365-Day Transformation through Love Project

I have been thinking about my vision and what I would like my life to look like in the next 5 years. I can see that without taking consistent steps towards achieving this vision, I will not go as far as I could. I have carefully outlined my main goals in personal, professional, and spiritual life and listed what I can do to achieve these goals. There is a debate about whether it helps or not to set goals. I think everyone should answer this question for himself. It helps me to focus my attention on what I value the most, as I tend to think about too many things at once. Thinking about what can be done to get closer to each objective is very helpful for me as  well, because it makes me believe that the goal is realistic. I will post the vision of my ideal life for the next 5 years soon. Still need to finish a few details.

As a result of working on my vision, I came up with an exciting idea. Why not try living a life that can lead to my vision for the whole year? That makes perfect sense to me and I can't wait to start my 365-Day Transformation through Love Project. This will be my personal multi-level transformational journey. The 365 days idea comes from a Youtube user, Healing Lyme Naturally, who is on the 110th day of her 365-day juice feast today. I wanted to start on a new juice feast too, but then I thought that it is not just cleansing and detoxing my body that I want to achieve. My goal is to develop a connection with my Higher self, get to know my true self, and learn to love unconditionally myself and others. 365 days is a long enough period to introduce serious behavioral changes and embark on a journey towards a completely new life style.

I'm starting the 365-Day Transformation through Love Project tomorrow. February 18th is the full moon, and I feel that this personal quest is a culmination of all my previous efforts and a logical next step on my spiritual path. It will be instructive for all of us to see what difference a year of our life can make. I would love to share this journey with as many people as possible. Please join me on this journey at the level that you want. You can feel what you would like to introduce in your life that is consistent with your vision of yourself in the nearest future. Let's take responsibility for our life and finally start to live it fully and enjoy every moment of it!

So what kind of changes am I going to introduce in my life? My main goal is to increase the flow of Love in my life. Love is the answer to all of our questions. If we fully love ourselves, we can share this love with others and our beautiful Planet. Although juice feasting and eating raw food diet would make my body healthier, other emotional, mental, and spiritual aspects of myself need to be purified as well. My new life style, which I am going to create with you during the next 365 days, will include a transition to a natural  raw food  diet with juice feasting at the initial stages (I'll keep 92 days as a reference point, but will focus on listening to my intuition instead of counting days), introducing daily yoga practice, meditation, exercise, and creativity.

The project will have 5 main interconnected goals:

1.     Transform your body through juice feast and raw food, yoga, and exercise;

2.    Transform your emotions by developing love and compassion towards myself, others, and our  Planet;

3.    Transform your mind by reading insightful books, watching inspirational movies, and reflecting upon them;

4.    Transform your spirit by engaging in daily meditation and creative expression through photography, writing, and other forms of art;

5.     Transform your planet through appreciating it, spending time outdoors to connect with the Earth, leading a sustainable lifestyle, volunteering, and community service.

If I want to see a consistent change in all these directions, I have to spend some time every day to work on achieving each of these goals. This is an important requirement for me, because I want to work on having more balance in my life. Instead of focusing only on my body, or only on my spiritual needs, every components of myself is crucial, because they work together in unison and depend on each other. 

I should remember to have fun and enjoy the process. It is not supposed to be a torture or a sacrifice, I'm spending time to get to know myself and to connect with every part of my being. What can be more exciting and more rewarding? So I'm going to celebrate the fact that I could hear the guidance to start this project. I'm going to enjoy every moment of it. And I'm going to keep a journal of my transformational journey. 

Feel free to join me only for the juice feast, or only for meditation, or only for yoga, or daily exercise (which can be any physical activity), or join a book club and read inspirational books every day, or help your local community in any way by volunteering, or express your creative abilities using your favorite form of art. I think that combining all these activities is important for me at this stage of my personal development to become a more balanced person. You may feel that you need to focus on only one aspect for now, or forever. Let's support and respect each other's personal goals and help each other grow!

Spiritual Partnership

I liked how Gary Zukav's, the author of Spiritual Partnership: The Journey to Authentic Power and many other books, described spiritual partners in this interview. Spiritual partner is someone who helps you grow and grows with you. It is also a perfect topic to discuss on Valentine's Day!

He has posted Spiritual Partnership Guidelines on his website. I find these guidelines very useful as a daily reminder to stay focused on my spiritual growth. Many of them are so simple, but at the same time I can see how paying attention to the way I communicate with everyone and act in the world can make a difference. I am going to summarize these principles briefly below, because it helps me to think about them again. I would love if we would be each others' Spiritual Partners all the time.

1. The first step is to commit myself to making my spiritual growth my first priority. Another word that Gary uses for spiritual growth is "creating authentic power". I love this term. I think it really represents the process of self-awareness and harnessing your own power. So how can I create my authentic power? By focusing on what I can learn about myself at every moment from my reactions, emotions, thoughts, and intentions.
2. Then, I need to develop courage to overcome limiting perspectives of the frightened parts of my personality. We all have those parts that we wish to hide. Facing them, taking responsibility for them, and stepping out of the comfort zone will help to step outside of these limited beliefs about myself.
3. I need to have compassion to others and realizing that we all have these limiting beliefs. Releasing the distance I feel from anyone and being present for another are the steps involved here.
4. Finally, I need to make all my communications and action conscious and loving. To do this I need to use my intuition and set my intention before I speak or act. Acting should happen from the healthiest part of my personality. When I speak, I need to make sure that I am personal and specific rather than general and abstract. The final step is, and I love that this is the same idea I have been talking about while reading the Bhagvad Gita yesterday, releasing attachment to the outcome. If there is attachment to the outcome, or doubts, then I need to go back to Step 1 again. How cool is that? Trusting the Universe and releasing attachment to the outcome has resurfaced here as well.

Climbing Kilimanjaro and Your Vision

Daniel Dorr is "an ordinary man", who had climbed Kilimanjaro with a woman who ultimately became his wife, and then wrote a book "Kissing Kilimanjaro" about their adventures. Daniel couldn't reach the top of the mountain on his first attempt, but he didn't give up. Instead he held his vision, learned from his mistakes, and came back three year later to complete the journey. 

It is a great inspirational story for me that shows the importance of having a vision and focusing on it for motivation. I'm thinking to start juice feasting again one of these days. This time I want to enjoy the process and feel good while doing it. I also want to make it a spiritual journey more than physical, or at least as much. I want to meditate every day and really open my heart. This is easier to do when you are fasting.

Yesterday, I have watched a related Youtube video by FoodFodGirl, who talks about the importance of having vision. It often happens like this in my life - I hear the same idea  repeated in different ways from different sources. It usually means that this topic is important for me at the moment. I guess forming a vision of myself, the way I would like to be in a year or two years, may be a very useful thing to do. Her video is called: "Vision is More Important than Motivation". My interpretation of the main point of this video is that your vision should be your main motivation. If you know what kind of person you would like to become and have a clear of vision of this, then you'll know when you are about to do something that doesn't bring you closer to this vision. Here is this video too:

Reading the Bhagvad Gita: Attachments, Wisdom, and Peace

Attachments to Food

I was thinking about my attachment to delicious food. It may be one of my strongest attachments that I realize right now. Yes, I could suppress the desire to eat during the week of my juice feasting, when I only drank juices, but it was a constant battle. Why is it so important to eat what I’m used to if I know that my body will be nourished by the amount of juices I drink? It is not about feeding the body anymore, it’s about feeding the mind and the senses that crave the taste of certain food. It creates an illusion of a comfortable environment, an illusion of happiness that is based on nothing substantial. This is why it is so short-lived, and in a few hours I need to check the fridge again in hope of finding something even better-tasting. Yes, these cravings make us their slaves, but how can we master them? I can see clearly that fighting against them will not work in the long-run. Maybe we need to get to know them, study them, and learn how they arise and why. 

From Joseph Campbell to Bhagvad Gita

Yesterday, I was started again watching Joseph Campbell’s series Mythos I. I watched the first episode some time ago. He is so great! His ideas are very precious to me, because he is familiar with so many different subjects like psychology, religion, rituals, and culture. I felt inspired to start reading the Bhagvad Gita this morning and I was just blown away by its wisdom and eloquence. Many of the questions I had about addictions are answered in Chapter 2. It is so easy to read and gives clear answers to my question not in the form of instructions, which would be ineffective, but by creating an atmosphere for waking up your innate knowledge of these simple truths.

I'm reading Stephen Mitchell translation of the Bhagvad Gita.

Chapter 2: The Practice of Yoga

The Bhagvad Gita starts with a monologue of Arjuna, in which he refuses to participate in a battle and kill his enemies. Krishna gives him a lesson in response. The main part of the lesson is focused on the importance of removing attachments.      

Only the man who is unmoved

by any sensations, the wise man

indifferent to pleasure, to pain,

is fit for becoming deathless.

2.15

and being equally ready to either success or failure of any endeavor. Making the end results too important creates attachment that enslaves us and takes our energy. Krishna advises Arjuna to participate in the battle without an attachment to its outcome.      

Indifferent to gain or loss,

to victory or defeat

prepare yourself for the battle

and do not succumb to sin.

2.38

The next extract explains what is “Yoga” or “Path” and defines it as “skill in actions”. This is a very interesting part. If we focus on doing what we are doing without thinking about what we will get in return in the future, we will find ourselves fully present in the moment, and in this moment we are fully emerged in the action. It doesn’t matter what the results, because the insights that are born in the process of whole-hearted action are more important than the action itself or its results. This is so profound idea, because it basically says that it doesn’t matter which actions we participate in. Our insight grows from everything we do and we move on to the next thing. It reminds me of the thought that we are here to experience life.

You have a right to your actions,

but never to your actions’ fruits.

Act for the action’s sake.

And do not be attached to inaction.

Self-possessed, resolute, act

without any thought of results,

open to success or failure.

This equanimity is yoga.

Action is far inferior

to the yoga of insight, Arjuna.

Pitiful are those who, acting,

are attached to their action’s fruits.

The wise man lets go of all

results, whether good or bad,

and is focused on the action alone.

Yoga is skill in actions.

The wise man whose insight is firm,

relinquishing the fruits of action,

is freed from the bondage of rebirth

and attains the place beyond sorrow.

2.47-2.50

Krishna describes “a man of firm wisdom” as someone who gave up all desires and is unattached to all things.

When a man gives up all desires

that emerge from the mind, and rests

contended in the Self by the Self,

he is called a man of firm wisdom.

He whose mind is untroubled

by any misfortune, whose craving

for pleasures has disappeared,

who is free from greed, fear, anger,

who is unattached to all things,

who neither grieves nor rejoices

if good or if bad things happen –

that man is a man of firm wisdom.

2.55-2.57

This is different from someone who just refrains from indulging in certain pleasures, but still has cravings. I think this is what I experienced fully during the juice feast. 

Sense-objects fade for the abstinent,

yet the craving for them continues;

but even the craving vanishes

for someone who has seen truth.

2.59

The next question is how to achieve firm wisdom and become unattached and free? The most powerful advice that Krishna gives here is that someone who is practicing restraining his senses “should focus his whole mind on me”. It means thinking about God or Love can free us of attachments.

At first, although he continually

tries to subdue them, the turbulent

senses tear at his mind

and violently carry it away.

Restraining the senses, disciplined,

he should focus his whole mind on me;

when the senses are in his control,

that man is a man of firm wisdom.

2.60-2.61

Before engaging in this practice it is useful to realize why attachments are harmful? This will set the motivation and inspire the beginner on his Path. An interesting chain of qualities is traced out by Krishna. From attachments to sense-objects the desires are born that, in turn, can lead anger. Anger leads to confusion, confusion – weakness of memory, and finally weakness of memory impedes understanding. I was surprised to see weakness of memory as one of very important qualities to achieve understanding. I need to think about this more.

If a man keeps dwelling on sense-objects,

attachment to them arises;

from attachment, desire flares up;

from desire, anger is born;

from anger, confusion follows;

from confusion, weakness of memory;

weak-memory – weak understanding;

weak understanding – ruin.

But the man who is self-controlled,

who meets the objects of all senses

with neither craving nor aversion,

will attain serenity at last.

2.62-2.65

Conquering attachments helps to achieve concentration and gives direction to our “ship”. Concentration is important to attain wisdom, peace, and joy.

The undisciplined have no wisdom,

no one-pointed concentration;

with no concentration, no peace;

with no peace, where can joy be?

When the mind constantly runs

after the wandering senses,

it drives away wisdom, like the wind

blowing a ship off course.

2.66-2.67

Finally, Krishna describes someone who achieved peace. I like how desires are compared to rivers that flow into the sea. The man who attained wisdom and piece is filled with the energies of these desires but is “always unmoving” and focused. It is lso important that his Ego, his “I am” is dissolved in this sea and he is present in this state of “God’ bliss” always and everywhere. This is so beautiful! 

The man whom desires enter

as rivers flow into the sea,

filled yet always unmoving –

that man finds perfect peace.

Abandoning all desires,

Acting without craving, free

From all thoughts of “I” and “mine”,

That man finds utter peace.

This is the divine state, Arjuna.

Absorbed in it, everywhere, always,

even at the moment of death,

he vanishes, into God’s bliss.

2.70-2.72

I hope you enjoyed the beauty of Chapter 2 of the Bhagvad Gita. For me, it is beyond any words. I’ll keep sharing my insights with you here. I wish you a lot of wisdom and peace!

Day 7-10 February Cleanse/ Day 5-8: 92-Day Juice Feast

Okay, my juice feast is officially over. I felt a little sick after running outside last Sunday. I didn't get to the point when I would feel a lot of energy during the feast. It felt right for me to finish the juice feast. I'm proud I could do it for 8 days. Next time I will try to go longer. I am happy with the results, although most of them are hard to see. The most valuable results of this experiment for me will be a long-run change of my entire lifestyle. I won’t eat just to eat anymore and will have more control over my life. Also I got to know myself and my true preferences about food better. Many of my food cravings are determined by addictions to certain types of food. For me, these are sweets, pastries (or any food that contains wheat), and some fried food. 

Have I conquered all my addictions to food? No, but I don't feel that I should continue on the juice feast longer. I want to enjoy the process. At this point, I'm not anymore. I feel hungry all the time, even after drinking juice. So, it's time to stop here and continue my journey of exploring myself outside of the juice world. I think it will take time for my body to get used to getting its nutrition easily from healthy sources. This is a newly established habit that I'm going to maintain. 

I think going one day at a time is important, instead of counting the days to get to day # 92. This may be the reason I stopped on day 8. Enjoying the process is critical too. As long as you try forcing yourself to do it, something is wrong. Usually it's just the thought pattern that can be changed. I think I just wasn't ready for 92 days of just juice. Who knows maybe I'll go all the way one day. I really enjoyed the exploration journey. For me the beauty of it was in stepping into the unknown, testing my own abilities, and discovering my bodies hidden secrets. I already want to start again, and maybe I will soon.

Day 6: February Cleanse/ Day 4: 92-Day Juice Feast

I had a great day today. I felt that I needed to add physical activity to my schedule, because I started to feel airy and not really grounded. I have also experienced a strange feeling for the last few days, I felt that my emotions are frozen or stuck. It might be because the body is processing the change and adjusting to new type of food. Adding physical activity should help this adaptation process to happen. So I did yoga for 45 minutes and ran or jogged for about 45 minutes. It was the first time I went for a run in a long time. So, I think 2 miles is a good start. I'll keep increasing the distance every day. It felt really good. It's 9.15 pm right now and I'm a little tired. Almost ready to go to bed early. This might be a good idea too, because I want to change my schedule to go to bed and get up earlier.

My Juice for Today

Today, I made the best juice so far. I even created a delicious name for it. Here is what made is so good.

Tropical Delight

1/2 papaya

1 pineapple

2 tangerines

4 apples

3 mineolas

2 kiwis

1 lemon

strawberries, blueberries, and sweet cherries

pinch of sea salt

To minimize the loss of both the nutrients and my time, I didn't peel mineolas, tangerines, and lemon. I did peel the grapefruit. This produced quite a lot of delicious juice, about 2.5 liters. 

Sources of Inspiration: The Peace Pilgrim:

“The outer situation is always a reflection of the collective inner situation.”

~ The Peace Pilgrim

I know that it is very important to have real sources of inspiration that encourage you to be persistent on your path. One of my favorite modern-day heroes is the Peace Pilgrim – a woman, who devoted 25 years of her life to walking across country with a simple message of peace. She said: "I am a pilgrim, a wanderer. I will remain a wanderer until mankind has learned the way of peace, walking until I am given shelter, fasting until I am given food." Isn't she a great example of immense determination and inspired action for a greater cause – peace in the world?

I strongly recommend watching her interview below, even if you have heard about her life before. Her words are full of energy, enthusiasm, and wisdom. I believe, we all can learn invaluable lessons from just listening to her talk over and over. In this 20-minute interview, she talks very eloquently about everything I spent years  and years trying to grasp and still to this day couldn't fully integrate into my life. She speaks about the power of positive thinking, the importance of controlling your thoughts and living in the moment,  about how we create our life with our thoughts and much more. It’s amazing that she said all this long time ago, when all the self-help books we can enjoy now did not even exist. She didn't have the benefit of reading Eckhart Tolle or Abraham-Hicks, and she didn't watch "The Secret" movie. Her wisdom is based on her own real experience of living a compassionate life and communing with people and nature. This makes her message even more powerful. You can feel and taste her experience in her words, there is so much integrity, kindness, honesty, and pure intentions in them. Enjoy! 

By the way, she also talks briefly about healthy diet and how she managed to stay so energetic and alert at her age.

Part 1:

Part2:

You can download an e-book about her titled "Peace Pilgrim : Her Life and Path in Her Own Words" here.

She is a wonderful role model for all of us! For me, eating raw food or juice feasting is not just to benefit my body, it’s a way to learn to be responsible. Instead of being driven by uncontrolled cravings of processed and lifeless food, isn’t it better to take responsibility for your own health and the health of the planet. What we eat determines what is supplied by the food system. If we want our beautiful planet to be healthy, we need to take an active role and make her healthy. It will not happen magically by itself. 

We lost belief in ourselves, but it doesn’t make us less powerful. We have all the potential to change our lives in whatever direction we want. Our personal choices are not insignificant. They add up and form our collective consciousness. Do we really want to continue re-creating a monster depicted in the “Food Inc” movie? Why not spending our life on Earth productively and joyfully, instead of being slaves of our beliefs about food, work, relationships, or anything else that is limiting you? Find the thoughts that inspire you and fill you up with energy, and replace these negative beliefs that are not serving you any good with new thought patterns. 

Yes, it takes time and requires your effort, it doesn’t happen overnight. The reward is the feeling of empowerment and peace. This is exactly what the Peace Pilgrim was walking for! It is happening right now at an increasing race, her cause becomes a reality. She did the difficult part by tracing out the path for us. We just need to gratefully and joyfully follow her lead to take a lead in our lives and the life of the entire Planet.

Day 5: February Cleanse/ Day 3: 92-Day Juice Feast

Today, my day started a bit late. I woke up at 12.00 pm, which is normal after I stayed up the night before watching David Rainsohek's video's. I'm so happy that my fridge is full of fresh and organic greens, vegetables and fruits, a few boxes of clementines and lemons and a watermelon are still in the trunk. 

I'm going to post my today's post early because I may not have time later. I'm going to go shopping to get a few things I was planning to buy for a long time.

1. 12 glass Mason jars

2. soil and a pot for my plant that is dying

3. look for supplies for a kitchen garden (I need to research more about it)

4. celery (I couldn't find it in the Farmer's Market yesterday. Since it's one of the most recommended greens, I need to buy it separately.)

Then, I'll go to my monthly mantra chanting with Atlanta School of Tantra Yoga. I'm looking forward to it, because every time I went it was in incredible experience.

My Juices for Today

I started my day making about 3 liters of green vegetable juice with a lot of roots.

Root Delight
2 beets
6 carrots
3 parsnips
2 turnips
ginger root
3 cucumbers
2 tomatoes
4 squashes
4 lemons
iceberg lettuce
leeks, celery, parley, arugula, and basil
4 cloves of garlic

I added a sea salt, paprika and chili powder. I liked the juice and drank it much faster than usual. (20 minutes for 3 glasses. I don't think I will need to make more juice today, because 3 liters is  a lot for me. But we'll see.

The laxative tea I drank last night worked as intended after I finished with my juice. Now I think I'm in a cleaner state.



Here is a picture I took today of beautiful skies in Atlanta. Just to remind myself and everyone to enjoy sunshine when the weather permits.

Hot Raw Chef Contest
Make sure to vote until February 9 at HotRawChef.com to receive a free eBook of ALL the recipes that these chefs have prepared in their videos. Great recipes by the way! I only watched 4 of them so far.

Sources of Inspiration
If Penni Shelton's Raw Food Rehab is not enough for you in terms of inspiration and motivation, you might enjoy inspirational videos in The Positive World online community. Another source of inspiration and motivation that some of you may be already familiar with is Lilou Mace's 100-Day Reality Challenge.

Have a beautiful week-end!!!

Day 4: February Cleanse/ Day 2: 92-Day Juice Feast

Stayed Up Late Listening to Rainoshek’s

Yesterday, I stayed up until 5 am listening to David and Katrina on juicefeasting.com. I couldn’t stop playing their introductory videos for each of the 92-Days of the Juice Feast. Eventually, I had to stop on Day 10. There is so much wisdom in these videos!!! I would like to take in all this wisdom – from people, from the world, and from plants that are sharing their sun-created energy with us so abundantly. When I’m drinking juice I am uniting with its source – the vegetable or fruit or a collection of them, and through this energy I become closer to the Earth. Then, I slept 3 hours, got up at 8.00, made my green and fruit juices for the day and left to work at 9.00.

Announcing My New Commitment

After listening to David Rainoshek yesterday, I am completely convinced that it is very important to cleanse our body from toxins. I'm so inspired by him  and Katrina that I’m extending my 2-week juice feasting to a complete 92-day cleanse. I know it’s a big commitment, but it resonates with me a hundred percent for a number of reasons:

1. I would like to learn my body more fully. I was ignoring my physical body for many years. I never spend time taking care of it, because I thought that spiritual growth is more important, and the body is just a vehicle. Recently, I understood that this belief creates an imbalance in the body. Full spiritual enlightenment is not possible without a healthy body, and our body cannot access all available energy resources fully if a person is a spiritual infant.   
2. I want to take responsibility for everything in my life, including such an important part of it as my eating habits. What can teach responsibility better than a 92-Day Juice Feast.
3. I would like to purify myself – at the physical, emotional, and spiritual levels. The transformation will happen simultaneously on many levels, because what affects our body so deeply cannot insignificant for the rest of the complex human system.
4. I want to connect to the Earth and the Sun through consuming juices. Remembering how close we are to the planet is essential at this stage of our evolution, and plants can teach us how to do it the best.
5. I’m supporting organic and local farmers during these 92-day and beyond. If every one of us consumes only (or mostly) organic vegetables and fruits, they will become more affordable and more accessible.
6. I would like to learn everything about how to get rid of all elements and substances that poison our body and how to maintain a healthy diet when the feast is over. In the future, I would be happy to share this knowledge with everyone who feels attracted to it like I did.    

Because I started February Cleanse on February 1 with juice feasting and then broke the feast by eating dinner at a vegetarian Indian restaurant on February 2, I won’t count these two days as a part of my 92-Day Juice Feast. So from now on I will count my days on juice feasting starting from February 3. It means that I’m only on Day 2 of the 92-Day Juice Feast. Yeay! 90 days more to go. I do feel very excited about and committed to it. I’m looking forward to every day, because it is my chance to show how much I love my body and myself. Learning to love myself fully was one of my New Year Resolutions this year. I feel so happy that I’m learning about juice feasting and raw food in general.   

Resisting the First Temptation and More to Come

Right now, I don’t want to eat regular food. Sometimes when I smell something fried, like fried chicken or a burger, I remember the taste and kind of miss it, but it quickly passes away with the smell. Also I’m learning to love juices. Making delicious juices takes practice, but I’m getting better at it. Today, we had a lunch together with a few colleagues. Everybody brought their lunches with them, and I brought my fruit juice. I didn’t tell anyone about juice feasting, because nobody asked.

Next week we will have a big departmental dinner. Everybody has to attend. I was thinking that I will tell in advance that they don’t need to order a portion for me. I can bring my juice to the restaurant or just drink water with lemon. Also, I’m going to Charlotte, North Carolina on February 15. It’s going to be a big test of my commitment to myself. I was thinking that I could even pack my juicer, it’s not huge, but the plastic parts can easily break if I check-in my bag. Maybe I should consider driving for this reason., it's only a 4-hour drive and a 1-hour flight from Atlanta. I’m not sure I can find fresh juice easily there. Another option is to take honey, lemons, and cayenne pepper and stay on the master cleanse for these two days. I think it’s the easiest option. If I can find a juice bar in Charlotte, I can supplement the master cleanse drink with juice. There is always a solution to any problem.  

  

Shopping for Produce

Despite I was physically exhausted because of lack of sleep last night, my emotional state was so high that I went to the Farmers Market. My supply of greens was almost depleted, and I didn’t want to compromise my juice feast. It’s a huge grocery store that sells local  and not so local produce. The advantage this store has over Whole Foods is that it’s more affordable, and you could buy in bulk. I was happy like a child when I saw a 20-pound box of organic lemons or a 10-pound box of organic baby arugula. Unfortunately, they ran out of baby spinach boxes. Shopping has not been such a thrilling experience for a long time! I stocked up on all greens that I could find in the store and that were organic and not ridiculously expensive or small. Now, I’m looking forward for a new week of delicious juices. 

I’m going to try some greens that I have never tried in solid form, like dandelion leaves, and red chard. I bought papaya, pineapple, grapefruits and oranges, and a watermelon, which is already in a liquid form on my desk now. I could also find fresh locally grown basilik and peppermint.

My Juices for Today

I could drink much more juice today, probably about 3 liters, still less than a gallon, but I’m also a smaller person than average. During the day, I felt hungry at the grocery store, but my juice was finished. I need to buy more jars that I can take with me.  

Juice #1. I started the day with a green juice as recommended, or more precisely yellow vegetable juice. I was almost late for work in the morning and batteries in my camera died, as it always happens in the most appropriate moment. I didn't give up though, and made pictures with my phone. Technology helps us sometimes.

 

It had:

7 carrots, 

3 tomatoes, 

1 yellow pepper, 

celery, 

lemon, and 

scallion.

 

Juice # 2:

6 Granny Smith apples, 

6 tangerines, and 

2 peaches

Juice #3. When I came home, I finished my green juice and made watermelon juice with peppermint. I read on juice feasting.com that watermelon skin contains a lot of chlorophyll and we should leave as much green skin as possible. I decided to try leaving the skin on, mostly to save time. It turned out to be a very refreshing juice that is somewhere in between the fruit and green juice.   

Quick Lessons and Notes

1. I need to buy at least 8 glass mason jars.
2. I would like to change my schedule and go to bed earlier and get up at sunrise. Lack of sleep can reduce the cleansing effect of juice feasting.
3. Don't forget to chew my juice before swallowing.
4. Don't forget to breathe deeply throughout the day.
5. Eventually, I would like to introduce sungazing, meditation, yoga, and running every day.
6. Drink juice faster. I tend to drink 2 glasses in 30 minutes to 1 hour. I know that I can do it faster, because when I need to leave for work, I drink two glasses in 5 minutes. I don't think this is ideal either. Probably 15-20 minutes for 2 glasses would be okay.
7. I'm going to drink laxative tea tonight to speed up the elimination process. Today, I had 3eliminations, which is good. I felt good overall, despite the fact I slept only 3 hours. I was full of energy. I didn't buy the enema yet that David and Katrina recommend using. I can try and see how it goes. Other than that, I bought all the supplements last night and ordered a skin brush. Looking forward to start detoxing at full speed.

If you are interested in juice feasting, but not sure what to start with, go to David and Katrina Rainoshek's website juicefeasting.com and read the information they have posted there. With a one-month membership that cost $36 you can get access to hundreds of downloadable materials on nutrition, health,and different aspects of juice feasting. I love it so far. You can find this information in the books too, but it will require a lot of research. they have already walked this path before, so that we can do it the easier way right now.

I'm so excited about this, I can't even tell you! Although I have listed many reasons above, I don't fully understand why studying myself through juice feasting makes me so happy. Maybe I have a past life connection with this kind of work.

Day 3: February Cleanse

I feel so happy today! First, Penni Shelton’s book “Raw Food Cleanse” has arrived. I’m looking forward to reading it and learning more about raw cooking. So far, I’ have been juice feasting and plan to continue doing that for awhile, maybe even longer than 2 weeks I have originally envisioned. The more I learn about it, the more I want to go all the way to detoxify my body completely and clear my mind.

Also, my 30-day membership at juicefeasting.com has been activated today. Thanks, Katrina! Katrina and David Rainoshek are so inspirational. I’m listening to the videos they have created for every day of the 92-day juice fest and feel so grateful for all the work they have put into collecting and organizing materials on all aspects of juice feasting. It is invaluable and unique information that is even more helpful, because David and Katrina are true practitioners of this method. So, I have learned a lot about juice feasting and its benefits today. I will write a separate post about this in the next few days.

I have finished watching the movie “Food Inc”. I couldn’t finish it in one night, because it was too overwhelming and eye-opening. The movie reveals the secret life of our supermarkets in a powerful  way. I hope everyone of us will watch it early enough in our lives to be able to make changes tin our life styles and adjust the type of food we demand as consumers. As an economist, I can really get the idea that demand drives supply, and the more we buy organic products the more affordable they will become. Watching this movie gave a whole new meaning to my decision to eat raw (which means unprocessed) food. By doing this, we can change the stereotypes about what is a healthy diet and support local organic farmers, thus helping our planet.

Also I watched an interesting video related to the question about what we eat and what we should be eating. It’s interesting how the information that I’m reading, watching, and listening all ties up together. I love when it happens! For me, this is usually a sign that I’m on the right track, I’m in the flow. The video that I mentioned is a Google talk by a Professor of Nutrition at NYU, Marion Nestle. She has written a number of books. This talk is about one of her recent books “What to Eat”. It connects nicely with “Food Inc” movie. Marion Nestle was featured in another “scary” film "Super Size Me" and has been called "one of the nation's smartest and most influential authorities on nutrition and food policy."If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend watching it, just not when you are eating or drinking your juice.

If you would like to learn more about Marion, please go to her personal website. I downloaded the syllabus for her Nutrition in Food Studies course that seems to be very interesting. I already own one of the books on the reading list, “In Defense of Food” by Michael Pollan, and have bought two more books today, including “What to Eat” ($17 including shipping cost). If I’m doing this cleanse, I would like to learn more about nutrition to do it right and to be able to help other people later. As a scientist, I want to learn everything from A to Z, which is not always a good habit.

I could stay and work from home today. Days like this are easier in terms of making and drinking juices. Since the last green juice I made was less tasty than I wanted it to be, I decided to start with a delicious fruit juice in the morning.

I made my juice #1 from:

6 apples

blueberries

6 tangerines
2 peaches

2 lemons

This made about 4 glasses of delicious juice. Now I know that you should start with a green juice.

This juice lasted from 10.00 am till 6.00 pm.

Then I made green juice from the following ingredients:

a bunch of dill

2 large cucumbers

1 green pepper

1 yellow pepper

1 bunch of romaine lettuce

scallion

The red cabbage that you see on this picture didn’t get into my juice because I  could get enough juice without using it.



I got about 4 glasses of very green juice from these vegetables and greens. This is the greenest juice I have made so far, which is probably good for my body. It didn’t taste bad at all, but I wouldn’t say that I’m craving it at this point.

Also next to my green juice you can see Penni Shelton's book that was delivered to my door today. I’m looking forward to reading it. Penni is the one who introduced my to juice feasting and raw food. I think I will always be grateful to her for that.

My knowledge base about juice feasting made a huge leap today. Every day, I will briefly summarize what I have learned about the process, document my personal observations about how my body reacts each day, and list possible adjustments to my routine in the rubric “Quick Lessons and Notes”. It may be useful for someone who is very new to juice feasting like I am.

Quick Lessons and Notes:

1.           It’s better to start and finish your day with a green juice.
2.      I realized that I’m drinking too little juice. I was drinking about 2-2.5 quartz per day (2 liters), while David Rainoshek recommends drinking at least a gallon a day. I’m going to increase the amount of juice I drink per day so that I don’t feel hungry throughout the day. Otherwise, I’m going into a fasting mode, which is not my goal. My weight is only 95 pounds at 5.2”. So, if I want to lose any weigh, then no more than 2-3 pounds in my belly. I do want to gain muscle strength that probably can happen on juice feast if I exercise regularly.
3.      I need to buy supplements recommended on juicefeasting.com tomorrow. David suggests using many supplements, if you are on a tight budget then the three most essential supplements are spirulina, bee pollen, and MSM. You will also be fine with just juice. The supplements are supposed to help you body to get rid of toxins and rebuild. I’ll read more about each recommended product and decide which ones I’m going to use. 
4.            I will introduce skin brushing into my daily routine.
5.       Rinsing your mouth after drinking juice may be a good idea to protect your teeth.  
6.      The most important green produce to use every day in a juice are kale, celery, and cucumbers. Other than that you can add any ingredients you like and aim for larger variety.
7.       I’m running out of vegetables and fruits rather quickly, although I was making less juice per day that I should have. It means I need to take it into account while shopping.
8.      I consider going to a local farmer’s market when I can and look for an affordable and convenient in terms of delivery/pick-up location CSA program. This can potentially save money, but the main factor for me is that these vegetables, greens, and fruits will be locally grown which mean fresher.
9.       I need to take a before picture of myself tomorrow.
10.       Here is a link to the website that has a lot of information on supplements.
11.       Chewing your juice will help digestion and enrich it with enzymes.
12.       Drinking enough water is crucial for diffusion or dilution of toxins, so that they are eliminated without getting absorbed back into the system.
13.       Breathing deep will help to clean the lungs. This will happen naturally during a work-out, yoga, tai chi, qi gong, or pranayama exercise.

This is all for today. I’m drinking peppermint tea before going to bed, and my last note to myself is to try to go to bed earlier, because night time is when the body is doing its most important cleaning and restoring work.