Multi-Day Mono-Juice Feasting – Healing Journey Day 8

Journal:

I am really enjoying my mornings. I always wake up feeling so good and didn’t even wake up once last night. It’s so nice to feel “normal.”

Today is my last day to consume apple juice. Although I have found that it is much easier to survive off of juice than I thought, I am getting tired of apple juice. I’m ready to try something else. That being said, today I changed my apple juice. I officially begin my organic juices today. Here is a picture of what I drank today:

Now, let me pause and discuss my thoughts here for a moment. This juice was physically easier on my stomach than the Simply Apple. I’m telling you people, it pays to buy the organic, small-company, pressed juices. The best is to do it fresh yourself, but if you’re in a situation like I am and that just isn’t possible, then this is second best. Upon researching the full process that Simply Apple uses, they separate things in the apple juice then fuse them back together. Here is an article from the Chicagoist that explains the process they use in their orange juice for your personal consideration:

http://chicagoist.com/2013/02/10/simply_orange_is_anything_but.php

So today, I got up, got ready and went to church. Yes, the tongue needed scraped again. This is an unpleasant side effect; I’m not going to lie. Everyday having the same bad taste in your mouth is terrible. Luckily enough, it is easy to fix through scraping so I have to remember that it could be a lot worse.

Today’s church service was a dedication to our school and the staff within it; it was wonderful. It’s nice to be uplifted, prayed for, and appreciated.

After church, I knew there would be a potluck. I drove with my housemates and packed a bottle of apple juice just incase they wanted to stay. They did, which was absolutely fine (though the smell of amazing vegan meatballs and rice were tempting). I stuck with feeding the baby (he’s becoming an excellent time-filler) and drinking my apple juice. Honestly, I didn’t take enough apple juice (note that for future reference). But since hunger and I aren’t that distant of friends, I was able to hold off until we came home.

I honestly did NOTHING the rest of the day. I stayed home, drank apple juice, rested, and at 8:00 pm (after Sabbath) watched The Olympia. It’s a tradition that my husband and I watch it every year.

So even though I did nothing, I do think I figured something important out. I think the bulk of my stomach discomfort is coming from the fact that I “think” I’m hungry and I drink more juice. I haven’t been drinking much water because I know there is water content in the juice. But I seriously think that even though I’m consuming very reasonable calories still, I need to break up my juice drinking. I don’t think my body is ready to digest all of those calories yet though I want to make sure I’m not consuming too little calories that I’m feeling weak again. The reason I am thinking this is simply because as the night went on, I had a determination to finish that jug of juice. I paid roughly $15 just for that jug and didn’t want to waste any of it. But the more I tried to finish in the evening, the more “blocked” my throat and stomach began to feel. The more I tried to finish, the more of that acid reflux/heartburn feeling I was getting. The more I tried to finish, the more unsettled my stomach was becoming. So sadly, I backed off and did not finish the whole thing. Slightly less than 2 cups of juice remained but I just wasn’t willing to suffer for it. So with my decision made, I went to bed.

Review of Symptoms:
– Tongue covered in white again; needed scraped.
– Acne slightly more subtle.
– Felt true hunger again today.
– Slept through the night last night.
– Figured out that I may be forcing myself to drink too much juice which is causing the upset in the evenings.

Weight at the end of the day = 181 lbs (up 1.2 lbs from yesterday)

Total Calories = 1856 (100% carbs, 0% fat, 0% protein)

Brutal Reality

I came across a picture not that long ago that clearly struck me as truth in a reality-awakening sense. This was the picture:

Yes, this is a strong picture. No, it is not something we would want to look at. But the very controversy of these pictures explains the reality that most people don’t understand.

Growing up, I knew I hated seal clubbing. It’s a brutal, beat-them-until-they-die way of getting some seal skin to make clothing for humans. It’s terrible. Imagine yourself, as the picture portrays, being beaten to death so you can be skinned and worn. It’s so unnecessary. We have so many clothing options and yet people prefer to pay a high price for brutality. Useless.

Growing up, I also knew I didn’t like trophy hunting. Trophy hunting is where the animal isn’t killed for its meat, but simply for its skin, a picture, and a trophy. Imagine if we were hunted for a trophy. Our lives a waste just to end up on somebody’s wall. A father or mother torn apart from their family, their friends, their herd just so you can kill them, stuff them, and put them up for your pleasure. Awful.

Growing up, it made me sick to think about bullfighting. What humans enjoy watching animals be injured, suffer and be killed for fun? It’s such a brutal, painful, slow death I could never stand the thought of it. And people enjoy this!! It used to make me so mad as a kid. So as the picture describes, imagine that everyone came to watch you die a slow and painful death. And just when you were on the brink of barely having a reason to live anymore, confused as to why these people would cause you so much harm, they finish you off. The last moments of the animal’s life was the cruelest it could have ever imagined. And humans enjoy this. Disgusting.

The one thing I didn’t connect growing up was the very fact of wearing fur. Of course fur is beautiful… it’s gorgeous! But it isn’t ours. And yes, you may think that the animal is killed for other reasons and then the skin has to be used, but that’s not how it is. Most of the animals who are trapped for their skins aren’t even dead when they are skinned. Meaning they are fully conscious of the skin being ripped of their very bodies all so you can wear something “fashionable”. I know there were some natives (in history) who used to scalp people. Go ask them how that turned out. The thing is, you won’t be able to because they’re dead. Just as humans can’t live without their skin, neither can animals. Instead, humans don’t care about the animals and gladly wear their bodies, their brutal death around. Terrible.

The thing is, humanity has become so blind. And though it’s not entirely our fault, a large portion of it is. The meat industry, dairy industry, egg industry, fish industry, fashion industry and entertainment industries have caused us to think so blindly. They regularly lie and hide things they don’t want you to know. But it’s on our part to do the research, to investigate what really happens. The Internet is huge. Documentaries are everywhere. What excuse do you have?

From now on, before you make the choice to buy (or not buy) animal products, do your research. I can honestly tell you the safest bet is to avoid all animal products. By avoiding all of them, you can ensure you are not contributing to the cruelty. If you already have these products, it’s up to you to decide what to do. The damage has been done and you can’t take it back. But you can decide who your future dollars are going to fund. It comes down to one simple choice: Will you pay for the cruelty to continue, or will you pay for the humane choices to thrive? Every dollar being avoided towards cruelty is another step in showing those industries we don’t want their services anymore. What will your decision be?