Juice Feast DAY 6

Hi,

Morning blood sugar: 116 -- pretty good for me

I have noticed a couple of good things going on today. First, I checked my feet and ankles this morning and they seem to be nearly normal. There is very little edema today and I did not take a diuretic to accomplish this. It seems that juicing takes care of it, somehow. The first stand up of the morning was a whole lot less painful, too. My back is not bothering me as much -- Thank God!!

I did a session in the outdoor pool yesterday which may have helped the back pain, but I think the solo vegetables and fruit juicing is having a good effect in that department, too. My thighs seem to be minorly sore -- any more and I would call the sensation "pain," but it really is very minimal and is more like "consciousness" of my thighs which I normally do not experience. This tells me that some of the things I did in the pool did have some effect on my thighs. Mostly I was trying out going sideways in the water (not swimming, more like walking) to see if I could strengthen my inner thighs.

I did pay more conscious attention to the core muscles, too. My physical therapist has shown me that if I tighten up the lowest abdominal muscles it straightens my back and neck. It seems that my posture corrects itself by that momentary tightening of the lowest abdominal muscles. The effect seems almost miraculous. She has said that I need to be flexing those muscles all day long, whenever it occurs to me to do it. I've been doing that and finding that the muscles get fatigued at some point, so I have to back off and rest them, then start doing it again, later. She also showed me that when I stand up, flexing those muscles takes some of the strain off of the back, making it somewhat easier to go from sitting to standing. The thing is, you have to remember to do it. I'm glad to be back in therapy where I am learning some things about my body and how to treat it.

Last night I made more juice than I could consume so I put the excess in a jar in the fridge and had it for breakfast. It was kind of nice to have it ready to go, like that. The only problem with that idea is that the enzymes and vitamins get depleted over a very short time. Experts suggest that you put the left over juice in a bottle without too much air at the top, because the air causes oxidation. Unfortunately I don't really have any bottles of those small sizes. One guy recommended adding a little water to bring the juice to the top of the jar. Good idea.

Adding water to the juice will also dampen down the flavor if you have accidentally concocted a recipe that is hard to drink because of, say, too much garlic, or a vegetable flavor that is not so appealing to the taste buds. Adding apple helps, too, but I need to be a little careful with the fruits, so adding water, and a little salt or herbs can also doctor a flavor. I've begun to think of those flavors as "healthy." I hate to waste some perfectly good nutrition because it does not tantalize my taste buds, so "healthy" seems a good name for that kind of a flavor.

Some of my favorite juice flavors are from celery and beets. Oddly, I don't really care for the lemon or lime flavors because they seem to overpower everything else, but they are refreshing some times. Lemon and lime don't have much fructose in them, so that makes them ideal for the diabetic -- or for those who suffer from gout. Some other fruits that are low in fructose (that I have not tried to juice, yet) are: cranberries, passion fruit, prunes (fresh, not dried), apricot, guava, Deglet Noor dates (fresh, not dried), and raspberries. Cantaloupe would fit in that category, also. These all contain less than or equal to about three grams of fructose, if the fruit is either medium sized, or will fit in a cup. Two medium guava contain 2.2 grams of fructose. One eighth of a medium cantaloupe contains 2.8 grams of fructose. Half of an apple has about 4.75 grams of fructose. Quantity makes a difference.

One thing that has been a little surprising to me is that I sometimes actually do have leftovers. Can you imagine, left over juice? I will just get to a point and stop, not wanting any more. This is new for me. When I am eating the SAD diet, I can consume whatever is put in front of me, and sometimes more. This idea of juicing and having leftovers is a new experience for me. I know that may sound odd to some people, but a food addiction is about getting more and more and more. I have previously explained what I call "the eating machine" but juicing fresh raw vegetables with a little fruit seems to be a whole new ball game. Nice!!

This is kind of amazing to me. It seems that appetite is related to the composition of your diet. You can control your appetite by eating more fresh raw veggies and fruit. When I am eating processed foods which tend to be very carbohydrate rich my appetite becomes much harder to satisfy. That means, to me, that eating processed and high carbohydrate foods causes you to want more and more of them. I think dairy may fit in this category, also, because I had begun to notice that I binge on cheese and cottage cheese and yogurt if I have them in the house. They do not satisfy my appetite.

If fact, it seems that if you are consuming fresh raw vegetables and fruit, you don't have to CONTROL your appetite. It just seems to get satisfied and you move on to other things. On my first day on the juice fast (I had not changed the name, yet) I got hungry very often. I must have had to make a juice about every two hours, but the next day, my personal experience of it changed. I no longer had to have something every two hours. I did not pay attention to the clock, but the time span between increased, and the actual number of times I had to make a juice, just naturally reduced.

As I continued on the fast my appetite became what I have read about as being "normal." Frankly, folks, I had never ever experienced that before. I have been a food addict since I was a small child. I remember my mother remarking on the number of bowls that were lined up beside my bed because I would have to eat something before going to sleep and after I had had my bowl of cereal or pasta or whatever, I would put the bowl on the floor, turn over, and go to sleep. I was never a tidy person so I would leave the bowls there, and after a few days there would be a row of them by my bed. If my mother could not find her dishes, she knew they would be next to my bed. I was always hungry and never had to be forced to "clean my plate."

I remember going to parties and hanging out by the food all night long. I did not go to mingle with friends, I went to find out what they were serving. I've often been embarrassed by these, and other similar behaviors, thinking there was something wrong with me, but the truth seems to be that my body was out of balance from having a diet of grains, and potatoes, casseroles, and cooked food. My mother tried to make sure we had "balanced" meals by the standard of the day. She was very conscientious and my siblings were all normal sized. I was the only one that was different. I remember her saying that I was the only pregnancy in which she gained weight, too. Perhaps, through no fault of her own, the diet that she was eating that put weight on her, also put weight on me. I was of a rather large birth weight, although I was not the largest of her babies. I think I weighed more than eight pounds when I was born.

This juice fast (feast) has really opened my eyes on the matter of appetite -- and not just "appetite" but MY APPETITE and even on "temptation." My previous experience of desiring "food" was always up close and personal. I was drawn to it like a fly to honey. I wanted to be as close to it as possible and I wanted to reach out and eat it. What I am finding happening now is that the temptation seems farther away. It is as if a space has opened up around me. There is still the temptation but it no longer seems so personal. It is about six feet away right now so it is still important for me to continue on the juice feast and continue to experience this new adventure.

I figure some people might think these descriptions are quite odd -- but there must be someone out there who knows what I am talking about. I am very happy that this is what has happened from doing this juice fast. I never actually expected it, and if I had known this was going to happen I would have had no fear to do it.

How odd that it was not obvious before. Eating God's food simply makes a difference. I had been immersed in eating manufactured food so deeply that I could not see the forest for the trees. I had tried on many occasions to incorporate more raw foods but was still combining them with my favorite hard to let go of processed foods. This is the first time I have eaten them exclusively with no grains of any kind, no starchy carbs of any kind, no dairy, and no meat -- and it is the first time I am feeling the change in how my appetite works. It is kind of nice to find out that, I, too, am "normal."

God had a purpose in creating all the many varieties of vegetables and fruits that He made. It was for man's consumption. I knew that -- but I had never really experienced that before. It had never made a real difference in my life because I was never willing to actually let go and eat only veggies and fruits for a period of time. I am also not eating any oil and/or vinegar for this time period, too. And nothing is cooked. I am still taking all the supplements my doctor told me to. I go to see her in about the first week of August and this time, she will see the kind of results that she has wanted for me. I am grateful and glad.

Doing well. Thanking God. Praising God. Grateful.

Be back soon,
Marcia