here is my first days' experience


Day 1 Juice Feast 9-29-09

ok I started last night at sundown (the Hebraic beginning of the day) at the closing of the High Holy day Yom Kippur. I dry fasted as is the custom for Yom Kippur and broke the dry fast with my juice feast (oh yeah good news, my hubby is joining me! Yay!!) Yesterday evening we had about 6 oz. of coconut water, then 16 oz. of green juice, then, I had about 16 oz. of guava, mango, gogi berry juice, DH had more of the sweet stuff. For measuring purposes I am going to measure my intake from breakfast (a.m.) to the last juice of the day. This morning it was difficult for me to get out of bed, my body wants more sleep than usual. I also feel a little of balance, a like shaky. I'll see how I feel after I drink my juice. I am going to get a gallon of coconut water today to have on hand when I need a fresh drink and I haven't yet juiced. I am very excited about this whole thing though. But I got hungry last night after all my juice was digested. I should have took that as a signal to drink some water and go to bed but I stayed up too late. So this morning I'm feeling it!

Another observation, even though the mango has a little bit of fiber in it and probably isn't ideal for the feast, we had some so we just had to consume them and I think it's a good way to transition into the whole thing. Those mango, guava drinks are kind of like watered down smoothies!
Well the whole morning shakes were a bit of low blood sugar because I felt fine after my first juice which was more mango/ guava. In the future I want to start off the morning with the green juice. One of my primary goals for this feast is to acquire the taste for the green stuff. I want to include at least 16 oz. a day from now on (much more for the feast of course). I figure if I have to live and sustain myself on greens my body will learn to love it. I also hope to cleanse the toxins out that are making my body acidic. This process is already starting. The whole point of this juice feast is to supercharge the body with plenty of nutrition, to alkalize and cleanse the blood and tissues and give the body a rest from digesting solid foods so it can concentrate on healing other parts of the body. Some of my goals for this feast is to get over some food addictions, to relieve the body of foods that I may be sensitive to or allergic to (i.e. gluten products) and to resume a vegan diet consisting of only whole foods including plenty of fresh and living foods (uncooked). I really want to get away from processed foods so this is my jump start into it! Wish me luck!


herbal love for you always!!!

Eranah

p.s. here are some great resources on juice feasting.....