Natalia Rose's "Raw Food Detox Diet"

So I have just re-read Natalia Rose's "Raw Food Detox Diet" and I am in love... I highly recommend it to new raw fooders, people who love to cook but want to be raw, and those who have been struggling with staying "all raw". I am experimenting with her gradual approach to detox and am finding that my food "issues" are less present, I feel more centered, and I am losing weight. She is also a big advocate of food combining and I am enjoying learning about it.

Felix and I are both feeling better since the liver cleanse. The biggest difference is that we are both less cranky and we are sleeping better.

I am still loving the cacao. Wow! That stuff is powerful. I make fresh almond milk and blend it with dates, maca, cacao powder, a pinch of salt, some vanilla, and some ice and -holy cow- that is some good stuff. I have been having it for lunch with a salad. For breakfast I have green lemonade and then some fruits through out the rest of the morning. And then in the afternoon I have green lemonade again. And then I have a properly combined dinner. No sweat. Everyone is happy. 'Nuff said...

Liver Cleanse- completed!

Well, I will never say that it was the most enjoyable of processes... The liver cleanse that we did last night comes from here... It is called the Are You Stoned? Liver cleanse and if you check it out from the link above you will notice the large, orange warning box... Well, I ignored the warning and we went for it. This cleanse calls for drinking 2 cups of olive oil and 1 cup of lemon juice. So, needless to say, that was just gross, but the reason that I chose this particular cleanse was because it didn't involve drinking any Epsom salts, which I think would be even grosser. So we juice fasted all day yesterday and after noon the day before. Then last night we started drinking the oil mixture at about 7:30 pm and continued drinking a portion ever 15 minutes until it was all gone. I am very surprised that I didn't vomit and Felix saved all of his vomiting until this morning... When we were done drinking the concoction we went to bed and lie down on our right sides and tried to sleep. It wasn't painful at all, just very unsettling. I was anxious and a little angry, which didn't really surprise me because the liver is associated with feelings of anger. I didn't sleep very well and then we both started to "use the toilet" at about 3 am and continued until about 10 am this morning. Felix got out about 2/3 cup of deep green stones and I just got green sludge... The smell of what came out of us was the grossest part... I'm not proud that such a rank, foul vapor came out of me. I feel okay this morning and Felix went back bed after showering and vomiting... I have very little appetite and we have just had some green juice and some almond milk with the pulp left in. It was quite an experience and I do feel that it was quite effective, pretty yucky but effective. Here is a picture of Felix's gallstones, nasty little things that they are... Bless him, my lovely husband who does all of these weird health related things with me. What a lovely partner I have.

Here are a few inspiring quotes from two of my favorite people:

"I am in favor of animal rights as well as human rights. That is the way of a whole human being."
Abraham Lincoln, 16th U.S. President

"Non-violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages."
Thomas Edison, inventor

Liver cleanse today!

So for the past four days I have been eating cooked food... Uggghhhh... My body is so over cooked food. So here I am, recommitted to raw. And that is that. No matter how many times I go back and forth between cooked and raw, being a raw foodist is what I strive to be and what I know myself to be in my heart. I know I will succeed because I will never quit reaching to achieve this goal.

I had my gallbladder removed in 1997 when I was 21. It was an emergency surgery and I was very lucky to get to the hospital in time as the gallbladder ruptured during the operation. 21 years old is a very early age to have one's gallbladder out but at that time I was already 100 lbs. overweight, had been drinking/partying heavily for at least 3 years, and was eating a pint of Ben and Jerry's ice cream per day... Not a recipe for health by any standards. Having to have an important organ removed from my body at such a young age made an impact on me and I began to seriously investigate natural health and take my spirituality more seriously at that time. But, my addictions were strong and I tried and failed many, many times to overcome them. I am happy to report that I no longer drink any alcohol, eat any meat, do any drugs (prescription, over the counter, or recreational included), or smoke any cigarettes. I am basically vegan except for the occasional cheese or egg transgression, and only if I am having a binge. So that took me ten years to accomplish... But I have also left behind a wicked case of rosacea and adult acne, nightly insomnia, debilitating social anxiety, various toxic relationships, and very serious clinical depression/suicidal tendencies, just by changing my daily lifestyle choices. The health/lifestyle goals I still have left to accomplish are to have a daily yoga practice, have a daily meditation practice, be a consistent raw vegan and to detoxify off this 120 lbs. of remaining toxins from my body. What a long strange trip it's been, to say the least.

Yesterday, Felix and I decided that today is the day for the long awaited liver cleanse. I think I could definitely use it... Neither of us has ever done one before, though we have done the Blessed Herbs colon cleanse, a parasite cleanse, and a total body cleanse. So we are juice fasting today in preparation for the cleanse this evening and we ate very lightly yesterday. I'll post about our experiences with the cleanse tomorrow and maybe I'll even have a nice jar full of my very own gallstones to take a picture of and share with you all... How exciting is that?