Sad About Farrah

Just a quick mention of how very sad I am that Farrah Fawcett lost her fight with cancer. She was a great advocate of alternative treatments (actually complimentary treatments, which utilize both alternative and conventional approaches). I’m sad for her family and friends and for the movement toward alternative healing, which needs more high profile success stories. She was doing so well, and managed at least to prolong her life with the treatment she received in Germany.  That treatment isn’t available in the states, and many cancer patients are unaware of all their alternatives.

Brett Hudson, who received treatment at the Klinik in Germany at the same time as Farrah, is making a documentary about it. Click here to check out his web site and blog.

Ending the Cleanse- the Last Day (woo hoo!)

It occured to me today that so much of my time right now is being spent cleaning up the messes left in the wake of past bad choices. I’m cleansing the toxins from my body that resulted from a lifetime of SAD (the Standard American Diet). We’re making a big push to get rid of our debt and clean up our finances. We’ve got a mountain of “stuff” that I can never seem to get to the bottom of, try as I might. I live with that constant sense of being a day late and a dollar short, not accounting for inflation.

I’m thinking about this today in terms of how much time and energy I would free up if a big cosmic Hoover would swoosh over my life and give me a clean slate.

Looking at my life from this perspective, I realize how incapable I am of doing this on my own. I only have finite time and strength, but with God all things are possible.

I probably won’t be posting for a week or so, because we’re going out of town. That’s right, I’m off the cleanse and on the road. Wish me luck. I’m pulling together healthy road food and making a plan.

I forgot to mention that I’ve reached my ‘happy weight’. It feels good, but I don’t expect to maintain it without some effort. Again, luck needed.

On a sad note, I just read about Michael Jackson’s death. I’m really sad he didn’t manage to get his act together, and I don’t mean the one he was preparing for London. He had so much talent, all the money in the world, and a very unhealthy life, from the look of it. Such a shame.

Ending the Master Cleanse

I just talked to the acupuncturist that my husband met the other day. I told him that I’m feeling tired and a bit down today. I know it’s partially from the disappointment that the cleanse didn’t “fix” my pain and my fatigue. He assured me that coming off the cleanse is the hardest part “by a long shot”, which I found oddly soothing. I’m sharing this because I think it’s good to be prepared for that.

I’m hoping to feel better, physically and emotionally, in the coming days.

Hello Veggie Broth

Soup's on!

Making Veggie Broth

I really want to share with you how beautiful my lunch looked as I was making it. I thoroughly enjoyed chopping up the veggies for my broth, knowing that finally I was actually making something that I’d be able to eat. Well, part of it at any rate.

While the soup was cooking, my girls even commented on how good it smelled. They were right.

Since today is a ‘broth only’ day, I had to set aside all the veggies (I got to eat just a little- yum!). I put a bit of sea salt and a dash of cayenne into the broth, and had two bowlfuls. Boy, was that ever good. I get to have more tonight, and I’m looking forward to it already.

I’m trying to use this experience to focus on things other than the physical. The trouble is when I pray, my mind wanders more than usual. The good news is that I haven’t thought about nachos once today. Oops. Ok, maybe once.

One more day and I’m back to normal eating. Then it will be time to talk about pH and how it affects our diet. Brace yourselves.

 

Ending the Master Cleanse- or Hello, OJ!

Oranges, Poranges

The picture at left is pretty much what my kitchen looked like today.

This was my day of nothing but fresh squeezed orange juice, although I did opt to do the salt water rinse one more time. I went through two big bags of organic oranges, which cost a small fortune, and boy was that juice delicious.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from the day. I’m hungrier than on the lemonade days, but not as much as I’d expected. I’ve been a bit bearish this evening, but I blame it on the fact that my girls made chocolate mints after dinner. I’m entitled to a little crankiness, don’t you agree? Well, don’t you?

Two good things happened in my writing career today, although I seem to be the only one who sees them as significant. First, I got accepted to write about Natural Health in Seattle for an online news journal. I’m excited about it, and it actually pays. Ok, it probably won’t put the kids through college, but it’s another line in the water.

The second thing, speaking of ‘pay’ is that I got my first money as a writer today. It’s for one of my e-How articles and I’m very pleased. So, it’s only $.14 and I don’t actually get it till it’s up to $10, but it’s a start and that’s what matters.

Speaking of e-How, here’s the link to my article “How to End the Master Cleanse”.  

Tomorrow I get vegetable broth, and those veggies are on my counter staring at me right now. I can only imagine how that broth is going to taste. I’m focusing on that to cleanse my brain of the one image that’s been sitting in it all day: Nachos.  Yes, I put that in bold letters to emphasis its power over my psyche all day. I’m not talking your cheap 7-Eleven middle-of-the-night-process-cheese-food snack. No, my friend. I’m talking organic tortilla chips topped with home cooked pinto beans and an extra sharp antibiotic-free cheddar (made from happy cows). That’s just the base. Top that off with crispy organic shredded lettuce, tomatoes, onions, shredded carrot, and my own personal favorite, fresh jalapenos. Add a dollop of fresh sour cream and we’re ready for dinner.

I’m happier just for having written that. Sorry if I made your stomach growl.

Master Cleanse- Day 12; Farewell (for Now) to Lemonade

Today is the last lemonade day of my first cleanse. There are a few things I’ll miss about it. I like not having to think about what to eat (even though I’ve been feeding my family throughout this process, so I haven’t gotten a true reprieve). I’ll miss the “clean” feeling, and the sense of my energy going toward things other than digesting. I’ve enjoyed the weight loss, and I hope to maintain that.

I had what I would call a God thing happen today. Last night I had a bit of a dispute with my hubby when I told him I wanted to do another cleanse in a week or so. He questioned the value, since my results aren’t yet visible. I tried to explain that it’s going to take time, and that I know it’s been doing me a lot of good even though I’m still in pain. The bottom line is that he’s concerned about the cost (darn organic lemons). It’s symptomatic of a bigger issue we have regarding food- I want to think long term and he tends to focus primarily on cost. Now, you would think our strengths would blend well together, but we had a heated discussion and neither of us felt appeased.

Here comes the God intervention. My hubby came home from work today enthusiastic about the cleanse and its benefits. He’d met an accupuncturist at his job who knows about the cleanse and gave it credibility. He was able to answer questions about the health aspects of it that I couldn’t in my defensiveness.

One thing the accupuncturist told him was that joint pain tends to get worse on the cleanse. I’m hoping I feel better in the next few days.

Now my husband even wants to do a cleanse with me. Ah, togetherness.

Master Cleanse- Day 11

Taco Night

Sorry if this makes you hungry, but I wanted to add a visual to lure you into my experience.

Today is Father’s Day, and my husband spared me the pain of sitting in a restaurant sipping my lemonade while everyone else munched on tortilla chips and salsa. Instead, he asked for taco night at home. I didn’t mind cooking, and I really haven’t minded it all week, but it was a little sad sitting at the table watching everyone enjoy their crunchy, messy meal.

Five more days till I can eat real food.  I’ll take mine with an extra dollop of sour cream, please. Hormone-free, of course.

Master Cleanse- Day 10

I made it through Day 10. Yay! It feels good to know that I’m capable of doing that.

If I could go on longer than the 12 days I would, because I feel like the process is just beginning. I look forward to getting back into it.

I’m looking into doing an advanced cleanse. My research last night about parasites freaked me out a little. I won’t plague you with the details now, but I’m definitely feeling like one little cleanse just scrapes the surface.

My joint pain is better than when I started, but I can’t tell if that’s due to the cleanse, or just the natural ebb and flow of the condition. I bought decent walking shoes yesterday, so I feel equipped to get some exercise.

With all my obsessive thinking about food, I’ve become really aware of all the people in the world, even in our own country, who don’t have enough to eat. They don’t even have the lemonade to look forward to. I’m not sure what to do with that awareness, but it’s something to think about.

Master Cleanse- Day 9

It feels good to have almost hit the Day 10 mark and to know that I can make it to the mininum number of cleansing days. I’m aiming for 12, not because I wouldn’t want to do more, but because we’re leaving town on Friday.

The good news is that my energy seems to be back up to its pre-cleanse level. Ok, that’s not the youthful zeal I’m aiming for, but I don’t feel like I’m in shut-down mode like those first few days.

The good news also is that my research about my hip pain has been very encouraging. The pain itself really hasn’t altered much this past week, but I’ve been reading a lot about pH balance in the body and how to achieve that with diet and well… I’ll leave that for a future post.

Still no real  cravings, but I am a bit obsessed with food. No, that’s not the same thing. A craving would be a very unpleasant desire to drive to 7-Eleven and wipe them out of Haggen Daz Rum Raisin. I’m caught up in designing our new and improved eating plan once I’m able to ingest solids again. It’s really not enough for me to clean out my system; I need to keep it from getting this way again.

So, last night I had the house to myself (kids at sleepovers, hubby at work) and I made 4 weeks worth of menus while watching Matthew Broderick in “The Music Man”. I’m really encouraged that this cleanse is going to boot us out of our food rut, because I’m riding the wave of culinary creativity.

One more thing I want to touch on. For anyone thinking of doing the cleanse, don’t think of it as a 10-day thing that’s going to fix all your problems. For people who are seriously toxic (like me with my pain that I refuse to label with the “A” word) it’s probably going to take several cleanses to get your house in order. I’ve read that you should cleanse till your tongue is pink, then do it seasonally for maintainance.

Let me explain the tongue thing. That white coating on your tongue is an indication of your digestive health. A perfectly pink, not coated tongue would tell you that you’re in the clear. You probably feel like conquering the world.  During the cleanse, that coating will increase before it recedes. I intend to keep cleansing, with breaks in between, till the darn thing is pink.

By the way, if anyone tells you that it’s the white coating on your tongue that causes bad breath, laugh in their face (that’ll show ’em). It’s not the coating, but what the coating is signaling, that can cause problems. Don’t blame the messenger.

Off to another barbeque, thermos in hand.

Master Cleanse- Day 8

I haven’t had time to research and write about any health topics, which is my eventual intention here. I’ve been busy re-editing my novel and helping a friend with hers ( a historical romance that’s so good I don’t want to stop reading).

I can’t believe I’m on day 8. I’m trying not to think about how many days till solid food touches my lips again, so I’m focusing on thanking God for getting me this far.

Not much to report. I’m hoping for some kind of “breakthrough”.  My backache is gone and my hip/leg pain feels pretty much like it has been for the past few months. I realize it could take several cleanses to get totally detoxed, but I sure could use some sign that it’s doing some good. I just have to keep praying and relying on the Lord to do His work.

My daughters and I went to the PCC (our local natural market) today to get more lemons and syrup. I came face to face with about 12 flavors of rice cakes on a shelf and I got really nostalgic. “I remember rice cakes!” After that, I got a little weepy over everything that I remember enjoying. We walked through the hot deli and stuck our noses next to everything. Boy, food has never smelled so good.

Before I started this cleanse, I was in a terrible food rut. Now, I’m really looking forward to planning menus and cooking again. Let me amend that- planning healthy menus.

I’m coming down the home stretch!