Friday, July 11, 2008

Seven Eleven

First things first, I would like to wish a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my precious husband, GORDON today!! Although not a professing raw foodist, my husband IS a saint on this earth. God truly blessed me over 5 yrs. ago by sending him to me straight from heaven. Other than snoring, the telling of real stupid jokes and his quarterly manic cleaning tangents, he's perfect. I love you so very much, Gordy. Thank you for making everyday a holiday.

Now to address a question that has been sent to me several times over the past few weeks:
"Regarding your recent juice feast, do you have any specific things that you might have done differently (if anything?) before, during or after juice feasting?"
Let me start by saying, I intentionally tried to stay very positive and up during my juice feast and throughout my postings here on the blog. I knew that I had a good number of people reading and I had read other blogs that seemed too negative regarding detoxing or other personal issues. I was fortunate because I had already done some cleansing work leading up to my feast, my symptoms were never all that bad. My goal was always to encourage others because I believed, and still do, that juicing is the quick road to renewed health, alkalinizing, and to helping to totally reset your body's cellular memory and overall force field.

One thing I regret is that I didn't exercise much. Other than jumping on my rebounder, doing occasional yoga classes and a bit of brisk walking, I wasn't consistently active. My intention was to do some form of exercise daily, but that didn't always happen. If I could go back, I would do more because I think I'd have saved some muscle loss. I DID lose just under 30 pounds in 92 days, but I had 50 pounds to lose. I'd have probably seen more consistent results if I'd made exercise a priority.

The only other thing I would do differently, is that I would have ended my juice feast earlier. Probably at about day 60 or 70. I pushed myself, as if I were in a fierce personal competition. My body started revolting a bit around day 70 -75 but I white knuckled it through to day 92. Once I got past day 60, I didn't lose one pound or experience any noticible cleansing/healing benefits. I think that should have been my personal stopping point, but I just wanted to lose all of my extra weight, so I pushed. Through that experience, I learned to listen to my body. If you are juice feasting and you start seriously jonesing for food three days in a row, even when you're taking in plenty of juice, you're probably done. Also, when you get into prolonged anxiety with your juicing program and it becomes an overwhelming chore, you're probably not going to reap the benefits. So both of those are good indicators that it's a good time to move to a modified juice feast.

I'm actually starting a modified juice program tomorrow. (Once I get past my husband's birthday celebration tonight!) I am going to be doing a green smoothie for breakfast, a salad or green juice for lunch and then a green juice or normal (primarily raw) meal for dinner, depending on what my social schedule dictates. My goal is to get 64 oz., or half a liter, of green based liquid into my body everyday plus one luscious green salad. Anything else will just be extra fluff.

There are two reasons for this switch in diet right now; one is that I have gained 6ish pounds back since I quit juicing. I'll never forget my brother in law telling me that my nephew is following my blog because he's pretty sure that once I go off juice, I'm going to blow up again. You have to understand our sick family sense of humor to know that Ryan's comment didn't offend me at all. On the contrary, it motivates me all the more to stay on track and to not veer too far from the path I have set myself upon. I'll most likely be thanking that hip, skinny kid the next time I see him. Then secondly, I just feel so much better mentally, physically and spiritually when I keep my diet juicy and light. Although I was careful to ease back into solids, I've dabbled in all sorts of foods since going off juice. I am a foodie to the core, so it's really easy for me to taste a bite of this and that. I've been having tons of fun dehydrating again, hosting meetups at my house and making loads of gourmet raw food. You know I'm tasting everything as I go. For me, it all adds up, and adds up fast.

So tomorrow, I'm going to get a little more juicy again and I am so looking forward to it. I'm also signed up for Bunny Berry's 100 Day Raw Food Challenge that starts August 1st. Bunny inspires me and makes me laugh. Any diet or lifestyle has to be enjoyable or what's the point? Life is short and I want to live it to the fullest. More tomorrow.....Happy Friday and Happy Birthday Gordon!!

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday Gordon!!!

Hey Penni, thank you for this post. I think it's so important people listen to their bodies. I guess sometimes we just get caught up in the competition thing and tune our bodies out. I am joining you and Bunny Berry in the 100 day Raw Food Challenge but I have been trying not to think of it as a "challenge" but as a nourishing, fun journey. I'm trying not to bring stress into it at all. Best wishes to you on your new journey and please keep us posted.
Hugs...Melissa

Linda Salas said...

I love this post penni, it truly resonates with my experience, almost word by word... so cool!
HappyBday to your hub! I hopw you celebrate a lot!

XOXOXO

HiHoRosie said...

Happy birthday to Gordon!! *<:-D

Thanks for your thoughtful post. Definitely good things to keep in mind if I dare to do a JF someday. They really are valuable tips your provided.

Enjoy the celebration, the weekend and juice!

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday Gordon!

And what a lovely couple you make :-) Penni you are radiant!!!

Melissa Sokulski said...

Happy Birthday to Gordon!
Penni, that is just what I am doing with my diet right now! I've also gained back some weight after my juice feast. I have been having (at least one) green smoothie a day for a couple weeks now...I love it! You can sign up for a 14-day green smoothie challenge (I think it's www.greensmoothiechallenge.org) and you get amazing inspirational daily emails with lots of great recipes and words of wisdom (from people like Victoria Boutenko.) Anyway, best of luck, and I really enjoy your blog, as always.
~ Melissa

Lisa (Pixywinks) said...

Happy Birthday to Gordon (that's my dog's middle name too, BTW)!

Thanks for this post about your JF. I was really sad when I suddenly had to stop at day 74, but now I'm glad I did. I didn't exercise any during my JF either. I just found it too overwhelming to try to fit in juicing, working, working out. I just did as much as I could do and that had to be good enough.

I was happy that I found yoga afterwards and I'm really enjoying it. I think the JF helped me to lose enough weight and made me feel more energetic so I actually FELT like doing some physical activity.

I've been lucky not to gain any weight back except for 2-3 fluctuating pounds that I'm not worried about. The yoga might be helping with that. I dunno.

Great post tho. I love all the recipes you post. I wish I could have dinner at your house every night. You are def more creative than me in the kitchen!

XO
Pixy Lisa

MeloMeals said...

I've been drinking at least a quart of green smoothies and they make all the difference!

I love your blog!

I relate to so much of what you write...

Linda in the Raw said...

Happy B-Day Gordon!! I saw that you were in Austin, I'm glad you loved it here! I know I do!!

I live about 10min from SoCo so next time you're going to be in town let me know, there is a new raw cafe going opening this fall!!!

xoxo

Fatma said...

I don't know who is worse... the stupid brother-in-law or the stupid kid! Sorry about that. I'll knock their pointed little heads together for you. Love, the wife and mother of the two of them

R. Patrick Shelton said...

Ryan here,
I never said that.
Larry is full of you-know-what.

Love,
the hip skinny kid (ryan)

Carrie Nicole said...

Happy Birthday to Gordon!

Thank you for such a great post, it really inspired me to do what I've been needing to do, kick the juicing up a notch. When I don't, I eat ick foods. When I start my day with juice and have a smoothie for my snack, I stay satisfied and I stay raw!

Sending you loads of green veggie juicy vibes. Hugs!

Joanna RawTn said...

Love to love you baby... Random, I know. I just love ya! You inspire me so much. Can't wait to meet you someday. :D
Rawtn
xoxo

jessica said...

happy belated bday to gordon. such sweet things you say penni. a positive person you are....love that.