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)

Week 1 Day 3

According to today’s schedule, it was supposed to be a rest day. Our coach has given us the ok to do cardio or something like yoga on a rest day if we are restless. I’m used to working out 6 days a week, so I definitely went ahead and did some cardio. Because I knew that I wouldn’t be tired out from anything else, I decided to push myself with something I dislike: the stairclimber.

I managed to complete a hard 12 minutes of HIIT. I may not have liked it during the moment, but I felt so good about it after I was done. And as my husband finished working out, I was able to spend an ample amount of time stretching and working on my flexibility, something that is very important to me.

Today I had less stress than yesterday, and my meals were more timely. The only time I sensed too long of a stretch between eating was after work. I have a ton of grading to do (life of a teacher…) and so I decided to stay a little longer to get some done. I didn’t bring any extra meals with me and so I was tempted to eat those popsicles in my freezer in my room. But I managed to avoid it and waited until I got home.

The ironic part of this is that when I got home I made my fish (haddock), rice and slice of cheese. I also added a little mustard on this. My husband came home shortly after and was in a miserable state, feeling awful. He was very hungry, and unfortunately we were running out of his groceries (he has his own macros/plan) so fast food was the way we went. We ended up at Pizza Hut. And on our table was: cheese breadsticks, boneless wings, pizza, and cinnaparts. Oh that smell.

I wanted that food. It looked good. It smelled good. But in my head, I knew that wasn’t what I wanted. That food would not make me feel good. That food would not help me reach my goals. That food would definitely not help me in this competition, and so I sat, watching my husband eat that food. And guess what! I did it. I didn’t have a single bite, no matter how tempted I was!

The worst part is, the rest of that meal is sitting in our fridge. How incredibly easy and habitual is it to go to the fridge, pop open the tasty leftovers, and heat them up. Too easy. So the battle is not over yet, but I’ve already determined that I will not let food control me. I will not indulge. I have a plan. I have a goal. And that is where my focus is going to be.

I am currently finishing my bowl of frozen mango, frozen blueberries, and greek yogurt and then I shall be off to bed. Have a great night everyone.

Changing Your Diet Doesn’t Have To Be Hard

I cannot tell you how many times I’ve seen people fail with diets. In fact the very word “diet” has so many negative associations. I am 100% using the term a lifestyle change because to me, a diet is temporary thus causing temporary results. I want something more permanent, something that will change my life.

Lately, I’ve been giving advice to a cousin of mine. She has paid for every fitness/diet program that has been available in her city. Every single one of them has either left her feeling horrible, or never gave consistent results. It just seemed so hard! And who can blame her?

Most diets require you to switch your entire daily life in an instant. If you’re an avid junk food eater, try having no junk food for a week, or even a couple of days. It’s almost like quitting smoking cold turkey. For most people, it’s hard!

But it doesn’t have to be that way. What I’ve been telling my cousin to do is to switch out things in her diet slowly. So for example, one week she tried switching regular fries for baked sweet potato fries, coconut oil instead of a canola oil, Ezekiel bread instead of regular breads, and other simple switches like this. The other thing she has been doing is trying to try a new food every week. She had never tried things like avocado before. So one week, she bought a couple to try, and found out she loved it! There went all of those fatty condiments out the window.

It’s not hard, and it doesn’t have to taste bad or even bland. One comment my cousin couldn’t believe is that the food tasted so good. And what did I do? I gave her support, I gave her ideas, and I gave her suggestions about wholesome, healthy food.

I will be going after my nutrition and fitness certificates this summer. I love being involved in the fitness world and seeing the positive effects on everyone. My cousin has lost 18 lbs for the month I have been helping her, and that includes no extensive exercise, simply walking and at-home yoga or pilates if she has the chance. The main result has been diet. She’s seen improvements in her own energy, she feels better, so many good things.

If you would like to make changes in your life, and need someone to support you, let me know. I’ve been heavily involved and have tried many different styles of workouts, many different diet plans, and I would love to help you. Most often, all we need is support, and when it comes to making lifestyle changes to be healthy, you definitely have mine!

Just remember, only about 10% of success happens in the gym; 90% is the battle in the kitchen. You can do it!

Extra Tip

If you’ve never tried this before, do it! You’ll be surprised how that candy craving goes away, and how delicious your new “candy” is!