Juicy inner child tantrums ;)

Here's a picture of the green pile I created before juicing today - I love it - chopping all this mountain of produce down into a huge pile that gets assimilated into ME :)
Today I started to feel bored of veggie juice for the first time though. I’m wanting more variety. We got hold of swiss chard and pumpkin and pineapple in the evening…it’s not easy to get many things organic here in Costa Rica and I feel like I’ve been having very similar juices for the last few days…the little girl in me is getting bored and wants FUN :)

Making pineapple juice tonight was good in terms of taste, but my body was not happy in terms of the acid. The mouth ulcer (canker sore) on the inside of my lip was unhappy and the tip of my tongue was screaming at me to stop. I didn’t want to because I was enjoying the taste, but after a while I had to draw the line and stop drinking it…booooooooooo…I want more fruits to play with that won’t hurt…there are no organic apples or pears available here…there are so many AMAZING looking berries and grapes and plums and so on in the supermarkets, but they’re all massively sprayed with pesticides…I’m really looking forward to experiencing the Organic Farmer’s Market this weekend to see if there’s more fun stuff to play with… :)

I’m not hungry though and I’m happy and grateful about that. It’s great to know that I’m 11 days into this and hunger isn’t really happening. I get twangs at times, but then I just make juice and it’s all fine again.
Something odd happened today – I started getting a twitch next to my left eye, on and off. I’ve never had a twitch before and I don’t know what it’s all about…guess I’ll just put that one down to ‘detox’ too for now… ;)

My energy pattern was different today. I slept eight hours and was very slow in the morning. It felt like it was hard to focus on anything. As the day went on I became more alert and alive, rather than dipping in the middle of the day. I went jogging around 4 and it was good…exploring new spaces again…but it was quite stop-and-go - walking a bit, jogging a bit - not very consistent...


Today I have had:

250ml (1 cup) water with lime juice
600ml (2.5cups) orange juice with tbsp flax oil
1 litre (1 quart) coconut water and green juice
1 litre (1 quart) green juice and coconut water with pollen and kelp
1 litre (1 quart) ‘garden’ juice – celery, spinach, cilantro, carrot, beetroot, radish, lettuce
600ml (2.5 cups) pineapple juice
250ml (1 cup) coconut water

which is 4.7 litres of liquids…or (1.25 gallons)…got all my greens :) just want more FUN now…tonight we bought amazing huge beautiful exotic flowers and they smell so good - maybe we'll juice them tomorrow... :)

We also went to a 'mainstream' social event tonight and it was strange for me to be in that kind of reality - where people were drinking wine and smoking and eating meat pittas and so on...it's a very different space...and I'm soooo glad and thankful to be doing this feast in conjunction with others...it feels much easier this way - to have comrades :)

All blessings to you all,
Angela. xxx

Getting greener and cleaner...

I asked my body when I woke up this morning what times it wanted green juice and it said 11 and 7. Alright then. So, I stuck to that plan and it has worked out really well today. I’m happy. I’m also really delighted to be combining my green juices with coconut water. I find it makes them so much tastier and easier to get down. I love it. As you can see from this picture though, my tongue takes a bit of a battering from the greens… ;)

I slept a loooooooooong time last night – 9 hours of deep slumber. I experienced the same energy pattern again today – more energy in the morning and at night, with a real dip in the middle of the day. I decided to experiment. I haven’t jogged for a couple of days, so decided to try that out, to see if jolting my metabolism with exercise would help my body or result in feeling less energetic. Overall I feel jogging helped and it was fun to also check out the new neighbourhood I’m in here in Costa Rica. I made a joyous discovery that the ‘herbal’ shop a few streets over sells Flax Oil. WOW. I have been soooo craving that stuff – I feel like my body wants more EFAs. I was amazed to be able to conduct a whole conversation about kelp and flax oil with the shop owner in Spanish and jogged merrily home with my new find. It is definitely not the greatest quality flax oil EVER – it has a bizarre lemon flavour to it – but it definitely ticked some boxes for me in terms of nutrition…I felt a big rush after taking it, like my body saying ‘thank you, thank you :)’. I’m sooo looking forward to getting hemp oil soon to feed these cells too…

I’m feeling more and more sensitive as the days go by. Today I was sat in a position, working on my computer, where the computer was touching both of my legs. My energy went very very low. It was hard to keep my eyes open. When I moved the computer away from my legs, however, my energy picked back up. Interesting. Tonight I’m also experiencing the strong sensation of smelling paint fumes, yet there’s apparently nothing detectable to anyone else…I guess some old toxins are clearing out of my throat…

Today I have had:

1 litre (1 quart) water with lime juice
1 litre (1 quart) green juice with coconut water
1 litre (1 quart) green juice with red pepper and carrot
750ml (3 cups) guayaba/grenadillo/water apple/mango juice
1.75 litres (1 quart and 3 cups) green juice with coconut water

which makes…5.5 litres of the good stuff (1 gallon, 5 cups)…wow, the fruit mix in the afternoon was great – really interesting flavours…water apples have just come into season here – red and crisp and yummy…

Day 10…wow…that feels like a significant landmark…1/9th of the way through now, more or less…exciting :)
One thing that has been striking today is people asking ‘why?’ when they hear abt this fast. I guess a fast of this length seems long even to most raw foodists, so to someone eating a ‘standard diet’, it must seem like off-the-scale insanity and deprivation… I explain the idea of cleansing the body down to a cellular level…to really detox and clear out all the accumulated junk from my years of junk food bingeing…I really wonder how that message comes across to people…LOL…what to do??? Just be the change…always my best option ;)

One love,
Angela. xxx

detox digging in deeper...

Some observations about my body today:

1. I’m dealing with a PAINFUL mouth ulcer (canker sore)…it seems irritated by citrus and some sweet things…so, I’m trying to give myself a break from those things now…Master Cleanser in particular feels like it would be very painful today…owwwwww…detox can be so RUDE sometimes…
2. My teeth are still feeling extremely fuzzy at times…I am shocked at the amount of accumulated gunk on them when I scrape it off…hydrogen peroxide seems to be helping though.
3. My right calf muscle is complaining today in a way that feels as if it is not getting enough salt…hmmmmm…curious, as I’m getting masses of organic sodium from celery every day…it also wasn’t very impressed with skipping earlier - it tolerated it for a while, then didn’t want to play anymore…

Wow – my skin is also really throwing some stuff out and off of this body. I skinbrush daily, but don’t have the back-attachment for my brush with me right now. Last night in the shower I suddenly realised that as I washed my back, layers of skin were rolling off my upper back…wow…pretty intense…it felt really good to help my body release that stuff…I guess that area is not getting the same attention with skin brushing that the rest of my skin is…I got the message and will do my best to help all my skin release well now – the back is such a large surface area of the body, after all… we’re hoping to go and stay at some hot springs for a few days someday soon too, which would really help with the skin detox too – say YES to manifest ;)

I noticed today that I seem to go through a dip in energy in the time frame from around 4-7pm at the moment – I have a lot of energy once I get going in the mornings and I also feel good generally at night, but the hours in-between are the most challenging for me…that’s when I need to be the most quiet and listen to my body it seems…

Today I have had:
1 litre (1 quart) water with lime
600ml (2.5 cups) coconut water with green powder and pollen
1.15 litres (1 quart + ½ cup) watermelon juice
½ litre (1 quart) carrot and apple juice
1 litre (1 quart) tamarind juice
250ml (1 cup) water
1.25 litres (1 quart + 1cup) green juice with carrot and ginger
½ litre (1 pint) ‘digestive’ tea
½ litre (1 pint) coconut water with green powder and pollen
½ litre (1 pint) coconut water with green powder

which makes…7.25 litres of liquids (nearly 2 gallons) today…
I think I forgot to ever mention before too that I am also taking digestive enzymes at the moment. I take about 1tsp of the powder a day. Taking them on an empty stomach is said to be like doing a cleansing process in itself. I tend to take them alongside my juice though – I chew the powder in my teeth before washing it down with juice. It’s amazing how much my teeth appreciate chewing that little bit of powder ;)

After the first half of today, I discovered again, through personal experience what the opposite of ‘mert’ is (see yesterday’s entry if this useful word has not yet embedded itself in your vocabulary…). It is immert… I was a bit sugared out again after coconut water, watermelon juice, carrot and apple and then tamarind – PHEW…that’s a pretty hefty sugar-load…and I definitely qualified as immert…I look forward to striking a good balance with the timing of my green juice intake compared to the more sugary stuff…tonight I feel way too washed out after a day of action and then enema-skin brush-shower-ing to make more green juice…I feel I’ve had enough celery for the day, but not as much fresh greens as would be optimal – for now though I’m substituting coconut water with green powder and am going to get to bed early, to let my body rest and heal…

All love and all blessings,
Angela. xxx

Facing facts...

Hmmmmmmmmmmm…the start of a new week of fasting…day 8…
I want to start by thanking everyone who has sent in messages of support so far – I feel so much love and good vibes from so many beautiful beings out there – thanks so much for the encouragements – it means a lot :)

EXCITING NEWS OF THE DAY:
Matt Monarch and myself are featured this week on Current TV in a video about the benefits of raw food. It just started airing today - here is the link for it on Current, where you can check the schedule for it too. ENJOY :)

Something I noticed today was how completely normal and natural juicing seems to have become as the source of my nutrition…when David Rain first told me abt this cleanse, it seemed like smthg very challenging to me and distant from my reality. What I’m noticing though is that now I’m a week into this, it just feels like second-nature…it feels like there’s no way I would eat something at the moment – what I am in right now is jucing and that’s it – that’s where I’m at – that’s what my body wants and asks for and that’s what I’m giving it. David told me a story of how a woman he was coaching on this fast was on a business trip somewhere, with no access to juice and she was tied up in a conference all day. She actually hired a cab in the end and got the cab driver to drive across town, pick her up juice and bring it back to her at the conference centre…that seemed a bit extreme to me at the time, but now I can really associate with that feeling of complete commitment to this – I really feel immersed in this…I love it :)

I am feeling as if I’m drinking almost all day – sooooo much liquid passing through this body – juices sit by my side and take me quite some time to get through…Every mouthful is diligently ‘chewed’ before swallowing – I’m discovering that it really doesn’t feel good to me anymore to swallow a liquid straight down after it enters my mouth – my body really wants it to be mixed in with saliva first…even water…

Today I discovered to my surprise that the word ‘mert’ does not exist…it seemed like a definite opportunity in the making, so we decided on a meaning – ‘the feeling one experiences after drinking an abundance of green juice. Primary indications: low blood pressure, feeling spacey, but in quite a calm, grounded way, not in a sugared-out way. Example use ‘ahhhhhhhhh…man…I am so mert right now’ or ‘no, she doesn’t feel like coming with us, she’s totally mert’… ;)

I am seeing interesting changes in the skin on my face. I looked in the mirror this evening after enema-ing, skin brushing, showering, then msm lotion-ing and I don’t believe I have ever seen my face look so clean and clear overall as an adult as it does right now…it was very interesting to observe…and affirmed for me something I read on the Juice Feasting site today:

"It is estimated that for every day we Juice Feast, we go back in time an average of 120 days. "
This is based on Hering’s Law of Cure:

"Hering's Law states that all cure starts from within out, from the head down, and in the reverse order as the symptoms appeared.

Thus, you will typically first see changes in a person's appearance in their face on Juice Feast, as we do indeed heal from the top down. Any rashes or skin issues, stale breath, funky urine, or smelly excretions in general result from healing from the inside out. Lastly, you may find yourself experiencing for a brief period (usually less than a day) an illness or injury that you had years ago. This is known as retracing."

Wow…so what does that mean, actually for me…? 8 days down…means…960 days regressed…which is…about 2 and a half years of chronological time supposedly reversed so far…nice :) so my face is showing the world what it wanted to look like at the age of 25 again, perhaps ;)

Here’s what I’ve consumed today:

1 litre (1 quart) water with lime juice
1.25 litres (1 quart and 1 cup) green juice with carrot and ginger
½ litre (1 pint) pineapple juice
½ litre (1 pint) coconut water
1 litre (1 quart) coconut water
2 litres (2 quarts) mixed veggie juice

which makes…6.25 litres or abt 1.3 gallons of liquids today…good job…there are rumours abounding that we may make some fresh noni juice tonight before retiring to bed…we shall see…
feeling quite wiped out tonight after moving house today…jogging didn’t happen, but lots of packing and box-shifting did…definitely time for some restful slumber now…

G’night y’all :)
One love,
Angela. xxx

Out with the old...

Wow..DAY 7 :)
So…here we are a week into this cleansing feast and it’s going soooo well – I feel really good. This feels so easy-going – I have barely had any hints of hunger and feel so functional overall – whereas I often end up pretty out-of-it when doing juice fasting… I love this – no hassle…

Today I have had:

1 litre (1 quart) water with lime juice
1.7 litre (1 quart and 3 cups) green juice with carrots and raw honey ;)
2 litres (2 quarts) master cleanser
400ml (1.5 cups) coconut water with green powder
200ml (1 cup) mango and grenadilla juice
1.25 litres (1 quart and 1 cup) ‘blood’ – green juice with beetroot, radish, carrots and ginger

Which makes about…6.3 litres or 1.6 gallons of liquids today…WOW…

Today I remembered what David Rain told me about the importance of doing enemas, as the body ‘abhors a vacuum’, so when we keep cleaning out the large colon – whatever there is in there – it creates space for the small intestine – the one holding the really unpleasant stuff, for most people – to release more waste. I had not done an enema yesterday, so it felt good to remember this good reason for keeping up with them daily right now…

The cleansing is really working for me – today I released what seemed like some seriously old matter – it was quite an intense experience. I felt physically nauseous, then after the stuff had left my body, it was like there had been a significant shift in my structure – like something very old and toxic was gone…it was great…then afterwards I felt quite vulnerable emotionally – like something huge had shifted and I wanted to just curl up and hide under a blanket…interesting shifts going on…

I also did a bentonite clay mask on my face and neck today, as my skin seems to be happily throwing out all kinds of junk, so I wanted to help it in that process…a guy who did my iridology a few months back told me that the main issue I’m currently manifesting in this body is blocked/old lymph tissue in the neck…sure enough, my neck is now starting to throw stuff out of the skin…

I went for a looooooooong walk in the park here today – it was beautifully sunny and it was lovely to see all the families out picknicking and enjoying the ‘rural tourism’ fayre…one guy had a HUGE jackfruit for sale, but someone else got in there before me…hmmmmmm… ;) After walking so much today, I didn’t feel to go jogging too, so did some skipping at home instead to get some cardio work in…it felt good – like being a kid again – remembering how to move and skip in different ways…

Moving on into week 2 tomorrow – yeeeeeeeeee-HAH – just another 13 or 14 or so repetitions of this and it’s all over…imagine :)

One love,
Gela. xxx

Exotic explorations...

YUMMY new discovery of today:

Guanabana fruit :)

Wow…delicious…
Kind of similar to a cherimoya (custard apple) in flavour – sweet and creamy juiced – yummy :) like a cross between…hmmmmm…peaches and apples and…kiwi…

Here is a slide show of pictures from the beach on the west coast of Costa Rica yesterday – mmmmmm…beautiful…

I’ve been feeling great today…the low energy of the past few days seems to have passed. I was feeling a bit raggedy on waking first thing today, but getting some fresh water with lime juice squeezed in first thing helped my body feel rehydrated and got my blood sugar up and running – GREAT start to the day…I jogged in the park again, which felt great – so happy to keep that up :)

I have also been testing my pH in the mornings the last couple of days and am a resolute 7 so far – good :) – right in the middle of the scale – not overly alkaline or over-acid…we’ve been talking about the implications of getting very alkalised the last couple of days – having a very acid body is not desirable of course, creating environments for disease, but going very very green and becoming extremely alkaline seems to have the capacity for leaving one a bit dysfunctional maybe too, in a very different way. It seems like the more alkaline one is, the slower life becomes – like going towards a more monkey-like, simpler state – which again, like I was musing on yesterday, is great if we’re totally ready and willing and delighted to go and live in the wild and have clean, simple existences, but being very green and alkaline in a very acid, toxic, polluted, fast world might not really be a very comfortable thing to create, ultimately…


Today I have consumed:

½ litre (1 pint) water with lime juice
1 litre (1 quart) tomato juice with cilantro and parsley
½ litre (1pint) pineapple juice
200ml (1 cup) guanabana juice
300ml (1.5 cups) coconut water with green powder
1 litre (1 quart) green juice
400ml (2 cups) guanabana juice
1.5 litre (1 quart and 1 pint) ‘blood’ – lettuce, celery, spinach, beetroot, carrots, parsley, radishes, cayenne.

Making nearly 5.4 litres of liquids today (abt 1.5 gallons)…yeeeeeeee-HAH…this truly is a feast…

Another fun discovery of the day: YOUTUBE.com …well, I’ve seen the site before of course, but have never uploaded anything myself – here is my first upload – the BBC News item on my weight loss transformation, which first aired about a year ago in the UK:

All joy, much love,
Angela. xxx

Life is just beachy...

Today, for me, has been wonderful, restful, interesting, intense, inward...
I went to the beach for the first time...WOW...beautiful...stunning...a huge open vista on crashing blue waves, a deserted beach, strewn with pretty shells and driftwood...

I met enormous crocodiles on the way there, many amusing hermit crabs and a huge frog...I jumped in the waves of the warm ocean, napped in a hammock under palm trees and admired the skillful surfers out on the water...Being away from the house all day meant that today I also tried out the master cleanser recipe for the first time - lots of it :) I liked it, but it definitely has a medicinal quality to me...I used to make hot water with ginger, lemon and honey to drink when I had a sore throat and this really reminded me of that...it was great though - I love how cleansing the cayenne feels and it sustained me throughout the day, along with the wonderful coconut water and green powders...

...and I JOGGED ON THE BEACH :) I was soooooooooooo happy to jog again, after missing it out for 2 days - it felt really important to do it today, to keep my body in that frame-work, rather than allowing inertia to seep in more...it felt soooooooooo good. I guess I ran about a mile...my body was so thankful for it and it lifted my metabolism and got me smiling. I also got in a couple of minutes of sungazing for the first time in weeks, which was great, right before a beautiful ocean sunset...mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...

I got car-sick on the 2 hour journey to the beach today...the car fumes are very strong here and I'm finding it increasingly difficult to handle the pollution as I go deeper into this cleanse...I'm getting more and more sensitive...it got me thinking about what it means to take the body to deep levels of cleanliness...it seems that one really needs to be prepared to go out and live in the wilderness if deep cleanliness is desired...if we were not born from a body that was very cleansed and then fed breast milk or other milk products that were not particularly 'clean' either, deep cleansing is really like going beyond taking our bodies back to the state they were in when we were born...into a new territory of cleanliness...which can create a situation where one becomes quite 'dysfunctional' in many living situations, as the pollution becomes so intense to such a clean system...for example, the smell of my friend's body lotion, which just a few days ago smelt really nice to me, today seemed so strong that I could barely tolerate it... so, a lot of my thoughts today were around that matter - wondering how far down the 'rabbit hole' of cleansing I want to take this body and more immediately, where do I want to locate this body during my time in Costa Rica, if the city seems to be proving a bit too polluted for me to handle...well...the beach is pretty appealing, from what I've experienced today... ;)

Today I have had:

water - about 1.5 litres (1quart + 1pint)
coconut water - about 3 litres (3 quarts) (some with green powder too)
master cleanser - about 2 litres (2 quarts)
green juice - 750ml (3cups)

which makes about 7.25 litres (nearly 2 gallons) of juice...and I feel good. My energy has again been pretty low overall today, but it felt good actually, to take time out and rest on the beach - I dozed a lot and then the jogging was the perfect antidote after rest to get my metabolism up again...exercise feels soooo good now...I want to keep that going every day...

I've also been really appreciating the action of 'chewing' my juices...swirling them in my mouth and making a chewing action with my jaw, allowing the juices to inter-mingle with saliva...I notice what a difference this makes to the feel, texture and taste of the juice...and I wonder how it will be for me to eat foods again at some point...I imagine after 3 months of such attention to how things pass through my mouth that eating will become very slow and focused...we'll see... ;)

All blessings, maximum joy,
Angela. xxx

Happy Thanksgiving...

...and HOW much I do indeed have to be thankful for...I have such a feeling of abundance right now on this fast – there are so many juice combinations I want to try and it's like there's more options than time in the day or calories needed to accommodate it all :) I feel like I’m becoming an ‘over-juicer anonymous’ (well…not so anonymous…:)

Today we made AMAZING 'Thanksgiving' juice with squash, cayenne and cinnamon...I’ve been intrigued to try out the ‘Master Cleanser’ recipe too, as I’ve never tried it, but there just was no room in the juice schedule today… :) tomorrow though we’re going on a trip to the beach all day, so we’ve made up a big batch of master cleanser and will have fresh coconut water all day too until the evening when we’ll be home to get the greeeeeeens :)

Master Cleanser Recipe, for 1 quart/1 litre water:

6 Tablespoons of Honey
6 Tablespoons of Lemon Juice
1/10th tsp cayenne, or as much as you want to tolerate.

My energy has actually been pretty low most of today…I woke feeling much more alert than yesterday – clearer and more in-tune. I’d also slept less – abt 7 hours, which felt good…but my energy dipped during the day…

I decided to try to avoid the crazy sugar-spaceyness of yesterday by being an adult and starting my day with green juice. ;) I made sooooo much of it…it kept me going all morning into the early afternoon…what I then discovered was that my energy again felt out of balance, but whereas yesterday it was from over-sugaring, today it was like the opposite – over-greened and not enough sugars to bring me up…blood pressure low, inertia creeping in…PLUS I didn’t get out jogging again – felt like entering a bit of a vicious circle – didn’t want to jog ‘cos energy low, but need to get metabolism fired up too…will do some more skipping soon in the house instead…

Here’s what I had today:

1.6 litres (1quart and 2.5 cups) of green juice
500ml (2 cups) coconut juice
1.25 litres (1 quart and 1 cup) orange juice
250ml (1 cup) coconut juice with green powder
1 litre (1 quart) pumpkin juice with cayenne and cinammon
which makes…4.6 litres (1 gallon and 3 cups) of juice today…magic…

The cascara sagrada herb and enemas are seriously getting to work on cleaning me out…wow…that’s also why my energy is a little low I’m sure – so much clearing out going on right now…

I want to share something that has been aiding my enjoyment of this cleansing process. I’ve been listening to the words of this fantastic cleansing song by amazingly talented and humorous singer-songwriter Scott Kalechstein:

(To the tune of ‘You’ve got a friend’)

When your pee is smelly
and your gas has been extreme
when nothing, nothing is leaving right
go into your kitchen and trash the processed foods.
It’s time to be cellularly baptized.

You just drink fresh raw juice
and you eat lots of live foods
you’ll be running like brand new again.
Winter, fall, summer or spring
your liver has been suffering and it’s time to make amends,
you’ve gotta cleanse
you’ve gotta cleanse

When your friend, candida,
has grown awfully fond of you
and your yeast hasn’t been the nutritional kind,
stay away from sweet things, call Supergreens now,
soon, your immune system’s gonna shine

You just drink wheatgrass juice
and your bowels are gonna let loose,
you’ll be running down the hallway again.
Winter, spring, summer or fall,
you’re staring at the bathroom wall
and the toilet’s your best friend,
you’re in a cleanse
you’re in a cleanse

Hey, ain’t it good to know that you’re in a cleanse,
when parasites can be so cold now,
they’ll meet you and they’ll eat you
they’ll take your health if you let them,
ah, but don’t you let them,

You just drink fresh raw juice and you eat lots of live foods
you’ll be running like brand new again.
Winter, fall, summer or spring,
it’s time to quit those pizza flings,
let your guts be born again,
you’ve gotta cleanse,
you’ve gotta cleanse,
ain’t it good to know,
you’ve gotta cleanse,
please don’t take offence,
you’ve gotta cleanse…

Wonderful…I love it… This song is on Scott’s CD ‘Levitational Pull’ which can be found on his site HERE.

All love, always, in all ways :)
Angela. x

Let the detox begin..

I slept loooong last night - 8.5 hours and woke with all kinds of things going on...running nose, sleep in my eyes, coated tongue and lower back pain...some serious moving and shaking going on in my cleansing - WONDERFUL - better out that in :)

I went into downtown San Jose for the first time today. We got fresh juice at a juice bar, which was very cool - they had all kinds of things - we tried tamarind juice and some thick, bizarre liquid which was similar to water that has had linseed soaking in it - our Spanish wasn't up to working out what the name of it was in English, but the vendor said it was good for the digestion...I got a litre of banana/pineapple/papaya juice and proceeded to mess my blood sugars up for the next few hours ;) I am definitely appreciating the value of starting the day out with greens, rather than sweeter stuff - woooooooow...I was very spaced most of the day - ungrounded...until we got back to the house and cracked out the veggies...now I'm feeling much more present again...

Today I have mainly been drinking:

250ml (1 cup) herbal tea
600ml (2.25 cups) tomato juice with cilantro
500ml ( 2cups) coconut water with green powder and pollen
1 litre (1 quart) banana/pineapple/papaya juice
100ml (1/2 cup) tamarind juice
juice of 1 green coconut
1.25 litres (1quart and 1cup) 'blood' - celery, cucumber, lettuces, spinach, cilantro, radishes, carrots, beetroots, sprouts, ginger, swiss chard
1 litre (1 quart) green juice - celery, parsley, lettuces, ginger and cayenne

which makes about 5.5 litres (1.5 gallons) of liquids, I reckon...wow, I seem to be consuming more each day :)...that's something I'm soooo loving about this FEAST - thatI have such a feeling of abundance on it - I have had soooooooo much juice today - consider all the nutrients in that amount of fruit and veg, all coursing through my body, getting to work now - amazing...I am not hungry AT ALL - far from it - I'm on my last juice of the day right now and it's actually a bit of a challenge to get it down...but, that's part of the deal here - at LEAST a head of celery and 2lbs of leafy greens a day, plus whatever else is desired, maintaining at least 1500 calories a day - no less...

The somewhat disappointing news of today was that papaya is not really recommended for juicing on this feast, as the pulp goes right into the juice...so, here's to enjoying more Papaya next february, when the juice feasting is finished :)

The brighter news from David Rain was that raw, unheated, cold processed HONEY is on the menu...in preference to agave syrup or maple syrup in a 'master cleanser' formula...(the quick-mix fall-back if there's not time to make juice)...and we just happen to have a HUGE 6lb jar of the most amazing raspberry honey from Honey Pacifica in California, right here...so, I think I'll try that out tomorrow...sugared out enough for today...

My dear friend Jimmy who is also juice feasting at the moment sent me this great link to a juice recipe page yesterday - will definitely be checking that out...he also has some great ideas for Thanksgiving juice recipes for tomorrow ;)... Happy Thanksgiving to you all in the States.

I also learnt today that it's best to be doing at least one enema a day at the beginning of this process, to help the body move all the old waste out...so, I got to it and was indeed amazed at the amount of stuff that came out of me, 3 days into this...David told me people still get stuff out by day 80 though, so I guess I have a loooooong way to go yet, cleaning out this system...I have a feeling of spaciousness within this 3 month time-frame, but also an eagerness to get as much 'done' in terms of cleansing as possible, in that time...so far it feels very easy to be doing this - I am through the initial '3-day-hump' that tends to be the hardest for people when withdrawing/going into detox...and it's been fine...so, onwards and upwards from here :) I also started to take the herb Cascara Sagrada today too - 1 capsule a day, to help prompt the peristaltic action of the bowel...

It has been outrageously cold here today - people are saying it is the coldest they have ever known it - cold winds are coming down from the north...I have been cold most of the day. The houses here do not have heating... :) I am warm now as I am drinking juice with ginger and cayenne and wrapped in a gorgeous new cotton blanket I got today, but I am sad that I didn't get out jogging today before it got dark - it meant I didn't spike my metabolism up, so easily remained cold all day...then this evening I was leant a skipping rope to play with - WOW - soooo much fun - I haven't skipped since I was a wee lassie I think - it was wonderful - got my heart going immediately, blood pumping, body warming - magic :)

All blessings,
Angela. xxx

fuzzy teeth...

Wow, day 2 of my magical juice feast and all is well. I'm loving it.
It's been a very interesting day for me energetically.

I woke feeling groggy, with sleep in my eyes, a runny nose, a slight sore throat and fuzzy teeth. Definite detox occuring ;) great stuff...cacao exiting the system :)
As I got going with the day, the groggyness etc soon lifted, but the fuzzy-teeth feeling has persisted...I am brushing and brushing...but the fuzzy feeling remains...hmmm...my friend just gave me some diluted food grade hydrogen peroxide to use though on my teeth, so we'll see how that works out...

Today I have had about 5 litres (1 gallon and 3 cups) of juice, comprising:

500ml (1 pint) pineapple juice
500ml (1 pint) coconut juice with green powder blend
1 fresh green coconut
1.25 lt (1 quart + 1cup) green veggie juice
750ml (3 cups) papaya juice with coconut water
500ml (1 pint) coconut water with green powder and bee pollen
1.25 lt (1 quart + 1cup) 'blood' - veggie juice with lettuces, spinach, cilantro, beetreet, carrots, celery, cucumber, etc. Plus - ginger and cayenne pepper to warm this one...

The weather here in Costa Rica has been SO expressive today - it is a BIG day in astrological terms - with the new moon yesterday in Scorpio followed today by the momentous event of jupiter and the sun meeting - wow...big shifts going on :) nature reflected it here with HUGE blustery winds all day, bizarrely cold weather and a rainbow that lasted about 4 hours...impressive stuff...

All love,
Angela. xxx

DAY 1 - yeeeeeeeeee-HAH :)

WOW :) I am STILL soooo excited...it's been an amazing first day for me...I am LOVING this juice feasting...

I have drunk 4.5 litres of juice today (1 gallon + 1pint) and I feel fantastic...

started with a litre (1 quart) of green juice (celery, cucumbers, lettuce, spinach, cilantro etc)
then .5 litre (pint) of fresh pineapple juice (with rind - incredibly tasty and thick - like milk and a great liver cleanser)
then .5 litre (pint) of coconut water
then a litre (1 quart) of watermelon juice (with rind)
then .5 litre (pint) of coconut water
then a litre (1 quart) of 'blood' ;) - amazing juice with all kinds of stuff in it -celery, chard, beetroot, carrots, sprouts, cucumbers, spinach, cilantro etc - really yummy...

I have barely touched the realms of hunger all day -I feel strong and exhilarated and packed with nutrients... :)
I was really happy to be reminded by my great friend Jimmy, who is also doing a 92 juice feast right now, to CHEW the juice - mix thoroughly with saliva to get the digestive juices flowing well...

So, today I have been chewing masses of juice and enjoying these things:

1. this 3 minute video from two very amusing raw girls in Santa Monica:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=gTxVYuFJsIY

2. a 15 minute jog in the local park here - wow - I am so excited to be jogging. I didn't know I was a jogger :) I used to be a great runner as a kid, but totally lost contact with that part of myself as an obese person...now I am loving it again - just started again a few days back...I feel so free and after I finish it's like I'm gliding as I walk...

3. regular tooth brushing...yes, with all those juices going in and being thoroughly masticated, my teeth are asking for some extra help with cleansing...I now have a toothbrush positioned on my desk...I'm actually brushing my teeth as I write this LOL :)

So, many people have been writing to me today (THANK YOU all :) with wishes of good luck and support - I really appreciate it. The main question that has been coming up is:

WHY 92 DAYS???

well, apparently there are 92 elements that the body needs to function optimally (that are known) - so the juice feast programme is based around that concept...see the JUICE FEAST website for more info...

I also wanted to add in a disclaimer section here to say that this juice fast is something that I am very consciously choosing to undertake for myself - I am sharing my own experiences in this blog, not giving guidelines for others. I am in a very supportive environment for this fast and feel completely ready for it. Please take responsibility and care for your own health and if you ARE interested in undertaking a fast of any kind, seek the guidance of a health care provider first.

Disclaimer:
This blog is not designed to, and does not, provide medical advice. All content, including text, graphics, images and information available on or through this blog are for general informational purposes only. The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. You take full legal responsibility for whatever decisions you make regarding your own health care. This material is offered solely for educational purposes. The suggestion is that you think clearly for yourself and make your own decisions, with the input of a licensed health professional should you choose to consult one.

Alright, that's the legal bit out of the way...

...already today I looked at the jar of coconut oil in the kitchen and it was starting to look unappealing - wow...change is coming quick - my blood is getting cleeeeean :)

all blessings to you all,
Angela. xxx

The Final Supper...

Tomorrow, November 20th, 2006, I am starting a 92 day juice FEAST.

I am EXCITED :) This is my last day of eating solid foods for the next 3 months...
It is a new moon in Scorpio and a time for great shifts in life, to reveal ever-more the true me.
After 4.5 years raw, I have experienced a great deal of detoxing, including losing around 160lbs of excess fat and reversing morbid obesity (see my site: www.rawreform.com for more info). I have the feeling however that there is still more detoxing for me to do, stripping through old layers of toxins.

I filled my body with toxins daily for over 20 years and though I am in better health now than I have possibly ever been, I do have the feeling that there is more work to do. It feels as though my raw foods lifestyle has, for the moment, brought me to a kind of plateau. This extended juice feast feels like my 'Next Big Step'...and I am EXCITED :)

The juice feast is advocated on the wonderfully informative website www.nutrientdensenutrition.com by Gabriel Cousen's research assistant, David Rain. When David first introduced me to this feast, I was not very enamoured with the idea. However, as I got more into the details of it, it resonated with my being more and more until I reached the point where I could no longer resist it...uh-oh... ;)
The main concept of this feast, as far as I'm concerned, is to get all the calories one needs in a day (1500 for an average woman) from JUICE. Many people, when fasting, become lethargic and low in energy, as they are simply not drinking enough juice to feed the body all the calories it needs to function well. This 'feast' is different as it recommends to drink AT LEAST a gallon of fresh juices per day (green veggie juices, fruit juices and coconut water all included). The idea is that people can go on with their 'normal' lives and still be functional as workers, partners, parents and so on, while giving their body a phenomenal chance to rejuvenate and restore itself. Far from being a time of 'deprivation', this becomes an experience of abundance and massive nutritional intake...

The aims of this juice FEAST ;) are to:

cleanse rebuild rehydrate alkalise

Right now I'm feeling extremely blessed to be in Costa Rica for the winter...I have access to an abundance of amazing tropical fruits, lush greens and COCONUTS...litres and litres of fresh coconut water...yeee-HAH :)
So, here I am then, on the evening of my last day of solid foods for the next 92 days...so, what, you may be wondering, have I consumed today...? Well, today has not been a very typical day for me, as I was advised by David to make sure I eat whatever it is that really appeals to me before going into the feast, so...today has been a bit full-on... ;)

Today's menu has consisted of:
morning: fresh fruit salad: papaya, blackberries, banana
snack: the most DIVINE fresh chocolate pudding I've ever made: beans from fresh cacao pod blended with coconut water, mesquite powder, cinnamon and dried apricots. (WOW :)
lunch: big green salad - romaine lettuce, spinach, cilantro (coriander), grated carrot, sliced radish, juice of fresh lime, pinch of Himalayan sea salt, flesh of one avocado, diced red bell pepper.
snack: coconut cream mixed with mesquite powder, maca and agave syrup (SERIOUSLY heavy)
evening: greeeeeeeeeeeen juice - romaine lettuce, watercress, spinach, parsley, celery, cucumber, radishes

So, that's it...now I'm hanging up my chopsticks and getting ready for the next phase...

How do I feel? EXCITED and READY - sooooo ready, my body is yearning for this transformation to begin...

Please feel free to check back in with me as this journey unfolds...
All love and blessings to all,
Angela. xxx