juice diet experience (day 3)

it's our last day!!!! :) yeah, i know it's supposed to be a four-day no-solid-food diet. but mama and i changed our minds yesterday afternoon.

this morning was pretty normal. mama had pains in her abdomen. i didn't. it almost seems like the whole thing wouldn't have any lasting effects on me. but the attitude that i've always taken since before this diet is that even if i don't get any stones (gallstones, liver stones, etc) out, a fast is generally good for anyone and fresh juices would benefit the health a whole lot because of all the readily-available nutrients.

the thing with diets like this is that this isn't supposed to be taken as a one-time cure-all. nature's manner of healing has always been slower because it doesn't just eliminate the symptoms of sickness, it BUILDS health.

(this post was made yesterday. it was supposed to be longer. but my blog went crazy, i couldn't save a copy, only this part was saved.)

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juice diet experience (day 2)

yey! i made it to the second day without being too hungry. :D

i've been posting about getting a natural cleanse here and here.

i woke up this morning wondering why i wasn't hungry. my last juice was 8:30 last night and it was kalamansi (Philippine lemon).


6:00 am  - i was trying to finish my epsom salt solution. so far, it's the most difficult to take in. epsom salt isn't salty, but bitter. not really very bitter, which is why i find myself surprised that it's difficult for me to finish even a glass of the solution. and i have to drink four glasses each morning. 


7:19 am  - the fluids i've been drinking are doing their thing in my tummy. i can feel it. ;-)

9:51 am   - kind of hungry.

meanwhile, what results am i actually expecting? well, there's weight loss, pimples (toxins being eliminated through the skin), green pebble-like stuff in my stool.

10:57 am  - finished my carrot juice in two gulps. i can smell freshly-made bread. binangkal, dough rolled in sesame seeds, then deep-fried instead of baked. smells good. grrrr.


(this Davao flood is bothering me :(  floods this huge in Davao are few and faaaar in between.)

12:57 pm  - just had cucumber juice. trips to the toilet are now much more frequent. what comes out is basically just dark brown liquid. well, what can we expect. mama and i are both hungry; my sister's been teasing. but we just try to laugh it off. i promised myself some mangoes when this is all over. something to look forward to. 


in other news, i'm thinking now of the displaced families in davao. the properties and even lives lost, the missing people. the lines of the song come to mind, "oh we fast but we know we can eat the next day." i'm thankful for the blessing of being able to do this juice diet, and still thinking of ways to extend help to fellow Dabawenyos.


around 5:00 pm - mama and i have decided to change a couple of things about this diet we're in. three things, actually. one, we're drinking olive both tonight and tomorrow night. two, we're reducing the number of days to four instead of five. we realized that our friends who've done a cleanse did theirs for only four days and we don't remember why we decided for five. :D and three, we're no longer limited to one glass of whatever fruit/vegetable juice is scheduled. that third one's mandatory... according to my grrrowling tummy. ;D


9:00 pm  - olive oil time. based on friends' experiences, it's the worst part of this diet. you have to drink half a glass to 3/4 of a glass of olive oil. as a consolation, you can opt to mix in 1/4 glass pure lemon juice. my friend (who did a cleanse last week) said the lemon doesn't help much because the oil only floats above it. he advised to have a sliced lemon ready to wash away the taste. but mama and i discovered a better strategy. prepare the lemon juice but don't mix it in just yet. measure out your half glass of oil. just as you're about to drink it, pour in the lemon juice as quickly as possible and drink the mixture immediately. don't put your glass down until you've swallowed the entire mixture. this way, you're not giving the oil enough time to separate from the lemon. no sweat. :)

quick bit of health info: extra virgin (or cold-pressed) olive oil is one of the healthiest oils if used in salads but should never be used for cooking.

it's good night for now. see you tomorrow. :)

-o-

juice diet experience (day 1)

as previously posted, my mother and i are on a juice diet for four days, then a soft transition diet on the fifth day. this is a cleansing diet for the gall bladder, the digestive tract, and the rest of the body in general.

to chronicle and share our experience, i will be posting updates everyday for the next four days. who knows, you might decide to go on a cleanse yourself. the posts in this series will be updated several times during the day, so do come back and check on me (and my mother) every now and then.

Day One


i woke up late. plus, our juicer refused to work so we had to borrow one from a friend. in short, we started late.

as an experiment, i decided to measure my waistline before drinking any of the juices. the narrowest part of my abdomen measured 71 centimeters. the part that crosses my belly button measured 75 centimeters. i also wanted a weigh in, but our scale turned out to be broken. anyway, i'm between 41 and 43 kilograms. i'll remember to get weighed in within the day.

9:00 am   - i've been going to the toilet at least once for every glass of fluids that i drink. my pee now runs very very clear.

10:30 am - mama and i are beginning to feel slight pangs of hunger.

11:00 am  - my father brought home freshly-picked mushrooms (for supper). that's not juice-diet-related. but this is: mama and i won't be eating them mushrooms because they're solid food and we're on a juice diet. :(
lucky for me, i can stay away from the kitchen. mama isn't so fortunate; she cooks for the rest of the family. she also made a most delish dish for their breakfast this morning. hello, pure carrot juice!

note: i really think that this entire thing is a lot more pleasant when done with a partner or with a group. you get to laugh at/with each other with every glass you have to down, and you're not the only one to sit out at family meals.

WARNING!

POSTS IN THIS SERIES MAY BRING TO MIND UNPLEASANT IMAGES. NOT RECOMMENDED FOR READING WHILE EATING. NOR FOR THE EASILY DISGUSTED.

12:30 pm  - the juices have finally reached the end of my digestive tract. how i knew? well, nature called. the waste materials from earlier this morning were close to normal because of the solids that i took in the previous days. but i think that from now on, things are gonna change. and what i'm really thankful for is that we have more than one toilet in the house.

1:29 pm   - the cucumber juice was green. like an algae-filled pond minus the koi and pretty water lilies. i'm beginning to feel a little dizzy. i'm not sure if it's because i'm getting hungry (i've never been dizzy of hunger) or from working at this computer the entire morning (blogging, research, downloading resources that i'll share later, catching up on backlogs, reading, etc). i think i'll rest until the next juice, which will be grape.

the afternoon line-up i can look forward to: pineapple, apple, grape, kalamansi. and right, there's tea before all that.

1:50 pm  - my tummy si rrrrrumbling.

2:48 pm   - after tea,
                   Mama: waaaaaah! gutoooooom!
                   gladys: double the amount of juice
                   Mama: gutom lang gihapon (she LOVES rice, claimed she can't live without it)
                   gladys: sayang atong gastos for this kung mangaon ta.
                   Mama: dili man ko mokaon.... Lami akong lutoon para sud-an nila unya (the mushrooms). :(

5:30 pm   - i've had pineapple and grape. burrrrp.


almost done for the day. i intend to sleep early tonight. or else i'll wake up hungry.

-o-

no solid food for four days... starting now

okay, so i'm up for a challenge:. a five-day cleansing diet my mother and i decided to take up to wash away toxins from our digestive tracts and gall bladders. here's how it works.

First Three Days:

5:00 am  -  four glasses (four glasses!) of saline solution using epsom salt
6:30 am  - one glass of pure apple juice
8:00 am  - one glass of pure grape juice
9:30 am  - tea
11:00 am - one glass of pure carrot juice (i've never had PURE carrot juice before)
12:30 am - one glass of pure cucumber juice (this is something entirely new for my digestive tract)
2:00 pm   - tea
3:30 pm   - one glass of pure pineapple juice
5:00 pm   - one glass of pure grape juice
6:30 pm   - one glass of pure apple juice
8:00 pm   - half a glass of pure kalamansi juice

this routine will be repeated for three days. on the third night will come the most dreaded part: 3/4 glass OLIVE oil mixed with 1/4 glass kalamansi juice. if you've never had olive oil before, it is -well- oil. besides the wonderful task of having to down that, it will produce an even more wonderful effect of churning and turning in your stomach and eventually in bowel movement.

the next day, we go back to the tea and juice diet.

have i mentioned? we're not supposed to eat any solid food - no fruit, vegetable, rice, bread, oatmeal, etc - for the whole four days. the idea is for all of these fluids to soften up the rotten and rotting food particles that accumulate in our digestive tract lining over time, and then eliminate them.

then on the fifth day, solid food can be gradually re-introduced into the body: watermelons, mangoes, oatmeal, flaxseed, vegetable soup.

and then we'll get to see the changes (if any). so join me as i down each challenging glassful and try not to throw up anything. cheers!

P.S.
more important than a gall bladder cleanse is a spiritual cleansing. the Lord promises us:

And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross,

 and take away all thy tin. Isaiah 1:25

and we are also told how:

Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost. Titus 3:5

plus this:

Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?

 by taking heed thereto according to thy word. Psalm 119:9




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