Enchanted Chameleon

The Life and Times...

Weird noises in the night and new ones this morning had me questioning what kind of dodgy apartment we had bought?  Well we figured out that the water filter on the fish tank was the cause of one and the other is undoubtedly coming from the wall behind the kitchen counter and is of the claw possibly with teeth variety. This was all after my blissfully content day yesterday turned into post moving depression hell.  I didn't want to do anything and I did as little as possible as I hid behind a set of knitting needles with a future baby blanket on it avoiding the unpacking, the dishes, rehearsing and the 2 year old that relentlessly said 'why' and 'huh' all day, including his nap time.  I finally felt some relief after the new North Van sitter arrived and I was off to my last class for the summer, performing my song and monologue only after I cried my eyes out to my class about my day and the husky smokers voice with the New York accent told me to 'put it into my work'.  The life and times of a stay at home mom, raw foodist actress, n'est-ce pas?

So how about a little pick me up?

How about some Juice Feasting Photos.  A sign of one of my many accomplishments this year ('you are enough' says the little man with the big glasses who also teaches my acting class - I'll work on that too).

     

Before                                                       After

    

I really like the side view.  I think it is a sure sign of the weight that I did lose.  

Juice Feasting Wrap Up:

- I love tongue scraping.  It's a necessity for me in the morning.

- I do not like enemas.  At least not every single day for 2 weeks.

- My eyes are brighter.

- My skin is clearer

- I've lost weight

- I'm having regular BMs the past few days since I introduced solids

- I love coconut butter on my skin as a moisturizer at night.

- I didn't break the feast exceptionally well but I tried hard to stay slow and eat consciously.  I think that Green Smoothie could actually be introduced sooner than the salads on day 5.

- It's easy to dip into fasting mode by not getting enough calories everyday.  I have no doubt that this is where my challenge came up last week which was the turning point to stopping the feast.  One day dropping into fasting isn't so bad to recover from but I was probably in fasting mode for a few days when I decided to break the feast.

- I also lost track of tracking my juices and supplementation last week with the move.  I found that that was a huge factor in ending the feast also.  It was a very helpful tool at keeping my motivation up daily.

- Following along the daily information provided at Juicefeasting.com was also a huge daily motivation for me.  It was a treat to read and watch the videos.  Unfortunately part way through the daily videos weren't all available and my interest wavered since I didn't have that to look forward to.

Would I do it again?  Absolutely yes.  I'd still love to do it for all 92 Days.  My recommendation for a first time Juice Feaster is to not use it during a major life change but to use it as the major life change.  Perhaps a more experienced feaster could have managed this much better than I during the move and perhaps a first timer that is very persistent (not that I'm not) could have pulled this off, my recommendation is to go easier on myself, it is a gift to do a Juice Feast and next time I'd like to allow myself the time to experience it in a gentler time of life.  

Thanks for everyone's support and interest during this challenge.  I hope it was as interesting for you as it was for me.  Suzanne

Green Smoothie and Juice of the Week - For People with Just Big Plans

So to update you in case you missed out I began breaking my Juice Feast yesterday.  After 19 days I was more than ready to get started on the raw foods diet, more than anything I can wait to delve into the raw food prep again and just start stock piling recipes and recipes either in my pantry, fridge or freezer. Maybe I'll even create a few of my own.  I'll definitely be into my recipe books (once they are found) but I'm really excited to actually start trying more recipes off of other raw blogs since some of the photos I've since at The Sunny Raw Kitchen and Raw Goddess Heathy are just SO enticing.  

Well, that wasn't much of an update.  I broke my feast yesterday morning with prune soak water and not long after some prunes.  I wasn't able to eat the full 8 oz of prunes on the first attempt so I stuck them back in the fridge until I was hungry again.  Almost immediately after I ate them I felt sleepy. The downfall of digestion vs. the Juice Feast.  I have no doubt that my colon and the problems I've experienced in the past year are not completely healed and still have a ways to go I'm very willing to give raw foods a good chance to clean it up.  As for my energy, it did return not long after a shot of E3 Live some more prunes and a big quart of green juice.  Furniture was moved, things were unpacked, a kitchen was cleaned and then camping prep began with a small interview with a new babysitter.  Life goes on.

Out of no where 2 days ago I picked up my copy of Raw Family: A True Story of Awakening and started reading through it.  It's such a quick and easy read and I couldn't stop staring at it every time I walked past the basket it was packed in.  I came across this story in it and it really spoke to me about the journey with raw foods that lies ahead of me.

"... one time at the Creative Health Institute in Michigan, there was a guy named Mike. He was carried in by four big men. The doctors told him that he had two days to live. He couldn't walk or do anything. So he was put onto the bed. We started giving him wheat grass and he started fasting. The miracle happened! Mike started walking within a month. He started working, helping to mow the lawn on the tractor. In three months he was running in the mornings, he was going down the river with me in a river raft. He was really active and really happy. For the first time in his life he said he was really happy.

Mike used to drink a lot, so only one percent of his liver was working. After three months Mike felt so excellent, that he decided that he was cured, and he went out and had a prime rib dinner with a girlfriend. That night he died."

I don't expect such a severe reaction if I were to go back to a cooked foods diet from here but I will make this note, my flip flopping between raw and cooked foods has no doubt had an impact on my health in these past few years.  The great thing is every time I go raw I do it better and healthier and every time I go back to cooked I also do it better and healthier.  At this point though I'd like to change my story.  I'd like to say that this time is the time that I no longer fell victim to food or old bad eating habits.  This is the time that I finally got it and am in such a great place that I loved my body and my mind and my family and our general well being so much that I've been raw ever since.  This is the time that I realized that no outside source can control me and the less attachments I have to anything outside of me be it material objects or best case scenarios, the happier I am.  

I'd like to continue on my journey of making more plans and goals for myself.  As I've recently learned the more you have the more you succeed and perhaps also, the less attached I am to the few that I do have.  Basically I'm going to put my chickens into a few more baskets and see where things go.  I guess with the move over there is limitless possibilities on the horizon for me and I'm feeling quite hopeful and courageous about putting myself out there to experience them.  

And for you, hopefully one tiny part of all this means something to you as well.  And then of course there is also a Green Smoothie and Juice Recipe for you.  

The Green Smoothie Recipe that I can't wait to whip up for myself in a few days is:

4-5 leaves of romaine

a ton of watermelon

a little water to get the romaine blended

Blend water and romaine until liquified and then add the chunks of watermelon in.  Hmmm, maybe I'll add basil again, remember how yummy that one was?

My favourite juice thus far besides the first one I posted is:

2 personal watermelons (cut off rind)

1 organic lemon

1 apple

Put them all through the juicer and wow, what a sweet drink.  So delish.  This will make enough to share, if you want to!

Well, we are off to go camping this weekend.  I'm in absolutely no rush to unpack and with the heat this week I can't think of a better place to sit back and eat lots of fruit as I continue to break my feast on Sunday right by a lake of cool water (with great people of course!).  I'll be back on Tuesday.  Thanks friends.  Cheers, Suzanne.

 

Big Move Big Plans - The Home Stretch

Well, I'm officially in the home stretch.  Yesterday we wrapped up everything at the old place.  Painting and cleaning are complete, keys left for the landlord.  It was quite a day.  This entire experience was overwhelming for me.  I don't ever remember having dig so deep consistently everyday to complete a task. I had also decided yesterday that I wasn't going to rush for anyone.  So I took breaks as needed, stayed on top of my juice intake as best I could and in the end we finished on time, with time to spare.  

It all got me thinking - why do I put so much work and heart into something I don't even really want to do and I don't dig this deep or push this hard when it is for something that I love?  Besides the fact that I have to but really do we HAVE to do anything?  I could have left it all and hired a cleaner or a painter or we could have left it and let the landlord take it out of our security deposit.  But we didn't.  I didn't have to do the tasks I set out to do, or done them to the extent that I did them or even in the order that I did them.  So where is this heart and this ability to push myself to the limits for the love of raw foods or acting?

I've also learned a couple of other things about myself.  That I've changed dramatically.  I didn't procrastinate.  I could have had 10 times what I had to do this week if I hadn't of started nearly a month ago and I understood that as I watched my hubby go through his usual stages of procrastination in the past week leading up to  3 solid days of more than he had expected.  I'm definitely glad to be here at this new stage where it might not even be procrastination anymore.  It might be time to feed my soul, time for myself, taking a break and gearing up for more.  

Finally, I've decided to break my feast.  For days now all I can think about it eating raw foods and I'm so excited to delve in and start making them now that we are at the new house.  I managed to hop on to the Juice Feasting website yesterday to find out what breaking the feast entails.  For anyone over 12 days it involves 6 more days of controlled eating juice and soaked prunes for 2, juicy water based fruits, prunes and juice for 2 and then salads and avocados can be added to the list for the last 2 days. The words that won't stop ringing in my head as I plan to eat my first meal in 20 days:

"Any fool can fast - only a wise person can break a fast properly" Otto Bushchinger

Well, I've definitely been a fool in the past.  I once completed my first fast on the Master Cleanser (10 days)  and was eating solids the very next day.  I remember being immobilized from the complex food in my belly that needed to be digested.  Not a good feeling.  I'm proud that last summer I completed a 10 day fast on juice and just stuck to eating fruit for the first couple of days.  I'm more proud that I have doubled both my first fasts now at 20 days today.  Perhaps in the future when I want to do this again, I'll double it again.  For now, I'm just so excited to eat raw foods I can't imagine pushing myself to do something I don't want to do again.  The fact that all I want is raw foods, in particular a raw peach cobbler has been on my mind for days, seems to me that my body and my mind are on the right track.  I haven't craved any cooked food with the exception of yesterday some yogurt covered almonds seem to be everywhere I look, I figure that is moreso because I have not gotten enough juice and calories to ward off plain old hunger, which I've also learned from this experience is not only important for the juice feast but most likely going to be very important on my raw foods journey after this.  

So without further ado, here's my Day 20 pic.  I'll post my Day 1 photo underneath it and if I can manage to find the shorts and tank from my full body photos we'll take some after photos as well (I always forget the after photos but this time I'll try!)  I also might hit the Salvation Army for a weight update, but I can assure you that more pounds have been released since my last 7 pound release update.  

Please please comment and let me know if you see any differences.  I would love to hear what you have to say!  Thanks Suzanne.

Big Move Big Plans - WARNING: Moving is Stressful

Rough day yesterday.

Not quite feeling myself

Maybe I've held it together one too many times in the past few weeks?

Lost my cool with the delivery guy cause he was early and then bribed him to stay cause I was late.

Definitely not getting in enough juice.

Official heat wave in Vancouver.

Considered stopping the feast.

Considered stopping the feast in an unhealthy way.

Stayed on the feast.  Made an awesome green juice and felt much better in the evening.

Missed out on Beach Night, just too tired and too hot to get up and going.

Spent way too much time waiting yesterday for people yesterday.  Very disempowering.

Wondered why husbands can't read minds?

Sucked on orange slices for an energy boost.  Got me through the morning.  Very yummy.

Maybe I take things too seriously.  Could I have made this whole process more fun?

Love my kid.  He's awesome.  Awesome cuddles.  Awesome to watch him talk and learn.

Definitely need a couch and something other than the kitchen table for the computer.

Camping this weekend.

Maybe it's all change for the better?  Don't remember feeling frustration and anger in this way before. Am I actually handling it differently?  

Impressed that hubby came home late and still put most of Cillian's new bed together.  

Just breathe.... Tomorrow is another day (Thankfully tomorrow is today)

Suzanne

Day 19

Big Move Big Plans - A New Background

I wasn't quite sure where to take my daily Juice Feasting photo this morning.  We don't have an official desk set up and I'm not sure that I like the light right next to the window.  I'll figure it soon enough I'm sure.  

Day 18

Well, we're here.  One sleep in the new house.  Still more work today, we are off early today to begin to clean up and paint the old place for the new tenants and then Cillian and I are back this afternoon for the big arrival of his new bed (and then we're back again for Beach night and maybe some fireworks).  

I have to say though that this has been a very challenging experience.  I've essentially been moving for the past month and it occurred to me last night that I have had to pull myself together a number of times to push through and continue with the move when I have wanted to give up.  I think the Juice Feasting actually made parts of my life easier.  No meal planning and a clear and focused body to work with, plenty of energy however, it also made me extremely vulnerable.  My heart is on my sleeve and I'm not numbing myself with emotional eating or sugary foods which no doubt would have slowed me down and made moving that much more difficult.  Keeping up with the required amount of juice the past couple of days has also been difficult.  I luckily have the experience of fasting before so I've allowed myself to teeter between the two, slowing down if I need to finding something to fill myself with if I need energy.  Yesterday young coconuts were my saviour and I drank a couple of those when I didn't feel like juicing.  

In the meantime, I'm pretty thankful for a few things and once I'm done, I gotta run!  

• The awesome movers that we had.  They were perfect!
• The new place for my kitchen table.  I got excited to see us all sitting down at it and I see more to come. 
• Grey tile floors and wooden cupboards in the kitchen. 
• An amazing amount of storage in really well organized closets 
• Finding new places for things to go. 
• My first sea bus ride to my new home last night after acting class (yes, I still went on moving day!) 
• My boys.  They both did great. 

Till tomorrow.... Suzanne 

  

Big Move, Big Plans - Moving Day!!!

Begin Again

Begin again - you can, you know

Seek out a better way to go.

Forget the past - the past is dead,

And all tomorrow lies ahead!

There's never a time too late to start

To bring to fruition that dream in your heart.

Begin again now, this minute, this day!

A new life is waiting - don't wish it away!

(Author Unknown)

See you in North Van!

Day 17

Big Move, Big Plans - Sneak Peek

We managed to get over to the new apartment yesterday and get a feel for our new surroundings.  As for Juice Feasting, I'm still going.  I am, however, getting slow starts to the day these past couple days as far as making juice goes and I am definitely feeling a huge urge to eat and chew by dinner time.  Awesomely enough, I want to be eating raw foods but the bonus to juicing at the moment is a lot less food prep in the middle of a big transition from one kitchen to another.  But a beautiful, soon to be filled with love and raw foods kitchen (and a deep freeze of the same nature!)

PS.  My hubby carried me over the threshold.  Life is great.  Suzanne

Day 16

Big Move, Big Plans - The Final Days

Well, I'm beat.  The yard sale was a huge success, we cleared out really well and are happy with what is leftover for the free pick up portion of the weekend.  I'm beat!  Juice Feasting doesn't make me a super hero, but it is nice to not have to worry about meal planning during all this business.  I had to pull out of my reserves yesterday to get the signs up in the hood in the morning and then get everything out on the lawn.  It was a lot of work and I realized that I would rather go to yard sales then hold them.  But my strength did not waver, neither physically nor emotionally and even I was truly impressed with our success and all that I did to organize and set us up, especially this past week when most of the time I had not desire to continue.  The juice feasting definitely helped, and the slowing down that I have granted myself permission in the end made it possible.  

Today I tie the last few ends with only my eyes on the prize:  getting to see our new place.  Jeff already picked up the keys and made our first drop, all his plants have already made themselves at home.  2 days till the big move and 2 weeks of juice feasting under my belt.  Wow.  Suzanne

A little Day 1 vs Day 15 action to celebrate the beginning of Week 3!

Green Smoothie and Juice of the Week - For People with Big Plans, Big Moves

For the life of me I cannot find my Raw Family July Newsletter that had posted the Pleasant Surprise Green Smoothie Recipe which I am about to share.  So I'm going by memory and of course I tried it as a juice this week too and it was in fact, a pleasant surprise.

Pleasant Surprise Green Smoothie

Cantaloupe

Italian Parsley

NO WATER!

 

Blend together in a blender and enjoy!

Pleasant Surprise Green Juice

Canataloupe

Italian Parsley

Peel cantaloups and juice parsley and cantaloupe.  And of course enjoy!

So if you are in the market for some other pleasant surprises and are a big fan of yard sales (and in the Vancouver area) we have the yard sale for you.  Everything on Saturday is for sale for great prices and then come Sunday it is FREE for the helping.  We just want to see it all go in time for the big move on Tuesday.  So come one come all, bring your green smoothie or juice, if you didn't, heck, I might even make you one while you are here!

3038 West 8th Avenue (Between Bayswater and Balaclava) 9 am - 2 pm

Here's some pics of the big stuff that is left to go.  Have a great weekend! Suzanne

At your service!  Day 14

Things are Moving!

Things are moving and I don't just mean us from one house to another!  My BM situation took a 180 yesterday and now my problem is no longer that I'm not having unassisted ones.  Now I need to make sure I'm hydrated enough to keep up with the outflow of cleansing that has begun!  (Thing even continued throughout the night causing me weird dreams where I kept walking into the most disgusting public washrooms that I just couldn't use and having to hold it and continue searching).

Today we also take possession of our first home!  HOORAY!  If all goes well we'll get the keys today instead of tomorrow and this whole process will seem a lot more finite.  

And I finally got a final wind with our Ultimate Moving Sale tomorrow (as advertised on Facebook and now on craigslist) and got almost the last of our stuff posted on craigslist and more people coming in to take things away.  I was feeling a little heated with pressure the other day (pretty good since it's the first I've felt in this whole process) to get things moving!  And well, now they are.

Just to keep the ball rolling, I'll include a couple of great quotes that I came across yesterday from Byron Katie's book A Thousand Names for Joy (listed in my On My Nightstand to the side) that struck me as important and inspiring.  

"We're always going to get what we need, not what we think we need. Then we come to see that what we need is not only what we have, it's what we want. Then we come to want only what is. That way we always succeed, whatever happens."

"You can't have up without a down.  You can't have a left without a right.  This is duality.  If you have a problem, you must already have a solution."

"But the privilege of not having an official teacher is that there's no tradition, so there's nothing to aspire or be loyal to."  (I really like this one for me especially - helps me let go of my raw gurus and just be!)

 Suzanne