Day 20

DONE!

Day 21 is the 7th day of rest. I didn't really think this through. I should have called it a 20 Day Juice Program.

And I don't feel like I've completed something. I feel like I'm just beginning. The transformation is incredible. I can feel it. It's truly a miracle. Just like our student Valerie N. who in the past 2 years lost 20 pounds. She reset her whole body and now she still looks great. I feel like I'm resetting my whole body. A total system reboot. I've turned my diet upside down. I'm eating mostly fruits and vegetables...and I'm enjoying it! I've tried to do this before but not with juicing. Juicing IS the key. Like Mary says, "Juicing IS the only food. Everything else is recreational."

It wasn't easy in the beginning. The cravings were strong. But I don't really crave the cooked food in the evening anymore. I don't crave sugar either. I actually feel hydrated. I don't think I've been hydrated since '79.

The change in my diet was my goal and I accomplished it. The KEY was the juicing. Hands down. I don't ever want to stop the juicing.

And just to take it down a notch, today was the day of massive waste disposal, if you know what I mean. Wink. Wink. Nudge. Nudge. What was coming out of me was pretty amazing. For those of us who don't have six pack abs, we all have that sort of little bump on our tummy's, you know? My little bump is gone. I think some deeply impacted fecal matter (mmmmmm) came out of me. And a lot of it too. And no, it wasn't diarhea (sp?) It was years and years of meat eating finally coming out. This morning in yoga class I could feel it in my stomach working its way down. It was like a brick slowly moving through my gut. Very uncomfortable. And now it's out. Sorry you had to read that but it had to be said. The juicing is a cleansing and cleansing is good for you. Don't be squeamish about it. You upgrade your Mac's all the time. Isn't it time to upgrade your body, your soul, your life?

Day 19

Oh miracle of miracles! I am no longer sick. The juicing and the yoga pushed everything right out of me. I think the cold was actually my body detoxing. Mary's juices at Global Yoga are amazing. They are literally saving my life. I had massive dark circles around my eyes that are starting to disappear. Of course, my belly has de-puffed. I can actually see a rib or two. That's a first for me. My overall energy is high and my need for sleep has been greatly reduced. And I am noticing so many people's postures in class now. Like Jackie F. She's a fabulous yogi who herself juices quite a bit. Her rabbit today in class was marketably good. Yes, she could sell her own rabbit to people who would buy such things. Jackie has done a big diet shift and her body shape, skin, overall physique have done a 180 degree turn. She's got more energy than me and she's, well, I think you'd be shocked if you knew her age.

Many of our Global Yogi's are now testing the waters with 1,2 and 3 day juice program. Good for you guys! Remember, don't be hard on yourself. If you cheat, you cheat. But why not make your cheat a piece of fruit instead of a croissant or bagel. Keep away from dairy, bread, rice, pasta, & processed sugar. Try a 3 day program knowing you'll only eat raw fruits and vegetable along with the juicing. I guarantee you WILL immediately de-puff and de-stress. You will have instant energy. In fact, you'll feel so great, you'll want to add a couple more days to your juicing. BUT REMEMBER ONE THING: when you come off the juice TRY not to run to Johnny Rockets and stuff your face with everything you cut out of your diet for the past 3 days. The point of doing the juicing is to change your everyday diet. Right? That's why I included a 7th day of rest where I got to eat whatever I wanted.

One more day!

Day 18

Still sick, but not as bad. More uncomfortable than anything else. Just doing the juice but was given some organic, msg-free, vegan Miso soup by Global Yoga student Panithi and I cooked some up this evening and it was delicious. And I cleared my sinuses temporarily. Miso is great for those wicked cravings you get for food at night. Yoga was tough again. But I'm pushing through.

Sweating, Juicing, and Resting are the keys to longevity..for me, at least.

Day 17

Ugh! I'm sick. It's a cold...not a flu. But I push on. Yoga Class was tough today but I'm sure that my cold will be short-lived. I continue to juice. By the way, getting sick is no excuse to just drop your whole regime. In fact, when you're sick you tend to not want to eat as much and that's okay. It's your body saying, "Give me a minute, will ya?" So I did the juices and I drank a ton of liquids. Runny nose won't let me sleep very well. I hate having to breathe through my mouth. My colds in the past have tended to last 5 or 6 days. We'll see how this one goes.

Day 16

Feeling good! Strong yoga class. Neck and shoulders are tight but the forward bends are opening up big time. This is what happens when one body part opens up another usually temporarily tightens up.

I have to admit I'm still drinking my morning coffee but that's it.

I'm also noticing that I need less sleep and am waking up more refreshed in the mornings.

This juicing stuff really works.

Day 15

Day 15 and it's the official juice fast. No solids this week! And I'm feeling pretty good. Ran out of Silver Biotics so I'm taking HOST DEFENSE which is a natural immune system booster that's made of 17 activated mushrooms. You can buy it at Whole Foods. Not the cheapest thing out there but it does the job. No flu for me. KEEP DOING BIKRAM YOGA! This is key to the juicing. Diet is NOT enough. Stay busy. Stay active.

Now, I realize most of you won't be able to afford to do 3 weeks of juicing. Here's what I would do if I could only do 1 week.

I would take the first 3 days as my "Fruit Days." Do the 5 juices and whenever you feel hungry or shaky or headache-y then have some fruit. The key to this is NOT CHEATING. Don't sneak anything else. When you go to bed you are going to feel a little hungry. Don't worry about it. It's emotional. Just do a large glass of water with the juice of one fresh-squeezed lemon. Now if you can only afford to do 3 days, then this is fine. Fine? This is great! I guarantee you'll have de-pudged and de-puffed noticably. Just remember that the nighttime is the toughest time emotionally. That is when you'll want to cook something up. The feeling is only temporary. Have a piece of fruit. Have a banana. Or have a coconut water. That does the trick, too.

But here's the danger of doing the 3 days of Juice with the fruit: you won't want to stop. So you sign up for another 3 or 4 days. Now the goal of the "Juice Fast" is to give your digestive system a rest from breaking food down in your stomach. So the less solids you eat the better. Buy a couple cases of coconut water from Rainbow. You get a 10% discount when you buy them by the case and it's only $12. And make sure you drink your E3Live bluegreen algae. If you don't have E3Live then get yourself "Sun Chlorella" at whole foods. They're these little green superfood tablets that will keep you going with the added benefit of getting rid of any detoxing side-effects like headaches. And if you need to drink Yogi Green Tea as well. Just make sure you drink plenty of liquids along with the juices and have a 2oz wheatgrass shot a day. You're not starving your whole system here. You're just giving your digestive system a little holiday.

Have fun.

Day 14

Day of Rest...and I'm jonesing for the juice. But that didn't stop me from eating two poached eggs and garlic rosemary potatoes and a bowl of fruit. I ate everything. I used to not be able to eat all my food when I would go out to eat because the portions were so big. This time I just consumed the whole thing and I didn't feel full. I can feel my body dealing with anything I put into it on my rest day. It's efficiently dealing with the food. The difference is during the week I DON'T feel my body deal with the fresh fruit, vegetables, and juice and this brings me to a very important point...YOU SHOULDN'T FEEL YOUR FOOD. If you can feel the digestion happening then you've got the wrong combination of food in your stomach. If you FEEL FULL, then you've eaten wayyyyyy tooo much food. If you feel uncomfortable during or after a meal then you're doing something wrong and your body is telling you as much. Think of it this way, you don't normally feel uncomfortable when you breathe. And when your breathing does feel uncomfortable you immediately know something is wrong. But when it comes to food we completely ignore that feeling because we've so over-sensualised the eating experience that we've come to accept that that "stuffed", overfed, gassy experience is just the normal cost of doing business. So, yes, I definitely felt my food on this day of rest, but it didn't sit in my stomach for very long like it used to. The juicing is making my body much more efficient.

Day 13 - Disaster

Halloween and I HAD CANDY and it was goooood. Until I crashed shortly after and had a screaming headache. Hungover from sugar overdose...especially after all the juicing. At least I took a yoga class and will be taking one on Sunday. When you fall off the bike just make sure you go to Global Yoga to sweat the crap out. I still feel better than normal however and people are commenting on the changing of my body.

Day 12

Yup. All the same from before but I did have a salad for dinner. In 'N Out Burger was calling my name but I did not heed the call. I went for salad instead. I'm out of coconut water and I'm feeling it. That stuff keeps you on the straight and narrow. Especially when you've had all your juices already. I substitute the lemon water instead which is fine but not as tasty as the coconut water.

Day 11

The body continues to morph and the cravings are slowly going away. I've been craving only the morning coffee. The yoga postures are feeling stronger and lighter. It's interesting when you start to feel lighter than air in a yoga posture. I had nuts and dried fruit today for the first time in four days. Not much more to add. I'm half-way through.

Day 10

Day 3 of Week 2 eating only fruit w/ Mary's juices.

Wow, I feel good. The regimen is again exactly the same as Day 8 and Day 9.

Not much more to add other than I feel even better. And I haven't crashed. I haven't had that moment in class where I just want to lay down and take a nap...while I'm teaching class. These juices are amazing. Some jackass said that watermelon is hypoglycemic and leads straight to diabetes. This is the kind of crap that people are starting to say to me. Showing concern for my "well-being." Thanks but no thanks. South Beach Diet and other newfangled diets are concerned with the glycemic index of foods (particularly fruit) but they don't take into account the glycemic load which is the real indication of how fast that fruit turns into sugar in your blood and forces the body to produce insulin and then makes you drowsy. Google it.

Day 9

Day 9 is the exact same regimen as Day 8. Exactly the same. And I feel great. The FRUIT FLUSH (as our yoga student Markus Willard calls it - go to markuswillard.com to check out his blog) is working brilliantly with the juicing. My body is morphing quite fast now and I'm not hungry or tired. In fact, quite the opposite. The yoga classes have been stronger and I'm requiring less sleep. But there's always that moment at night when I walk into the house I want to kill something and cook it. My cat, Pip, was looking pretty tasty. But some fruit and lemon water did the trick.

People have been noticing my body (Finally!) change. Some are concerned. But to be honest this isn't an overnight thing. I've been doing Bikram Yoga for 70 straight days. I cut out a lot of processed foods and sugar (no sodas for 56 days!). And I've been drinking Mary's juices for 17 days. I know this is day 9 of my juicing but I started her juices a week earlier. All this enzyme intact juice has kept me energized and efficient. I feel like I am now just dealing with the emotional/ sensual cravings for cooked food. I feel good.

Day 8

Week 2 Begins!

Thought I'd try something different. For the first 3 days of Week 2 I will only eat fruit while juicing.

Day 8 was actually pretty good. I had loads of energy from the fruit. I never crashed. No hypoglycemic BS. I also started the day with water and fresh squeezed lemon.

Water w/ lemon
Grande Iced Vanilla Latte (screw it, I'm not quitting the coffee...and I'm still going to look fabulous)
Fruit Bowl (Banana, Fuji Apple, Raspberries, Blueberries, Strawberries, Pomegranate Seeds)
The 5 Juices
1 Bikram Yoga Class
Stress (always good for dropping some weight)
Another fruit bowl for dinner (I was starving)

When I got home I really wanted to kill something and cook it but I fought off the urge with some more fruit and a tall glass of water with fresh squeezed lemon and you know what? The Lemon Water immediately took care of any and all emotional cravings for cooked food! Try it! It really works. And it's good for your digestive system.

I need a haircut.

Day 7

Day of rest. I can eat whatever I want!

and what did I have? Greek yogurt with honey AND....a bean burrito. Ahhh! And it was just okay.

Craving the juice and by juice I mean steroids. But also craving Mary's juices.

1 Yoga Class
Silver Biotics
Bluegreen Algae
Greek Yogurt w/ honey
tons of water
bean burrito (so full)

DAYS 4, 5, 6, & 7

Day 4 in one word: craptastic. That's all I want to say about Day 4.

Day 5 was much better. By the end of Day 4, I was back to my normal jovial self. The only thing that marred Day 5 was the fact that I did not get to take a Bikram Yoga Class. The juicing and the yoga really do complement each other. No matter how bad you feel, you always feel better after a Bikram Yoga Class (especially at Global Yoga).

Day 6 was one of those "you're so damn busy" days that you don't have time to notice the detoxing happening from the juicing. Those are the best days to juice. Don't wait until the weekend to begin your juicing because you'll just wallow on the couch, annoying the living hell out of your significant other as you moan, "This hurts. This hurts so very much. I feel soooo bad. Ughhh. Please get me a saltine cracker. This hurts so very much." And by the way, it's only that bad if you're an incredible p*#$y.

Day 7 - DAY OFF!! and how did I spend my day off from juicing? Greek Yogurt, honey, and nuts. That's it. Jeez. I might have a burrito or something. I don't know. I'm not craving anything. And I have plenty of energy. I actually feel lighter in yoga class and throughout the day.

The Plan for Week 2? Cutting out my beloved coffee and eating only fruit for the first 3 days (Days 8, 9, 10) whenever I'm hungry. I'm going to see how a fruit flush works with the juicing program. Of course, I will continue with the blue green algae and wheatgrass.

So far, my diet has changed quite a bit and that's really the main goal of this juicing. I'm not craving any of the crap I usually stuff in my mouth.

DAY 3

This is how I feel. Contemplative and hazy. But don't get me wrong, I'm still a badass. But this goes without saying.

The Regimen:

2 tbsp Silver Biotics
4 tbsp Blue Green Algae
1 Greek Yogurt with honey (Damn you, Fage for being so tasty!)
Cashews and Raisins
The 5 juices
3 Coconut Waters
2 oz wheatgrass
1 Grande Iced Vanilla Latte (Damn you, Starbucks. Damn you straight to hell!)
1 muggy Bikram Yoga Class
5 sweaty Tibetans
Water

I should note that morning to early afternoon tends to be tougher than the rest of the day because I don't even begin the juices until I get to Global Yoga around 2 pm. But then again, this may be why I don't have as much trouble in the evening exactly because I don't start the juices until 2 pm.

I don't know if it's the juicing but I do feel very Germanic today. Maybe I'll grow a goatee.

My energy levels have been up and down but not too bad.