Chomping on Cashews!

I've finally cracked!

Its the 16th day of the "fast , otherwise known as the "lemonade" cleanse, and Ive finally cracked! Im sitting here, chomping my way through a jar of raw cashew nuts!!

Follow your instincts

"What happened to your resolve?" I hear you ask, or maybe like most of my friends, you think that its about time that I stopped this fast. To be honest, it felt as though my body was saying "enough is enough!" Last night I felt cold, tired and not at all well. I put it down to a new herbal laxative tea that Id tried and which was having a noticeable effect on my insides! It wasnt funny, I can tell you! So last night I followed my instincts and I treated myself to a hot bath and a couple of small bowls of homemade chicken broth (from the freezer)...and I felt much better.

Comfort Food

This morning, after a good nights sleep, I thought that I was feeling OK. Then I burst into tears at the words of a beautiful email , and have felt exhausted for most of the day. I had my usual "lemonade " for lunch. Then this afternoon I succumbed to chicken stock/soup. Delicious!
And now Ive simply given in to the lure of the raw cashew nut! It will be interesting to see if I feel better or worse as a result. Clearly, I needed some food to "comfort" myself.

Emotional Detox

Of course, Im not really telling the whole story here. Whilst I was clearing the "clutter" in my body, I 've also been exploring my emotional balance. Ive been working with an amazing lady called Josephine Airns. Josephine does Resonance Repatterning. In other words, she looks for the conscious and unconscious blocks to my natural abundant vibration and then we work together to clear them.

It is powerful and emotional work,and I have made amazing and very fast progress, no doubt we reckon to the detox in my body. I have literally cleared the space within for the transformation without. Of course, with any transformation there can be a "wobbly" transition period. Think of the poor caterpillar that becomes liquid before he can transform into a beautiful butterfly! The last couple of days could be described as me "wobbling", as I clear old beliefs and blockages that up to now, have been buried by food.

Benefits of Fasting

This fortnight of fasting has achieved a huge amount in my life. I have been more focused on my goals, had higher levels of concentration and gained greater clarity about what is really important. I have also lost nearly a stone in weight and can fit into my jeans again. And I have learnt how good it feels when my body is happy.

Eating Consciously

I feel that the important thing now is to trust that I am the best person to look after my body and to know what it needs most. I have noticed, even today, that I will go for food if I feel cold and/tired and I will go for food to avoid doing a task. Now I recognise this, I am able to make conscious choices. For example, the cashews had to wait til every item on todays "to do" list was crossed out.

Last night, when I felt tired, I realised that my old choice would have been to treat myself to something like a Thai or a chinese takeaway as a way to distract me from my tiredness. I know now that it is better to recognise the tiredness and to choose an early night and a light supper rather than to "pig out".

Raw Food or High Protein

I am still confused, going forward, about whether to stay on 100% raw food or to follow Leslie Kentons "low carb, high protein" diet. For the moment Im planning to move off my "lemonades" for a while (even the best stuff can get boring) and drink more home made soups, gradually moving back to salads. Ill be a lot more conscious of what I eat, whatever it is, and I confess to enjoying the idea of some meat and fish in my salads. But for the moment Im hooked on Chicken Soup. There must be a reason for the old wives tale about Chicken Soup!

I recommend the Stanley Burroughs Master Cleanse

Ill be back to report on how Im progressing and what Im eating once Ive completed my research on both options. For now though, I can definitely recommend the Master Cleanse from Stanley Burroughs as an excellent way to detox.

Go for it!

The day before the fast

Welcome to my personal blog, that Ill be writing whilst I undertake a ten day fast!
Im hoping that writing it all down will keep me sane!!
- maybe it will help you decide whether you want to do it too, or not, as the case may be!!

The fast has been around since 1941 and is known as the Stanley Burroughs Master Cleanse.
The only thing I am allowed to consume in ten days is a concoction made up of lemon juice , cayenne pepper and organic maple syrup ...which I havent yet got in the cupboard!! Yikes! Need to go shopping later or Ill be knocking on my friend Rawia' s door in a panic ...and that would not be a great start to the ten days!

Rawia was my inspiration. I heard her talk about doing the fast twice a year at the time of the equinox. (I think we may be a little early this year due to her New Zealand trip in two weeks but at least we re starting on a new moon. Its supposed to help...)

Why am I doing the fast?

-for a challenge and a sense of achievement
-to break my habit of eating
-to conquer unhelpful self talk (I can justify eating anything if I want to!)
-for a chance to feel slimmer
-to take pride in my body
-to realise that food is not the highlight of a day
-to eat to live rather than to live to eat (I may have got it the wrong way round for years!)
-to find out what emotions Im covering up with my emotional eating

"I don't believe in diets!"

I think I eat very healthily , but my body says otherwise. I don't need weighing scales to tell me that I am at least two stone overweight and my tummy is definitely too large. Apart from that , I feel OK in myself...I think.
Mind you, I think feeling better about my body would help improve my self esteem considerably .

In the past I have had great success with Carol Vordemans 28 day detox. The first time I did it was years ago and to be honest , I wasnt sure that I could go 28 days without alcohol(!). Amazingly I took it one day at a time and I did it . I also lost one stone and a quarter in weight , whilst eating as much as I liked - of the good stuff obviously!!

Trouble is, my diet is now mostly full of the good stuff, but Im still overweight. I cant do the detox again because that's more or less my regular diet.Currently I eat homemade granola with frehly juiced apple for breakfast. For lunch I often have a large green salad with spinach, mung beans, olives etc , and for supper Ill have a similiar salad or some roasted vegetables. Im not a vegetarian but my body seems to enjoy moist salads.
Of course I dont believe in diets at all. Neither of my sisters have ever dieted. They both eat a healthy balanced diet and have always had beautiful figures! But I do believe that I need to kick start my system!
I LOVE eating and preparing interesting dishes, especially salads. I enjoy eating popcorn at the cinema. I will indulge at a dinner party ...

Finding the "me" thats hiding behind food

Mind you I remember stuffing my face with popcorn on a cinema date ...what a way to keep a fella away!! and I do wonder whether my weight is far more about providing some form of emotional protection
Thats why these ten days could get very interesting , as I find the "me" under the eating .....

Anyway, enough for now Ive gotta go and find some organic maple syrup and some weighing scales so I can let you know my official starting point (if I dare...)

Oh, and my "last supper" today is going to be a "roast dinner" , but before that Ill be off now to enjoy my homemede granola....and poached eggs on wilted spinach for lunch!!

Marie-Claire