Happy Valentine's day again. A gorgeous day that brought many smiles to my face. I had a date on skype with my boyfriend this morning and a big beautiful vase of flowers this afternoon. <3

As for juicing, I thought I would be romantic and make exactly what I was craving. Orange juice. For my morning drink I made orange, carrot, spinach, celery, blackberry. I really only craved orange, carrot, and blackberry but I needed to work my celery and greens in too. It was delicious as you can see and it even came out nice enough that I could make a heart shape in it. 

So, I have been craving Orange juice all day yesterday and today. I attribute it to working out. I've never had such strong cravings as today. I made orange in all my drinks but my last one which I always make savory and similar to V8. I wanted to know if this need for orange juice is okay at this point so I looked on the Juice Feasting website and the timeline showed that I should have tried to cut back on sweet fruity drinks about ten days ago! I thought that It would be okay with working out and I read somewhere that you can start working out harder after forty days...But I was mistaken again. The website said that you can workout harder after 60 days. I've had a pretty rigorous schedule and I am used to it and I don't want to stop. I hope that I am not damaging myself or my juice feast. I think I will do some more research and find out exactly what the consequences would be. 

Back to Msm powder. My friend has been experiencing the same sulfurous symptoms that I had. We decided to cut back and hope that this just means that we don't need it as much. That is another question that I plan to look into.

I almost forgot to mention! My composting worms came today! A bunch of tiny little 

guys ready to see their new home. 

Also, I bought some organic soil and treys to start growing my own wheatgrass. The wheat berries are soaking now. I can't wait! I love saving money by growing my own things!

It's late again and I need to sleep.

-<3-

Elizabeth

Twas a somewhat nasty day. Cold and gray but it didn't get me down. I woke at six again only not on purpose. Every time I wake up at a certain time, I wake up at the same time again the next day. Weird. 

Today I wanted to talk about msm. I started taking it as it came in the mail. 

I started with a tsp, the next day a half Tbsn and the next a whole. I was taking the whole Tbsn for a week before I realized that was what was giving me horrendous gas! I smelled like a sulfur bomb. My poor roommate!  So I stopped taking it for a week. Then while reading A Juice Feasters hand-guide I read the part of what she would have done differently. It said take msm everyday. I started up again but with a half tsp. It seemed alright so I've been taking a tsp

 in my lemon water each morning. Yesterday, however, it struck me again. Why does this happen? I discussed it with my friend who was taking a whole Tbsn her third day and we decided that I just didn't need it as much as she did. I'll have to look into it. 

On top of taking msm internally, I use it in a gel form. I put it on my face and all my scars and stretch marks and it seems to be doing some good.

Something great that happened today was that my Chia seeds arrived by mail. These little tiny

 seeds can absorb 9 times their volume and are extremely nutritious. They are filling and have fiber and are great when eaten with sweet things because they allow the sugars to release more slowly making it a great food for those with sugar problems. Also for those who want to loss weight and and block some carb absorption.  I ordered the chia for when I am back to solids, but I thought I would try to grow the sprouts like the chia pet so I can juice them. Only I ran into a problem. I let the seeds soak and then tried to dump the excess water. There was none! The seeds had absorbed all the liquid and were suspended in their own gel. I don't think my traditional sprout jar sprouting methods are going to work for these little guys. We'll see how it turns out. 

I took a nap again this afternoon. I am not sure if it was because I needed it or because I was procrastinating. There were things I could have done. I had my swimming class today and that always takes a lot out of me. Mondays are my biggest exercise days usually because of that class and then I attend and hour yoga and an hour of belly dance. I was pooped. You should have seen me trying to undulate my body at 8:45pm. It wasn't pretty. 

After a some a long soak in a hot tub with a good book and some sleepy tea. I'm ready to hit the hay.

Buona notte!

Elizabeth

Sunday Mornin'

Day 35 of juice and still kickin. Today was gorgeous. Here's a picture I took of the sunrise as I went out the door. I woke at 6am to go hang with my parents. I love how juice feasting allows me to get up without feeling tired. I just hop out of bed and get on with my day. I had my lemon water with msm powder and headed out without making juice. I brought a lot of things with me because I had a date to make my parents juice for breakfast. Well, breakfast for me, after breakfast for them.

 I arrived and made a beautiful green juice 'Latte' as I like to call them. 

The pineapple really makes them foamy. They loved the juice and it was full of good things like celery, chard, spinach, other leafy greens. After day four of juicing they saw how great my skin was and how it had changed and they became believers in juice. Well, my mom noticed and my dad partakes in her habits. So juice it is for them every morning! My first step at helping others to better health.

 So, Green juice! They are used to having things a little simpler. They make orange juice or carrot juice or carrot, orange and apple. They needed a nudge into the greener side of juicing. I'm actually very proud. They used to use a lot of paper towels and drink bottled water. My mom decided to buy a bunch of white hand towels and just wash them as they use them and to stop with the bottled water and just drink the filtered water from their fridge. I used to take all their recycling for them and they've cut out all the plastic. Now she is talking about alternatives to chemical cleaning supplies! I love it.

I exercised with my mom today in the early afternoon. We walked and did some machine work outs. I felt great but later in the afternoon I started to drag and eventually took a nap around 3 or 4pm. I tend to take a dip at this time each day if I am not occupied. I've been tested before for adrenal function and my lowest point was in the afternoon and they spike around midnight. I was hoping to cure all my imbalances with this feast so here's hoping! I still have 26 days left and a raw lifestyle ahead of that. Wow, 26 days sounds like nothing. I think I will be sad to stop. Even though I think about those first prunes that I will eat and get excited. I hope I don't fall into the common post feast blues. Of course I won't, I'll be in Italy with my boyfriend!

The juices I had today were:

Greens with pineapple

Orange and carrot

grapefruit with bluegreen algae

coconut water with greener grasses

Tbsp of hemp oil

Greenish red juice with tomato, garlic, carrots, celery, greens, beets, sprouts, chard, baby salad greens, cucumber, zucchini, yellow and green bell pepper,  salt, cayenne, chlorella. I really like the pack it in at night!

Tea with honey

Lots of water

Wow, that was a lot. I haven't been keeping track of how much I drink. I was curious around day 10 or so if I was drinking enough. I wasn't so I kept track for a couple of days. I really had to try to drink enough and soon I was drinking a lot. I had over two gallons one day including my water. I stopped adding it up somewhere along the line because I felt that I learned to achieve at least a gallon.

 I usually don't feel so hungry for juice in the morning. The cravings strike the most around mid afternoon, the same time that I get tired. This also happened when I was eating. Sometimes I would skip dinner and just have an extra long lunch because I just could not be satisfied  between 1 and 3. This is one of the things I am hoping to overcome with juicing. I've read Angela's Raw food for weight loss and I intend to apply some of her principles when I come out of this. Wish me luck!

xo,

Elizabeth