Day 3/109

hmmm...have had some nice little bm's......and feeling and looking good....on day 3. I made a quart of orange/grapefruit juice this morning, had a quart of carrot/apple juice I made last night, and a quart of thawed green juice during the day, then came home and ate some coconut oil...with a bit of stevia powder...while it's not juice, I don't consider it really eating, but I don't think I am going to make a habit of it either. Did a bit too much food tasting while making dinner, even with spitting it out and rinsing my mouth out with water....it just was not a good thing. I did not actually 'eat', but I feel a bit like I did...my stomach doesn't seem to have noticed, but my body did. It's amazing how such a tiny amount of cooked food which did get absorbed has such an effect. I feel down...I lost my vibrant look. It will be back tomorrow, as this was indeed a very minor, tiny, transgression, but I am going to be much stricter with myself......it's hard to cook for your family and not at least taste what you are cooking...I need to know if it has enough salt, enough flavor...etc. But I think I will just have to go on faith and memory from now on.

I have got a spot on the global juice feasting site....it's great to interact with others who are juice feasting the same time you are....2 people even started the same day I did. We are all determined to do a full juice feast.

My frozen juices are o.k......not great, but okay at least for palatability....the freezing process does tend to make them a bit wierd....they separate out....but my body feels fine with them, and I do have fresh juice each day...of varying amounts. I think this is a good plan....as it really makes my week much easier...makes it much easier to stay on juice as generally juice is readily available.

So......on I go......and I have lost weight.....I forget my starting weight but I appear to have lost at least 3.5 pounds if not 5.5 pounds. My goal is 10 pounds per month. One I think I will easily attain. So looking forward to having my body back this summer....I hate having a fat middle....it really ages one...and it is so bothersome to me, as otherwise I really don't look my age.
Looking forward to turning back the clock.

Time to go make some juice!

Ciao bellas!
Alessandra

DAY 2/110

Today was a good day...very busy at work...so nice to just get my jars of juice out of the refrigerator and go....no need to juice in the mornings......felt a little hunger but not much, slept well, have peed alot, had a good bm......doing fine...busy and it's late and I'm tired...and need to make a little juice....so very short post today.....so loving this juice feast! I can already see a difference in my face.

JUICE FEASTING 1/111

Today is day 1 of my 112 day long, or 16 week, juice feast. Through it I hope to be transformed by the time my next birthday arrives. Working all my life for this. I have done one 17 day long juice feast in the past, it was all going just fine, not sure why I stopped. Not sure at all. I do know that I did find the daily juicing a bit tiresome, but I am trying something new this time, I am making most of my juice for the week ahead of time. This takes a bit of work, but doing it all at once and freezing the juice, means my week is that much easier. I still do juice some each day, but it isn't as much....today I had 1 quart of orange/grapefruit juice which I'd made yesterday and 2 quarts of green juices made yesterday, then when I got home from work I made a quart of fresh carrot juice...and just had about 12 ounces of fresh orange juice. Should be enough for today. I also made a new quart of orange/grapefruit juice for tomorrow, and took 2 jars of green juice out of the freezer to thaw for tomorrow. I am feeling good....a bit of stomach feeling like it's hungry, but I know better...I know it's just cleansing.....and I am feeling a bit chilly but I have gotten very good at dressing warmly.....so juice feasting here I come! Here I am! I am a raw and juicy goddess! I am also getting more clairvoyant....thinking thoughts that very soon show themselves to be true..mundane things...like the light is going to be green.....which is a bit clairvoyance and a bit just being familiar with the lights, but tonight as I was coming home everything was slowing me down...and I thought to myself, that's because there is going to be a police car up ahead, and I didn't really pay any attention to this thought, but when I turned into our subdivision and went around a bend....there it was...the police car! Put on the brakes, smiled and them, and luckily no lights came on. I was going a bit fast, but not all that fast......I am going to pay more attention to these thoughts. I have been having more vivid dreams recently also, and remembering them....though I only sort of remember last nights....last night's dream was wierd, distressing, hiding from aliens or someone/thing which was trying to get us, inslave us...the dream ended with hiding......think that came from a kid's sci-fi book I am reading...not sure. Just interesting to be having more vivid dreams. And until today, I have only been high raw...not 100%......imagine how things will be one week from now! I am happy to be juice feasting...I love that place it takes me to.....and I look forward to all of the cleansing and changes my body is going to be going through......love love love it! Will definitely have to take some before and after pictures. Most definitely.

Ciao bellas......
have a joyfully juicy day!
xxoxxox
Alessandra

THE STORY OF STUFF

I sent out an email to a bunch of people who happened to have gotten captured by my email site...and got one back as an autoresponse with a link to a great website and video. The video took forever to load (on my computer) but was a great video...I have to show it to my kids. It shows why we shop, and the complete picture of what our rampant consumerism does to people and the planet. Here is the link. http://www.storyofstuff.com/index.html It is called.."The Story of Stuff". Very nicely done...good for kids and adults. Makes you really think about what you/we are doing to the planet....buying 'stuff'.....throwing it away...where does it all go....yeah.....it has no where to go......and we keep throwing away more and more stuff....til soon it will literally be in our own backyards. I have felt bad about this for awhile now....hate having to throw away stuff. We throw away lots of paper and plastic....and compostable food scraps....I try to recyle the paper and plastic and glass and cans.....and plan on building a compost heap this spring....and we don't buy alot of 'stuff' we don't need....which makes it all more alarming, as we still have plenty of 'stuff' we throw out...that I can't imagine where it goes. Lots to think about, take action on.

Today was a good day. I had 1 quart of green smoothie comprised of 24 oz of orange and grapefruit juices, 2 bananas and a bunch of mixed salad greens. I have been making them in my new chainsaw blender......chainsaw as it is so loud....and then 1 quart of the MC lemonade leftover from yesterday. This lemonade is what I call dragonfire lemonade as it had a lot of cayenne in it. 1 Tablespoon of cayenne in 2 quarts of lemonade. Yowza. I find that once I am used to there being cayenne in it, I can increase the amount quite a bit. It is very cleansing to use lots of cayenne. I have been taking fiber daily....but am out of my Ultra Colon Cleanse herbal laxative capsules...I have some other ones....the ripped me off royally ones....but I don't think they are very effective.

Today was a good day because I have stayed 100% raw and because it just was. I have felt a bit off at work...as it is a bit boring, not really what I want to do, and I have been feeling that I don't want to be there....but I am not 'ready' to leave, so I can't be putting that vibe out there, so I had a good meditation on it last night when I couldn't sleep because my feet were f'ing freezing, and I came to a good place about it, about how I was feeling....as it is a good job, 'secure' if there is such a thing, nice people, and it has interesting aspects about it. Partly I have been off because I personally have just been off and partly because I really do want to do something different with my life. So, today I went in with a good attitude, lots of positive affirmations, and had a really good day. Learned how to do something that I've needed to learn but the right moment hadn't come up....got things done that I needed to get done...felt good about my interactions...the one woman who seems down on me was nice to me today.....traffic was good coming and going and just now when I went on my email to get that link, my computer said the time was 7:17 (very special numbers to me...17...7...and I had 17 new emails in my inbox....at 7:17...a wonderful synchronicity. I am calling that number to me...17,771.....yes yes yes.....

So...dinner was a yummy little pudding of a handful of cashews with a couple of tablespoons of coconut oil, a bit of apple cider (raw) and some cacao nibs...that my blender only sort of blended...I was hoping for more of an incorporated chocolate pudding but it was more like chocolate chip pudding. Then I made a bit of guacamole with 1 small avo, 2 med tomatoes, a bit of cilantro, poblano pepper, lime juice, cayenne and Mrs Dash's extra spicy seasoning. Ate that with some of my flax crackers...the green ones that taste like they were made with grass and apples....lol....they give me gas and move my bowels...that works for me, though I doubt I make these again.

You are a beautiful spirit....thank you for reading my blog.

Ciao bellas!
love and blessings
Alessandra

COO COO FOR YOUNG COCONUTS

Okay, so after the waffles I was 50-75% raw for 6 days and now I am back (today is day 4) to 100% raw. Over the weekend I had a couple of young coconuts and ooooh they were good! So full of that wonderful coconut water....nearly 2 cups in each coconut...which means there wasn't all that much meat, but that's okay. With the first one I ate a bunch of the meat, then took the rest and made a coconut pudding with the meat, some coconut oil and a bit of raw honey. Oh my. With the second coconut I used the meat like noodles and had them with some pesto. Yum yum. I have been having mostly the MC lemonade with a little bit of food. Today I had 32 oz of the lemonade with lots of cayenne, then came home and made a tomato soup with 3-4 med tomatoes (forget how many) about a cup of raw macadamias...didn't measure....almost a cup of my spicy MC lemonade and an avocado. Yum. I also added a bit of Mrs Dash's extra spicy seasoning. Ate all that with some flax crackers made by yours truly.....and I am still hungry. However it is just my stomach talking I aint' listening. May have a bit more lemonade....but no more food. um...maybe. I hate feeling hungry even if it's just my stomach talking.....detoxing....hmmm...will either have to find some distractions or feed my fool stomach. I am trying not to as I want to lose 10 pounds asap. It will greatly help my morale.

I have lost a couple of pounds....I want to lose more. Didn't go to the gym tonight as we are all fighting off a cold, and as I am semi fasting my energy is a bit low. Didn't drink that much lemonade during the day....work keeps me busy and distracted. The big challenge coming up is the weekend. I am going on a retreat with my women's chorus...will need to be prepared foodwise. Dinner time for the 'boys'.....gotta go

Ciao bellas!

LOVING ABUNDANCE

I am grateful for the lessons I am learning on my journey to becoming a Raw Goddess.........while eating those waffles did not make me feel bad in any way (physically or emotionally) they did cause me to lose my natural raw high. And I want it back. So today, so far I have had 1 quart of grapefruit/orange juice, and some of a coconut smoothie. Made with the firm meat of 1/2 a coconut, a bit of the coco water, 2 bananas, some cilantro, a mango, a kiwi and the juice of 1 lime. I've eaten maybe half of it....not really hungry. Another thing that stole my natural raw high, was finishing off the chocolate bar in my desk at work. Yes it was organic, Black & Green's or whatever, but it was cooked food. So........it's back to 100% raw 100% of the time for me. I am glad for my little sidetrip back to the cooked foods that I thought I loved so much (those waffles were truly tasty) but I am learning to re-educate not only my taste buds but my attachments as I would much rather be attached to having that natural raw high than attached to how a particular food tastes, especially when the outcome is a lowering of energy. I am a Raw Goddess and a Conscious Spiritual Being experiencing LOVING, JOYOUS, NATURAL AND SPONTANEOUS ABUNDANCE IN GIVING AND RECEIVING LOVE, WEALTH, HEALTH AND HAPPINESS.....AND IN LOVING MYSELF I OPEN MY HEART, MY MIND AND MY SOUL TO THE RICHES THAT ARE WAITING FOR ME TO RECEIVE THEM SO THAT I CAN BE RICH IN ALL WAYS, GIVNG AND RECEIVING LOVE IN ALL FORMS BEING AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE ENDLESS FLOW OF LOVE THAT IS OUR UNIVERSE.

FEELING BETTER ALL THE TIME

Today is day 18 of being nearly always 100% raw....I say nearly always as I have been, except for a few white corn chips and then this morning I made waffles, and if I must say, I make the best waffles, and I ate some with maple syrup. That was at around 10 am and it is now 7:26 pm and I am just eating again....okay, I did have a banana a couple of hours ago, but other than that..nada.
Eating the waffles with maple syrup did not have any negative effect....and I am back to raw...as I am loving it and loving the way it makes me feel. Feeling that raw bliss more and more....days where I am happy with everything and everybody, even when things don't go according to plan.

That is where I want to be....to stay. My salad has some goat feta in it...not raw....but I wanted a greek salad....and it has olives, the goat feta and sweet baby bell peppers and tomatoes and avocado and thinly sliced red onion with mixed greens and Seeds of Change Greek Feta dressing. It is delicious.

I worked out again today.....it felt good. I brought a new book I got from the library...I am loving this book.....about a woman's travels in Morroco in the late 60's along with a bunch of great recipes.....it's a great read.....I am literally devouring it ( oooh a double entendre) and there are some recipes in it that are not cooked.....I love books about food and people's lives....I find them most enjoyable. Ruth Reichel's books, Laurie Colwin.......I remember once when I had bronchitis and stayed home from school for a week, I loved watching the cooking shows on tv. The Galloping Gourmet, Julia Child....I think at the time I found her to be a bit much but now if I saw her old cooking shows I know I would find her very funny. I love food and flavors and all of it's colors and textures.........a good croissant....ohh esp a good chocolate croissant....but those are things of the past......I may indulge in one if I ever come across a really outstanding one....but I am a Raw Goddess. Those days are behind me.

I made some flax crackers today....didn't use a recipe...don't really need a recipe. Some of the flax I ground....most of it I ground and I had some ground almonds, so used those, about 1 cup of the flax seed, whole (before I ground up most of it) and then I ran some carrots, parsley, kale and 2 granny smith apples through my juicer and used the pulp and the juice, and I ground up some dulse, just some, not too much, and added that in, with a bit more water and some apple cider vinegar for contrast. I would use citrus juice but I am sharing them with a friend who can't have citrus. They are very green, the batter tasted good....I can't wait til they are ready. It made 3 trays worth....I tried to spread them thinly....I like thinner crackers. I will be a cracker factory....they are so easy to make.....never buy them again.