Word of Warning (from a friend)

Yesterday, I was telling a friend of mine about my new diet. Her warning was not to lose weight too quickly as it will show in my face. Which has always seemed a good thing, but now it means my wrinkles will show more, my skin will be a bit loose. All the things to think about.

wait weight

This morning I actually dared weigh myself. Lately (as in this summer), I have been eating and drinking with very little regard for what it is other than pleasure and I have noticed areas of my body becoming larger and my clothes becoming tighter. The weight didnt' wait. So, according to the doctor like scale we have at the clinic, I weigh 148 pounds. I weighed myself for the sole purpose of being able to see how much weight I lose. I have put myself on a very strict diet, which has some leeway given my activity level. (leeway and strict in the same sentence, hmmm.... - but adding a few ounces of veggies or an extra piece or two of fruit is allowable). So far so good (granted it is day 1). I don't know what the goal is other than I feel better in my clothes. I should end up a bit healthier too. I was going to do the Master Cleanse again. But this seemed much healthier both physically and mentally. It is 3.5 oz of veggies 2x a day, 3.5 oz of fish 2x a day and 3.5 oz of fruit 2x a day. And lots of water and tea. I am back on a bit of caffiene, but very rarely. We shall see how this goes. If I need more fruit and/or veggies so I don't bite anyones head off, I think that is completely okay. The hard part is prep and choices, where in the master cleanse there are no choices.

sisters

Today, I was reminded of the power of sisterhood. I went to visit my great aunt - my grandmother's brother's wife. I hadn't seen her in about 15 years. I am in Chicago for work and I drove out to Oakpark to visit her and her sister (they live together). It turns out my aunt has Alzheimer's. Her sister didn't tell me that until I arrived. She did tell me she was confined to a wheelchair before I drove out. She looked good. Her eyes are bright blue and she had make up on (and not too much). They have help. A day person and a night. But Sunday the day help leaves early. My aunt was excited to have a guest. It was nice to see them both. They are only 2 years apart and my aunt's disease began 2 years ago - a bit of a concern. My aunt's sister takes such good care of her and has so much patience, it is amazing. I only hope my sister is so patient and caring with me; or that I can be with her. My aunt's sister, Jo, made the comment that she thinks all girls should have sisters because in some way they need them and I believe they enhance each other. I wish I had taken a picture of them together as they are beautiful and they both glow in their own way. I am thankful for my sister.

Cleanse Done

I completed the 10 day Master Cleanse. Day 11 I drank the prescribed OJ and Day 12 I made some vegetable soup (which was yummy). I haven't had caffeine in 15 days - ooh! For me that is a record. Last time I did this, I didn't do the salt water flush or give up coffee. It all went well. That first weekend of eating (3 days after eating for the first time) I went out and ate with my parents. That first night I must have been a little gluttonous for early the next morning I woke up to my intestines simultaneously crying and yelling at me. I was fine but tender the next day and I ate rather more carefully the rest of the weekend. I still haven't had caffiene - 3 weeks later. I realized at the end of the 10 days that I could probably fit into my skinny jeans and lo and behold I can (unitended bonus).

Day 6 of Master Cleanse

So, I did this once before for 10 days. But I didn't do the salt water flush. I am doing it this time. Granted it means you have to get up a lot earlier than you want so you feel intestinally secure when you walk out the door.
Normal side effect to this are bad breath and a coating on your tongue. (Luckily, I read that these were normal). In addition, my hips are achy. I did read that your body gets achy due to toxins getting released and cleansed (again, normal). Good side effects that others noticed (not I) - more energy (or at least I had it during rehearsal yesterday) and the dark circles under my eyes were lessened (granted I am having an easier time getting myself to bed earlier now).
My favorite thing about this cleanse is you don't have to make ANY decisions about food. Whereas on a diet you have choices - this eliminates them completely. Granted last night I really wanted ice cream and I did get to decide "no." If I had chosen "yes" I probably would have felt horrible - bleah.

Science Experiement Continues

Today is my second day on the Master Cleanse. So far so good. Slight headache this morning and evening. But the flush worked this morning. If I keep drinking the stuff, I don't get hungry. We will see how it goes tomorrow - I am teaching 3 classes (there is a break between 2 of them). I have let the dating spree lapse, so perhaps I will call some of the people I need to call during my break tomorrow. My ph balance was good both yesterday and today.

Overcast sky

This morning is the first morning in a long time that I am waking up ready to go, ready to take on my day. I am looking for what needs to get done and not lagging (although I am blogging). I am so very excited it is overcast and that it rained last night. I am glad sunny southern california has taken a break from being sunny. And I don't know if they are correlated (it probably has more to do with my health), but the sky is overcast and my outlook isn't. (maybe the rain washed away the gloom).

science experiment

My anatomy teacher talked to our class about looking at our health as our own private science experiment. Checking our Ph balance to see what helps it, changes it, seeing how cleanses effect our general health. We have been exposed to a lot of ideas of how to make ones health better. I don't feel that I can recommend things to clients unless I have seen how they help.
So, I am starting the experiment after Thanksgiving. I am starting with the Master Cleanse (the one with lemon and cayanne and maple syrup) on Friday. I plan on doing for 5 day minimum to 10 days max. Then I was to do a colon cleanse and a gall bladder cleanse. But I will have to figure out the timing with the holidays. The gall bladder cleanse is 4-6 weeks and includes a vegan diet. But I have to figure out what works the best for me.
What I would like to see in my body, is for my joints to let less creaky, my energy level to be better, and the scar tissue in my body to heal.
Getting my liver and gall bladder to work better (perhaps optimally) should help all of this.

Peeling skin?

My skin is peeling from my hands. I am actually applying more lotion than I normally do to hinder the peel. But perhaps it is just that I am like a snake, shedding a layer of skin. What is it that I am shedding? What is it that I am getting rid of? Are bad/unhealthy habits falling by the wayside as I take on healthy habits (or are they still lurking?). What do I need to shed? What concepts, values, beliefs have I been holding true need to be gotten rid of just like that things in my closet that need to go to Good Will? How do you get rid of beliefs and values? How do you replace them? Do you get rid of them like clothes knowing that great stuff will show up an fill the void? Or are they like habits, take on new ones to push out the old ones? And which values and beliefs need the old spring cleaning? What else do I need to shed?

Hives and mental health update and rambling

So everything seems to be on the upswing. Hives are almost gone. My homework from my healer is to make time for fun and to dine. (What's wrong with eating on the run? It is efficient) So, new habits are going into place. It should be interesting on the days I am at work from noon to 10P. Last week I fit in my meditation before teaching, now I get to fit in that AND dining. hmmmm....

I took class for myself Saturday evening, which was great. And tonite I went and saw the movie Charlie Bartlett with Dot.

The other thing my healer said is that I shouldn't continue to see the person I have been seeing on and off for awhile. She said he is too serious and I need someone fun. And she said he is scared to get too close, whereas he has told me he has intimacy issues (can you say "red flag"?). Have you ever wondered if you will ever find sex quite as fabulous? He may not be "fun" but...

It would be easier if I were interested in someone other than him and my celebrity boyfriends, George and James (Clooney and McAvoy respectively). (yes i have a fertile imagination)

thoughts to sleep on

Hives (probably more than you ever wanted to know)

I have had hives all week. This is the worst case of hives I have ever had. They began Sunday night during the Vedic Meditation intro I went to. By the time I went to bed my body was slightly swollen and very itchy. Before this last July, I had only gotten hives once and that was an allergic reaction to penicillin when I was 17 and they were only on the backs of my legs. In July I got them on my hands the morning of Victoria's baby shower and I was afraid I had some weird athlete's foot on my hands so I wore gloves to the shower. By the end of that day, they were all over me and they lasted about a week. Since then I have had them on and off but mostly just on my hands, elbows and knees. This time - kabamm. They have gotten much better since thursday.

I usually get them from stress. Now my acupuncturist thinks it may be due to a virus caught in my body. I still think their onset is stress related. This time I think my body had reaction to my starting meditation. Almost as if my body thinks it needs the stress and this is it's reaction to my deciding to start to get rid of stress. Like my body saying - "you think you are going to get rid of stress - Hah! this is what we think of that!" Or maybe it is my body saying "Oh my god, look how much we need this! You must do this, look this is how stressed out your body is." Either way it itches like hell.

The last two mornings although the majority of my body is better, my hands have itched to high heaven and my knuckles are swollen (not as badly as earlier in the week, but still). It is almost as if I want to rip my fingers off to get them to stop itching or maybe just rip the skin off my fingers. arrgh (yes they itch right now).