hannahbee thots

2 new foods this week

nobody@vox.com(hannahbee) — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 07:20:14 -0700

This morning we made almond milk with the water of a young coconut. We then made a strawberry shake with the almond milk, some of the coconut meat, fresh organic strawberries and ice. DELICIOUS. Very creamy and smooth. We didn't add any sweetener, so it's just the flavor of strawberry, really. Very filling.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

It's been one week

nobody@vox.com(hannahbee) — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 07:57:22 -0700

One week since I broke my fast! Since then, I've been going CRAZY eating huge "meat lovers" pan pizzas, buckets of fried chicken, doughnuts, everything deep fried, and gallons of coke and bags and bags of chips and candy!

HA HA. That would have been so funny and great. But, alas, not to be. This morning for breakfast I had a smoothie made with romaine lettuce and beet greens and a nectarine and frozen tropical fruit. Yesterday I had a green smoothie for breakfast, a salad with lemon juice and olive oil for lunch and a green smoothie for a snack and raw vegan "burgers" (curried nut patties) for dinner with mayo that B made from scratch and fresh organic tomatoes and thin sliced raw onion. For dessert we shared a slice of vegan raw strawberry cheesecake. It was AMAZING.

I hung out with my mom yesterday and we went to the co-op. I'm very excited to try the young coconut I got, but I'm not sure what to do with the "meat." I'm also soaking some garbanzos for homemade sprouted hummus to eat with zucchini chips.

We also went to the fancy yarn store and I got some bamboo yarn! It's so soft!!

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Day 9 - disappointment day

nobody@vox.com(hannahbee) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 10:47:42 -0700

Well, I certainly could have made it through tomorrow, but a family obligation has arisen for tomorrow night. That means to safely break myself off this fast, I have to start breaking it today. I did the SWF this morning, (intending to keep going) and drank some lemonade. But I also drank about 2 oz of the all-fruit smoothie B was drinking. I will do juice and probiotics today and maybe a cup of very bland veg soup tonight. Tomorrow I will do more probiotics, more fruit and green smoothies and maybe some raw salad. The most important thing is to get my healthy gut flora back before I eat anything that requires intenstinal digestion.

So far, the smoothie's sitting okay, so I'm optimistic.

My overall impressions of 8 full days of 10-10oz glasses of fresh squeezed lemon juice + grade b maple syrup + non-irradiated ground cayenne pepper:

Well, the first 2 days are awful for the headache and physical soreness.
Day 3 is bad because my head was still foggy
Day 4-8 = Great!

I had no "symptoms" that didn't make sense and/or go away.
Q: would I do it again?
A: Yes, and for longer.

Finally: The craving for eating doesn't go away. It's all mental.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Day 6 & 7

nobody@vox.com(hannahbee) — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 07:17:26 -0700

I did not quit.

Day 6 was a hard day for reasons other than the MC. I did drink all my lemonade yesterday, but I spent the majority of the afternoon sleeping. As far as physical symptoms, I had some gas in the morning. Any weird digestion feelings are extra weird because what's going on in there???? There's no food!

Day 7 has started grand. Did the SWF and already got one chore done that I wanted to do this week (I guess I'm counting Saturday as the end of the week -- so I met my goal!)

I think any problems I'm having doing this cleanse are all mental. If one can decide beforehand that they are committed to doing it, it is possible.

The instructions for breaking the cleanse are very specific and clearly designed to help replace any mucosa that's been passed and to introduce colonies of good bacteria. I know that it's important because I am sure that if I eat "real" food without doing that first, I run the risk of getting pretty sick. So I have my post-fast plan already in place:

Wednesday: fresh squeezed orange juice (orange juice is mucous-producing)
Thursday: fresh veggie/fruit juices or smoothies and kombucha - that will get the stomach used to more bulk and introduce some probiotics
Friday: raw meals and fruit with plain organic live-cultures yogurt. - even more bulk including fiber, and some fat and more good bacteria in the yogurt.

When I'm done, I will count it as an achievement of will. I haven't harmed myself irreparably, and can arguably say I have done myself something good in bringing some awareness to my eating habits and to the power of my mental cravings. I feel I had a tape playing in my head that says I am powerless over how I eat. That my "hungers" rule me. This experience has proved that tape is a lie.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

day 5 master cleanse

nobody@vox.com(hannahbee) — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 07:38:19 -0700

I overcame my desire for hamburgers. After a lot of whining and fits.

I don't have much news. On this cleanse, your expected rate of elimination is about 3X per day. It is not solid. You gotta wonder what's going on after 4+ days of no solid food, and your "detox" really gets going around day 5. I wish I was a doctor or Osmosis Jones so I could tell what was actually happening inside my body.

The cravings on day 4 were not hunger, or not in the sense we normally mean, because I have felt that tummy rumbling less and less. I do feel a kind of empty feeling, especially in the evenings, that is probably more like real hunger.

I have less fatigue, but I am routinely ready for bed around 9 or 9:30, which I don't think is a bad thing. Yesterday I rode the exercise bike. Not for very long, but just to see how I felt. While I was doing it, it felt GREAT. My muscles felt so good working like that. After, I was very tired. And when I woke up in the night I was sore, but this morning not sore at all. Like my body repaired itself in the time allotted for that, instead of having to digest food. Interesting.

Yesterday I finished all my lemonade for the day by 5:30. I wasn't hungry after that, but I was bored, and would have eaten if I weren't doing this. Also interesting. But then we started watching Wives & Daughters and I wasn't bored anymore! And I wasn't even snackish! I would like to break the habit of eating while we watch stuff. It started in LV because we didn't have a dining room or a dining table, the only place in our small condo was the couch, so that's where we sat, with trays. And we do it here, but I don't think it's a good habit, because then whenever we watch something, even if it's not a meal time, there's usually snacking involved.

This morning I resumed the salt water flush.

I don't have a scale and don't really weigh myself. I remember my mother-in-law asking me "are you losing weight" when I was working at the dry cleaner (answer: yes) and she said "how much?" And I said, "I don't know." And she said, aghast, "You don't know? What you mean you don't know? You guys don't have scale?" (Answer: no.) But I don't care. I feel better, felt better than LV before I even started this cleanse. And I can tell from my clothes. And I can tell from how I feel in my muscles when I ride the bike. And I can tell from my calisthenics. And I can tell from my overall less sluggish feeling. These changes we're making are very positive. And I feel 100% better than in Las Vegas. And I don't want to going back to feeling so awful.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Day 4 am

nobody@vox.com(hannahbee) — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 07:33:24 -0700

There's not much to report about yesterday, but I did have some crises of confidence and want to quit. I think it's harder than I thought to see B eat. I even went so far as to look at websites about THE DANGERS OF DETOX FASTING.

Also, honestly, I don't know how I feel about the "detox" aspect. I am not a medical professional, so I don't know if the benefits being described are even possible. But I do know (without saying Too Much Information) that something is happening.

Yesterday I was pretty tired early, was in bed by 9:30. My mind felt hazy and unfocused. I didn't like that feeling.

This morning I eschewed the salt water flush because we have to be somewhere at 9:30. I feel great this morning, though. Calm and peaceful and not hazy or tired.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

day 3 morn

nobody@vox.com(hannahbee) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 06:09:41 -0700

I had a pretty complicated dream that was fairly negative. (At one point I ate some sushi and didn't taste anything!!) So, in the dream, I'm saying to B, "Oh my God, this is a nightmare," (the situation he was describing) and then somewhere in my brain (the watcher who remains and watches our dreams) I thought, "wait, this IS a nightmare..." and I woke up!

I was super tired last night, and kind of falling asleep around 8:30 but then I had my senna tea at 9 or so and that kind of woke me up. That tea is a bit stimulating, I think. And then later we had some pet-based issues, so I kind of went to sleep late. I didn't set the alarm, and woke up around 6.

Salt Water Flush is first up on deck, as it has to be done on an EMPTY stomach. I was headachy when I woke up, so I had a couple sips of water. But that's it.

Interestingly, last night when we were all upset over the pet thing, I could feel my stomach feeling super empty and hungry. I hadn't really felt it until that point. I wonder if, for me, anxiety and unpleasant emotions literally trigger a desire to eat. I would like to break that pattern, if so.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

End O Day 2

nobody@vox.com(hannahbee) — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 18:47:16 -0700

I guess it makes more sense to do a "wrap up" at the end of the day. But there's little-to-no news to report! I finished drinking my day's allotment of lemonade by 7. I felt fewer cravings today and hardly any tummy rumbling. I had a cup of senna tea midmorning and a cup of peppermint tea midafternoon. I decided I am not giving up on the SWF (salt water flush) now that I know what to expect.

I worked some today and did a lot of reading on the Master Cleanse and eating raw. I know eating raw sounds crazy, even I think it sounds crazy when I see other people talking about it. But there is some actual medical research out there about the human body's response to eating cooked food (white blood cell counts go up as if your body is fighting an invader or infection) and, more scary, about the inflammation caused in healthy patients from eating cooked foods (and cooked meats in specific). It's not all the mumbo-jumbo about enzymes, which I'm still pretty skeptical about....it's peer-reviewed research of how cooked foods make us unhealthy. And I'm starting to wonder if eating the Standard American Diet isn't the worst damn thing I've done to myself for 40 years, or at least 25 or so, as long as I've been responsible for feeding myself.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

MC day 2

nobody@vox.com(hannahbee) — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 05:30:32 -0700

I don't envision posting any long thoughtful posts regarding this, just trying to track it.

here's the timeline to date:

Saturday: ate pretty clean including "last meal" which was almost entirely raw
Sunday: started with sinus rinse, fasted
Sunday: felt tummy rumbling we call "hunger" 2-3 times
Sunday: 2 small eliminations
Sunday: by 8:30pm, I had about 100 oz of hot lemonade. I also drank water.
Sunday: senna tea at 9:30pm

Monday: awoke headachey (caffeine withdrawl?)
Monday: salt water flush at 6:15 am

Analysis:
I found myself thinking about food a lot as the day progressed, including foods I don't normally want/think about. B was kind enough to eat mostly in his office. The aromas of his foods were tantalizing, especially the ripe nectarine he ate last night. I never felt like cheating, but I was afraid all day that I would unconsciously cheat, like I would just find myself idly eating something. I felt at loose ends all day because the hours seemed to stretch out before me with nothing in them. It illuminating how much time is spent thinking about/planning for/anticipating food and eating. My mood felt strange, kind of flat affect with some moments of irritation. Then later in the evening I felt sort of crazy, but not in a bad way. I also felt pretty fatigued and some joint soreness.

Yesterday was our day off, so our schedule wasn't normal. Today is a work day. Off to work!

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Master Cleanse day 1

nobody@vox.com(hannahbee) — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 12:01:37 -0700

Today is day 1 of my 10 day "lemonade" fast. I've done the Master Cleanse before, but it was a long time ago.

So far, I started to feel hunger around 12:30. I have had about 18oz of the drink so far. B already suggested I drink some peppermint tea for my breath. Unfortunately, it's going to get worse before it gets better!

We saw Wall-E and I cried at the beginning. I would have cried at the end except I was in the bathroom because I couldn't hold it ANY LONGER.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend