Wedding Extravaganza

This weekend's wedding with Banana Man and his friends from high school days!

I'm pinching Banana Man's bottom in this picture ;)

.

.

We had such a great time. I love weddings!

.

Eating has been such a fun experiment for me lately. I am enjoying early meals (dinner for breakfast) and simple salads with fresh squeezed lemon juice. There is so much amazing fruit available right now. This afternoon we munched on delicious golden rasperries and watermelon juice! I'm trying to incorporate priciples from Dr. Doug Grahm's 80/10/10 and Tanya Zafasta's Quantum Eating. This boils down to low fat, lot's of fruit, minimal salt, fresh local greens, and consuming the majority of food early in the day (before 2pm) during peak digestion cycles. I'll get more specific in the next post. I'm just playing around with things a bit right now.

Learn and Grow

.

Tuesday afternoon at the Daily Juice sipping on cucumber mint juice.

Banana Man and I spent the day riding around town on our bikes visiting the public library, the state museum and the Daily Juice. I felt like a kid again and look forward to many more bike days!

.

I juiced on Tuesday and Wednesday and I really feel like that was the key for me to press the 'reset' button. The power of juice feasting!! Banana Man and I also ordered a new juicer from discountjuicer.com check out the site if you haven't already. They have a wonderful section dedicated to helping you chose the best juicer for your needs. We ended up with the Omega 8005. Looking very forward to it's arrival as we've been doing the vitamix blend & strain method for quite sometime now.

.

I look back on all the mornings I woke up at 6am to blend and strain quarts upon quarts of juices for the day. WOW I can't believe I did that for 65 days!

.

I was pretty down in my last post but I am making a conscious effort to enter each day with enthusiasm and a positive outlook, not just about life but about myself as well. Every mistake is a chance to learn and grow.

.

Lost

I'm not really sure where to begin. I feel lost, uneasy, uncertain, nervous, disappointed, defeated... There is so much internal NOISE.

Forget affirmations, maybe I should try just being civil to myself. I am exhausted after days upon days of mental beatings. To tell you all the truth, I've not gone about the juice feast breaking protocol properly and I've had hell to pay for it. There is a juice feast breaking protocol for a reason! I guess I got so wrapped up in the hype of banana man's return that I threw reason out the window and decided to do things my own way. That was a stupid decision! I am paying for my mistakes now. I feel so uncomfortable, easily angry and irritated and I know all of it comes from a body in shock from working quadruple overtime.

I am really very disappointed in myself. I juiced for 65 days and then in two weeks have wreaked such havoc on my body that I feel like a completely different person. I am supposed to be the teacher, showing other people the way. How could I have made such a huge mistake?

I got carried away. Today I found myself eating unconsciously, make that OVER-eating. For no reason. I was not hungry, not hungry at all. Just eating for the sake of eating. Perhaps emotional eating? I am going through a large transition with Banana Man moving in. That is a big change for me and the first time I have lived with someone I am dating. I also really, really enjoy my alone time. I like the stillness and quiet so it is a huge adjustment to always have someone here!

I've also had the most INTENSE cooked food cravings. At the beginning it was hummus then cous cous and then before you know it I am just nibbling on whatever is around. I seriously can't believe I've done that. I've eaten things that I would never even consider in the past. When I used to hear about other people yo-yoing between cooked food and raw, I always thought it was strange. I never had the desire and here I am after a 65 day juice feast nibbling on cooked bites!

Beyond the physical act of eating, I feel spiritually DULL. My mind is scattered and I feel out of the groove as I've said before. I feel like I was a bright shiny star on the juice feast and now I am a dull lamp post. I feel like I missed the wave and I am being tousled underwater, straining for air.

I go back and forth everyday, 'should I go back to juicing?' Then I think to myself, 'no I've got some lovely avocados that I want to eat' or something ridiculous like that. The addiction to food is STRONG, and I thought I got over all of that during the feast?! Am I going to start juicing again? I would like to. For an undetermined amount of time. And when I am done, I want to break the feast in the proper way so that 1) I can feel good about myself 2) I can stay mineralized 3) so my spirit stays bright like a star and not dim like an old lamp post and 4) so I can ride the wave not get pummeled by it!

I love and approve of myself

.

Some pics of our local Farmer's Market at Boggy Creek Farm.

.

Here are the rows where you can pick your own veggies.

.

The farm house (my dream home)

.

Tonight's yoga class was the most challenging to date. It was just so ridiculously HOT in there. I needed something cold. Cold water, cool air, ice cubes, anything! Tonight I am going to freeze a water bottle so I have something nice and COLD for tomorrow's class.

.

I've also become obsessed with Shakti yoga wear. They are so cute and comfortable. Endless possibilities for the cutest yoga sport/bikini tops.

.

After shedding some sweaty tears in tonight's yoga class, I just simply cannot ignore what my body has been telling me all along. In Salabhasna (Locust Pose) I could feel my uncomfortably full belly - I need to go back to juice. Right now, for whatever reason, I am just not 'in tune' something is off. I am not going to start another juice feast but I am going to trust my body and on days where I feel like just juice, I'll have just juice. If I feel like I want a salad, I'll have a salad. I'm trying to be open. Let my body guide me. It only makes sense that after 65 days of living on juices alone, I may have some intermittent days where my body and digestive system would like to rest again.

*must remember to rid myself of the all or nothing mentality!

.

I feel really good about this decision as it only requires that I listen to my body and let it guide me. Mind off.

.

Ben inspired me to start doing affirmations again. I've been reading Louise Hay's book You Can Heal Your Life. The main message is to love yourself - really, really love yourself. Love yourself as much as you love your best friend, lover, dog or cat. You wouldn't talk down to them, tell them they are stupid, ugly, fat, a failure, not good enough, and not smart enough... but the mental noise in our head is constantly criticizing and telling us we're not good enough. Lately, when I catch myself having a negative thought, I simply say to myself 'No. I love and approve of myself', I love and approve of myself, I love and approve of myself.'

I try to remember to tell myself every chance I get -when I'm driving, walking, daydreaming. Louise Hay's recommends saying this phrase at least 300-400 times per day. She reminds us that when we are worrying about something, we will replay those thoughts of worry at least as many times in a day. Time to replace negative, self-defeating thoughts with positive, uplifting affirmations!

I love myself enough to go raw, eat organic, do a 65 day juice feast, and sweat my ass off in Bikram yoga everyday, I need to love myself enough to be kind and accepting too. Loving yourself can lead you to amazing places. I am ready to go there. Let the real work begin.

I wanna go back

.

Trying to find balance; how and what to eat after the juice feast.

I am still consuming 2-3 quarts of juice per day.

It seems like no matter what I eat, I feel it times 10.

A large part of me wants to go back to the land of juice.

Juice is so simple, clean, uncomplicated...

But there is also a large part of me that is really enjoying solid food,

maybe even a little too much!

I want my slender juice body back!

..

I only lost 7-8lbs during my 65 day juice feast. Apparently it looked like a lot more, but I guess muscle-bound athletic girls like me carry our weight well. I feel like I've just about gained it all back, in reality I think I've gained back around 3lbs.

.

Some pics from Fiesta Blanca (White Party) this weekend. There were some characters there for sure!

.

The Healthline Girls showing off their yoga moves

.

Our organic garden by moonlight.

Grow little seedlings, grow...

65 Days Grace

.

Good evening lovely blog readers! This post is many days overdue!

I have concluded my juice feast. I ended on Saturday, making it 65 days total. Yay for me!

.

Banana Man is back and I want to enjoy being with him in this moment. This is the first time in 2 years that we are going to be together with out interruption (usually it was 3 months on, 3 months off - the life of an out-of-state college tennis coach...) He is here for good and I want to enjoy life with him!! I also had gotten to the point where I was only drinking 1-2 quarts of OJ and several glasses of tea each day. I just couldn't drink anything else and I was feeling pretty weak, especially after yoga. I think it was just time for me to be done.

.

The juice feast has been one of the most phenomenal things I have ever done in my life! I learned such a great deal about myself and about my body. When I set out to start the feast at the end of February I couldn't wait for my 'spiritual awakening' the truth is, it is a life-long process of unfolding. The juice feast just amplifies the unfolding, like peeling back the layers of an onion until your eyes begin to water. And there were definitely waterworks! I am forever changed in such an amazing open and loving way, for that I am truly grateful.

.

It is indescribable. I can't even begin to express the tremendous changes and mini-evolutions I experienced over the last 70 days. It has been incredible to say the least!

.

And now I face another evolution. Adding food back into my life has been like an explosion! The first salad I had got me sounding like Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally! It was soooooooo gooooooood. Oh my goodness!!!

.

I feel a little puffy, a little full, very satisfied, and very content. Right now I am just having one small soup and one large salad per day. I am still consuming around 2-3 quarts of juice and I plan on keeping this routine. I actually NEVER plan to stop juicing!! I want to keep it as a meal, snack, or just have it whenever I want to. Right now I am obsessed with Watermelon juice. I can't get enough of it. And I am loving cold, fresh coconut water after Bikram. Juice is definitely where it's at!

.

.

One of my co-workers told me today that he and his wife are on Day 12 of their juice feast! He said they had been inspired by reading my blog and that really touched my heart. You just never know who you might influence! Good Luck HR and Kelly! It is the most incredible journey of your life, relax and let the flow take you in like a wave and enjoy the ride...

.

Bikram is detoxifying, challenging, intense, cleansing, stimulating, spiritual, mental, physical, hot, humid, balancing, sweating, stretching, focus and remember to breathe...

AWESOME.

.

I love it. We go everyday and my practice gets deeper and deeper everyday. I am so impressed with my breath and how clam it has gotten throughout the 90 min sessions. Steady, steady breath leads to beautiful postures that make me feel like everything from a blossoming flower to the strongest warrior. Seriously good stuff.

.

Juice feasters I love you. Thank you for your continual support throughout my journey. It has been so divine and I look forward to periodic mini feasts throughout the year. What incredible bodies that can live, thrive and cleanse on nothing but juice for months on end. We really are powerful beyond measure!

.

Off to watch Louise L. Hay's You can Heal Your Life

.

Love and appreciation for you all.

xoxo

Addicted!

.

I am addicted to Bikram Yoga.

.

The stretch, the sweat, the breath - I love it all.

.

I've gone every day except Saturday for the last week. I just can't get enough. It is physical, emotional, and spiritual. My breath is continually evolving. The first few days I was breathing heavily and I had to breath through the mouth. The last two classes I have had such calm steady breath in and out through the nose, in and out through the nose...

.

If you can, I HIGHLY suggest you check out a class. Click here to find a class in your area.

.

Bikram Yoga's twenty-six posture exercises systematically move fresh, oxygenated blood to 100% of your body, to each organ, fiber and cell, restoring all systems to healthy working order, just as Nature intended.