Humming along

That really sums up how I'm feeling today.  Without the highs and lows in blood sugar that I'm used to from eating a traditional American diet, my emotions and energy are on such an even keel.  It's really nice, actually.  Like switching from fighting through rush hour traffic to driving, alone, on a 4-lane highway, with cruise control.

I'm not yet juicing as much celery and leafy greens per day as Angela recommends.  In 3 days of juicing, I've gone through 2 heads of celery, 1 head of green leaf lettuce, 2 (small) heads of romaine, and nearly a head of red leaf.  However, I do feel that I am drinking very nearly as much leafy green juice as I can right now.  For example, I juiced a romaine heart this morning in my fruit juice, and it took an entire pineapple to mitigate the bitterness so that it was drinkable.  I think if I focused more on spinach and less on green leaf, I could get more down, but it still wouldn't be half of the 2lbs (yikes!) recommended.

Had another dizzy spell today, at the exact same time as yesterday's.  12:40pm.  Very strange.

Okay, by request...

Feeling pretty good, even though I'm technically not supposed to yet.

Had a dizzy spell after lunch today.  The girls' lunch, that is.  I, of course, had juice, but since I drink juice all day long, it can't techinically be called "lunch."  I was sitting at the computer and all of a sudden felt a buzzing, light-headedness and a strong urge to hold on to something as the room spun around.  It passed, though, and I've been fine since.

I absolutely hate the way my mouth feels.  There is a think starchy whiteness coating my tongue and the backs of my teeth.  It goes away after brushing, only to return shortly.  I'm not sure if it's caused by the juice itself or from an empty stomach or the cleansing process or what, but I have been forewarned, so it's not alarming.  Can't remember if it's supposed to last the whole fast, though, and I hope not!

Have decided I do not like the taste of green leaf lettuce or romaine in my juices.  Red leaf is okay, as is spinach.  I think I may have to limit myself to those two greens for the duration of the fast.

Orange "green" juice

Small variation in my standard V8 recipe -- big improvement.  More carrots, more apples, slightly less green pepper.  Much, much better.  Calling it "green juice" seems ridiculous, though, since it's bright orange in color.

Headache still hasn't gone away, but it's not debilitating.  I've had much worse.  I was expecting much worse, to be honest.

I feel.... empty.  It's not altogether unpleasant, but it's not comfortable either.

Day 2

Bit of a headache this morning.  To be expected.

I made a wonderful juice last night.  Half of a lemon, 2 oranges, 2 pears, and half of a pineapple.  Sunshine.  Yum.

Another juice, another trip to the bathroom

Getting a little tired of having to p** so often...

Made this one for lunch: 1/2 of a honeydew melon, 1 grapefruit, 1 cup green grapes, and another quarter head of green leaf lettuce.  It's not fantastic, but drinkable.  Green leaf is definately more bitter (bitterer?) than spinach, and the sour grapefruit does nothing to mitigate that.

Took a 12-minute walk around the neighborhood this morning.  It didn't take much to get me out of breath (oh, the shame!) but then again, walking on snow and ice is nearly as strenuous as walking on wet sand.

I'm not terribly hungry now, and I seem to have more energy than normal.  Perhaps I'm just so used to the heavy, wiped out feeling I normally get right about now (yesterday I was snoozing on the couch at this time) that anything else feels like the jitters!

Oh, and that Day 1 photo is dreadful.  I should look at that for a few minutes when I need more motivation!

Please excuse the mess

So, this is me, today... no make-up, and my hair is messy.  And there are toys on the floor, but hey, with two kids under 4, that's almost a constant state of affairs.

Day 1 -- or "Thoughts on Prison Food"

I've always wondered about that last meal they serve to death row prisoners before execution.  You know, where they let them order anything they want.  Why do they do that?  What's the point, exactly?  Is it to make them happy?  There are more meaningful ways to do that.  I wonder what the convict feels -- does he look forward to that last meal, knowing it's just that much closer to his death?  Does he enjoy eating it?  What does he feel when it's over -- knowing that he will never eat another bite of food in this life?

Morbidly enough, I thought about that last night when I was eating dinner with the girls.  We had hot dogs and tater tots, steamed carrots and home-made cookies with milk for dessert.  It was nice.  I did enjoy it, but it was weird thinking, "Well, that's the last food I'll eat until June."  It looks crazy typed out like that, and I wonder if I'm insane for considering it.  In truth I have no idea how hard it will be, and I've never been long on will-power.

I'm sure I will miss regular meals, but I won't miss the heart-burn I got last night before bed, and the hot-heavy feeling in my stomach after eating that saps my energy, makes it next to impossible to get anything productive done without dragging.

So here I am, the next morning, sipping my first-day green juice.  I made a V-8 concoction with 2 cucumbers, a quarter head of green leaf lettuce, half a green pepper, an eighth of a head of green cabbage, 4 carrots, 1 tomato, 3 apples, and  half of a lemon.  I was shooting for 4 cups, and made precisely 5.  It occurs to me that I could have put some celery in, but that would have made it "V-9."  Well, I'll make another green juice this afternoon.  Note to self:  don't forget the celery.  Lots of it.  The last thing I need today is sodium withdrawals.