I have no earthly idea what day it is

I told you I was bad about keeping up with stuff lol!!

A lot has happened since my last blog. I took a new job.............lasted a week, quit...................then took another job and I'm still there and trying to work some hours at my first job. My new job is a WONDERFUL 8 to 4 Monday through Friday NO HOLIDAYS OR WEEKENDS its so great!!! I'm loving being amongst the living again. You really take for granted being able to be up during the day and actually sleeping at night once you've worked night shift.............12 hour shifts at that. Until I can get back on my feet financially I am having to work a pretty tough schedule: my monday through friday job and then after leaving my day job at 4pm on fridays, trying to take a nap somewhere so I can clock in at 6:30pm and work till 7 am. Yeah, I know..............I'm CrAzY!!

I have some bad news, I've fallen WAY off track with my diet and I'm ok with it b/c this is a transition. A few weeks ago I had a feeling I was going in the wrong direction by trying a lot of cooked vegan recipes. I felt that since I was working toward being a RAW vegan that I should be trying more raw vegan stuff rather than cooked vegan stuff. Even though I have kept my good attitude and mood...........which now I'm almost convinced it's the progesterone from the IUD affecting my mood b/c my diet SUCKS right now.

I was doing VERY good until last Wednesday 10/14, which was my first day at my new job. I was so hungry when I left I could have eaten my arm. I wound up going over to my b/f house and they had some chicken casserole, mashed potatoes and creamed corn. I dug right in to it ALL. It had meat, cheese, milk and everything I've been avoiding in it. I figured it would tear my stomach up really bad, but at the time I didn't care b/c I was so hungry. Unfortunately, the food did NOT upset my stomach and I've been eating very badly ever since.

It was easy to stay away from the milk, cheese, and meat as long as I was afraid it would seriously hurt my stomach and make me feel like crap. But now I know it won't affect the way I feel, except I don't have my elevated energy levels.

I've been eating candy at work, ate chick-fil-a nuggets and fries at work for lunch friday, taco bell for supper friday night, still full almost all day saturday, red lobster saturday evening, waffle house sunday morning. Then today I had a fajita for lunch today, it wasn't that bad except the white flour tortilla and the chicken but it had: beans, rice, guac, tomatoes, onions, peppers, lettuce, hot sauce and it was all cooked lightly in olive oil. I think the only thing saving me right now is the fact that I'm still having my smoothie for breakfast every morning.

I'm very discouraged b/c since I started putting myself first; meaning I buy groceries first then pay bills; I've gotten myself in a HUGE bind. I'm now 3 months behind on my car payment and some other big bills. I have to find a good medium: Healthy as I can be but still affordable enough to stay on top of my bills and not get behind again.

This week I'm trying to only eat 3 times a day with nothing in between, not eating at least 3 hours before I go to bed. I've GOT to cut out all the sweets I've been consuming at work and focus on getting as much veggies in as I can. I'm not going to beat myself up over eating fish or chicken as long as the meal has more veggies than anything. I have to keep remaining myself that even though I may "fall off track" I know where I'm heading and it IS going to take some time since I have 28 years of eating habits to reverse. I'm trying to keep my daily morning smoothies and hopefully my budget will allow me to do this. As long as I never lose sight of my goal I'll be ok no matter how many times I "fall off track".

Day 42

Sorry I haven't been around for a while, I didn't forget about blogging I'm just not really good at sticking with anything for very long SORRY! I'm working on trying to change that through my journey so I'm back after 4 days.



Lets see since I've last blogged I went through a bad bout with depression. Me and my bf got into it again which is not not unusual but this time I thought it was for real over. I used to have a slight problem with pain pills. I would only use them when I needed them but when I did need them I took them a bit longer than I really needed to. I loved the feeling I got from them, the warm and fuzzy feeling and some even made me race around with tons of energy. I just always seemed to feel good and happy!



I honestly didn't want to take any pain meds when I had my kidney stones but I HAD to get relief so I took the bare minimum. When me and the bf got into it I just wanted to sleep so I took out the bottle of left over pain meds and took one that night and woke up the next morning and took more so I would sleep all day. I stopped after that morning and said I wasn't going to hurt my body just because I was unhappy.



Luckily for me I stopped when I did b/c last friday 9/25, I had an IUD placed (since I've heard that a raw vegan lifestyle will make you more fertile) and I was told to take some Advil or Tylenol before I came. Well I have a very high pain tolerance so I have been dealing with my horrible cramps without assistance from meds so I could do the IUD placement without assistance too. O boy was I WRONG! I passed out from the pain and was very sick from it. After an hour of waiting around at the dr's office dealing with nausea and multiple BM's and sweats I drove home. I had to pull over twice to vomit but as soon as I made it home I had to take something b/c this pain was so unbearable. I was chilling at this point and my lips were purple. I went ahead and took more of my pain meds I had left over from the kidney stones.



The pain finally came under control after I fell asleep for about 2 hours. I finished off the rest of my pain meds and for the past few days I have been taking ibuprofen. Today I did not take anything as my cramps are starting to taper off to the point I can handle them on my own.



My face looks awful. I know its from the meds! I'm breaking out so bad and I know its just the meds exiting my body but I've started putting on make-up. Its been almost a month or over a month since my face has started breaking out and I'm just over it.



I have been experimenting with more vegan dishes like mock chicken salad and tofu dishes. I'm starting to feel like I'm drifting away from my goal. I feel like I need to be experimenting more with raw food dishes than with vegan dishes. Plus the mock chicken salad and tofu dishes are way too heavy for me anyway.



Today I started to get that feeling that I used to have when I was 17. If you don't know 17 was my best year ever, idk why but I was so happy, so carefree, and loving life. I would act a fool all the time but it wasn't out of control, it was just having good fun all the time. I always looked for things to go right and for the slightest thing positive out of every situation. I was always in a good mood and smiling, I would bring sunshine everywhere I went, hence the nickname sunshine. I woke up and was excited about life in general. I was either mellow happy or just out right excited and very rarely was I ever in a bad mood for any reason. My bf at the time always said I was always celebrating life and I could see the beauty in everything. Another friend said I had such a zeal for life that he has never seen before in anyone. Today I felt that again, it felt sooooooo good.



I'm not sure if I've had a hormone imbalance and that is why I've been so unhappy and so pissy at work and just blah all the time. I mean I've been better since the MC and the diet change but not exactly back to ME. People at work have been confronting me for a little while now saying I have a bad attitude problem everyday with everyone and I don't see it, but now I sort of do. I see that I've been taking my job way too seriously and that I need to relax. I also need to not take life so seriously, I used to be so happy and I would let things just roll off my back, I would hardly ever stress over ANYTHING. I know when to take things seriously but to stress over anything wasn't worth it.

This IUD puts off progesterone and today I've felt like the real me so I'm wondering if the IUD has anything to do with the way I feel. I'm loving the way I feel right now and I hope its not just one of those one out of a million perfect days where I feel like the real me then tomorrow go back to not being happy again.

I'll update tomorrow and let you know!

Day 38

Today's Eats:
Spinach freshness smoothie 24 oz (1c packed spinach, 6 frozen strawberries, 1 banana, 1 orange, 1c ice) YUMMY!!! This is my favorite yet!
3 BBQ flax crackers
Handful of veggie chips
1 can Amy's spicy vegan chili

Day 37

Its now 9:22 pm and I just had my first BM of the day. Man, why does pain medication have to stop you up so bad!! Anyway, I'm still raggin' and my cramps were awful last night at work!! I was weak and dizzy all night and really didn't want to be there but I seriously needed the money and it was my only day I got to work this week (since I missed my first two days on the schedule due to my lovely kidney stones). I took my pain meds just in case something crazy decided to happen and I almost cut one in half to take just to ease my cramps a little b/c they were out of control!!!!!!!!!

I toughed it out and decided it would be a lot better on my body if I didn't do any more damage with pain medication and let it heal itself. Today my cramps are bearable! YAY!!

Since I'm not quite regular I still don't have the need to eat much so I haven't forced anything. I did notice today that my chest has completely cleared up from the breakouts and all that is left is some hyperpigmentation. My forehead, on the other hand, still looks like connect the dots; just without the numbers LOL.

Today's Eats:
Victoria's Favorite Dark Green Smoothie 24 oz (1 bunch dandelion greens, 4 roma tomatoes, 3c water) REMIND ME TO NEVER DRINK THIS AGAIN YUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Not sure how much pure water yet, not sure what time I'm going to bed
4 BBQ flax seed crackers
1 medium mixed green salad with chopped mushrooms, chopped onions, 1 carrot stick, 1/2 avocado and Braggs.
a few "scoops" with salsa
1 apple with almond butter

Day 36

Well now that the stone has passed and all the pain meds have entered my clean body, now comes the constipation. By the end of my morning smoothie I have usually eliminated at least 2 or 3 times but so far I have not eliminated anything in 2 days. Even on the 20th before my ER visit I had 3 BM's and then vomited all my morning smoothie (sorry TMI).

So Today I drank some laxative tea I had left over from my MC before I laid down to go to bed (well nap) before going into work.

When I woke up nothing..............after my smoothie............nothing....................up until 1 am.............nothing. But finally around 2 am I strained and strained and finally had a BM and boy did it hurt. It was hard and felt like needles. I only had one large BM though and that was it.

I wasn't really all that hungry at work for some reason, I guess b/c I'm backed up and until I get regular I'm not gonna feel like eating anything.

Today's Eats:
Smoothie 24 oz
80+ oz of pure water
homemade trail mix (handful of soaked almonds, handful of sea veggies, handful of dehydrated veggie chips, 2 BBQ flax crackers)
1 Medium mixed green salad with 1/2 avocado, chopped mushrooms, chopped onions, 1 carrot stick, 3 cherry tomatoes and Braggs.

When I got home (which today was late 8am, and which I never eat past 4am) I had an add water and seasoning packet and throw in the microwave hot and sour soup with rice noodles bowl.

Day 35 - The Recovery

Well after one hellova night I have slept most of the day today. The pain meds have really helped even though I REALLY don't want to take them!! I have to urinate in a strainer and I think I passed the whole stone. It was black and really hard but it was so small. I don't see how something so small can cause so much pain. I still haven't found anything about the way I eat and how to deal or prevent kidney stones; I'm still looking though.

I was hesitant about drinking my green smoothie today b/c of one thing I read was that the green smoothie causes stones and also it's what I puked up all night last night. Well I know my green smoothies are good for me so I went ahead and made one anyway. It made like 40 oz and I broke it up into 3 drinks instead of 2 like I usually do. I'm just going to sip on them all day.

I wish I could have waited till today so the stone would have passed to save a bunch of money on the ER bill with the Dr. and the lab work, the IV and the CT but I was on the floor with pain and didn't know what was wrong so I guess it's a good thing I went ahead.

Update: I've done really well today, no more pain and I've been able to eat normally and keep it down.

Today's Eats:
Tropical Smoothie (2c spinach leaves, 1 mango, 1 banana, 1c pineapple, 2c water)
80+ oz pure water
1 medium mixed green salad w/ 1/2 avocado, chopped mushrooms, chopped onions and braggs (I'm chilling out on the tomatoes too) w/ a handful of soaked almonds
1 serving of vegan spinach noodles w/ 9 roasted garlic triscuits and a small handful of veggie chips

In other words since I've slept so much today I have eaten my snacks and meals at the same time and only eaten 3 times today.

Day 34 - MY ER visit

I started my day off normally today with my usual green smoothie. I had gotten up and polished off the last 1/2 of the Dancing Dandelion smoothie I had yesterday.

I was sure I started my period today so I plugged and it hurt and I started getting some pain in my right side and some weird feeling in the downstairs area. So I took out my tampon and put in another..........the same thing happened so I just removed it permanently. As the night went on I was attempting to get ready for work and the pain in my side just kept getting worse and worse. The pain got so bad I fell to my knees and had a VERY hard time getting up. My grandmother had to rush me to the ER. Once we got there she had to put me into a wheelchair b/c I was unable to walk.

I was just hoping the pain in my sides was temporary and would go away for good instead of escalating to this.

I wanted to refuse any kind of medication but I was in excruciating pain and even though I tried to research pain in my side on a raw food diet I couldn't take the pain any longer and my search results were not helping, mainly b/c I didn't know what was going on.

I received an IV with a bag of fluids and they hit me up with some nausea and pain medicine. btw the pain got so bad I started vomiting. They did a CT on my lower abdomen and found a kidney stone which was well on its way of passing b/c of the position of the stone. They also found a cyst on my left ovary...........its been there for about 5 years or more, its harmless and that's why I haven't gotten it removed.

Today when I woke up I started researching kidney stones and a raw food diet...............not good. I did find some great natural remedies to use for my next kidney stone. Even though I have NEVER had kidney stones in my life, from what I've researched you are prone to get more when you are on a raw food diet, and this is probably the reason for my odd side pain that goes from one side to the next. Maybe b/c I'm not 100% raw, or something. I don't know what to think, I don't want to give up on raw or vegan but I'm hearing all this negative that its b/c I eat too many green leafy vegetables and that is over doing it on the calcium. But how can something so good cause something so bad and painful? I don't even think I get enough greens as it is. So I'd really like to know where this is coming from.

Oh, and my period stopped, so maybe I was just spotting again or the trauma from the stone caused it to stop. I'm doing a lot more research on these stones and a raw food diet, I'll keep posted as to my findings.

Today's Eats:
Last 1/2 of Dancing Dandelion smoothie from yesterday
this was all I had today and even this got thrown up at the hospital.

Day 33 - the Fish experiment and total vegan day

Today's Eats:
36 oz Dancing Dandelion Smoothie
Handful of soaked almonds
1 serving of artichoke wild rice with hot sauce
1 serving of beet salad
1 medium salad with mixed greens, spinach leaves, chopped mushrooms, chopped onions 1 leaf of kale, 1 carrot stick and Braggs with 2 medium BBQ flax crackers
1 handful of sea vegetables and wusabe chips
1 serving of artichoke wild rice with hot sauce
1 serving beet salad
1 1/2 serving of shrimp salad with vegannaise and dill

Today was a day I just totally Vegged out on all vegan, the only raw I had today was my green smoothie. When I went to bed last night I tossed and turned all night long, had night sweats and night terrors. Either it was because I totally OVERATE or the fact I ate shrimp just to see what it would do to me now or a combination of both. I was pissy when I woke up and I swear I will never eat meat again, not even for fun just to see what it will do!!!

Day 32 - First time eating out

Not too much to eat today, I went 6 hours between my morning smoothie and lunch!! Fasting feels good sometimes, ya know. I was out running errands and didn't want to buy anything from some fast food place, especially when I have plenty at home to eat.

Today's eats:
24 oz smoothie
1/2 of big salad I made yesterday with avocado and Braggs
1 medium BBQ flax cracker and a few soaked almonds
1 hand full of veggie chips
chips and salsa and 1 vegetarian fajita

We went to Amigo Mexican restaurant tonight and I searched the menu over for something to eat. I had it in my head all I was going to eat was a guacamole salad (its their side dish that comes with all their main dishes) lettuce, tomato, rice and beans. I had them to hold the cheese over the beans and honestly I got full off the chips and salsa. When the main dish came out it was HUGE and I could only eat one small fajitas. Not only was I already full but the nastiness they saute all the veggies in is WAY too heavy for my stomach. I felt heavy, sick and just wanted to throw up and lay down. So next time we go I'm sticking to my guacamole salad.........it will definitely sit better!

Day 31

After my crazy night of freaking out over nothing I decided to make a plan of eating, so I did. I've decided that I need to structure my eating habits to say away from compulsive eating. Here is what I've come up with: Eat 3 meals a day with 4 snacks in between. Meals are to be eaten 3 hours apart and snacks in between (with at least an hour between feedings). The last feeding should be at least 4 hours before bed time. Since I work 3rd shift this is what my night will look like:
6p Breakfast - smoothie
8p Snack - piece of fruit
9p Lunch - Mixed salad w/ 1/2 avocado
10/11p Snack - pick -a- snack
12 midnight Supper - Vegan dish
1/2a Snack - pick -a- snack
3a Snack - pick -a- snack

PICK -A- Snack List (no more than a handful: regular not bulging)
carrot sticks
celery sticks
pre soaked almonds
pre soaked cashews
veggie chips
fruit chips
fresh fruit

Today I decided to do something different with my salad. What I have been doing is taking a 7 cup bowl and loading it up with greens (packed) and additives (onions, mushrooms, etc....) but today I took my 7 cup bowl and loaded it up with greens (not packed just loosely), threw it in a HUGE mixing bowl then added all my goodies (in the same amount I usually would). Then mixed it up by hand real good. I dished out enough to fill the 7 cup bowl loosely. Last, I cut up an avocado and threw 1/2 on top of my salad then added my Braggs dressing. Guess what? I had enough left over for tomorrow's salad AND it's pre-made and I just cut my portion size in half, how bout them apples!! I feel like I've accomplished something today, YAY!! O, yeah, I about forgot I'm soaking some almonds and cashews today for the first time, I found a chart online and for almonds its says to soak 3c dry almonds for 8-12 hours and 3c dry cashews for 2-3 hours. Well I didn't have 3c all I had was 2c of each so what I did was took 1c at a time and pour into a 1 liter glass jar then added water so now I have 2 glasses of almonds and 2 glasses of cashew's soaking on my counter, they are pretty LOL. I'm not sure if the lid is supposed to be on but I put it on anyway.

Today's Eats:
Last 1/2 of my Dent De Lion smoothie from yesterday
70+oz pure water
Medium mixed green salad w/ chopped kale, chopped baby bella mushrooms, chopped green onions, 2 large cherry tomatoes, 1 medium roma tomato, 1/2 large avocado and Braggs dressing
Small hand full of soaked cashew's and one medium BBQ flax cracker
Vegan hot and sour soup

Update on day 30

So I've been sitting here reading up on the ye ole raw food/living lifestyle. Everyone seems to have a different "truth" as to where most of your calories come from, some say from fruits, others say from fats to be able to sustain raw veganism long term. SO WHICH IS IT?????????????? I suppose it's just like any other "diet" that everyone has their own opinion of the truth but what is the REAL truth?? I've read that you don't need to count calories on a raw vegan diet and then I read somewhere else that you do, then you need to limit your intake of sweet fruits, then you need to limit your intake of fats like nut, seeds, and avocados. Better yet I've read that you should avoid processing any of your foods to make more complex dishes and eat all your raw foods whole....................SERIOUSLY????????????? That takes all the fun out of raw food and it would get very boring very quickly!!

Sometimes I think I'm too smart for my own good. I read and research and read and research some more b/c I like to have a good range of information as I go through any process or big change like this and I like to be well informed but now I'm just down right CONFUSED!!

So keeping that in mind and thinking "well maybe that's why I haven't lost any more weight is b/c I'm not getting enough calories and my body is holding onto all my fat" but as I type that I just thought maybe my body is holding onto all that fat b/c I'm not getting enough fat.........................delema ey! Anyway I thought that I wasn't getting enough calories so I decided to eat a serving of spinach noodles and a carrot. Then I went to a website called calorie count.com and tallied up my calories just for today............HOLY CRAP I'm already up to 1800 and I set up a profile and it says I only need 1600. But as I write everything out I notice most of my calories come from fruit, in some opinions this is good but others this is bad............HELP if you have any suggestions please let me know b/c I'm driving myself crazy right now. Maybe I shouldn't be such a perfectionist huh LOL I just want whats best and what can actually sustain!

Day 30

Got on the scale this morning and nothing...........I'm holding steady at 165.8. I decided that since it was nasty outside today and I had a TON of errands to run after work (which put me getting into bed at 1 this afternoon when I'm always in bed no later than 8 in the morning) that I'm only going to do my green smoothie today and no food. I don't need much anyway b/c I'm not going to be up long. I have been making a different smoothie everyday and trying to experiment with different things and so far its working out great!! I have been spending SOOOOO much money on groceries though it's killing me. I have had to put my bills on the back burner so I can eat right and I'm getting terribly behind!! Ok lets just see here: Friday I went to the corner fruit stand $17 and Greenlife $43. Saturday Fresh Market $60, then today Greenlife again $60 so total for 2 weeks $180 OUCH!!

Anyway I promised myself that I would put my health first and put good healthy food first above all b/c if I don't have my health I don't have work, if I don't have work I don't have money and you know the rest!! I may not see the BIG picture everyday but I know that in the long run I'm going to be better off. I will save a TON on medical bills and RX and possibly save myself a hospital stay from some kind of funky virus or worse.

O speaking of funky.........the funk on my foot it comes and goes but not like usual, it is getting lighter and now I think I'm obsessed over it b/c I catch myself looking at it ALL the time now just to see if its making any progress of going away lol.

I'm still having those sudden pains in my side but not as often as I was and I haven't figured out what triggers it. At first I was thinking it was when I was eating my dehydrated veggie chips but today I had a pain after having 1/2 my monster smoothie, so IDK I just hope they quit!

I had an issue with my BM's today and last night. I usually have a BM when I wake up then after I have my smoothie I have another (which is about 30 min to an hour apart) and I might have another during the night at work. I never strain and it comes very easily and naturally and looks like my smoothies just a pile of green fluff (TMI I know, sorry). Last night at work I kept feeling like I had to go but just couldn't push anything out then about 9:30 this morning I strained so hard I thought I hurt myself but managed to squeeze some out but it was hard and I seriously thought I was impacted, like maybe from the chili I ate. Once I got home I honestly thought about doing a salt water flush...........yeah, you know its bad when you consider that one on your own!! But I felt the need to go and it finally came out, I was "backed up" though b/c once I pushed out the really hard stuff the rest was normal and I've had a BM about every hour since I've been up (so far its been 4 BM's) and they are all large ones.

My breakouts are seriously getting better but not completely gone. I have noticed that the blackheads never did reappear on my cheeks, nose and chin YAY!! My fingernails have never grown strong b/c as a kid I've always bitten my nails up until a few years ago. Now these suckers are STRONG and I've actually scratched myself a few times on accident and it hurt! lol. I love it but they aren't even long yet they are still short, they don't even come above the skin yet and I'm already injuring myself LOL.

Today's Eats:
Dent De Lion Smoothie (1 bunch dandelion greens, 2 mangoes, 2c fresh apple juice, 2 pears, 1c water)
Ok lets talk about this smoothie for a minute here. This sucker took me almost an hour to prepare b/c I had to break out the Green Star just for a few apples and if you own one of these you COMPLETELY understand the frustration of cleaning this monster over a few apples. Anyway I'm chopping away and I realize my poor Black and Decker blender is almost overflowing. So I blend everything up and I literally had to dump some out so I could add 1c of ice (I do this b/c I like a cold smoothie and without the ice it just taste warm even though I keep everything cold) so I break out my big 64 oz jug with a straw (the same one i used for my salt water flush during the MC) and it almost filled the whole thing up!! This is the biggest smoothie I have ever made. This smoothie actually did yield what it said it would which is 2 qts b/c so far all the smoothies I make only yield like maybe 24oz

Besides the HUGE smoothie and my normal amount of pure water I've had 2 BBQ flax crackers and water and that's all folks

Day 29

For the last 3 days at work I've had real good energy but for the most part I don't feel "light" like I have been. I feel heavy and weighed down. I feel like all I've done is eat! I've been eating even when I'm not hungry and when I get the first little feeling of hunger I run to eat. I pack enough for 2 meals and 2 snacks and I don't buy extra at work. It's not a whole lot of food but I've gone back to my habitual eating habits of stuffing my face constantly. I was hoping the MC would take care of that but apparently not. I've been off the MC for almost 10 days now and I've not dropped any weight at all which is very depressing since I've sustained 85-95% raw vegan. I have a feeling it's because I'm shoving more food into my body than it can handle. I have GOT to start listening to my body again and waiting until I'm hungry. Even though I do only eat every 3 hours I make every excuse to eat and that proves I still have traits of a food addiction. I'm afraid it will lead to waiving back to the SAD (Standard American Diet). I'm strong willed but I want to tame this addiction before it tames me and brings me back to the old me that I DON'T EVER want to see again!!

Today's Eats:
Parsley Passion Smoothie (1 bunch fresh parsley, 1 cucumber peeled, 1 fuji apple, 1 banana, 1-2c water)
70+ oz pure water
Few dehydrated fruit chips and veggie chips
3 forks full of Pad Thai vegan noodles and 1 can of Amy's No Chicken Noodle vegan soup (not too shabby)
1 Orksi coconut bar (won't be eating one of these for a long time its has: 264 cal, 16.9 g total fat/14.8 g being sat. fat, 14.8 g sugar, 27 g carb) and all it has in it is coconuts 50% and rice syrup.
1 Large (7 cup) mixed green salad w/ 1 whole leaf kale, added spinach, chopped green onions, baby bella mushrooms, tomatoes, Braggs
Few more dehydrated fruit chips
Last 1/2 of Parsley Passion Smoothie and .36lb Artichoke Wild Rice (I went grocery shopping after work and was starving so I went to their deli) It has: wild rice, green peas, artichoke, roasted red pepper, canola oil, balsamic vinegar, tarragon, dijon mustard, pepper, salt. VERY YUMMY!!

Day 28 - First Canned food.........and first Almond butter

Today's eats:

Every Morning Smoothie (2c spinach, 1 banana, 2c fresh oj, 1c blueberries (supposed to be frozen but they were just cold), 1c strawberries (supposed to be cold but were frozen so it worked out) The name fits b/c if I could I would have this EVERY morning!!

1 small apple with almond butter (Very impressed, I actually like it better than peanut butter)
1 can Amy's spicy vegan chili..........THIS STUFF ROCKS
1 avocado w/Celtic sea salt
Large mixed green salad w/ baby bella mushrooms, chopped green onions, (something new here: 1/2 leaf chopped kale), tomatoes, Braggs
Last 1/2 of Every Morning Smoothie

This was my first Canned food since the MC and I was sort of scared but it was GREAT!!

Day 27

Today's eats:
Green Julius smoothie (1 1/2 c fresh oj, 2c ice, 2 large mangos, 2c fresh parsley or spinach (i used parsley)
70+ oz pure water
whole qt sized ziplock bag of veggie chips
mixed green salad w/ chopped green onions, sliced baby bella mushrooms, tomatoes, Braggs
1 medium orange
Last 1/2 of green Julius
4 forks full of spinach noodles
4 flax crackers (mexican harvest) w/ fresh guacamole

When I work I'm just going to post what I ate for that day unless something big changes due to the time restraint but i always catch back up :-)

Day 26

Today was a little tricky b/c we went grocery shopping and for some reason I started craving cheese and pepperoni pizza really bad.............having cravings and going grocery shopping don't mix!!

I refrained but I did give into some roasted herb potatoes. They were roasted with sesame oil and had some dill in there but they were cold, hard and dry. I wasn't impressed at all!!

I started having some pretty severe side/lower back pain today and I can't tell if its my gall bladder or my kidneys but man it bothered me most all day! I'm just glad it went away. It does concern me though b/c since my MC I have been having some sudden sharp pain in the same area and sometimes on the other side. It goes as quickly as it comes so I'm not TOO worried just yet.

My breakouts seem to finally be subsiding, I still look like a pizza but not as bad! Today was a low energy day and I've been a little crabby but I think most of that has been b/c of my side/back pain.

Today's eats:
60+ oz pure water
Parsley smoothie ( 3c cubed cantaloupe, 1 bunch parsley)
2 mexican harvest flax seed crackers with guacamole pico (new dish....COMPLETELY YUMMY!!)
1/2 lb (6 halves) of baby red roasted herb potatoes
4 mexican harvest flax seed crackers with guacamole pico
(a few cherry tomatoes throughout the day)
3 forks full of vegan spinach noodles
1 Dana's Banana's (banana halves dipped in non-dairy chocolate frozen) First sweet food I've had and it wasn't that bad!

Day 24 and 25

Its been crazy the last few days! I've had to work and I'm just worn OUT!!
I've noticed my breakouts are drying up but only when I wake up. I get like 6 new ones throughout the day and it is still annoying the crap out of me! I stopped using my daily Clinique moisturizer on day 25 and it has seemed to help, I haven't used any moisturizer on my face at all!! I've had plenty of energy and don't want to oversleep anymore!



Lets see on day 24 I had tons of energy!

Day 24 eats:

65 oz pure water

Morning Zing smoothie (1/2 bunch Dandelion greens, 1/2 in ginger root, 1/2 pineapple, 2 stalks celery, 2 peaches)

1 apple with natural peanut butter

Veggie chips

Medium salad with tomatoes and braggs dressing and some vegan noodles

Veggie chips



Day 25 eats: I ate a lot today

70 oz pure water

Parsley passion smoothie (1 bunch parsley, 1 banana, 1 apple, 1 cucumber peeled) this one I shared with my 11 y/o sister and she LOVED it! SHARE THE GREEN MAN!

Vegan spinach noodles

Veggie Chips

Medium salad with tomatoes and Braggs dressing and more vegan spinach noodles (can you tell I love these lol)

1 Orange

Veggie Chips

Drank the other 1/2 of my Parsley Passion.

Day 23 Had some processed Vegan dish today, bad move?

Well, well, well another day in the neighborhood!!
I started off my morning with some lemon water and cayenne pepper while I made some fresh orange juice. It was really bitter and next time I think I'm gonna heat it up! I got daring for lunch and decided to have some of those "Birds Eye SteamFresh" veggies in a bag that you just pop in the the microwave and a few vegan dumplings with some spinach noodles. I had a HEAPING plate full and knew I could not eat it all and I didn't want to try either! I chowed down and left about 1/2 on my plate. I felt yucky and weighed down afterward and man did my tummy hurt. Even though I bought one box of dumplings and 3 boxes of noodles I may be throwing them away b/c I seem to do a LOT better with raw than I do with cooked vegan.

I don't really crave anything besides salad so I guess that's a good thing, huh?

I've been really bored today for some reason and can't seem to find anything to keep me preoccupied. I've had food on my mind all day which is not a good thing, so I've been trying to keep myself busy...........its not working so far.

My detox symptoms are still present, by that I mean the zits............AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH the zits!!!! They are going to be the death of me. I look like a pepperoni pizza and can't do ANYTHING about it!! I'll just deal with it until my detox symptoms start to slow down, I have to I have no other choice, right?

Oh, on a good note I'm down to 165!! So I'm still losing weight, YAY!

I made my first green smoothie today too. It was a mango/kale smoothie. It called for one cup of kale, one mango and one cup of water.......said it yielded 1 quart, I think it was a misprint b/c it only gave me 16 oz and I put a whole leaf of kale and not just one cup. It was VERY green and almost too green, I think next time I won't alter the directions so drastically, maybe a half of a leaf instead of the whole thing........but the mango was so big I figured all i would taste was the mango and no green, but i think that was the point LOL.

Its just a trial and error period, just finding out what works and what doesn't. I'm learning and to be honest its sort of fun!!!

Today's Eats:
72 + oz of pure water (throughout the day)
2 whole oranges (juiced)
1 serving of vegan spinach noodles, 1/2 serving of seamfresh veggies, 3 vegan dumplings
1 green smoothie (mango/kale)
2 servings of dehydrated veggie chips
a few cherry tomatoes throughout the day
1 large (not HUGE this time) mixed salad with Braggs salad dressing

P.S.
My dr. called me back today to let me know the results of my papsmear and it was negative but she said I had a little bit of a bacterial infection. I thought for a second and realized that I was right in the middle of my MC when I went for my exam which probably caused the positive bacteria, since it was being released. She said that she was going to call me in a perscription and it was an antibiotic and for the first time in my life I have refused to do what my dr. told me. She was stunned and said, "so you are refusing treatment?" I confindently said YES b/c I really don't want to take any antibiotics!! I'm positive that if I stay on the raw food diet that small problem that I probably never would have noticied anyway will soon be gone, if it hasn't already!

Day 22 Making new friends with food

As you can tell I keep dating my post like I'm still on the cleanse for a good reason. In my mind I'm still on a cleanse even though I'm not drinking my SWF and 8 glasses of lemonade, I'm still cleansing myself on a daily basis. So just because the MC is officially over doesn't mean my transition has to be.





I woke up this morning to a complex: What to eat??????


I had been to the grocery store over the weekend to get stuff for work like veggie chips, dehydrated fruit and salad greens but nothing to really eat. I figured I was going to be on the OJ for at least 2 days so I really didn't plan that far ahead. After my awful experience with the chicken noodle last night I really don't want any process foods (I didn't last night either but kinda had no choice). I'm surprisingly craving greens, tomatoes (which isn't odd for me), avocados and fruit!!





I had purchased a book called Green Smoothie Revolution by Victoria Boutenko and read it amongst other Raw Vegan books while I was on my cleanse. I picked out the first 4 green smoothies listed in the book to make and headed to the grocery store without eating a thing (I'm usually not hungry first thing in the morning anyway plus I'm learning to listen to my body so I only eat when it tells me to). Once I was there I was in the fresh produce section and man every thing smelled so good! But first I stopped by the Vegan section and picked up some spinach noodles, some dumplings and 2 other kinds of vegan noodles to mix things up since I'm shooting for 50% raw (even though so far I've been 95-100% raw YAY!!)





I loaded up on some mango, kale, celery, ginger root, peaches, pineapple, cantaloupe, parsley, cucumber, apples, avocados, tomatoes, vegan coconut bars and banana's (all organic of coarse). They had everything I needed except the dandelion greens, I guess they were out. I got home and wanted to make a green smoothie so bad but knew I only had enough to make starting tomorrow through Friday. I did a MAJOR cleaning on my refrigerator and made room for all my new friends and found a recent bottle of "green machine" by Naked juice. There was my answer to my green drink for today. I used to drink those all the time b/c they were packed full of super green foods like spirulina, chlorella, barley grass, wheat grass, blue green algae and it tasted good! Listen at me I sound like a raw food guru already LOL!





I haven't eaten anything yet as I just finished off my Naked juice but my next meal will be a yummy salad with some tomatoes!! I just can't believe how easy this is becoming and all along in my head I've thought it was going to be so difficult to change and how expensive it was going to be. I stocked up on some produce today and it would have only been like $60 if I hadn't bought the cooked vegan noodles and dumplings which brought it up to $90. I guess when you get your mind away from the bad stuff and gear your brain toward the goodness and get your body to where it actually craves what it really NEEDS this raw stuff becomes very simple! I used to spend loads of money on organic produce only to let it sit in the fridge and spoil. Why??? Because even though I knew I needed to eat healthy and I made it easily available, I really didn't crave it so when I went to reach for food (which I did often as an over eater) it was the hot dogs or the TV dinners..............my addiction to crap had taken over. Ahhh, talking like my addiction and overeating are a thing of the past really gives me a sense of accomplishment.............but I'm not out of the woods yet! Its a long process and a relapse is a very real thing that I've experienced too many times, so I'm just taking things one day at a time.





I'm looking forward to my new lifestyle, I actually feel true excitement for the first time in a long time and IT FEELS GRRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTT!

Todays eats:
48oz pure water
15.2 oz of green machine Naked juice
1 HUGE salad with spring mix greens and baby spinich, cherry tomatoes and Braggs salad dressing
may have some peppermint tea before going to bed
PS I had my first solid BM today YAY
O and I started the probiotics last night at work once I ate the chickenless chicken noodle soup.

Day 21 Breaking the fast

I'm scared to death!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I've disciplined myself to not touch anything except what's on the MC and now its time to have the OJ and I'm beside myself.

I juiced 3 oranges this morning and smelled it for like 5 minutes before I got the nerve up to take a drink. I know it sounds silly but my body has been used to the lemonade and was afraid the OJ was going to kill my stomach. Well the OJ was HEAVEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I've never tasted anything so sweet and yummy in my life!!!!! Needless to say it savored every drink until the last bit!

I have to go to work tonight so this will be challenging to break the fast and try not to grab the first thing I can shove into my mouth.

I weighed in today at 167 and measured: I've lost 1 in in my arms, 4 inches in my waist, 3 in my thighs and 1 in my chest!!! I'm excited!

LATER on that night: Ok so I thought I made enough orange juice to last all night............NOT! I had enough to last till 9pm. I was drinking so much OJ b/c it just wasn't keeping me full like the lemonade was. I knew I couldn't last the whole 2 days off OJ like the book outlines. For one I was out of oranges and for 2 I had no way of leaving the hospital to get any and 3 even if I could leave who was going to be open at 11 on a Sunday night. SOOOOOOO, I did something I REALLY didn't want to do and that was eat some chicken noodle soup from the patient cabinet. It was a very small can, about half the size of a normal can. I heated it up and sipped the broth. It tasted kinda funny but ok. I did burn my tongue though ouch! I wasn't going to eat the noodles b/c they were made of eggs and I definitely fished out the chicken and threw it away. Once I reached the bottom of the cup I had to try........so I ate the noodles and YUCK they were awful!!!!!!!!!!! Never in my life have I ever NOT liked chicken noodle!! I can really tell my taste buds have changed, for the better!!

After the chicken noodle I felt heavy and weird. It didn't hurt my stomach but I did burp up acid chicken broth for a while, that was yummy, let me tell ya! Since that decided to stay down I went for the mixed green salad I had brought with my raw vegan organic salad dressing and homegrown tomatoes (I had been eyeing since the beginning of my cleanse) at lunch (about 1am) OMG I have never tasted greens like that. Its like this cleanse has re-awakened my taste buds! I've always been a salad eater but not because I love the taste but b/c I didn't MIND the taste and I knew they were good for me. But now I LOVE the way greens taste, AMAZING!!! I enjoyed every bite and chewed very slowly, I even licked my bowl when I was done LOL! I even brought some dehydrated veggie chips (various vegetables dehydrated with sea salt) and laid into those when I was done. I made sure not to over eat and save some chips for a snack at 5.

Everything stayed down just fine and my stomach didn't hurt at all, so it looks like I didn't do things too fast then! After my lunch I felt wonderful, I had energy and didn't feel weighed down, heavy or weird. Its such a wonderful thing to feel that way especially after a meal!!

Todays eats:
70 oz of pure water (throughout the day/night)
48 oz of fresh squeezed orange juice (split up into 3 servings)
240ml of chicken noodle soup (without the chicken)
medium mix spring salad with Braggs salad dressing, 2 homegrown tomatoes
3/4 of a 1qt ziplock bag full of veggie chips (1/2 eaten at lunch, 1/2 eaten as snack)

Days 16 through 20

Everything has been basically the same since day 15. I've stayed in a very good mood but unfortunately have not lost a single pound since day 15 but the physical changes are amazing. I have lost so many inches I'm fitting into clothes I've not been able to fit into since I was 160 and I'm 7 lbs heavier than that. My face is smaller, my cellulite on the fronts and backs of my legs are barely noticeable. I have a flat stomach and I only have one small roll of fat on my back......lets just say its a line now, I'm SOOOO HAPPY.

The bad news is my breakouts have gotten SO much worse since day 6. I have like 40 zits under my chin, on my neck, my chest and all over my face. I honestly can't take the breakouts anymore!! I know the book says to welcome every zit b/c it just means the toxins are coming out. I do want them to come out just not all over my face neck and chest to the point I want to walk around with a bag over my head.

I'm very proud of myself for staying strong through all 20 days!!! YAY, Go ME!! I have had some major temptations though, like at work we had a going away party and we had fresh veggies, a meat/cheese tray and mini sub sandwiches................I wanted to dig in so bad but stayed strong!! And check this out, I asked one of the girls to just let me smell her pepperoni off the meat tray, since I've have such strong cravings for pepperoni. She looked at me funny but I said seriously just hold it and let me smell it. I took a big deep breath and had a huge whiff and guess what....................I DIDN'T WANT IT anymore. I appreciated the smell and didn't even think of eating it.

Today is day 20 and I'm sort of scared to start eating again b/c I'm afraid of loosing this wonderful feeling and awesome good mood all the time. I have been torn as to how I'm going to eat after today: am I going to be 100% raw, 75%, 50% or what. Well, I finally decided to be 50% raw b/c this is a PROCESS and if I jump all over it and think I can't eat this or that then I will fail so I need to give myself some leeway.

I went to the grocery store today and loaded up on salad stuff, more lemons, a bag of oranges and some dehydrated veggies. My boyfriend stopped by Sonic and ordered a chicken sandwich with tots and surprisingly I don't even care for that stuff anymore. Everything on the menu looked fake...........like my mind has associated that kind of food as "not real" almost like plastic fruit LOL. It did smell good but the thought of eating it surprisingly turned my stomach, that is REALLY good!! For the past few days I've really not even favored the thought of eating anything but I know its time!

Update: Since I have been drinking my lemonade through a straw and swishing my mouth with water after every drink my sensitive tooth has stopped hurting. And the "funk" on top of my foot is still there, I know I said I would keep going until it was gone but hopefully by changing my lifestyle it will go away with time. It is a whole lot lighter than it has ever been though.

Well this has been a wonderful journey and 6 months from now I will be doing it again. I will try and keep updated when I can. Since I know what it feels like to really feel this good I'm not ever going back to my old eating habits.............its going to be one day at a time but as long as I can keep reminding myself that even though its expensive, its so worth it to feel this good. From now on food will be my priority when pay day comes instead of bills like it has been for the past 5 years. I function better and my health and happiness is way more important than bills..........Just keep it simple!

Day 15

Only 5 more days to go!! I can't believe I've made it this far since my first cleanse only lasted 3 days and I caved in and I had a lot more options to go in my mouth than with this cleanse!



I'm having another big energy day and guess what, I'm down to 167.6...........I love it when I lose weight!! Its weird that I'll go a few days at the same weight then BAM drop 3lbs overnight. Its great though b/c when I've tried to lose weight before I got stuck at 170 and before that I got stuck at 160 and just couldn't seem to get past it no matter what I did.



I'm very optimistic today and I have not had any cravings the past few days. As I was mowing the lawn I can tell my allergies have gotten SOOOOOOOO much better, I didn't sneeze ONCE!! On top of that someone in the neighborhood was having Chinese LOL and I could actually smell that over all the flying grass, pollen, and dirt!!



I didn't go straight to sleep last night after drinking my lax tea and it wound up waking me up at 12, 1 and 2 with BM's. I can't complain though because I want it OUT!

Day 14

Hey, hey, hey!!

I woke up in a better mood toay and for once I wasn't tired when I woke either!! YAY!! My face is starting to clear up some, I'm beginning to think its my hair.....rather the shampoo that's on my hair and the hair is touching my face!! Hardly any sinus issues this morning either. My dry skin is mostly gone, even my ever ashy legs aren't dry!! I'm laughing at myself today b/c I'm not sure how long my tongue has been pink but since I have been waking up with an AWFUL taste in my mouth I decided to SCRUB the tar out of my tongue (on a daily basis I will brush my tongue and take my tongue scraper to it, but today I scrubbed and scrubbed). Just a few strokes seemed to make the taste worse so I scrubbed and spit, scrubbed and spit and did this for at least 6 or 7 times until I was quite sure I had that yuck out of my mouth. Well lo and behold what arose from the darkness.....................A PINK TONGUE!! and a very minty mouth!! Now my tongue feels a litte funny but I don't care b/c ITS PINK!!!!!!!

Remember the patch of funk on the top of my foot, its almost gone too, I can barely see it now. I am so happy!! I have been able to be around people eating, walked all the way through grocery stores without any problem! I have been craving some really bad food lately and didn't think I was going to be able to finish this cleanse without giving up and diving into a medium rare sirloin but today I just want some guac and salsa, idk why but I want to dive right into a huge bowl of avacado with fresh homegrown tomatos!!



Ok, so I just read up on the breakouts I've been having since day 6 and this is a detox symptom..........not work or the shampoo on the hair and hair touching my face. I've known that the skin is the body's largest eliminatory organ and unfortunately you do not get to decide which organ most of your toxins get to escape from. Apparently its not my liver, kidneys or lungs - just my skin and bowels LOL. But from what I read, every new zit means the MC is working, so I will try and keep that in mind as well as keeping my hands off of them and letting them heal by themselves!!

Now, I've just completed an in depth research about my toothache. Since lemons reak havoc on enamel and possibly recede gumlines, it is advised on the MC bulliton board to drink your lemonade through a straw, rinse with water after each drink and possibly use a sensitive toothpaste. One post recommended MI Paste but after research it is durived from milk/lactose.......no thanks I'll stick with my straw!!

Today has been a big energy day for me, I've not been able to sit still all day long and I love it!! LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT!

Day 13

Today I had yet another burning BM and that weird foam. My face is still breaking out and I still have that tooth ache. On a good note my dry skin is clearing up and its starting to get really soft!! I'm just really tired today and can go to sleep at the drop of a dime. I'm still a little grumpy and I think its because I'm sort of stressed out..........more like discouraged. I'm on day 13 and most people I have read about have already had HUGE gains with the MC and HUGE weight loss to report and I've only lost 9 pounds, and I feel like I'm going backwards since day 10, its frustrating!! I was feeling SO GREAT from day 4 to day 10 now its like I'm tired all the time and grumpy just like I was before the cleanse. I'm doing everything EXACTLY by the book so idk what's wrong!! My tooth ache is starting to worry me though and I'm not sure if its just a detox symptom or if something is wrong. On top of that my tongue still is not pink, I'm still waking up with major sinus issues and I have this AWFUL taste in my mouth from the time I wake up till I go to bed. AHHHHHH just a bad day!

Day 12

Not much to report today. For some reason my face is still breaking out and all along I thought it was work doing it. I'm still having sinus issues and that one tooth ache. I'm still having BM's as normal (mostly liquid with some semi solid waste). O, yeah on day 10 I started having gas.............which is not a good thing when you are having liquid BM's!! Today I started having some "foam" with my BM's too, not sure what that's all about either. Still at 170 so no more weight loss. I have been a little grumpy today too and tired.

Still taking it one day at a time.................

Day 11

Well its definitely a new day!! No more pepperoni pizza cravings YAY! Actually I've not really craved anything at all today which is amazing! My weird and vivid dreams are still occurring on occasion but not near as bad as they were on the first few days! I'm having so semi-serious sinus issues lately, I woke up yesterday feeling like I was trying to get a cold or something. My throat was really dry and scratchy, my nose was stopped up and my lungs hurt to breathe in deeply. Idk what's going on b/c I've had sinus issues for a few days now and it's not clearing up.......well it is during the day but as soon as I wake they are horrible.

I've had a rash on my right foot for like a year now, it popped up last summer and I had a few dr buddies look at it who said it was fungal. So it was "treated" with a round of antibiotics and some anti-fungal ointment. Well after the strong antibiotics it acted like it was starting to go away but BAM it came right back and it seemed to get worse, almost like it was pissed. It went through different stages, it would turn red then purple then it would spread then it would start to go away then it would come back as big bumps then turn purple again. As the weather got cooler it started fading but as soon as it warmed back up it came back full force. Long story short it has never gone away and since I've started the MC I've been watching to see what it does. I have decided that regardless if my tongue is completely pink or not I'm going until this "thing" on my foot goes away LOL! Today it has started to fade!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My tongue is mostly pink but still has a light white coat on it.

For the most part my energy is high today and I'm in a positive mood, I've not weighed myself so that way I don't get discouraged if I don't lose anything. Onward to day 12!!

Day 10

Apparently today is a HUGE detox day for me b/c I woke up grumpy as hell!! I stayed in a bad mood all day, I felt like I was back in my rut where I was before I started the MC....................this is NOT cool!! I'm feeling discouraged, I want to quit, I just want to EAT and whats really bad is I want to eat meat and cheese and cake and funyuns and pretzels and cheese puffs and pretty much every thing that is bad for me. I've had this crazy craving all day for a pepperoni pizza with lots and lots of extra pepperoni. I used to love to take the Hormel pepperoni in the pack and just sit and eat them as a snack. I searched and searched the Internet for a raw pepperoni recipe and no luck, I found how to make a vegan pepperoni pizza but its not raw so that really pissed me off and I wanted to quit the MC and go straight back to the way I was eating.

But you know what? I talked some sense into myself and made myself realize that all this was just the toxins leaving my body and just wait to see what tomorrow brings. I've gone too far to just give up now and go back to my old ways like nothing ever happened and I DON'T WANT THAT at all!! I was so unhappy and miserable and its all because of what I ate and I know it sounds so simple that just the stuff you eat has that much of an impact on your life but IT DOES!! I'm feeling like, wow its day 10 I'm done and I can finally eat and if I keep going then day 11 will be like day 1 all over again! But its just my detox talking, I'm just in a negative mood and the only way its gonna get better is to sleep it off and poop it all out in the morning!

Just a note: Before I started this cleanse I had bad cellulite on the backs and fronts of my thighs as well as 2 definite back fat rolls (2 on each side) and the shadow of a 3rd starting to form. Today I noticed that the cellulite is starting to lighten up and I only have ONE back fat roll.......gross I know I can't stand them either but they are going away FINALLY YAY!!

Day 9

I'm finally down to 170!! YAY. I'm still having sinus issues though, espically when I wake up! My energy level is really good and I'm still in a really positive mood. I did have another burning bm today, I don't mind them as long as its not all the time. Looks like I'm going the full 20, I have enough lemons to last me straight to day 20, I did, however, have to get some more maple syrup......man that stuff is expensive, it cheaper to get the big 64 oz off the MC website b/c just 32 oz here at the local grocery store is $35!!

Day 8

Today has been a weird day!!!!

I woke up more tired than usual at my normal time (2 pm since I worked last night) and it took until almost 5 to fully wake up. I had to go outside when I finished my SWF b/c for the past few days it has be absolutely BEAUTIFUL outside, no humidity and about 76 and I've not been able to enjoy it b/c I've had to work. So I went outside and finally finished reading my MC book and got some real encouragement. I've not lost any more weight since day 4 and its bothered me b/c I'm doing everything to a T and I'm still having about 6 BM's a day but I read that even though I'm not losing weight I'm losing inches and I'm gaining a lot more from this than just weight loss (sometimes I need to be reminded to see the big picture and get my head out of my arsh).

As I was sitting outside enjoying the weather I realized that before I started the MC I felt like my life was in a rut. From the moment I opened my eyes in the morning everything went wrong and it snowballed, one thing after another just went wrong. So most of the time I would just figure that day would be just as miserable as the rest and I would force myself to sleep all day and all night until I had to go back to work. I was depressed bad!! I see that things just sort of some how fall into place so easily now, almost like I'm more in line with the universe and everything is starting to line up. I've always known that positive energy out = positive energy in but how easily I forget. Since I've been on the cleanse I've been so much more positive and not been so emotional all the time (just a week ago someone could look at me the wrong way and I'd cry). I've been positive just like I used to be (well lets just say how the real me is) and come to think of it I've not had ANYTHING at all go wrong..............NOTHING, it seems I'm becoming more balanced in all aspects of my life and its so wonderful. A girl at work last night said "there's just something different about you besides the fact that you look smaller, you just have this glow, its like you are radiating and you are so happy" That made me feel so good!

I put on my normal people clothes, as we call them at work, (jeans and t) and they are loose on me especially my tops and that made me feel good! I did notice that I'm having some tooth sensitivity though on one of my bottom molars right at the gum line almost like I have a nerve exposed, I really hope this is just another detox symptom! I've had a headache off and on and some kidney discomfort off an on today as well. I have noticed my weird vivid dreams have stopped, I think my last one was on day 5, thank goodness they made me feel funny when I woke up.

I have had some serious detox symptoms today, the book says that day 7 is your worst detox day..........nope mine is day 8!! I have craved everything under the sun from steak to shrimp to cheese to french fries to funnel cakes........you name it I've craved it today. I'm still holding strong though and I've actually had 2 bm's out of the ordinary in the middle of the day today, usually I only eliminate after my SWF and the lax tea.

Well lets just hope tomorrow keeps getting better!

Day 7

My ears started clearing up today but I still have sinus issues and my dry skin is still present but today my face was extra oily when I got up to go to work and I still had a few bumps on my face (which I got more when I looked in the mirror about 2am at work - that place is just nasty!!!!)

I have a lot more energy today and I'm starting to see things so clearly and I'm HAPPY YAY!! I just can't believe how grumpy and unhappy I have been for a long time and for some reason I've gotten worse in the last few months but I'm staring to see my EVIL ways now and man am I THANKFUL for this MC to open my eyes and help me be a better person b/c from what I'm seeing I did NOT like myself and I'm sure not too many people did either!!

I've not lost any more weight since day 4 but on day 5 I noticed my undies felt a little more loose than normal LOL, I know that sounds weird but I could tell a difference. Today I'm more focused and not so spacey like I have been and I can see an energy increase. I saw today that I can have a heated conversation and keep track, stay calm, and get everything out that I need to say - VERY IMPRESSIVE for me b/c I usually loose my cool, go off and completely not say anything I wanted/needed to say then wish later I had said something that didn't get said, if that makes sense. I have tolerated stress better and I'm getting back to being able to handle work in a nice manner instead of being TOTALLY STRESSED and getting ill with everyone who asked me to do one more thing on my already full list of things to do.

On day 5 I was hungry all day long except when I would have a drink but it would only last for about 45 min to an hour before I was hungry again. Tonight I drank 2 drinks at a time (20 oz), spaced it out so I drank at 6, 9, 12 and 3 and I stayed full all night long and even forgot to drink at 3 but wound up realizing it at 4 and consumed it then.

Day 6

Sorry I haven't posted in a few days I've been working and I usually don't even have time to get on the computer at all when I work since I work 12 hour shifts. Well any hoo, this is what happened on day 6:

I still had sinus issues (waking up with a stopped up nose, then a runny nose some coughing and sneezing). My ears started stopping up almost like I had yet another double ear infection ( I usually get 5 each summer..........very painful ones at that). I noticed on day 3 I started having really dry skin, worse than normal and I still have it and it seems to be getting worse like I would in the winter time.

I only eliminate after the SWF and the lax tea and none in between. I got really sleepy starting around 4 am and I normally have no trouble staying awake on my shift even if I've had a few nights off. On day 5, which was my first day back to work since I started the MC I started breaking out but when I came home they immediately started clearing up, odd huh? I tried drinking the lax tea at work so I could eliminate before I got home since I've noticed it works on me in about 2 hours and I only get 5 hours of sleep when I work and I didn't want to get to sleep only to wake up to poop and then only get 3 hours of sleep before returning to work. Well, I guess I should have drank it earlier b/c I was on my way home when it hit and I refuse to use public bathrooms........kinda had to b/c it was coming out whether I wanted it to or not and I did NOT want to clean that out of my car!! NOTE: time the lax tea EARLIER

Day 5

I had to work last night so I wasn't able to post anything yesterday so for the next few days my post are going to be a day off.

Like I said on day 4, day 5 would be a test and man was it ever. I was faced with more food than usual, first they ordered Chinese take out, then some local restaurant came wheeling by with two large totes with loaded marinated steak and chicken baked potatoes deserts and lots of goodies for only $5; then a co-worker who was "just in the area" and wanted to stop by to say hi had to say him and the wife just got done eating sushi and on top of all the food facings I was faced with the ever present stress of my job. So last night was extremely hard but ya know what............... I DID IT I STAYED STRONG ALL NIGHT LONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not to say I didn't gritch and groan the whole night but I did it!!

So yesterday I noticed that my eyes were bright, my blackheads that would never go away no matter what I did or what dr. I went to were basically gone, my senses are so sharp (but my mind was a little bit sluggish last night sort of spacey), the place where my legs rub usually have some sort of rash/bumps and they are all gone, my nails are very shiny and look healthy and I'm starting to see some bright pink spots on my tongue!! My weight was 173.0!!

I had my full 8 drinks and I tried to time my lax tea so I would be going #2 at work instead of getting home falling asleep and waking up 3 different times since I only get about 5 hours of sleep when I work. Well I finished up my tea at 5:30 and at 7:19 - mid transit - it hit me and I had to immediately pull over to the nearest gas station YUCK, I refuse to use a public bathroom if I can help it but I really HAD TO GO and I still had another good 10 min before I got home. It was a very productive one and once I got home I had another around 7:45. So tonight I will try to get my tea in before 5!!

I did notice a work that my face started breaking out, which isn't anything new. If I've been using a new face wash it will show its true colors once I get to work. Idk why but I always seem to bump out around 2 or 3 in the morning only when I'm there. Maybe I do work on a nasty floor, more nasty than I ever realized!!

I also realized that I have spent way more money on this cleanse than expected! I went to the store yesterday b/c they called me around noon to advise me that they did finally receive their shipment of lemons. I bought 7 bags to equal approx 60 lemons with some extra just in case and I noticed their prices went up from $3.99 to $4.29 in just 5 days. Man o man, so I started calculating and thus far with the lemons (which have taken well over 100 instead of the guideline of the book which is 40) plus the kit (which is cheaper online than separately at my organic store) plus the water I have spent right at $200 (excluding the cost of the citrus juicer) and I have decided to only do my cleanse for 10 days. I was NOT expecting to fork out this much money and now I see why I can't pay my cell phone bill this month.

Don't get me wrong I'm not trying to be negative in any way, I'm just shocked at how quickly things add up and you not even realize it. I'm having very good results but money wise I just can't swing it.

Hopefully tonight won't be as testing for me and I hope to get my tea in before 5 so I won't be making anymore pit stops!!

Day 4

Wow I can't believe I've made it this far!!! I did a juice fast (feast) in 07 and only made it to day 3 and caved in but with this cleanse I've made it to day 4 GO ME!!
I did, however, think I was going to have to quit after today under no fault of my own. I went to the local (well not so local for me it's 20 min away) organic grocery store (the only one in town) and they were COMPLETELY out of lemons, completely. Their trucks were not on schedule and the one that was out back had no lemons on it. So the guy took my name and number and said that when the next truck came in either tonight or tomorrow morning he would let me know.
I asked an associate there and she said to try the organic lemon juice and even though I told her what I was doing she advised me that she had done many cleanses and the whole purpose of a cleanse is to get away from having your mind set on only one way to do things. Kind of like being set in your ways I suppose. I did take her advise into consideration and I do agree to "let go" of your standard way of thinking and be more open but I'm also very meticulate and I have been following the directions of the Master Cleanse to the T and do not want to stray now.
They found one LARGE lemon (this sucker was bigger than an orange) for me and showed me where the organic lemon juice was. So I bought 2 of the lemon juices enough for tomorrow and hopefully they will call me before I go into work that way I can stop by and get some more.
Well last night was another crazy BM night, I wound up having one at 11 one at 12 one at 1 and another at 7. Needless to say it was a rough night.
Today I made my batch for 8 drinks so YAY for me! Personally I believe that if I can just do the minimum of 6 I will be ok but if I have room for 8 then the more the merrier but I don't think I really need more than 8, seriously.
I'm still having some sinus issues like sneezing and a slightly runny nose with the drainage down the back of my throat. My tongue still has a thick white coat but I think it's beginning to lighten up some, but I could be mistaken. I don't feel as tired today as I have been and I've actually been out of the house most of the day and I'm in a GOOD mood. I'm starting to feel like me again and this feels SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO WONDERFUL!! I've noticed that my thoughts tend be positive and happy; when before I would just lay in bed and my mind would drift toward things that would seriously piss me off and get me upset. I just figured it was part of being unhappy and depressed. I honestly can tell a HUGE difference in the way I feel and how I think. Which in turn affects how I act and speak. I've not cussed, I've kept my cool, I've only been moody the other night when I couldn't sleep and was in pain, I'm relaxed and not tense, I'm happy and carefree just like the old me, or should I say the "REAL ME". I've also noticed myself laughing quite a bit today and since I've been in this "funk" for the past 5 years I've not done much of anything except gripe, complain, cuss, be mad, angry, procrastinating, lazy, unmotivated, hateful, depressed, tired, lethargic, grumpy old woman!! Wow, I never want to be that again EVER, I can't wait to see what day 20 brings my way and what a world of living actually feels like. I'm going 100% raw vegan when this is all done. I've tried to transition to raw before by doing a juice fast in 07 but when I caved in on day 3 I dove right into a huge meat barbecue so obviously that didn't go over too well. I'm ready and prepared this time that's why I'm doing a full 20 days. The book says a minimum of 10 but on 20 you reach dealing with your food addiction on an emotional level and it opens you up on a spiritual level so I'm awaiting the day so I can go straight to raw foods and never miss the crap food.
Before I went on this cleanse I had already mostly kicked my Coca cola habit I was on day 26 without one when I started this. So that was my only caffeine "habit", now every once in a while I would fix a cup of coffee when I would get to work to kind of kick start my night but it wasn't an every night thing and I would never drink coffee outside of work unless it was a cold or frozen coffee drink, and even those were very few and far between.
Well anyway, today has been a great day and I hope it just keeps getting better. Tomorrow is the true test of strength its Work Time and I get to spend a full 12 hours around Coke, Sodas, Chips, Snacks, Pizza, Take-Out, and plain out Junk Food...........ahhhh gotta love hospitals ey? Well Wish Me LUCK!

Day 3

Today is supposed to be the "hardest" day but its been the easiest for me thus far. Every night I wake up in the middle of the night to have a BM. Its odd that I'm actually asleep at night but also odd that I have a BM at night too.



Last night I woke up at 12:45 and had a mostly liquid with some semi-solid waste. This was my first burning BM, OMG did it burn, but once it was done it didn't burn anymore, which was great. Then I tossed and turned till 1:45 at which time I had another just like it but I'm noticing I'm expelling a lot of reddish/yellow mucus looking stuff, which is GREAT. My headache from yesterday turned into a migraine and my cramps just about put me over the edge (I even took the 1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper to the back of the tongue to ease the cramps as suggested in the book.....HA HA I think they got worse). Like I said I woke up at 12:45 and stayed up till 4 something with all the pain. I had some major detoxing going on between those hours: migraine, major sinus pressure, lower back pain, restlessness and MAD............OMG was I mad, probably b/c I was in so much pain and discomfort and couldn't do a dang thing about it.



This morning though was a much better start!! NO HEADACHE and bearable cramps. I did sleep from 4 till 8 and decided since I was sleeping so good to just go back to sleep. I slept till 9:45 made my SWF had 2 BM's then went back to sleep till 2. (This is probably why I'm having such an easy time with this cleanse is b/c I'm asleep for most of it, but I'm taking advantage of my sleep b/c when I go back to work its gonna be balls to the wall for 3 days straight).



When I did get up at 2 I went ahead and made a drink fresh as I was making my batch of 6 today (for a total of 7) I did something different: in the directions it says 2 tsp or 1 fl oz of maple syrup well I quickly found out that in making single drinks 2 tsp is easier to measure than 1 fl oz but when you make a batch its easier to measure in oz. Yesterday in making my batch I used 12 tsp for 6 drinks and today I used 6 oz, WOW big difference, I can go ahead and tell ya that 2 tsp does not equal 1 fl oz. My batch is SOOOOO sweet almost so sweet I don't like it!! So back to tsp we go! UPDATE: I obviously can't read b/c it says 2 TABLESPOONS not teaspoons, Big difference so yes 2 TABLESPOONS does equal 1 fl oz. It is VERY sweet but I will get used to it.



So far I've only had 2 BM's today which is kind of a nice break, I'm starting to feel back to normal instead of running to the bathroom every hour. I weigh 174.0 today so I've lost a total of 5.6 lbs so far and it's only DAY 3 YAY!! My energy level is about the same as normal, sluggish/tired. I do sort of feel spaced out though. My tongue still has a thick white coat and I'm noticing my skin is pretty dry and starting to flake under my arms, odd b/c the only time I have EVER had flaky skin is when I burn from the sun and start to peel and that's what it look like. It may be my soap I think tonight I will change up to something less drying and see how that goes. I have also had some sinus issues going on today as well. My nose has been running, have been sneezing, some drainage (I try to keep from swallowing but sometimes it's too late) and some lower back/side pain. I've always had bad asthma and allergies so maybe this is clearing all that up for good. Oh, yeah I'm up to a whole 1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper in my drinks I love that stuff!



Now that I think about it I'm not as stressed and all tense inside like i usually am. I feel more relaxed and somewhat more happy. Well I still have 17 more days to go so we will just see how things turn out.

Rest of Day 2

I'm not sure what time i woke up but i know I slept for about 4 hours. It felt good but I still woke up with a headache and on top of that my menstrual cramps. I'm wanting to take something so bad for my cramps I'm in so much pain but can't so I'm just gonna have to tough it out. Maybe thats another reason for me sleeping so much.

I got up and mowed the grass, my energy level is about normal for me so having no energy and being tired is nothing new. I only have 3 drinks down today but I'm determined to finish off the last three and have my hot lax tea before I go to bed.

My headache has actually turned worse and I'm not sure how much longer I can take it on top of the cramps, I'm MISERABLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So I'm starting to get real moody and cranky.

I can do this though, I keep reminding myself that it is for the better and I will be thanking myself later for this!!

Oh yea, I took a look at my tongue today and it has a thick white coating on it, yummy ey??

As I was mowing the lawn I noticed I had a hightened sense of smell, it was like I could smell everything and my allergies didn't act up like usual. I only sneezed one time, usually I sneeze the whole time I'm mowing so I can already see some improvements in my health.

Day 2

Hello!!!!
I made it through the night!!! YAY! I was soooooooooo hungry when I went to bed last night it was awful!! But on a good note I did go to bed like 4 hours earlier than I have in a LONG time and actually slept!

I woke up at 3:45 am and had a BM, liquid of course and went back to sleep (which is odd for me to wake up in the middle of the night and poop LOL). Then woke back up at 4:45 and had another.........GEEZE is it ever gonna stop?? Its a good thing though detox symptoms suck but that's the whole point right?!!

I went back to sleep again and this time slept till 10:30......good thing I'm off for these few days b/c I'd be in a world of trouble. I'm just so tired though and I feel the need to sleep so I am and I'm not gonna fight to stay awake b/c obviously my body needs the rest so it can heal itself so I'm giving it what it wants!

In total I slept 11 hours (I was up for a few hours from 4 something to 5 ish).

At 10:30 I decided to go on and get up, once I did I needed to run some errands. I got those out of the way and was home and had my salt water flush (SWF) asap. By 12:30 I was done and today instead of sipping the SWF like I did yesterday over the course of 30 min, I put it in a water bottle with a straw and counted the gulps and that sucker was gone in 5 min, it was a long 5 min but I did it. It felt like an accomplishment b/c that stuff is hard to get down 32 oz!

By 1:00 I had to go, liquid, but this time it had some weird yellow slimy things in it EWWW, but good b/c I'd rather it be out than in :-)

Today I decided to make a batch of my lemonade instead of making every drink one at a time (I made enough for 6 drinks which is my goal for today). It wont be as fresh but I'm curious to see if I can tell a difference. After my first (well technically 3rd) BM of the day I had my first lemonade and I'm noticing I'm starting to get a headache I'm not sure if this is a detox symptom or if its because I'm about to start my lovely monthly gift, which I'm already cramping from. I'm trying to load up on the cayenne pepper b/c its supposed to ease menstrual cramps as well as aide in the flush of toxins.

Its now 1:37 and I just had another BM, I think this is left over from the SWF. I'm really tired now and my head is getting worse so I'm gonna lay down for a little nap so I'll update later in the day.
bye

The rest of Day 1

So after my last entry I wound up drinking another drink (which made only 2 for the day) and a cup of hot lax tea and went to bed at 9:30. That was really odd for me b/c I can never go to bed before 2 am and if I try I just toss and turn until 2 then fall asleep.

I figured it was my first day so what the hay, I'm trying to listen to my body right?! So I just went on to bed and slept really well, until 3:45...............................

Starting the Master Cleanse

I've decided to start a blog today because I've started a new thing in my life. I'm trying to change for the good permanately. I'm tired of going through life depressed, unhappy, tired, lethargic, and this is NOT me at all. I'm ready to get back to me, ME! Happy me!! Loving life Me!! Can't get enough of everything me! I also made the decision to start blogging to keep my mind occupied!!! An idle mind is the devils playground!



So a few weeks ago I decided I was going to go on this thing called The Master Cleanse. I researched it throughly and ordered the kit off the website: http://www.themastercleanse.com/. I received the kit last Wednesday and I went to the grocery store Saturday to buy what didn't come with the kit (water and lemons).



I work 3rd shift (12 hour shifts at that) so this is going to be a little tricky for me. I worked last night and got home around 8 this morning. I made a cup of herbal tea, enjoied it throughly and went to sleep. I was suprised but the tea actually helped me sleeep more peacefully. I usually only sleep about 5 hours a day and I wake up about an hour after I've fallen asleep. Today I didn't I slept a full 5 hours straight, it felt really good.



Now here comes the yummy part so if you don't know much about cleanses you might want to stop reading here and do some reasearch because I'm about to talk about some "natural body functions" that may not be too pleasant to read about.



When I woke up about 3:30 I immidately had a BM (a small one but solid), I thought it was working pretty fast since I had only had the laxitive tea and nothing else. NOTE: I did my first weight after my BM and I'm 179.4 (I'm 5'8 so somehow I carry my wt. well b/c noone believes I weigh that much but I feel like a moose so it needs to go too)



Next I made the 32 oz salt water flush (SWF), I started "working on it" around 4:35 and didn't finish until 5:05 since it is a lot of water to down at one time. The taste or texture of the salt water didn't bother me but I kept feeling full and when you feel full off water it's hard to drink more, espically 28 oz more. By 5:10 I needed to have another BM, it started off solid then half way through went to all liquid. At 6:00 I needed to eliminate again and this time it was pure liquid.



Now I was hungry so I made my first lemonade drink at 6:30. It really wasn't bad at all and went down very easily. I am aiming for the recommended 8 glasses today but since I worked last night and not tonight I'm not planning on staying up all night long. On my nights off I usually go to bed around 2 am, so that doesn't leave a lot of time for "normal living". I'm not going to drown myself with lemonade just to get my 8 glasses down before I go to bed. So I will just drink one every time my body tells me I'm hungry (as long as I get the minimum of 6 in, I'm good). This will also help to train myself to "listen to my body" and only "eat" when it tells me to (since I have a VERY bad addiction to food). Other than that I'm sort of planning on having a drink every 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

Its now 7:30 and already wanting food so bad but I'm about to make another drink and I feel like I need to drink more water because I'm feeling a little dehydrated, dry mouth is never fun.