Day 7 today. Some gross things to happily report… I’ve been through about 4 days of massive bloating and expelling all kinds of nastiness from my bowels. I find it fascinating that so much can come out of me when I’m eating a mostly liquid diet. I’ve been coughing up chunkies as well. Last Fri night and Sat morning it was as if my colon released bricks and it all plied up in my rectum and got stuck. I had to do an enema. It was so bad it was causing pain in my back from the pressure. As a result I ended up with marble sized hemorrhoids. Ouch. I forgot to list hemorrhoids as one of my major issues coming into this cleanse. I’ve been battling them since last February, when I got the flu and sat on the toilet for hours on end all night. It’s as though the blood vessel walls got so weak now they pool up every time I stand for too long, which I frequently do in the kitchen. They also flare up when I’m stressed. The tricky thing is that enemas irritate them, but I kind of have to do the enemas… so it’s an uncomfortable situation any way you play it. Anyway, my body is releasing stuff. I’ve had some cloudy, smelly urine, indicative of yeast. During the first few days of the cleanse I lose 4 pounds, then gained 3 back with all the bloat. I may extend the cleanse if it doesn’t all work itself out by the end of day 10. Part of the bloating, I’m sure, has to do with PMS and should soon be gone. I was excited when I realized my period would fall during my cleanse, since menses are cleansing as well. It gives my body one more avenue to expel toxins, and that’s always a good thing. I’ve gone through some rough patches over the past few days, but all for a good cause. It’s all just proof that it’s working, and I’m very thankful for that.
1.24.2011
1.19.2011
Winter Cleanse, End of Day 2
1.18.2011
Winter Cleanse, Day 1
The day is off to an interesting start. I can’t bear weight on my left foot without pain, it started yesterday evening. I think I may have stressed it running last Saturday… but the pain didn’t start until two days later, so I’m not sure. When I step on it it kind of feels like the bone is trying to break all down the left side of my foot. Unpleasant.
But on the subject of cleansing, I’m excited and nervous. I want to eat! It’s going to be tough. I’ve been working through some food addiction/compulsive eating issues over the past few weeks, so not eating much is scary. My blood sugar was a little low this morning so I ate a banana, waited until I felt hungry again and did my Adya shot. Now I’m working on a cup of Spring tea (The Herbalist). It going to be a day of much urination… and it hurts to wobble to the bathroom, oh my! I hadn’t though of that! Life is always an adventure!
I have a goal to lose 5 lbs over the next 10 days. My primary issues starting out are: emotional/compulsive eating, acne on face and back, eczema around eyes, on ear, on elbow and knees, pain and tension in muscles, abdominal bloating, gas, headaches, itchy/dry skin, fingernail breakage, and rash around the mouth of my nursing toddler who also has foul smelling urine. I’m VERY excited that swollen feet and hypoglycemia are off the major issues list!!!!
1.14.2011
Upcoming Winter Cleanse
I like to cleanse for 7-10 days, 4 times per year. I’m really feeling the need to flush out all this winter muck from my cells. So, starting January 18th, and lasting for 10-days, I’ll be doing a self-prescribed digestive cleanse which will also facilitate the cleansing of my liver and gall bladder. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend someone who isn’t familiar with cleansing to jump in and self-prescribe. If you’re new to cleansing I would use a cleansing package (let me know if you need recommendations and/or coaching). I’ve got to modify my cleanse for breastfeeding and hypoglycemia, so there will be some solid foods as needed, by I’m planning to keep to low-sugar fruits and vegetables and eat as little as I can while still keeping my blood sugar balanced.
The other day I came across my initial list of unpleasant symptoms, from before I began to go vegan or raw. I thought I’d lost it… but here it is! I can now see how far I’ve come. Following this cleanse I will post an update on my healing progress. I am now 1 and ½ years into my raw vegan journey.
Here is my daily cleanse plan:
Food:
Low sugar fruit, as needed
Low sugar green smoothie, as needed
100% Raw Food Meals and snacks (small, chewed well, all solid food as little as possible to keep blood sugar balanced)
- 1 green protein shake (Sun Warrior Protein)
- 34 oz green juice, fresh
- 34 oz green juice, fresh
- Greens First (optional)
Supplements:
- Ginger tea (1+ per day)
- Ginger tea
- Ginger tea
- Namaste or spring tea (1+ per day)
- Namaste or spring tea
- Namaste or spring tea
- Adya Supershot (2 per day)
- Adya Supershot
- 34 oz Adya water
- 34 oz Adya water
- Chromium (2 caps per day)
- B12
- Iodine (2 per day)
- L.B.T. caps (1-2 caps per day)
- Acidophilus (3 caps)
- Acidophilus (3 caps)
- Acidophilus (3 caps)
- Digestive Enzymes
- Digestive Enzymes
- Digestive Enzymes
- Ginger caps
- Ginger caps
- Ginger caps
- Gall Bladder Flush (every other day, at bedtime, followed by tea)
- Isaflush (at bedtime)
Lifestyle:
- Enema (everyday to at least every 2 days)
- Body scrubbing (before showers)
- Feet soak in Adya and pumice (at least every 3 days)
- Yoga (at least every other day)
- Aerobic exercise (at least 15 mins per day)
- Sleep (try to be in bed by 10:30 pm, up around 7:00 am)
- Fresh air and sun (go outside or open windows at least 15 mins per day)
I’ll keep you updated, wish me will power!
1.09.2011
Follow Up from This Mornings Post
First of all, the enema was MUCH needed! My colon pretty much sounded like a haunted house the entire time. I’ve never heard anything quite like it. It was fabulous… and gross… but better out than in.
What I really wanted to talk about though was after the enema. See, normally I don’t get to do things to take care of myself, as I’m looking after the demands of a house full of children all day without a break. Today I was home sick from church. So, after the enema I treated myself to a yoga session. I used Maya Fiennes’s DVD Kundalini Yoga to Detox and Destress. I purchased it just recently and hadn’t used it yet. I used to have some of her sessions recorded on our DVR and I loved them, but we switched providers and I’ve been without them for quite sometime, so I was very excited to have found her DVDs. Yoga is always a journey for me. I emerge from each session a better person. This session was, by far, the greatest yet. I cried multiple times throughout the session and I could feel negative emotions rising up and releasing. I could feel myself tuning into my core, my spirit, my true self, and my connection with God, the source of all knowledge. This is Kundalini. I feel incredibly relaxed and filled with soothing, pure, life energy. I can effortlessly take in a deep breath now, whereas usually there is too much tension in my chest to breathe deeply. Afterward I went to the kitchen to drink some water and I could feel my weight in my calves and could feel myself connected to the floor, in a grounded way. I normally live in my head. I never experience existing in my body. But I did today. I was so aware of the floor under my feet and could feel my weight balanced so perfectly between them. I felt like I physically existed in the world, not like I was alone and overwhelmed, like I typically do. I need to find some way to get help with my children so that I can do yoga more often. I may have to do it in the bedroom at night when Kolby watches TV and the kids are asleep, I’ve been avoiding that because its my only time with Kolby, but this is something I really need and I believe will make me a much better, and much healthier, person. I’m off to drink more water… got to flush out all the toxins I just released!
Lesson #1: Mind Your Colon
I’ve been using Adya Clarity now for about 2 ½ months. I did the super shots once daily up until about 3 weeks ago, and have just been drinking the water. The past few days I’ve been back on the super shots, putting them in my green juice or just taking them alone. I admit I haven’t been great at getting in enough water after the shots, or in general. I’ve always struggled to drink enough water. I had been frustrated because at first it seemed to be helping with my digestive problems, then it sort of tapered off and after that my issues worsened. Since around Christmas I’ve had horrible gas, bloating, and some nausea. I felt hopeless and afraid. If this doesn’t help me, what will? On top of all that, the eczema patches started showing up again on my elbow and knees (I’d had nasty patches there last year that took many months and cleansing to clear up), and the eczema around my eyes began to flare up again to the point where it was very uncomfortable to wear makeup and the skin around my eyes was puffy, bright read, and scaly. My back broke out in painful pimples, which hasn’t happened since I was a teenager. Also, my muscle tension/pain/headaches have been much worse than usual. What’s worse, my breastfed toddler has developed a rash around his mouth which is scabbing over, and his urine has been rather foul smelling. I’ve been in a panic trying to figure this all out. When my daughter used to get a rash around her mouth it was a dairy allergy, but we don’t eat dairy or any common allergen causing foods. He had been eating small amounts of peanut butter, so I took him off of that, but he’s never reacted to it before. I feared he might be allergic to grapefruit, or citrus in general, because during the winter we eat a lot of that and I’ve been craving grapefruit and eating several per day (which after researching I found that it cleanses the liver and is anti-inflammatory so it helps with pain syndromes, go figure!).
One night, Coen was having trouble getting to sleep so we snuggled up on the couch, him watching Caillou and me reading articles on the laptop. I was reading some things written by Matt Monarch (from rawfoodworld.com) whose work always impresses me. I kept coming across his mentioning of the importance of colon cleansing (enemas and colon hydrotherapy sessions). This is nothing new to me. I know full-well the importance of washing out the colon when cleansing. When your body is releasing toxins and waste it gets dumped into your sewage system (colon) for elimination. You can ease the stress on your body, as well as the symptoms of detox, by flushing those toxins out with water. This method has been used for thousands of years. In fact, up until the past 50-60 years (before pharmaceuticals took over the healthcare system) even hospital rooms had equipment for colon flushing, as it was the first thing doctors did to facilitate healing. It was common knowledge that weather you had a headache, or a cold, or cancer, or whatever, the most important thing you could do was to clean out your colon. Somehow that knowledge has been lost to some extent in recent years, even to the point that people think of it as taboo and embarrassing. It’s quite unfortunate considering we need to be cleaning our colons now more than ever, with the ever increasing amount of flesh foods we eat and all the environmental toxins we take in. Now wonder we are losing so many people to colon cancer.
I wasn’t applying any of this to me at the time I was reading it. It wasn’t until the next day I began thinking, “hmm, skin breaking out… toxins trying to be released? Foul gas, bloating and nausea… yeast die off? Muscle pain and headaches… toxin release and yeast die off? Rashes… yeast and toxins? Adya… kills yeast and releases toxins!” I hadn’t thought of my Adya use as a cleanse and so I hadn’t treated it like one. The most perplexing thing was that I felt my digestion improving in that I know I’m absorbing nutrients better than I ever have because I haven’t required as much food lately. Normally I’m starving all the time and I eat about every hour, or more. But lately I noticed I can’t finish a whole grapefruit without being stuffed, in fact I can’t eat a large amount of anything, even vegetable juice. That’s not a bad thing, I’ve been waiting for this! I learned early on in my raw food journey that when you eat this pure, nutritionally dense food your require less of it. But for us the opposite seemed to be true, we eat nonstop and are always hungry. You can’t absorb nutrients through a yeast and mucus coated digestive tract, and if you aren’t absorbing enough nutrients your body will tell you it’s hungry so it can get in as much food as possible and absorb as many nutrients as it can. I was so confused realizing this, and yet having all this gas pain… it didn’t add up.
Time will tell if my theory is correct, if all these issues are symptoms of yeast die-off and toxin release, and if the Adya is doing positive work in my body. I’m off to do my first enema in many months. I wish I could do colon hydrotherapy, but the money just isn’t there, so hopefully the enemas will suffice. I will update in a week or so and let you know if I’ve seen any improvements in myself or my son. And also, I’m planning a digestive rest cleanse coming up in the next week or two, once I sort through my current issues. If you’re interested in learning about Adya, here’s a great place to see how its been working for other people: http://www.therawfoodworld.com/adyaclaritytestimonials.html
11.05.2010
Three Weeks on Adya
***UPDATE*** Adya Clarity has recently been recalled by its primary seller, Matt Monarch. This is due to inaccurate labeling and fraudulent marketing by the producer of the product, Adya, Inc. To view Matt's official appology click here. For more info on what has been discovered about Adya Clarity and Adya, Inc., click here.
I started taking the supershots on Oct. 11th (if you don’t know what I’m referring to, see the post just previous to this one). At that time my most troublesome physical symptoms were:
Frequent stomach pains
Digestive problems
Colitis
Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Eczema
Brain fog
Trouble concentrating
Exhaustion
Anxiety
Depression
OCD
Anger/Irritablity
Headaches
Muscle tension pain, esp shoulders and neck
Sweet cravings
Itchy dry skin
Dry scalp
Gas
Painful bloating
Hemorrhoids
Mood swings
Loose stools
Sinus troubles/post nasal drip
Excess mucus
Dizziness
Poor memory
Weak fingernails
Stomach fat
Persistent cough
Earaches (no Dr. could ever identify a cause)
Muscle weakness
Sensitivity to fragrances/chemicals
Trouble comprehending simple things
Sore throat
Heartburn
Chronic pain
Hypoglycemia
Food allergies/sensitivities
Gluten sensitivity
Nausea
Loss of appetite
Teeth pain
Unrestful sleep
Light sensitivity
Blurred vision
Cold and heat sensitivity
Low body temp
Low blood pressure
Tingling/numbness in extremities
Foot pain
Dry mouth and eyes
Difficulty swallowing
Skin discoloration
Tinnitus
Sensitivity to noise
Light-headedness
Fibromyalgia
Nail ridges
Jaw pain
Dark circles under eyes
Ingrown hairs
Dry, cracking heels
Rib pain
Poor night vision
Tonsil infections
A good 95% of these are common Candida symptoms, which is the reason I’m taking Adya. As I mentioned in a previous post I first heard about Adya when I saw a youtube video of Angela Stokes-Monarch talking about how she’d cured her own Candida.
I’m now 3.5 weeks in. For Angela it took about 6 weeks. After the 1st week I’d lost 3 lbs (that’s a lot for a person my size, considering I’m 5’7” and it put me at 117lbs). I felt pretty good. I was as un-bloated in my midsection as I can remember ever having been in my life. Then… I bloated. I bloated good. I bloated so big I looked an easy 6 months pregnant and felt like my skin was going to rip open and my organs were going to come bursting out. My muscle pain increased. I went into a major brain fog. I had an eczema flare up, had an acne breakout. A bunch of bad tasting mucus settled in the back of my throat and my nose ran nonstop. I got moody… okay, maybe not moody, more like ferociously angry. I became more light-headed than usual. My blood sugar went super-loopy. I wanted to eat the whole world, especially if it was sweet or salty. And lastly, I started expelling some of the nastiest smelling gas I’ve ever had… frequently and uncontrollably. It’s safe to assume I wasn’t in any mood for going out. Of course, all of this also made my anxiety worse as I wondered what on earth was wrong with my body (again) and felt like there was no hope or help for me and I for sure was going to die. Then I got over my dumb. DUH. Yeast die-off symptoms, silly! It’s got to get worse before it can get better. My body is still dealing with eliminating all those toxins, but it has improved over the past day. I’m very much looking forward to seeing what the coming weeks will bring. One thing I know, the Adya is doing something. There is hope. And hope is a great thing!
11.04.2010
Adya Clarity—It’s a Miracle!
***UPDATE*** Adya Clarity has recently been recalled by its primary seller, Matt Monarch. This is due to inaccurate labeling and fraudulent marketing by the producer of the product, Adya, Inc. To view Matt's official appology click here. For more info on what has been discovered about Adya Clarity and Adya, Inc., click here.
Here’s my (hopefully) easy to understand overview of what Adya is.
You know those streams in the mountains in China or Japan that are so mineral rich, the people who drink out of them live to be well over 100 years old? They are purified by magnetic sulfate minerals. That is what makes the water so life-giving. Adya Clarity is magnetic sulfate minerals derived from black mica. Basically, you add it to your water and it pulls (magnetizes) inorganic material (toxins, contaminates) out of the cells of the water, captures them and renders them harmless. It purifies the water in a way that no purifier you can buy can. Then, it takes the now shrunken water cells and fills them up with oxygen and minerals. In other words, it purifies water and then transforms it into (living) oxygenated mineral water. As a water purifier, it’s pretty darn amazing, but consider for a moment the fact that more than half of your body is composed of water. Your cells are filled with it and bathed in it. Here’s the miracle of Adya: You can take it in “supershots,” that is, once or twice a day (upon waking and in the afternoon, on an empty stomach). Mix a teaspoon of the Adya liquid with a few ounces of water. Drink it down, then during the next 2 hours take no food and drink 1 ltr (34 oz) or more of Adya purified water. The minerals go to work in your body, pulling out the toxins from your cells and filling the cells up with oxygen and minerals. Adya has been attributed to the healing of many dis-eases. I recently began taking it in hopes of curing Candida overgrowth, as Angela Monarch-Stokes did (watch her video here) (Here is another very informative video). I will be blogging about my experience in later posts. If you’re interested in trying Adya for yourself there are several places you can get it. I got mine from Matt and Angela’s website: Raw Food World.
Some benefits of Adya Clarity:
IN WATER
Makes water taste amazing
Removes:
Chlorine and fluoride
Pharmaceuticals that have entered the water supply (such as antibiotics, antidepressants, and veterinary drugs)
Chemicals, plastics, and solvents
Heavy metals (such as mercury, aluminum, and lead) and pathogens
Viruses, harmful bacteria, and parasites
IN YOUR BODY
Removes heavy metals
Relieves tension, stress, stiffness
Kills yeast
Kills parasites (yes, you do have them)
Improves digestion
Better sleep
Clear skin
Increased energy
Alleviates arthritis
Improves regularity
Maintains homeostasis (internal balance)
Detoxes the body
Cures mineral deficiencies
Hydrates deeply, at a cellular level
Weight loss
LOTS more (watch the videos above)!
OTHER USES
Bathe in Adya water
Use it in place of chlorine in your pool or hot tub
Add a supershot to your fresh vegetable juice to enhance the nutritional and cleansing benefits of the juice
Feed it to your house and garden plants
Put it in your pets water
10.04.2010
Food That "Feels" Good
7.11.2010
Frustration and Hope: The Eternal Round
I am often upset by the fact that I am still limited by my body. Here I am home from Church again. I see people all around me, people I’ve mentored and other raw-foodests, who can make the smallest changes and see amazing results. I’m a year in to this and still rather ill. Somehow I’ve hung onto this wild hope that, in time, my body will heal. I’ve been carried this far on the wings of faith. Today’s issue: Several years ago, when I was pregnant with my second child, when I drank water I could hear and feel bubbling just under my left rib cage. With my third pregnancy it came back, and this time when I would turn to the left I would feel something “catch” under my ribs. I had one of my interns at my husband’s school palpate my abdomen and she said everything felt fine. Following that pregnancy I’ve had a lot of painful gas up the side of my descending colon and, most recently, sharp stabbing pain under the rib (where the transcending and descending colon meet) that goes through into my back. When it happens I go down to the floor. I can’t stand and I can barely inhale, so I take tiny, short, sharp breaths. It usually happens after a bowel movement, and then I’ll often have another (and maybe even another) and that will ease the pain. When it happened several days ago I did an enema and that helped, but I can’t do enemas most of the time because I’m alone with 3 small children. It terrifies me that this problem is getting worse. Lately I’ve pondered seeing an M.D., worrying that I have colon cancer or some such thing. I’m pretty freaked out. I’m still struggling to go 100% raw with hypoglycemia. The past 2 days I drank my first green juices. I want so badly to do the 92-day juice feast, but even the modified version (where you also consume green smoothies and raw soups with blended avocado) worries me. First of all because I have yet to met a raw soup I could swallow, nor a blended avocado for that matter. Second, because I tried all green smoothies for a day and had a terrible hypoglycemic reaction. I haven’t felt a big difference with the green juice I’ve drank so far, but I’ve only been drinking 1 qt a day. A regular juice feast calls for 6 qts a day, and a modified feast 4 qts. I do feel very unbalanced and I know my body is screaming for more greens (I currently consume about 2 heads of lettuce per day, one of them blended and one as a salad). I also feel an intense need for exercise, but I still am clueless as to how to do that with 3 children. I’ve been SOOOO tired lately. I’ve been falling asleep sitting up during the day everyday, normally I wouldn’t even sit down during the day in the first place. I’m scared that if I try to exercise I’ll black out or something. I’ve always been afraid of the sensations that come along with a workout. Once my heart starts pounding, I panic. As a result I’m super weak and tired and have a lot of pain in my body. I do, however, have one good thing to report! The swelling in my feet has gone down a ton and my eczema has DRASTICALLY improved, like, I can wear eye makeup now and there are no traces of it on my elbows or knees. So… that should mean my digestion is improving… so why the stabbing gas pains?
Goals: Lately I’ve been starting the day off with several Master Cleanse drinks (2 TBS fresh lemon juice, 2 TBS maple syrup, dash of cayenne pepper, and 8 oz. water). I follow that with a green juice and (if my blood sugar will allow it) follow that with a green smoothie. The idea (my idea) is to extend my night fast and give my digestive tract as much rest as possible. I’d like to work it up in a full day of nothing but liquids. I’ve also been working the sprouted grain bread out of my day. So the one big problem that is still in the way of 100% raw is that dang creamy French salad dressing. I still cannot find a raw dressing I can even tolerate, much less enjoy, and greens without dressing, even when covered with other veggies, are just plain chokey and dry. But really, in the average day, my only issues left are sprouted bread, organic unsalted peanut butter, and creamy French dressing. I’ve got my vices down to three!
My most troubling symptoms currently:
Exhaustion
Weakness
Muscle tension pain and headaches
Abdominal pain, gas, nausea
Hypoglycemia
.jpg)