If you have just happened to stumble upon my blog, HEY THERE. If you read my latest entires, you might find that I’ve been talking a LOT about my colon. This entry is to explain all of that. I’m in the process of doing a 30 day veggie juice cleanse! I’m currently on day 10! Entering into the double digits now!!!

What?!!!!! 30 days on JUICE? Aren’t you going to STARVE?!
Heh. Nope. Fasting has been around forever but so many people in our day and age are afraid of it because they’ll “starve” or “die” if they go without food for a few hours, a few days OR *GASP* a whole month!! It can be done. I’m getting lots of goodie nutrients from the veggie juice so I can survive. I’ve been thinking about this recently. When you get sick and go to the Doctor, how many of them tell you to fast? None… because it’s all about money and pills. Yes, in certain circumstances we DO need Doctors and certain meds BUT for a majority of it… we just need to let our bodies rest with fasting. It’s the best method of detox.

Why are you doing the cleanse?
I am doing the cleanse for so many different reasons. Actually, EVERY REASON. To detox and heal my body. To awaken my spiritual side again. I recently found out my reason for suffering most of 2010… yeast overgrowth in my intestines. This fast will get rid of it along with other methods I am pairing with the fast. My health means everything to me and now that I am cleansing and RE-claiming my good health – I will do anything to KEEP IT THAT WAY.

Are you exercising while fasting?
Not really. I would like to but I don’t have “that” kind of energy yet. Plus I’m trying to conserve all the energy towards healing in this detox. The only exercise I’ve gotten since starting has been stretching, squats and walking. Once I finish the detox, YOU BETTER BELIEVE I’m gonna get right back into working out 5 days a week, building up my stamina/endurance and toning up my body. I WILL HAVE ROCK HARD ABS. Hehehe.

What symptoms have you experienced?
The first few days on the detox were not easy. I have amazing willpower though so there was NO WAY I was going to give up. NO WAY. I’ve had a range of symptoms – dizziness, aches in my legs, hunger pains, very very light headaches, crabbiness, fatigue (but NOTHING like the kind of fatigue I had in 2010), acne, queasy stomach, bowel cramps and of course lots of icky things being expelled when I use the bathroom since I am doing home colon cleanouts. ON THE GREAT SIDE – I am feeling much, much better. My mind is certainly clearing up. Plus… HELLO WEIGHT LOSS! My metabolism is waking up! Most people who do try fasting with water and/or juices experience these symptoms and give up thinking it’s the FAST that’s making them have those symptoms… nope! It’s your body healing itself. The worser you feel… the worse you need the cleanse!

How much and what kind of items are you drinking?
I’m drinking the veggie juices – using a handful of veggies as the main ones to juice. I usually drink 2-3 servings a day. The most I’ve drank in a day was 4 different servings, the least being 2. Of course I am drinking plenty of water… but I’ve noticed our tap water now tastes not so good to me so I’ll have to start buying store bought jug water. I’m also drinking unsweetened almond milk since I LOVE IT and that has helped me manage the green juices a little better. My most loved drink in all this is the Kombucha/Synergy drinks. I told Brad that’s all I want for Christmas/birthday is a whole bunch of those LOL! Oh, morning and evening I drink herbal non-caffineated tea + sometimes I sweetened them with the natural sweetner TRUvia!

What is your plan after the cleanse?
Ease my way back into solid eating VERY SLOWLY! Be wary of certain foods and continue to eat a healthy diet but make sure I get all the nutrients I need. I will continue to use veggie/fruit juices in my diet FROM NOW ON. I also plan to fast one day a month with either water or the juices. Then, every 2-3 months I’ll do a 3 day cleanse because I want to keep my system and body in the best shape I can. I’m commited to it!!!!!!!!!

How much weight have you lost?
So far 9 pounds! In February 2010, I was 5 pounds away from my ultimate goal. FIVE POUNDS. Everything went to hell. As I have mentioned before, I did notice a decline in my weight loss efforts in December 2009 when I only lost 2 pound that month even though I was training my BUTT off and eating healthy but my calories were still restricted… nothing TOO low but again, I was not getting the full dose of nutrients my body needed. Early 2010, my weight didn’t move too much thankfully but when I was hit with so much misery at once, I gave into cravings and so began the weight gain. I couldn’t lose it either. I gained almost 30 pounds over a handful of months. I started the cleanse diet May 10th 2011 and was noticing each week my weight was going down just a little but I didn’t think much of it because I was so afraid it would just go back up. I weaned myself off of almost all food except raw oatmeal and yogurt and lost 3 pounds that week! Last week with half almost cleanse/half full juice cleanse I lost 6 pounds! It makes me so happy.

If you have any other questions about the detox, feel free to ask!