juice fast: day 3

today was busy but i am still feeling really good, mentally. physically, all my muscles are sore and feel tired, as if i had a hard workout but then didn't eat enough afterwards. i am also having a bit of trouble sleeping, slight headaches, and an occasional light-headed feeling. oh, detox... what a love-hate relationship we share.

i've had three delicious juices today: a simple carrot and apple based one for breakfast; a replica of my current fave juice for lunch; then a delicious beet pink juice for dinner. i'll have some tea later and maybe some prune juice (the soak water from prunes).

admire the lovely bouquet my mother made from our garden plants in celebration of the fall season. oooh boy do i love the colours of fall. the trees in our city are just mesmerizing and i cannot help stopping what i am doing and taking a breath (and moment) to appreciate the glorious and elegant universe we are blessed to live in. PLUS i have the best juicer ever. what more can a girl ask for?

i spent most of today driving around with la copine and all his belongings, helping him move into his new place. exciting! then i had to watch my whole family eat sushi - GRR. oh well. i was PERFECTLY satisfied drinking my beet juice... yum? 

but seriously, it wasn't that bad. yes, my brain was telling me to dig into those heavier calories but my mind knew i didn't need to and that in the long run continuing on this juice fast will be best. it's all about remembering the big picture. if you do - fasting is easy! especially when you get to drink delicious and luscious beet juice on a daily basis...

 earthy tones beet juice: serves one or two

4 beets
3 carrots
1 apple
1 orange
1/2 cucumber
1 bell pepper
4 pineapple slices

peel, slice and cut as needed. juice it up and drink it down. 

chocolate coffee face mask

i've had the worst sleeping hours lately and because of it i have been suffering deprivation symptoms - puffy face, baggy eyes, messed up digestion, and just being really frickin tired but not being able to fall asleep. SO I FINALLY DID SOMETHING ABOUT. i made this glorious, delicious, chocolate coffee face mask, adapted from crunchy betty. here it is on my face. laugh at me.

chocolate coffee face mask: makes enough for one face... aaaand a snack

2 tablespoons freshly, finely ground organic coffee
2 tablespoons cacao/cocoa powder
water/fresh almond milk, as needed

mix the coffee and cacao together and add water until it's a good face mask consistency. you want it sticky but easy to spread. smear all that goodness onto your gorgeous face and gobble up the leftovers in the bowl! yum! i don't even like coffee... let it stay on for around 15 or 20 minutes. rinse it off gently with warm water.

P.S. this is a lovely song that i am obsessed with currently. you'll probably think it's weird but i hope you like.

10 day juice fast: day 5

so far i'm feeling alright today. i slept for like 12 hours last night without waking up... i arose at 2 PM and couldn't believe the time. i'm house and dog sitting for friends this week, beginning today, so i promptly ran over there and walked the puppies.

actually, i should say ran.

i started feeling pretty light-headed and knew i needed to make some juice fast. it was made of:

2 slices pinapple
chunk of ginger
4 carrots
1 apple
1 orange
1 grapefruit
huge handful of kale
handful of strawberries
1 kiwi

yummmmm. i needed sugar. 

then i did some stuff on the computer and off i went to get groceries. i ran out of cucumber, bell peppers, tomatoes and celery the second day of the juice fast, so it was nice to finally buy some. i think i'll make some more juice soon because i'm feeling pretty tired. i walked to the grocery store as well. i probably just haven't gotten enough calories today.

*passing of time* i just had my juice for dinner and i still feel pretty tired. i thought maybe it was just because my blood sugar was low or something but i didn't even want to drink or eat anything. i left most of juice in the fridge. maybe i'll drink it later. i think i'm gonna watch some movies tonight then go to bed early. maybe this is finally some signs of detox?

anyway - my second juice was:

1 cup of strawberries
1 kiwi
3 sticks celery
1 grapefruit
1 orange
1/2 field cucumber
1 tomato
chunk ginger
1 apple

here's a good post about the benefits of juice fasting that i think is fairly accurate, intuitive and thorough.

and this is a PDF file that i also think is informative, about the same topic.

finally this is a review-type post about a new raw food book called "raw and beyond" by Victoria Boutenko, Elaina Love, and Chad Sarno (all well known and respected raw food proponents). the thing that is different about this book is that it talks about why an 80% raw diet is ideal, instead of a 100% raw food diet. the authors all used to praise and follow a totally raw diet, but now they have come to have a new opinion. i might have to agree.

when you first go raw, you feel amazing and might never want to eat cooked food again. you begin to strive to reach and keep that 100%. but as many of us have learned - 100% might not be best. i suggest reading the book to learn more. i'm going to as soon as it hits my library. having said all that - a mainly raw diet, with some lightly cooked whole plant foods is pretty much fool-proof for everyone.