Analogue girl in a digital world...

I am feeling rather shocked that it is the end of January already…it truly does feel like there are far fewer hours in the days now…what used to be 24 now feels like 16 or less…it all seems to go so rapidly…

Today I have had…

200ml (.75 cups) water
500ml (1 pint) orange juice with hemp oil
1 tsp green powder
1.2 litres (1.2 quarts) cilantro/red pepper/pineapple/hot pepper/mango/celery/orange juice
1 litre (1 quart) watermelon juice with pineapple
1 tbsp green powder
juice of 1 green coconut
1 litre (1 quart) cilantro/red pepper/pineapple/hot pepper/mango/celery/orange juice

which be…about 4.2 litres of liquids…or…about 1.11 gallons…
We went to visit a nearby city today and not long after arriving found ourselves outside a ‘100% natural juice bar’…WOW :)…we are so blessed…we tried out a few different flavours and I settled on simple watermelon with a little bit of pineapple. My body’s theme today has once again been about simplifying…it seems to ask for that over and over again now – it just feels so much cleaner and easier for me to handle…the green drinks from today for example felt a bit too complex for me to deal with – too many different ingredients and I feel like it’s just more work for my body to deal with…I am considering the possibility that I might like to lean for a while towards mono-dieting once I start back on solids – just eating one thing at a time, to aid digestion and absorption…we shall see…

Alright, time to answer some of your questions again…

I am wondering about your daily orange juice. I squeeze mine along with grapefruit on a hand squeezer. It occurred to me suddenly today that perhaps you're whizzing the whole lot -- peels and all?
I don’t make my own orange juice here. In the supermarkets here in CR they sell bottles of unpasteurised orange juice, freshly squeezed that day…nice ;) I’m always up for getting juice made by someone else, so get some there most days. If I were to be making my own OJ though, with a Vitamix, I would not feel good abt blending whole oranges, with the peel too, even if they’re organic…I would peel them first…or preferably not use a blender at all – citrus is so easy to juice with simple hand squeezers, as you mentioned – blending would just oxidize the produce quicker and take much more time and energy to prepare, I’m sure…

With all the fluid you are consuming, do you have to urinate more frequently or is your body absorbing most of it? If you go out, do you always need to be conscious of knowing where there is a bathroom available?
I am sure I must be urinating more frequently than pre-juice-feasting, but for me, it is definitely not smthg that I find affects my life very obviously...different bodies have different responses of course though and of 2 friends who have been feasting at the same time as me, one was waking nightly at least once to use the bathroom and the other has the feeling that when he needs to use the bathroom he really needs to and there's no way round it - it needs to be dealt with immediately ;) For me, my body seemed to adapt when I worked some years back as a waitress in a busy restaurant and would often need to ask my bladder for cooperation for long stretches of time. As a result, I can now get by for long periods without feeling the desperate need to run to a bathroom, but of course, overall, I must be urinating more now than in life in general...I do not feel the need to be always conscious of where the next bathroom is – there is always somewhere to go when necessary ;)

I am feeling a little pre-occupied with computer concerns at present – my beautiful, trusty Mac iBook G4 would like to retire after around 2 years of astonishing service and I would really like to let that happen…and yet, there is not yet a new Mac on the horizon to fill the role…if anyone happens to know of a good source for a new/used Powerbook or MacBook, please do let me know… ;)

One love,
Angela. xxx

Not Pushing the Boundaries...

Ahhhhhhhh, I’ve had a great day today on Day…72…wow…only 20 days left of a juicy lifestyle…eeeek…I feel a little distraught when I think in those terms…when I was 20 days INTO this juice feast, that seemed like such a huge number and such a big deal to have got that far…now that it’s only 20 days to the end, I feel like that’s such a short amount of time…lol…what to do…?

Today I have had:

500ml (1 pint) water
500ml (1 pint) orange juice with hemp oil
1 litre (1 quart) spinach/beet greens/coconut water/green powder
1 litre (1 quart) mozote juice
1 litre (1 quart) ‘5000 volts’ – celery/orange juice/garlic/red pepper
½ packet sugar cane sticks
2 tbsp bee pollen
800ml (3.25 cups) celery/red pepper/pineapple/hot pepper juice
1 tbsp honey
400ml (1.5 cups) water
1 tbsp green powder

…which would be about…5.2 litres or…abt 1.37 gallons…
I woke to find my scalp was still extremely itchy today and decided to give myself a huge break and not drink the leftover guanabana/greens juice from last night. It was actually a very empowering experience for me to return that stuff to the earth, with thanks, as in my past I would always have felt compelled to consume the whole thing, without question. I no longer wish to treat this body in that way however, so, to let that drink go, rather than ‘make’ myself drink it all felt really nourishing to me…plus it meant no more itchy head ;)
I actually also ended up giving back to the earth lots of the next green juice I made today after that too…my stomach felt extremely unsettled after drinking the spinach/beet greens/coconut water mix and after a litre of it, I just couldn’t go on…I was extremely relieved however to be downtown, near the juice bar at that time and got a whole litre of mozote (the stomach-soothing, kind-of-gloopy thick stuff – apparently also known as mozote in English…Latin name 'Triumfetta spp.') That really settled my stomach and I soon felt much better…
It is very interesting for me to watch how the messages from my body become more and more direct and acute. It does not feel so easy to ‘push the boundaries’ anymore of what it will accept, as these events today highlighted for me…it feels very clear now what is going to sit well with me at any given moment and what feels less than optimal…I really appreciate that…

All love,
Angela. xxx

Sweet things...

Reasons behind my feeling happy today:

1. I got a FRIDGE in my new place – finally – I’m so excited – have been here around 2 weeks now, with no fridge…my landlords were searching for one and today it arrived and I’m delighted…it has been an interesting challenge to be juice feasting and using massive quantities of produce a day, with no real fridge – just using cooler boxes and taking things back and forth from the fridge in the house next door, but now I am happy to be done with that particular challenge and to step back into the modern world of refrigeration ;)
2. I watched the film ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ again – soooooo sweet and uplifting, I love it…I only saw it a few weeks ago, but it was really enjoyable to see again – I really recommend it for the feel-good factor, great acting and magic soundtrack…I came out of watching it feeling extra happy and delighted with life ;)
3. I feel so blessed to have great friends and raw beings in my life... My beautiful friend Kate summed it up this way…

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Superbeings This is what we mean when we talk about superbeings; people who are so in their flow, so in tune with their higher purpose, so aligned with their inner truth, that they are not afraid of living in their full power, they know they can deal with whatever life throws at them. And precisely because they are so positive, so visionary, so fearless, they attract in less and less situations of stress, doubt, negativity and poverty, and instead create a reality about them that is blissful, assured and abundant. Personally, I think the best thing about being a superbeing is the other superbeings you get to meet.

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NICELY PUT :)))

Today I have had:

200ml (.75 cups) water
200ml (.75 cups) orange juice
800ml (2.5 cups) pineapple juice with green powder
1 tsp kelp with cayenne
1 tsp coconut oil
water of 3 old coconuts with green powder
500ml (1 pint) orange juice
½ packet sugar cane sticks
1.5 litre/quarts guanabana/greens/hot pepper juice
500ml (1 pint) water

which be about 4.5 litres or…around 1.2 gallons…which is not a great deal…today was a bit odd for me with juice flow – I did not have much most of the day, then in the evening made a HUGE batch of guanabana juice with greens, which was really tasty but waaaay too much for me late at night – it was around 3 litres/quarts in total, so I drank abt half and am hoping the rest might still want to be friendly tomorrow…I am also noticing that after drinking it, my scalp is really itchy…feels bizarre…another odd symptom that I seem to experience at times after sweet things…

sweet dreams to all,
Angela. xxx

Healing on Day 70...

Today I discovered that the BBC recently filmed a show in England where 9 people lived in a zoo and ate raw (or an 'ape diet' as they put it...) for 12 days to lower cholesterol, etc...as may be expected, big changes occurred for the participants…see here for more details:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/6248975.stm

it’s great to see that the mainstream media are waking up more and more to spreading this message of health and healing :)

Today I have had:

1 litre (1 quart) water
1.6 litres (1.6 quarts) Celery/parsley/swiss chard/orange juice/hot pepper
1 tbsp pollen
600ml (2.5 cups) coconut water w/ green powder
1 tsp honey
juice of 1 young green coconut
1.4 litres (1.4 quarts) watermelon juice
1 tsp kelp w/cayenne
500ml (1 pint) orange juice
200ml (.75 cups) water

which is around 5.7 litres or…abt 1.5 gallons of liquids today…

Today I went to the opening of a new yoga/meditation/healing centre here in San Jose – KasaSana and participated in an opening ceremony meditation…it was lovely, with sound healing (percussion, drums, crystal bowls), guided meditation, spontaneous movement and lots of lovely hugging ;)
It was really great for me to meet so many other people here interested in health and well-being and we discussed plans for future events…

Ok, a couple of questions for today:

How did you make the burritos? My grandchildren and gr grandchildren love burritos, but would like to get them to eat something healthier. Why the 92 days? D.

So…the burritos my friend recently made to share raw foods with some locals here…that was a simple recipe combo. The idea is to use fresh lettuce leaves as the ‘burrito’ and then fill them with different yummy things. So, on this occasion my friend separated out the attractive tender younger leaves inside the lettuce and arranged them on a plate. He made a big bowl of guacamole with avos, lime, Himalayan sea salt and a little cayenne pepper, surrounded by sliced cherry tomatoes. Then a separate plate had sliced cucumbers and avocadoes, with lime juice squeezed over them. This was the simple basis of the things to grab and stuff the burritos with. One can make countless variants of this, using for example a combination of pinenuts, sunflower seeds, cumin and sea salt as a replacement ‘meat’ and a simple pinenut or cashew-based white sauce for a replacement sour cream, make a mango or tomato salsa and so on…the main idea is to introduce the lettuce leaves as an alternative to processed corn/wheat produce…you can also make beautiful dehydrated alternatives to cooked burritos…see some raw recipe books for more ideas…

…and why 92 days? Here is the answer from my Juice Feasting FAQs page…
There are 92 elements the body needs to function optimally (that are known) - so the programme is based around that concept. David Rain, the creator of this programme, also explains that many of us need 92 Days to fully Cleanse, Rebuild, Rehydrate, and Alkalize, to resolve decades-old health challenges. We go back in time about 120 days for each day of Juice Feasting. Extended Feasts take a person into levels of cleansing and being that are not often reached on shorter fasts...
BTW...today was DAY 70 for me of juice feasting...eeeeeeeeeeek only 22 days left... ;0

One love,
Angela. xxx

Mud, mud, glorious mud...

Helloooooooooooooooo,
Have just got back from a trip to the North again to visit some mud baths, get some heat and go horseriding ;) So, this is a bit of a catch-up blog for the last couple of days…

On Jan 26th I drank:

1 litre (1 quart) water
1 litre (1 quart) orange juice with hemp oil
1 tbsp pollen
1.5 litres (1.5 quarts) starfruit juice
1 litre (1 quart) blackberry/apple/spinach/parsley/lettuce juice
1 packet sugar cane sticks
1 litre(1 quart) mozote juice
1 litre (1 quart) coconut water with greens powder
500ml (1 pint) ‘5000 volts’ orange/celery/garlic/red pepper/hot pepper juice
250ml (1 cup) water

which makes 7.5 litres of liquids in a day…or…1.98 gallons… which is a HUGE amount…lol…WOW…nearly 2 gallons in one day…I think that may be the most I’ve had in one day during this feast…I was surprised how nice the Starfruit juice was...I don't usually like them so much, but it felt good to me - not dissimilar to orange juice...
We bought juices from the juice bar in downtown San Jose today, which was primarily why I ended up with so much fluids ;) It was SO exciting to just have juice that someone else had already made, I got 2.5 litres right there…I LOVE their ‘5000 volts’ recipe – it’s not a combination I would ever think to put together for myself, but works so well…we lamented the fact that this juice bar is not closer to my current abode…that would be SO convenient…
So, we wanted to go away from San Jose for a while, as it was quite cloudy and cold and made the sudden decision to go north to the mud baths of Rincon de la Vieja…and off we went :) My friend travels VERY light and it was fun for me to try that out too…I often travel with a lot of things and it felt very liberating to go with a bare minimum of essentials and just hit the road…we got on some buses and a few hours later found ourselves up in the chilled and lovely town of Liberia.
On the journey we talked a lot. It was late and as we chatted I drifted into a semi-awake state – an altered state of consciousness and actually had one of the most profound spiritual experiences of my life so far…it is a little hard for me to put into words, so bear with me here…it was also very challenging for me to come out of that space and back to ‘this world’…it was so exquisite…my friend had asked me what I feel my energy will mainly be directed into during the rest of my time here on Earth…as I started to answer in my semi-awake, semi-dormant state, the energy came through with immense clarity and the feeling I had was that absolute truth was being directed through me at that point…my sense for what is ‘me’ rapidly fell away, piece by piece and it felt like every word that came forth from my mouth was a little droplet of truth falling out into the endless expanse of eternity…I’ve never experienced such an intense connection, yet it felt absolutely benign and comfortable…beautiful…hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…

Ok, then on the next day – Jan 27th – I had…

250ml (1 cup) water
250ml (1 cup) sugar cane juice
water of 3 young coconuts
1 gallon/4 litres of orange juice
water of 1 young coconut with green powder
1 tbsp kelp with cayenne
water of 2 young coconuts w green powder
water of 2 young coconuts

…which would be around…7.25 litres or…1.9 gallons…again… ;) it’s very funny to me that on the days when I’m away from a juicer and therefore holding a little bit of fear abt where juice is going to be coming from, I’m actually drinking MORE juice than I normally do when at home…lol…so, no fresh greens today, only green powder, but I felt fine…an absurd amount of orange juice and lashings of fresh coconut water sustained me…the travelling light thing has been such a great experiment for me…I think back to a similar trip to the north a few weeks back, with the HUGE cooler box I brought along and Vitamix, etc etc…this trip I just have a small backpack and that’s pretty much it…such a contrast :) and I’ve been absolutely fine…wow…so great to know that I can really provide comfortably for myself, even like this…and I didn’t feel sugar-spiked at all, or any blood imbalances or pancreas pain…just very FULL from so much OJ …lol…
I drank a huge amount of the OJ before we went out on a horse-riding trip to some mud baths…it was an interesting experience :) I was full of juice, sloshing around on top of a horse who was having competition issues going on with my friend’s horse…we jostled along, each horse vying to be in front, sometimes cantering, mostly meandering and I found my behind became EXTREMELY sore from bobbling around on the saddle…it’s a long time since I last went horse-riding and it was a bit of a shock for my body…it was fun though and we arrived out in the national park at the mud baths, where we sauna-ed, got painted with fresh volcanic mud, then soaked in an amazing mineral-rich pool of geothermal water…mmmmmmmmmm…yummy…my skin felt very soft and smooth afterwards and it was great to get out of the city again for a while ;)

All blessings,
Angela. xxx

Spreading the raw food vibe...

It was FUN in the middle of the day today – my friend who is visiting made a whole raw meal for the family who live in the house I am staying in…it was a really beautiful spread of raw ‘soup’, guacamole, Chinese cabbage ‘burritos’, a cucumber/avo/tomato/lime platter and so on…it was a totally new experience for them and fun for me too :) we just had the ‘soup’ – which was really juice…and it was fun to ‘eat’ it from a bowl with a spoon, rather than drink from a glass…it was the first time in over 2 months I’ve used a spoon and bowl to eat smthg…it was interesting…it was also easily the HOTTEST thing I’ve had during this juice feast – one hot pepper had seriously spiced the whole bowl of soup up – it felt good to me, raising my metabolism, getting my nose running and so on ;)
Afterwards, the family shared smthg new with us too – they made us some fresh juice with a fruit we’d never seen before called ‘lulo’…it was orange, round, small on the outside and produced a pretty, yellow drink with a sweet, high, slightly sour flavour, kind of similar to kiwi…it was nice to try smthg new and I think the whole experience was also a real novelty for the family…and, as always…who knows what the planting of those seeds of raw food consciousness in them may produce further down the line…? It’s fun to spread the message…

Today I have had…

1 litre water
500ml orange juice with hemp oil
1.2 litres pineapple/celery/red pepper/tomato/cilantro/onion/garlic/chili pepper juice
250ml ‘lulo’ juice with honey
1 tbsp pollen
1 litre celery/apple/beetroot/ginger/spinach/parsley juice
400ml coconut water with green powder

making…around 4.35 litres of liquids or…1.15 gallons…hmmm...not a huge amount...

Ok, some more of your questions to answer…

I can get sugar cane here in brazil. please let me know how you are juicing it? and are you drinking it straight or with water or anything else.
Ok. At the moment I am mainly using sugar cane in the form of packets of pre-stripped pieces of cane that are available to buy in supermarkets here…I also sometimes get little bottles of sugar cane juice from the supermarket too, but it’s rare that they have it and I find it more intense and less ‘natural’ feeling than sucking the juice straight from the cane myself…I also have whole sugar cane in my kitchen, which I sometimes snap sections off of and then strip off the green outer skin with a big knife, then hack down the cane into chunks to suck on…that’s a lot of work though and right now there’s a Green Star juicer here where I’m living and I’m considering trying to use that at some point to run the cane through…we’ll see how that turns out…

Thank you for doing your blog -- I keep wondering: how does she manage to have this life? How do you get your money? Do you have a trust fund? Are you getting everything for free? Please enlighten me!
Lol…how, indeed do I ‘manage to have this life’…? Now there’s a question…I wonder about that too myself at times…giving over my will to spirit/the universe on a daily basis is a definite key for me to direct the energies that come through me more towards that which will serve for the good of all oneness everywhere, rather than just 'me' and that seems to be the most essential thing for me to participate in to keep things flowing as they are...no, I don’t have a trust fund, or get everything for free…I do have a lot of faith in spirit to carry me though…plus a few e-books and so on to sell…my lifestyle is very simple, I don’t really live anywhere or own anything, have no responsibilities like children, mortgages, car payments or anything…my main expenses are food, travel and clothing…I just keep trusting the universe to help me with my choices and do my best to stay true to the flow…it seems to work for me, I enjoy life and I feel very blessed…I hope that sheds some light… :)

Juice feasting in Costa Rica sounds totally incredible. I'm interested in doing the same thing next year, and was wondering how you planned the trip. About ur trip - was it with a company or just with friends? Were you working in Costa Rica or just on vacation? Was there some sort of raw resort there?
My juice feasting here in Costa Rica is more a matter of ‘coincidence’ than a fully conscious choice to do the cleansing here in particular…I ended up coming here for winter and at the same time wanted to juice feast…it just all came together that way…at first in fact it seemed a little disappointing to me, the idea of being here surrounded by amazing produce and not actually eating any of it – just living on liquids…but I’ve since come to really appreciate the fact that I’m doing this here, in the warmth, with cheap produce in abundance – especially coconuts ;) There are raw retreat centres here and companies doing raw things, but my coming here was not really related to any of that. In the future, I will be holding more juice feasting demos, seiminars and retreats here though, so look out for more info as details are firmed up…

One love,
Angela. xxx

Oh, it's SUCH a perfect day... :)

Today has been a great day for me :) I tried out lots of new things, felt really in the flow and had lots of fun…simple pleasures, but very enjoyable...I love trying out new things...

Today I have had…

200ml water
500ml orange juice
1tbsp pollen
1 litre pineapple/celery/red pepper
750ml spinach/carrot/pineapple/lime
200ml coconut water
500ml water
400ml cane sugar juice
300ml orange juice
2tbsp green powder
water of 2 old coconuts w/ green powder

…which is…about 4.35 litres of liquids or…around 1.15 gallons...

…the pineapple/celery/red pepper juice that my friend made for me in the morning was SO yummy…that’s not a combination I would have created myself, but it was really great :) then I visited a new yoga/meditation/veggie/health centre opening 2 streets from my house and met many lovely people, arranging to do talks/demos there soon on raw foods and juicing…I’m very happy to be connecting with groups of other like-minded people here…
I got all my clothes washed today my the maid who comes to the houses...it was so wonderful - she took care of all of my things for around $10/£5...ALL of my clothes are now clean, including all the hand-wash-only things I always procrastinate dealing with myself and all of the things I have juice stains on from the last 2 months of liquid living (which was pretty much ALL of my clothes...lol...juice on everything...)
In the afternoon I actually took a nap, as a few unusual juice combos in a row left my stomach feeling pretty queasy…we laid down for an afternoon nap and it felt really luxurious and nice to me…I cannot recall the last time I rested like that in the middle of the day…I woke up and felt so tranquil and peaceful…it reminded me of being a child in playschool where there was an afternoon nap daily…I felt very renewed after the painful stomach feelings and got on happily with the day…
We then went on a trip across the city by bus, dropping by the centre of downtown San Jose, including the bustling markets…it was the first time I’d gone on a bus here in the city and it felt like a real adventure, with minimal functional Spanish and no idea how the bus system works here...which was fun to try out with a friend…I’d be less keen to try it on my own, but together, we had fun :) we went to the other side of the city to visit friends and go to a place where it’s possible to get organic apples – yum – then returned home to spend the evening sharing guitar music, raw food concepts and friendship with my new landlords…it was really nice…a wonderful day…I feel very blessed...

Hmmmmmmmmm…so, some more questions to answer:

Hey, I was wondering what green powder you are using??
Well…as of today I’m DELIGHTED to say that I have in my grasp again a jar of Greener Grasses, just received from the US…yay :) This is my FAVOURITE green powder – really delicious blend of powdered grasses – mainly wheatgrass, barley grass then also alfalfa, dandelion and a few others…it is very green and very light and when you mix it with coconut water, it tastes like malt ;) YUM :)
I also love Spirulina…

When you make your juices in the Vitamix blender, must you add water with the veggies/fruits -- or can that high-tech blender handle just straight produce?
In my experience, you do not HAVE to add water to get the Vita-mix to blend produce well for juicing, but it definitely helps – it means the stuff blends smoother and then that means less heat being transferred to the produce and less oxidization. It depends what you’re working with though. If it’s smthg very easy to blend anyway, like some watermelon, then I would not use water…if it’s more coarse and complex, like a bunch of greens, then I would recommend using some water…
The Vita-mix is however perfectly capable of handling straight produce without the water added, it’s just more convenient, faster and easier to blend if you do use some.

Hasta luego :)
One love,
Angela. xxx

Seven-Year-Old Sugar Shaker...

Today I revisited the idea that:

We go back in time about 120 days for each day of Juice Feasting.

So…using that idea, I have so far gone back in time around 7800 days in my 65 days of juice feasting… :O…wow…that’s over 21 years…hmmm…that would make me about 7 years old then at present…lol…well, that might explain my crazy sugary behaviour today then… ;)

Today I have had…far too many sugars…lol…in the following form:

300ml (1.5 cups) water
750ml (3 cups) orange juice with hemp oil
2tbsp pollen and honey
½ tbsp dulse flakes
½ packet sugar cane sticks
3 litres (3 quarts) pineapple/celery/spinach/parsley/mint juice
2 tbsp green powder
1.2 litres (1.2 quarts) watermelon juice
1 tbsp honey
400ml (1.75 cups) water
200ml (.75 cups) orange juice

which be…about 5.9 litres of liquids today or around…1.56 gallons…wow…I really overdid it for this system with the honey today…it’s not recommended to have it ‘straight’ while feasting at all and I had a LOT of it today…feel high from it and sugared, though not hugely uncomfortable…not crashing or feeling pancreas pain, more buzzy, filled with energy, excited :)...like a 7 year old I guess... but aware that I don’t need that many sugars…
I made an enormous quantity of greens/pineapple juice in the middle of the day too by mistake…then wanted to drink it all pretty quick as it breaks down so fast…so I had 3 litres of that in a short space of time…so, overall there was quite a theme of imbalance to the day for me… ;) and I’d prefer not to repeat those things again…the honey is still doing great healing work on the cut on my finger though and for that I'm very grateful...

Ok…time to answer some of the questions again that have been coming in…

...could you shed some light on your food combining principles, re: the juices? I am a bit confused by the "keep juices separate" guideline I read from many sources and the free use of fruits and veggies together in your (and others') juice concoctions.

Hmmmm…ok, yes, I can understand how this can be confusing. I see it like this: keep melons separate from everything else for ease of digestion. Keep everything as simple as possible for ease of digestion in terms of the combos you create. That being said…greens tend to be easier to get down for most people if in combination with smthg else…SO…whether that’s coconut water, carrots, beets or fruits, the choice is your’s…citrus does not however tend to combine well with greens (except lemon)…apples, pears, berries and pineapples go well with greens, as do most fruits. Combining other fruits and veggies together other than green leafy veg may produce some less than optimal results though in terms of both digestion and flavour…for example, personally I’d never create smthg like…tomato, sweet potato, celery and strawberry juice…that just sounds and feels bizarre to me – too many different things for the body to handle at once…that’s really what it comes down to – how easy is it going to be for the body to read the data and assimilate those foods you’re introducing…hope that makes a bit more sense now… ;)


I found some local celery here in brazil…i read somewhere not to juice the leaves. do you have any information about this? do you juice the whole thing with the leaves?

Yes, I juice the whole celery, definitely leaves and all. The organic celery heads here in Costa Rica are HUGE and amazing products, with healthy long green leaves…rich in magnesium, iron, sodium and chlorophyll in all those dark greens…I say certainly use them…

Thanks for the Qs and continued feedback…keep it all coming ;)
One love,
Angela. xxx

New Perspectives...

My friend arrived today for a visit from the States and brought down exciting things like raw honey, coconut oil and pollen…I was so happy to have new toys again to play with :) It was also fun to start juicing again with someone else – different combos/ideas/tastes…it was fun to go to the supermarket with him and experience things here through the eyes of someone fresh to Costa Rica…the joys of discovering different produce and how things are around half the price they are in the US…we’re on day 64 of feasting and going strong ;) He says he notices big differences in me since we last met a couple of months back - physically he says I seem much smaller and 'sleeker' than before and in my being he says I seem more quiet, calm and relaxed...very interesting for me to hear...

Today I have had:

750ml (3 cups) water
500ml (1 pint) orange juice with hemp oil
1 litre (1 quart) spinach/parsley/lettuce/blackberries/aloe
½ tbsp green powder
1.2 litres (1.2 quarts) watermelon juice
300ml (1.5 cups) coconut water with green powder
1.25 litres (1 quart and 1 cup) watermelon juice
2 tbsp pollen and honey
2 litres (2 quarts) celery/spinach/parsley/beet greens/pineapple juice

which is…7 litres of liquids today or…around 1.85 gallons…wow, that’s a LOT…lol…I drank a lot of greens late tonight, which I don’t usually do anymore…I felt quite sugar-spiked though from the honey before that, so it felt good to get lots of greens in for balance…I also felt unusually hungry during the day today – like I had a big desire and need for calories…I juiced a WHOLE watermelon today…wow…I was also ‘eating’ green powder straight from the jar, it tasted so good to me…which is odd, as often it tastes so strong, but now my body is really resonating with it, which I’m really happy to witness…

Something interesting has started to occur for me in the last few days in that I have begun to become interested in solid foods again – slowly, slowly, the interest is starting to creep back in and it feels very natural and gently progressive…like by the time I get to day 92, it will feel right and time to get back to it – like things are just moving along at a great pace…until now, there has really been so little interest in solids for me, but the last few days I’ve been thinking more along the lines of how it’s going to be enjoyable to just pick up and eat a piece of fruit for example, without the effort of juicing it first…I do have fear coming up though about the possibility of starting to eat stuff and getting totally captured by it and ending up eating large amounts of things, less than optimal combinations and so on…I feel secure knowing there is a ‘feast breaking protocol’ to follow, but am definitely a little wary of potentially jumping in way too far too fast with solids and getting carried away…

All love,
Angela. xxx

Keeping it Simple...

I came across this wonderful quote today:

"The food you eat can be either the safest and most powerful form of medicine, or the slowest form of poison"

Beautiful…when so many people seem to be captivated in the midst of that slow, seeping self-poison, yesterday I took my first bus journey here in Costa Rica and had a nice surprise…one thing that really struck me was that when the driver stopped somewhere, the guys that came to hawk stuff at the windows were selling just raw stuff…slices of green mango and the BEST coconut water I’ve had here…it was so wonderful to me that all the snacks were just naturally healthy, by default…I really appreciated it…

Today I have had…

1 litre (1 quart) water
1.4 litres (1.4 quarts) watermelon juice
a packet of sugar cane sticks
500ml (1 pint) orange juice with hemp oil
½ tbsp dulse flakes
1 litre (1 quart) celery/carrot/cucumber/aloe/turmeric juice
1.2 litres (1.2 quarts) blackberry/spinach/parsley juice (INTENSE)
water of one old coconut with 2 tbsp green powder

which maketh about…5.7 litres of luscious liquids today or…1.5 gallons…
The sugar cane sticks are a new favourite toy of mine – I only recently learnt that it’s possible to get packets of raw sticks of stripped down, prepared sugar cane in the supermarkets here (see picture above), that you can easily suck the juice out of, then discard the indigestible fibre…VERY cool – it’s like instant juice for me…and very yummy…I got through a whole packet of it today…like juice fast food ;) lol…

My juice combos today were really simple and I felt really good abt that…I have been trying to aim towards simplicity more these last weeks with my juices (as with all in my life) and being away now camping for a while really helped me to accelerate that step to simpler things…I like the strategy of just using 3 main ingredients maximum – makes it all so much easier for the body to read and assimilate…

Some beautiful and very talented raw beings from the UK have just set up Pink Apple Retreats and sent me a message about their upcoming rejuvenation retreat in St Lucia for 9 nights, March 27th to April 6th…wow…it looks beautiful…private villa, organic food, black sand beach, snorkelling, massage, meditation, hot springs…sounds YUMMY…I do hope to make it to the Caribbean myself some point later this year for more raw exploration…

I feel like my body odour is so bizarre at the moment…the smell which seemed like cake to me a few weeks back has persisted and even strengthened it seems to me…my friend told me it was sulphur from all the hot springing we did, but that was weeks back and I still notice this peculiar smell…I wonder what it is? Something hideous from my juvenile years being released perhaps…all those years of anti-perspirant sprays catching up with me ;) or…I don’t know…but it’s a very bizarre smell to me and unfamiliar…

One love,
Angela. xxx

Back to the City...

Hmmmmmmmmm…well, I’m back in the city now, after my lovely little trip up to Pacha Mama eco/spiritual/raw community in the north…it was a great experience to join in their annual 3-day river festival, chilling by the river in the heat of the north surrounded by jungle, hammocks, howler monkeys and beautiful beings :) See the pics below...

I actually wrote a whole blog entry abt all this yesterday that my crazy computer ate…so, here we go again… ;)

Ok, on Jan 19th I had…

500ml (1 pint) water
1.5 litres (1.5 quarts) green juice with celery and a little tomato
500ml (1 pint) orange juice with hemp oil
2 litres (2 quarts) watermelon juice with a little pineapple
juice of 2 green coconuts with green powder
1.5 litres (1.5 quarts) celery/apple/chard/parsley/turmeric juice

which makes…about 6.5 litres of liquids or…1.7 gallons

then on Jan 20th I had…

500ml (1 pint) water
1.2 litres (1.2 quarts) greens/carrots/celery/turmeric
1.2 litres (1.2 quarts) watermelon juice
500ml (1 pint) water
juice of one green coconut with green powder
600ml (2.5 cups) watermelon juice
1 litre (1 quart) coconut water
1.5 litres (1.5 litres) watermelon juice
½ tbsp coconut oil

which is…around 6.9 litres of fluids…or 1.82 gallons

wow…it’s amazing that I was actually getting more liquids than usual into my body while on this trip than I usually do while juice feasting…it was MUCH hotter up there in the north though, so I needed more fluids just to stay hydrated…I’m really happy to see how I managed to take care of myself and get all I needed on this trip too…I was able to use the Vitamix in the café there and it was mainly watermelon and coconut water that I was having and that was fine – very hydrating and calorie dense and I had plenty of greens too – nothing spiking my blood sugars out much…HURRAY :)))

I was also really happy that none of the food there tempted me whatsoever – I am totally in ‘juice world’ at the moment and it was no challenge at all to stay in that framework. The whole community there went raw for a while (abt 70+ people), but have reverted back to partly raw for most of their dining. Their WHOLE café/snack menu is totally raw though, which I was delighted to see – it’s SO easy to make delicious sweet treats raw, so there’s really no reason to eat any processed/baked/toxic stuff and they don’t – they are abundant and overflowing with gorgeous creations – cakes, smoothies, pizzas and a LOT of raw chocolate… ;) David Wolfe arrived shortly before I departed, amidst the delivery of a literal TRUCKLOAD of fresh cacao pods…a time for feasting on the night of their 18-hour long all-nighter riverside party…it was time for me to be on my way though – I had a really lovely, relaxing time there but was also happy to come back to my own space in San Jose, rejuvenated and refreshed from broadening my perspective with the chilled out lovelies at Pacha Mama…

Jan 20th was Day 62 for me of juice feasting…just 30 days left…eeeeeeeeeeeeek…it’s gone soooo quickly…health check: feeling great overall, still passing solids, mouth calmer now – still raised bumps on tongue, but doesn’t feel as swollen and angry, cracked/open area at side of mouth has healed, skin is throwing out a lot of junk still…

One love,
Angela. xxx

Eco magic...

Hellooooooooooooooooo,
well, here I am in a beautiful rawfood/eco/spiritual community in Costa Rica enjoying a 3 day festival...mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...it's great, very relaxing and HOT here by the coast...it's been a bit of a challenge for me to get all the juices I require in a day, but I'm feeling ok...

Yesterday was day 60 for me and I had...

500ml water
500ml orange juice with hemp oil
1 litre watermelon juice
1 tbsp pollen
water of 1 orange coocnut with green powder
water of 4 green coconuts
500ml watermelon juice
1tbsp hemp oil with a little orange juice
300ml electrolyte drink *water, raw honey, lime juice, rock salt*

so...for the first time on this feast, I had NO fresh greens at all in the space of a day...I felt ok though, as I had some green powders and nothing veyr unbalancing for my system - mainly coconut water...
we cut fresh pau d'arco bark from a tree on the journey and chewed it as we went along...it tasted OUTRAGEOUSLY bitter to me and very powerful...whereas my friend found it sweet ad enjoyable...bizarre...I think any lingering candida in my body was freaking out and trying to instruct me to not chew on this powerful stuff...
I sliced my finger open while opening a coconut on the way - that's why I prefer to have someone else do it for me...lol... - and put raw honey on it to heal...it's working amazingly well...
we arrived at the festival with 800lbs of honey to deliver and then went down to the riverside to set up camp and join the beautfiul opening fire ceremony...I have not seen so many 'alternative' looking people in one place for a long time...lots of flowing dresses, dreadlocks and Crocs shoes...lol...it's like a Crocs gathering...
We danced under the stars to beautiful music and I retired early to recharge my batteries, to face the next day with determination to make green juice...
All blessings,
Angela. xxx

Road-tripping in a juicy style...

ok, well...here I am on the road again ;)
This will be brief as I´m writing from an internet cafe, but just to say my trip so far is WONDERFUL...wowowowowowwwwww, I LOVE getting out of San Jose and into the countryside...
I am visiting the BEAUTIFUL organic farm of a raw friend here and it is SO abundant and amazing...jack fruit, wild cherimoya, durian, dragon fruit, watermelon, pineapple, papaya, coconuts, cashews, cacao...just wonderful...and the most beautiful views down the hillsides over the ocean...I feel so blessed...a little house with hammocks and cute yapping puppies , raw honey straight from the hive and plenty of coconuts for me to get my nutrients in...I love it...

So, today I have had:

500ml water
600ml orange juice with hemp oil
500ml watermelon juice
600ml green juice
1.5 litres greens with pineapple and blackberry juice
water of one young coconut
samples of wild cherimoya, cashew fruit and papaya juices
400ml watermelon juice
1 tbsp fresh raw honey from the comb
1tbsp green powder

making...hmmmm...about 5 litres of liquids so far - I´ll probably have more coconut water with green powder later...it was a VERY interesting experiment for me to walk around the farm and take pieces of the fruits into my mouth, mash them enough to extract the liquids, then spìt the fibre out - it felt pretty challenging mentally...lol...I needed to concentrate and it felt bizarre to bite into something after nearly 2 months of no solids...

I totally missed my own radio interview on KBOO today as I was busy making juice...lol...feel free to write and let me know how it sounded if you listened to it... :)

Off to visit a raw community tomorrow - exciting :)

One love to all,
Angela. xxx

Interview on Internet Radio today...

This is just a little mini-message to say that...

At 10.30am PST on Wednesday January 17th, KBOO radio, based in
Portland, Oregon, will be broadcasting an interview with me on raw
foods, weight loss and my current projects. KBOO streams live on the
internet, so you can tune in wherever you are by visiting http://www.kboo.fm/listen.

ENJOY :)
All love,
Angela. xxx

Back on form...

Well, well, well…what a difference a day makes, eh? I am feeling SO much better today – thank you for all the beautiful messages of support that came in :) I basically slept through the worst of my illness last night and woke today feeling much more together and have felt totally energised and back to full-speed all day…wow…such a huge turn-around from feeling barely capable of even moving last night…like a phoenix from the ashes of detox... ;)

So, today I have had…

400ml (1.5 cups) water
1.5 litres (1.5 quarts) pineapple/blackberry/spinach/celery/parsley juice
1 litre (1 quart) watermelon juice
500ml (1 pint) water
2 tbsp pollen
1 litre (1 quart) beet/carrot/chard/aloe/cayenne
450ml (1.75 cups) orange juice with hemp oil

which would make…4.85 litres of liquids or…1.28 gallons…the last veggie juice of the day tasted really nasty to me…lol…wow…I feel like I need to be working towards simpler and simpler combinations at the moment and this kind of mix just isn’t serving me anymore…
I have been reading a few different things about juice feasts the last days and am a bit baffled to hear that many people find it difficult or just don’t fit in the suggested minimum of a gallon of juices a day…I wonder why that would be? I feel like for this body it’s important to get at least that much, just to keep going…I usually have at least around 1.5 gallons a day and don’t feel I could deal with having less than a gallon daily on this feast…interesting…how different our experiences can be…we are truly all so individual and listening to our own intuition about what we need really serves us best…no-one else can ever fully know what it feels like to be you, in your body…

Ok, the questions have been stacking up as I did not write so much yesterday…here we go…

‘I get really tired and spacey when I eat some fruits and fruit juices, is it from the sugar? I noticed that you mentioned it here that you get spacey..are you losing weight?’
Yes, the fruits tend to ‘spike’ up our blood sugars and for me, can set me off balance and into feeling spacey, irritable, ungrounded and full of energy that needs using. If I use that energy, by doing some exercise for example, I can balance out that spaceyness and feel better, but if I don’t burn that energy up, I can feel very drained by excessive sugar. So far on this feast I have lost at least 15lbs, probably more since the last time I measured.

'Do you speak Spanish?'
Not very well. I can understand a great deal of what is said and what I read, but I don’t really speak Spanish well at this point. I spoke it very well about 10 years ago though and have lots of bits of lots of languages in my head, so I tend to be able to piece things together. I tend to follow the flow of conversations more by the energy of them than the exact words used – this helps me a lot here.

'Are you following David Rains recipes/suggestions daily for your ingredients and amounts or are you asking your body what it needs daily, then following that higher guidance, or both?'
A bit of both. I always get the head of celery and 2lbs of leafy greens in, daily, plus the minimum 1 gallon of juices. Other than that, I go with what my body seems to need/want/request, based on what I have available in that moment. I enjoy getting the celery and most of the greens out of the way in the morning, so that I feel more free to play the rest of the day. Celery does not please me greatly.

'Will you continue to blog once you have finished your juice feast? I'm intersted in seeing how things go as u get back into the eating foods again. And I think I might miss reading your blogs if you were to suddently stop writing!'
Yes, I think I will almost certainly continue to blog after juice feasting – definitely during the feast breaking process at least and very likely beyond that too – it will indeed be very interesting to explore how going back into the world of solids works out…

'I wondered about the vitamix..doesn't that just blend? it doesn't seperate the pulp does it? so that would mean u are still ingesting the fiber?'
The Vitamix is indeed a blender. I use that to blend the fruits/veg, then STRAIN that mixture through a nut milk bag, to separate out the liquid from the pulp/fibre. I do not ingest the fibre – that would be a smoothie feast, rather than juice feast.

'How do you make your watermelon juice? With blender or juicer?'
I make watermelon juice with the Vitamix Blender – blend up the whole fruit if organic – seeds, peel, flesh, everything, or just the flesh and seeds if not – then squeeze through the nut milk bag. It’s a very simple process – so quick. I think in fact it’s my favourite juice for that reason – it takes about 5 minutes to make it and it’s so sweet and simple and yummy and refreshing…

Ok…that’s all the Qs up-to-date ;)
Tomorrow I’m setting out on a little trip for a couple of days or so, to the North, so may not be in regular blogging mode, depending on internet access…
All love to all for now,
Angela. xxx

Strong stuff...

Owwwwwwww…ok, I am not feeling good right now…I was feeling very stuffed up and bloated today in my stomach and abdomen and decided to take a cascara sagrada capsule to see if it would help me release some stuff. I won't be trying that again...Now I understand why David Rain said I probably don’t need to be taking that anymore, this far into a cleanse…I’ve gone from feeling stuffed up to feeling like I am being totally drained internally…I feel very low in energy and weak, cold, tired, need to just get into bed and sleep this through…

So, just a short blog tonight as a result ;)
Here’s what I drank today:

400ml (2.75 cups) water
500ml (1 pint) orange juice with hemp oil
1.7 litres (1.7 quarts) greens with coconut water
1 litre (1 quart) watermelon juice
½ tbsp pollen
250ml (1 cup) cane juice
250ml (1 cup) water
1.5 litres (1.5 quarts) greens/coconut water/green powder

making…5.6 litres of liquids today or…1.48 gallons…the greens in the evening felt REALLY tough to get down - my body seems to be in a very strange space right now...

wow…I have not felt this unwell physically in a really really long time…it is a great reminder for me of how debilitating it can feel to not feel good physically and what an amazing BLESSING it is that in general in my life now I feel such vibrant health…

All love and optimal health to all,
Angela. x

New Explorations...

I went out for a lovely walk in the sun today, to check out more of this new neighbourhood I’m in…I went to a big mall I’d never seen before…it contained an intriguing mixture of discount clothing shops, hairdressers, fast food chains, tattoo parlours and punk/goth outlets…the last two were particularly curious, as I’ve never noticed any Costa Ricans with tattoos before, or any punks/goths on these streets…perhaps I’ve moved into a little subculture bubble area here…I found a shop selling stones and crystals to retreat to and spent some time admiring and handling the beautiful pieces…when I returned home I discovered the very sweet owners of my place had cleared out the kitchen area and re-arranged it with a little table and space for a new fridge that arrives tomorrow – so sweet…it really is the ideal raw foodist’s kitchen – no oven/toaster/grill/anything – just a counter top, plug sockets and a sink…perfect…space to cut, blend and clean up afterwards. I love it.

Today I have had:

500ml (1 pint) water
500ml (1 pint) orange juice with hemp oil
1 litre (1 quart) apple/blackberry/spinach/parsley juice
200ml (.75 cup) orange juice
250ml (1 cup) water
1.8 litres (1.8 quarts) apple/celery/cucumber/spinach/swiss chard/aloe
2 tbsp pollen
1.5 litres (1.5 quarts) watermelon juice
200ml (.75 cup) water

which be…5.95 litres or…1.57 gallons of liquids today…muy bien…
Tonight I’m feeling a little spaced from sugars…I feel like I am missing having more coconut water in my intake and less fruit…I will try to remedy that tomorrow…I started doing sit ups and push-ups tonight to burn some of the sugars up - it felt great - I was also really happy to note today that the roads around here are mostly broad, flat and quiet - I think it would be quite safe to cycle around...so, maybe I'll find a bicycle and get around on that...that would be GREAT :)

More questions have been coming in – these are from the delightful Jessica in Brazil…

Curious where you are getting your hemp oil from. Are you traveling with it?
I get my hemp oil from Nutiva – I think it's the yummiest hemp oil in the world – it’s organic, cold-pressed in small batches and so LOVED :) A friend brought some down for me from the US and I keep it in the fridge/freezer here. It needs to be kept cool, so if I go on trips, I always have a cooler with me to travel with veg/oil etc…I’ve become a relatively ‘high maintenance’ consumer in that regard at the moment I guess – trips anywhere involve a huge cooler of organic produce, a blender, chopping board etc… :) I wouldn’t have it any other way though right now…

Also, are you shopping for your juice ingredients at markets in CR? What about a juicer....also traveling with?
There is only one organic farmers’ market here in San Jose, on Saturday mornings. It is nice to go and interact with others interested in health and pick up a few things, but it is all pretty low-key overall – not much variety…I tend to get my produce mainly from the Supermarkets here, which tend to have organic sections (though again, not a huge variety). There is also a great organic home delivery service once a week on Saturdays in San Jose.
I am using a Vita-mix blender rather than a juicer during this feast. It is here in the house I’m in and yes, when I go on trips, it comes along too…

Thanks for your questions,
Love and gratitude to all,
Angela. xxx

Day 55...and all is well...

Well, today has been a great first day in my new place. I am feeling relaxed and productive, peaceful and happy…I went out for an exploratory jog/walk in the afternoon to get a sense of my surroundings and it seems like a nice area...

I also sat out in the sun to drink some juice this morning…wow…it’s a looooooong time since I did that – I just haven’t been living in places with very easy access to the outside – most houses here have many layers of security…the last place I was in had 3 locked gates to get through, just to get to the front door…lol…anyway, here there is a courtyard area where I sat and basked in the sun today as I drank green juice – it felt REALLY good – a great love-bath of solar energy…

Today I have had:

750ml (3 cups) water
500ml (1 pint) orange juice with hemp oil
2 litres (2 quarts) apple/celery/ginger/aloe/carrot/greens juice
1 litre (1 quart) watermelon juice
2 tbsp pollen
1 litre (1 quart) carrot/greens/aloe/katuk/cucumber/lemon juice, with green powder
250ml (1 cup) water

which is 5.5 litres of liquids or…1.45 gallons…hmmmm, just barely over the 1 gallon threshold today – it’s always a bit of a challenge to work out how to do things in a new place and today was no exception, from the ‘how does this shower work?’ game to the ‘which key was for this door?’ conundrum to getting into a new juicing rhythm in a different environment, it all took more time than usual, but I got in my gallon nonetheless ;)

I’m experiencing some really unpleasant cleansing reactions on my tongue right now - it's like my whole tongue is a little swollen and tender and all over it there are little raised pinkish-red bumps. There is also a film of nasty-looking white/green stuff on it in areas and at times and I don't have a tongue scraper here and also feel like it would really irritate it to use a tongue scraper anyway right now - feels tender...also the sides of my mouth feel very dry and cracked...when I drink juices, I have the feeling that they taste 'peppery'...it’s all rather unpleasant and I have the feeling that, as usual, it is to do with an imbalance of sweet things for my body – that is partly why I stirred extra green powder into my green juice this evening, to try to balance that out a bit. I think it is also partly just a healing/relaxing effect after a very full-on week – my body is now letting go…we’ll see how it feels tomorrow…

More questions have been coming in:

What kind of green powder do you use?
At the moment I am using a home-made blend of many different green powders, like VitaMineral Green, pure alfalfa powder, barley grass powder, spinach powder, spirulina, chlorella and some other things – all blended together - it is very potent. My FAVOURITE green powder though is Greener Grasses – really yummy, especially if you use it with fresh coconut water – then it tastes kind of malty… ;)

Do u take a multivitamin? Do u feel it is necessary to take a multivitamin?
No and no. My fresh raw juices are my multivitamin supplements – they contain almost all this body needs, in the most assimilable form. My feeling about multivitamins in general is that there is a tendency for people to attempt to use them as an easy cure-all/cover-all...i.e. a mentality along the lines of 'I'll definitely be ok eating these doughnuts and taking these antibiotics, 'cos I use this multivitamin...' ...it is a very outdated and ill-informed choice, as I see it...raw fresh juices daily offer FAR more in the way of accessible nutrients.

Do u have any tips on opening coconuts?
Errrrrrrrrm…yeah, get someone else to do it for you ;) preferably a strong guy with a machete – that’s my approach…failing that, with the young green/orange ones here, I just get hold of a machete or big heavy knife and hack away until I hit the middle, or if I have the old brown ones, that’s much easier – use a screwdriver and maybe hammer to knock through the eyes (at least two) and drain the liquid into a vessel…If it’s the young Thai coconuts you’re dealing with, everyone seems to have a different approach with them – I’d suggest you take a look at this page HERE for a good pictoral guide though…

In truth and with integrity.
One love,
Angela. xxx

The Littlest Hobo finds a home...

I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOO happy right now – I just moved into my own place :)))))))))))
It is very simple and functional, but sweet and I'm just SO happy to be in a place of my own - this has been SUCH a long time coming in my life - I think this is in fact the FIRST time in my life that I am renting and living somewhere, by myself...wow...it feels SOOOO good - like my whole being is saying 'YES' and relaxing...deep sigh of relief...aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh... :)))
I surrendered this whole housing situation to the universe last night as I went to sleep – I felt exhausted by it all and just let go totally, trusting that the answer would come today…and indeed it did…wow…what a difference a day makes…
I got up early and filled with positivity, trust and a conviction to keep my energy clear and steady, to allow the place to manifest today…
And within an hour it turned out that the place that had been available yesterday, then suddenly wasn’t HAD been available all the time – it was a misunderstanding – so I went over to see it, felt good, said yes, packed up and moved over this evening…I unpacked, feng shui-ed the rooms into place and have just finished a small blessing ceremony for the new space, with some incense, my stone collection and a LOT of gratitude… ;)
I feel like a ‘real’ person, really living in a place…I actually completely unpacked my things…I can’t remember the last place I did that…I have for so long felt like ‘The Littlest Hobo’ - a kid’s show I used to watch when growing up, with a theme tune that went:

‘There’s a voice, that keeps on calling me,
Down the road, that’s where I’ll always be,
Every stop I make, I make a new friend,
Can’t stay for long,
Just turn around and I’m gone again…
Maybe tomorrow I’ll wanna settle down,
Until tomorrow, I’ll just keep moving on,
Until tomorrow, the whole world is my home.’

I identify with that song so very much…I think in the course of last year alone I stayed in about 70 or 80 different places...but for today, I am really enjoying this new experience – trying out new ways of being interests me immensely – pushing the boundaries of my patterns and comfort zones, seeking out new ways to enjoy being here…I have been resonating a lot lately with the saying ‘you get what you got if you do what you did’…or in other words, the same actions tend to produce the same outcomes…well, going in endless circles doesn’t really do it for me, so…here I am, breaking up a big pattern today for myself regarding shelter and really appreciating the experience…hurrah :)

Today I have had:

800ml (3.5 cups) water
500ml (1 pint) orange juice with hemp oil
150 ml (1/2 cup) orange juice
600ml (2.5 cups) coconut water with green powder
1.5 litres (1.5 quarts) green juice with coconut water
1.5 litres (1.5 quarts) apple/beet/ginger/aloe/greens/celery
1.2 litres (1.2 quarts) water

Making…6.25 litres of liquids today or…1.64 gallons…a LOT of water though today – my adrenalin was pumping quite a lot today and I was on ‘fast’ mode, packing, moving etc – not so much focus on nutrition, more on staying hydrated – still got my gallon of juice in though :)

Aaaaaaah, and so to a new bed, delighted and at peace,
One love,
Angela. xxx

No room at the inn...

Weeeeeeeeeell…emails have been FLOODING in all day today in response to the Sally Jessy Raphael/protein controversy – thanks for all the supportive comments and feedback – great to feel reflection back from the raw community on this…yes, the more we explore and understand and can simply stand still and share honestly what we are all experiencing, the stronger the message is, I feel…the idea of someone living without a ‘recognised’ source of protein for 3 months definitely seems to be bizarre to most people…by simply living our truths and showing there is another way, the message will slowly seep deeper into mass consciousness…

Today I have had:

600ml (2.5 cups) water with lemon juice
2 litres (2 quarts) apple/pear/celery/greens/aloe juice
1 tbsp hemp oil with kelp/cayenne granules
700ml (2.75 cups) coconut water with green powder
2 tbsp pollen
water of one young coconut
600ml (2.5 cups) orange juice with hemp oil
1.25 litres (1.25 quarts) greens/papaya juice

making…about 5.5 litres of liquid or around 1.45 gallons…

I am feeling sad tonight. I have been trying to find a new place to stay here in Costa Rica and am not finding anywhere suitable. Today it seemed as if there was an ideal place – we went to see it and it took a REALLY long time to find…we were so happy to finally be there, then suddenly the landlady said there was no room available anymore…I feel a bit deflated right now and not sure what comes next…but I am trusting the universe that this means that something even better is on its way…

There have been quite a few questions posted here as blog comments the last few days – I’ll answer some now…

Is it possible to do a modified juice feast with minimal sugars? I am healing from past candida, so any suggestions on getting enough calories without fruit juice? I was thinking perhaps a lot of green juice, some coconut water kefir, herbal tea with stevia (balance blood sugar), and maybe some diluted grapefruit juice with hemp oil... any ideas or comments? I would like to do a short feast of a few days to revamp.

Yes, it’s definitely possible to do a juice feast without emphasising the sugars/fruit juice too much. You’d be heading more towards a lot of greens. The minimum requirement of getting your head of celery and 2lbs greens a day would be easy, then on top of that you would likely be wanting to get things that are higher-calorie, like spinach, parsley, coconut water and berries (low glycemic fruit – if you feel you can handle a bit of fruit). You’d likely do well with having spirulina, heavier vegetables like broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, green beans, bok choi, sweet potato and possibly carrots/beets – but they might aggravate the candida situation. I would think hemp oil/coconut oil would be great for you to boost your calories up too, plus pollen if you’re open to that. Use digestive enzymes. You might want to contact David Rain to ask for more info of other people who have done this programme with a low fruit emphasis.

Do you have any advice for people looking to go partially or fully raw on a tight budget?

Yes, grow lots of your own sprouts and mini-greens. This can make getting live raw foods into your diet very cheap and practical – you can do it wherever you are. Look out for reduced organic items in supermarkets, or start a bulk-buying coop with other like-minded people. Buy filling/satiating, nutrient dense things in bulk or when you see offers – like spirulina, nuts or hemp protein powder…learn to forage and gather your own food…Volunteer your time at an organic farm/CSA/coop for a few hours a week, in return for good organic fruit/veg…or help out at a raw restaurant/facility if there’s any nearby…and yes, above all – GROW YOUR OWN ;)

Are you single?
Yes, thanks :) Happily single at the moment…(thanks for the suggestion though to add that to the FAQ page…lol…)

All blessings,
Angela. xxx

Healthy Shifts...

I woke this morning after an EXTREMELY long, appreciated and restful sleep to a house with no electricity and no running water…it was interesting…luckily there was ready-squeezed orange juice and coconut water to hand to get me through a morning with no Vita-mix to juice with…it was a good reminder of the importance for me of what I’m doing for my health – there is no way at this point that something like that would stop me from getting the juice I need and staying on track with juicing…no Vita-mix? Then show me the nearest coconut tree ;)

My Interview with Sally Jesse Raphael is now available on Google Videos – see here:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6501742535334801864&pr=goog-sl



I am going through a lot of shifts at the moment in my life concerning the way I connect with this physical world. In the last couple of years, there have always been certain things I have done in the mornings to being me back fully into this body and connect – prayer, meditation, yoga, reading, writing. These tools have served me immensely well. Yet of late, I have started to feel my tiredness at repeating the same activities each morning – there has been a definite shift to discover new and exciting things for myself to connect with joy. In terms of my yoga, for example, I do the Five Tibetan Rites and have done so every morning for the last two years…the maximum number of repetitions recommended for this series of movements is 21. A couple of days ago I moved myself on to 14, from 13, where I had been for a very long time – it amazes me how much difference I feel each time I simply add on one more movement to this sequence – my body feels it immediately…well, now I am 2/3rds of the way to the maximum of 21 and that feels good to me – I have set an intention to move onwards quickly over the next weeks, adding one more repetition a week perhaps, until I max out at 21 and my chakras glide into the day in resonant unison ;) It just feels good to me to shake up the energy and move my patterns on – that is SO much a part of this journey after all, letting the creativity flow and side-stepping stagnation…
(For a great site on the Five Tibetans, see: http://www.mkprojects.com/pf_TibetanRites.htm)

Today I have had:

300ml (1.5 cups) water
500ml (1 pint) orange juice with hemp oil
600ml (2.5 cups) coconut water with green powder
1 litre (1 quart) pear/celery/greens juice
2.5 litres (2.5 quarts) greens/celery/coconut water
1 tbsp hemp oil w/kelp with cayenne
500ml (1 pint) water

which makes…5.4 litres of liquids today or…about 1.43 gallons…

I had two unexpected and welcome visitors today – one a friend-of-a-friend just arrived from England who is on her way to visit Pacha Mama – a raw-friendly ecovillage settlement further north here in Costa Rica, which holds many amazing retreats – hope to get there sometime soon…and the other visitor was a really sweet massage therapist who came for an appointment and while he waited to do that, decided to give me some impromptu reflexology. It was GREAT – really appreciated and relaxing and I learnt some more things about this body – apparently my overall health is very good right now – there was nothing that stood out for him – he said I seemed very relaxed and healthy. Hurrah… :)

All blessings,
Angela. xxx

Raw with Sally Jesse Raphael...

PHEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW…today has been a real whirlwind for me…I’m wiped out…
I did my interview with legendary talk show host Sally Jessy Raphael this morning. I really enjoyed the interview and am excited to spread this message of healing with raw foods ever-further. The audio file is now available to listen to HERE: http://www.sallyjr.com/radio.htm (My segment begins at around 59.12 minutes into the show).
This whole show will be up on Sally’s site from midday Jan 9th to midday Jan 10th, then again this weekend (Jan 13-14th) when the show archive goes up. I am currently working on trying to edit my section of the show out to put up on the RawReform website…but technology has not been very cooperative with me today and I have surrendered for now…I hope to have it arranged by tomorrow…
If you listen on past the end of my segment, it seems my story and comments raised a lot of controversy for Sally and her crew, who could not understand where a raw foodist gets protein from…this, as all raw foodists know, is the perennial question we face…I am sorry that they did not seem to resonate with the idea of alternative protein sources than meat/beans/legumes, but am happy nonetheless to have got this message out there…just keeping on spreading those seeds of consciousness ;)

Today I have had:

250ml (1 cup) water
500ml(1 pint) orange juice with hemp oil
2 litres (2 quarts) pineapple/greens/celery
½ tbsp coconut oil
500ml (1 pint) water
250 ml (1 cup) pear/greens/celery/coconut water
300ml (1.5 cups) coconut water w/ green powder
1 tbsp hemp oil with kelp/cayenne
1.5 litres (1.5 quarts) greens/papaya juice

making…about 5.3 litres of liquids today or…1.4 gallons...
It was hard for me to keep on top of juicing today – very full-on day of interactions with people, but I made the gallon threshold and feel fine…just very ready for sleep…also the pineapple/greens combo in the middle of the day felt very harsh to me and I started to get the prickly sensation on my tongue that tells me my body has had enough pineapple for the time being…
I had some interesting talks with David Rain today about juice feasting matters and this was the outcome for me in terms of new info gleaned:

* being liquidarian as a lifestyle, in the long-run, on just juices is not really recommended… ;) a combination of blended drinks/smoothies WITH juices, yes, maybe…but not just juices…the fibre helps to slow the rate at which things move through the body and can help us access different nutrients in the blends. It can also help move things out that may be lodged in the colon still. Also, there is a desirable effect in the body from chewing – pressure points are activated that do not otherwise get triggered and if we don’t use the jaw to chew, we may lose that ability in the long-run/weaken our jaws.
* By this far into feasting, I do not really need to be using cascara sagrada anymore to stimulate peristalsis. It will be good to start a parasite cleanse soon though – around day 60.
* I could be doing coffee enemas once or twice a week at the moment to help stimulate the liver to release…have never done a coffee enema…may try it soon…feel resistance though…

David has also just put up some great videos explaining the basics of Juice Feasting at the new site – www.juicefeasting.com – check them out…

Ok, that’s it for me for today – sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep really needs to happen… ;)
All blessings,
Angela. xxx