Multi-Day Mono-Juice Feasting – Healing Journey Day 7

Journal:
Wow! Today marks a week. After suffering with that awful – weird – stomach pain/aching last night, I am happy to wake up feeling good again. I slept solidly through the night, only quickly waking up once and not remember falling asleep… haha. My body was tired. What more can I say.

I woke up happy and ready to take on the day. I had a dentist appointment at 9:00 am so my morning was dedicated to getting ready. And what did I find this morning that had to go away before I went to the dentist? My tongue covered in white again. Yuck. If this really is toxins leaving my body, then my body was very toxic. Of course I’m just saying this because I’m not a professional on the subject, but the stuff looks and tastes disgusting. I don’t even have to look in the mirror to see if it’s there. I can taste it. It’s not good. So before the dentist started getting too inquisitive, the tongue had to be scraped off and brushed. I haven’t really told anybody around me about my healing journey. I’d rather them see the results and ask themselves, just not the yucky results like a white-covered tongue.

After I got dressed, I did my usual check in the mirror. Believe it or not, I had to stop myself. I’m wearing yoga pants with a tank top and a light cardigan-type thing over top, and for once in absolute months, I did not have to adjust my pants to hide my stomach just the right way. Yes, clearly I’m still overweight, but my stomach fat is not as bloated as it used to be. It almost looked flat from a head-on view. I have the worst self-image so this is a huge thing for me. When I weighed my lightest a few years ago – coming in at 129 lbs – I still looked in the mirror and saw fat. I liked my face at the time and the leanness around my neck/collarbone, but I carry my fat in my stomach (it’s the last to go) and so I couldn’t help but still see how fat I was in the mirror. Having bad self-image is a plague, it really is. But becoming vegan has helped me realize I need to focus on my health first and then everything else will fall into place. And this journey has only helped solidify that way of thinking. So today, I celebrated… with apple juice.

Yes. Today is day 2 of 3 that I am having only pure apple juice.By doing this, I am being easy on my body as it adjusts to having an energy source available again. My body doesn’t have to work on figuring out how to digest many different kinds of sources, it only has to figure out the one making it a much easier process. There’s no confusion, my stomach acids can settle in one place to digest the one ingredient. It’s the absolute easiest way you can come back from fasting.

My dentist appointment went well. I hate getting cleanings done. I really do. Every single time they always ask me if I floss, but it honestly is a part of my nightly hygiene routine to floss. I know that teeth can also have hereditary issues, so perhaps I’ve inherited my father’s awful teeth. But either way, aside from getting more regular cleanings, I’m not sure what to do. If you have any tips, definitely leave them below.

Aside from the regular cleaning, they reviewed a tooth that was supposed to be on watch from two years ago. I had completely forgotten about this. Underneath a filling from 10+ years ago, I had a spot forming that they couldn’t confirm two years ago as it would have required them to take out the filling to inspect. It was very small. Today, according to my x-rays, the spot has gotten a little bigger. Not hugely, but it is bigger. It now can be confirmed as a cavity. Again, since it’s under my filling, it’s going to require taking out my old filling, fixing it, then refilling again. Now, I’ve been looking into healing cavities naturally, and I believe it can be done. But when the dentist told me that if it grows more that it will get to my root (and showed me on the x-ray) that it will require a root canal and not just a filling. I have to admit, a root canal scares me. So against my better wishes, I have an appointment again for next week to have the cavity fixed. I had really bad teeth when I was younger (no doubt related to the way we were allowed to eat) and had many cavities all the time, so having one cavity in two years that honestly already existed before isn’t so bad. It’s progress. I’ve only been vegan for 1 year and even so did not eat healthy all the time. So now I know better what to do and I honestly can’t be eating any healthier than I have been this past week and it’s going to continue for quite some time.

I didn’t do a whole lot after the dentist appointment. I did go grocery shopping with my housemate/friend. The possibility of buying so much food was there, but yet again, I made it through with no mishaps. I was also invited to another free corn boil to which – this time – I declined. Not because I didn’t want to be tempted, but because I knew it was going to get cold again at night and I just didn’t want to be outside for a few hours in the cold. Really it was just personal choice. Plus, the main purpose to be there is to eat and if I’m not going to be eating, then there is less of a reason to go. This really was an event for the students of our school (the older ones that I don’t teach) so it wasn’t like I was denying a true social event with friends.

What did I drink today? As I mentioned above, apple juice again; the same kind I drank yesterday. However, I only consumed about 3-3.25 L compared to the ~3.75L I drank the previous day. I do have a sneaking suspicion that the quality of this Simply Apple juice is not quite the same as the organic ones I bought and may actually be the reason for some extra not-good feelings in my stomach. Time will tell.

Review of Symptoms:
Stomach still acted up throughout the day, always getting worse in the evening. Acne seemed to have a little less “tiny bumps” than yesterday. Otherwise, it seemed to be around the same. Stomach was looking a little less bloated. Tongue was covered in white “gunk” again that needed to be scraped.

Weight at the end of the day = 179.8 lbs (down a total of 9 lbs in 6 days)

Total Calories = 1326 (99% carbs, 0% fat, 1% protein)

When It All Takes An Interesting Turn…

I wrote last night about all the appointments I’ve been to lately and all the things I’m finding out. But I don’t think I was quite ready for this morning’s appointment. It took an interesting turn.

This morning was my first non-accident related physiotherapy appointment. I simply was going for assistance in my flexibility in the single direction of bending to touch my toes or sitting at a proper 90 degree angle. I can’t do it. I’ve been working on stretching and rolling for the last year or more and have seen no progress. In fact sometimes, I’ve regressed. So I’m doing what I can to get help.

The physiotherapist was very nice. She was actually a stand-in for whom will be my permanent therapist. What she found out is that I pivot around one certain spot on my lower back, that my hamstrings are incredibly tight which is unusual for someone of my age, that my right side is way worse than my left side, that my pelvis was a little twisted, as well as confirmed some of the same things that my chiropractor had already said. But the worse was something I had a problem dealing with, and it was this: Scoliosis.

When you hear just that word, it hits hard. Never in my life would I have ever thought I had a condition such as scoliosis. But what I really had to let sink in was that she said it was a SLIGHT scoliosis that may be fixable. Her assumption is that I have developed it and have not always had it, thus making it much less serious and much easier to fix.

The Physio did a lot of manual work, twist, popping, pressing, etc… It wasn’t the most comfortable thing I’ve ever had done, in fact it was quite painful at times. But it was then followed up with heat and shock therapy and I left with an exercise to practice to try and balance out my left and right side. I also have a request for x-rays of my entire back for her to examine.

Of course, by the time I went to my chiropractor appointment later on, my neck was a mess, my jaw area was a mess from the dental work the day before, but my lower back looked awesome; physio worked hard!

Sometimes we pass off little things as NOTHING. For my entire life, my mother and grandmother have been telling me to fix my posture, and I always hated gym class or much physical activity. I never started looking into health and fitness until university and only serious into fitness since my final year of university. That means I have years of bad posture and avoiding doctors and any problems I thought I may have and let them build on themselves to the point I am now.

Guys, get everything checked out. I mean, you can tell the difference between something that’s actually not right and something that probably isn’t that bad, but seriously, watch your body and judge appropriately. If something doesn’t seem right, go get it looked at. You never know what your ignorance may cause. My hope right now is that I really don’t have scoliosis or that if I do have it, that it can be reversed and maybe someday I’ll have the privilege to at least bend over and touch my toes or sit at a 90 degree angle. Yes, it’s something simple, but it’s something I’ve watched all of my family and so many other people do easily. I just want my body to move freely and I want to see progress. It’s so frustrating to go through so much discomfort, pushing yourself to just reach a little further and somedays being able to reach far less than you could the day before. It’s time to be fixed, and whether it’s scoliosis or not, I refuse to let that determine my reflection of myself. I’m determined to beat this, whatever it may be and I’m determined to do it the best I can with the help I need. No more avoiding doctors, no more avoiding things because of fear or pain. I’m going to get it done before it gets worse.

Do what you can people! Keep your body in the best shape you can because you only get one body, and you’re going to need it your entire life! And if you’ve got some time, send a little prayer that the doctors and I will figure out what’s really going on and be able to fix it.

Thanks guys. Hope you have a great weekend!