Oil Pulling

Ok, update for me! I was only able to do the Master Cleanse for about 6 days because I just have to eat on my job. I know that sounds weird, but to those of you who know what I do, you know that I have to be VERY normal about food on a daily basis. So, since I stopped shy of my total cleanse, I was left with the fuzzy tongue.

For those of you new to cleansing, when you detox, a fuzzy tongue happens as your body is casting off toxins. Go to the mirror and look at your tongue. What color is it? Is it fresh and pink? Does it have a grayish film over it? Is it almost white? Your tongue is actually a mirror of your body. I posted a simplified chart of the tongue in relation to the body above.

What to do with a fuzzy tongue. I just didn't want to leave it like that and I am not able to cleanse. It makes my mouth have an "old" taste to it. Bad.

I went hunting for a solution.

I think I found one.

OIL PULLING

Basically, you take a mouthful of oil (I'm alternating between Sunflower and Coconut Oil with a drop of peppermint essential oil to give it a better taste) and you swish it in your mouth for about twenty minutes. Spit it out (in the garbage, not down drains so it doesn't clog) and it should be foamy and white and full of toxins. Apparently, that action, pulls toxins out of the body. You can read more about it here. I have been doing it once or twice a day. I've heard it also whitens teeth, strengthens gums and enamel, and makes your tongue pretty in pink! I'm actually photographing my tongue each day so I can REALLY tell if there is a difference. If there is, well, I'll let you know!

Master Cleanse--on the journey..

I've had a few inquires into doing the master cleanse. Basically, it's the known as the "lemonade" diet. You've heard of it. I remember telling a few people I was doing it and being meet with totally raised eyebrows. (other link here)

In a nutshell, it's not really for long term weight loss, but it can be if you don't return to the same old habits. Yes, you do lose weight on it, but that's not why I'm doing it. I'm doing it to get rid of sugar addictions, to get a handle on food consumption, to listen to what my body really needs, to get rid of all the uric acid that builds up, to make my joints supple, to get rid of the cracking in my ears, to get rid of the crackling in my knees and ankles, and to feel a hell of a lot better.

But to feel better, you usually feel worse first. The first few days of the cleanse can be pretty rough. For me, it usually feels like I have a cold coming on, mucus constantly drains from my head, I feel a little sick, but much lighter than ever. I get a headache too, if I don't drink all my juice.

The longer you do the cleanse, the more results you'll see. I have done it for 10 days before. This time I want to do it for 21, but I have to see how things go. Many people have done it for 40 with incredible results.

Benefits I have seen:

1. A ridding of mucus in my nose and throat and ears. Those of you who know me know that I have a major battle with my inner ear.
2. My joints stop cracking and popping because they have been rid of Uric Acid (the known cementer of the joints! It builds up from eating a white flour based diet.)
3. My hair grows faster and feels fuller
4. My nails get stronger
5. My eyes and skin get clear and radiant
6. I have great mental clarity and focus
7. I feel lighter, I can exercise easier and find I'm more motivated and have more satisfying work outs.
8. I don't crave sugar or processed foods.
9. My body gains the ability to listen to itself and see when it's really hungry and what it's really craving.
10. You do, in the end, lose some weight and feel really good.


This explains a bit about toxins and uric acid--

Make Your Water Happy

To make my water happy, I've taken to adding a drop of some essential oils. My favorite one: Peppermint. I add a drop of it to my morning tea (which right now is a new kind that I'll blog about in a later post). It makes my wonderful water happy. I also really like Grapefruit and Lemon oil in my water too. It gives your water flavor. It makes it more fun to drink, and at the end of the day you've had a lot more water than you realized. This is WITHOUT any added calories or anything negative. It's pure essential oil which has a lot of benefits. Peppermint oil, for example, is REALLY good for your digestive system.

I've been learning lots about water. My story echoes the story of my friend Linda (who shares her story with water here). You should read it. There is A LOT to learn about water. Right now I feel so blessed because I'm living in a country that has one of the purest water supplies in the world. It just runs down the mountains an into my glass each morning. It's the best water I've ever tasted. It invigorates me and makes me more energetic that I thought water could. It tastes SO much better than the water I drank in the western states. It's pretty amazing. I'm really going to miss it when I leave here. I wish I could take it with me somehow!

But, if you're at a point where you can't do much about what water you're drinking...at least try adding some essential oils to your water. It will make you happy.

(lots more on essential oils to come as I learn about them!)

Just Me & My Enema....

Tracey...this post is NOT for you. In fact, ANY ONE who doesn't want to hear this....please don't read on. Also, if you have EVER dated me or kissed me or thought me sexy in ANY way....and you have found this website through my other one...PLEASE don't read on. Please. Just don't do it. For me. I mean it.




Last night, I took out this funny looking thing that I bought in the states called an enema bag. I didn't know what the hell to do with it. I read up online. I mean, I knew the gist of it. I've been to a Colon Hydrotherapist in the states and it was kind of awful...laying on a table, bare bottom, the hydrotherapist there (yes, a man, but somehow I took comfort in the fact that he was gay) shoving a tube up you and filling you with water and then releasing it as you watch years of fecal crap seep out through a tube in front of you. You just watch it sail by. You look at your CH and wonder how you should react. You do nothing. You just lie there, vulnerable, tube up your ___, and feel embarrassed that there is so much built up. Yep, you just lie there, did I mention you're exposed, and you know that the gay hydrotherapist is judging your bowels and you ALSO know that he has EVERY right because you've eaten ONE too many Mexican tortillas made from white flour than you should have! Ack!! To cover up your addiction to Mexican food, you try to make small talk, avert his eyes from all the years of stuff being forced out of you, but you just can't. This is the one time in your life you have no idea what to say. At all. Nope. Nothing. Just nothing. Just lay there and watch.

So, that was the last time I ever tried to clean out my bowels manually. Last night, I began again. It was kind of hard for one person. Where do you reach, how should you sit, can you make it to the toilet in time, is it supposed to feel like this? How do you work the bag valve (never figured that one out, by the way, just had to pinch it closed with my fingers as I filled the bag up). I ended up doing it all in the shower. Many people recommend doing it in your bed, laying down, with a towel under you just in case...how in the HELL does that work? I dont know, but I didn't want to take any chances. So in the shower I stayed. Hanging the bag from the shower curtain rod and then just sort of standing there and leaning to the side. Not my finest moment. I realize this. And after I did it, nothing really happened...until 30 minutes later when I was dressed, relaxed, lying in bed and contemplating my failed enema.

Final word: Success!! (I gage that by seeing lots more stuff come out of me than in a normal bowel movement)

Final word if you're NEVER going to shove a plastic tube ANYWHERE up your person: try Smooth Move tea, it's a natural laxative and pretty cool. I wish I had brought some with me here!


(I could have gotten WAY more detailed, and if you need that, let me know and we'll exchange a more personal email!)

Shout Out to Turmeric!!

I learned the benefits of Turmeric the hard way. And this may be too queasy for some of you...so fair warning. I had a boil...in the worst place you can imagine. A place that rhymes with hut. It was painful. It was last year in January. It was the most awful experience of my life, until I got another one in October. I'd never had them before. They were FREAKING huge and made my life a living hell.

I did A LOT of research on how to get rid of them. I learned that many people get boils and get swollen joints and feel puffy from time to time. One of the best cures for this is a dose of Turmeric. Many people put it in tea, but it turned my cups and my tongue super yellow and I didn't like the taste. So, I bought empty gel capsules from Whole Foods and filled them with some organic Turmeric and away we go. It brought down my swelling and pain in a matter of hours. (though I was taking LOTS of it!)

I take one to two capsules full a week now....as a prevention to more boil outbreaks and for the 20 Health Benefits of Turmeric listed here! Take a look!

YAY Natural Remedies!!

The Master Cleanse Begins!

I LOVE this scene with Kelly from the Office. I love that it mocks the Master Cleanse. Last time I did the Master Cleanse was at the end of 2008. I did it for ten days. It was one of the hardest things I have ever done and it made me feel better than almost ANYTHING I have done for my health.

It was living through hell...but it was fascinating to see the changes throughout my body.

I'm planning on doing it another ten days. I might have to make a FEW exceptions because the nature of my job demands that I eat on the job occasionally. But I've made the commitment to eat raw foods if that happens.

The biggest things I can say about the Master Cleanse:

1. Many, many people think I'm crazy for doing it. It causes you to have a fuzzy tongue, grease comes out of skin and hair, you basically "pee" out your bowel movements, you feel sick for awhile before you feel better.

2. The intake of acidic lemons gets rid of the build up of Uric Acid (the thing that cements our joints together causing stiffness, soreness, arthritis (in some). Doing this cleanse once a year is actually REALLY good for your system...at least, it is for my system. I'll be posting more about Uric Acid in the next few days.

3. It's a BIG test for your mental health and an insight on your dependance on food. You can kind of get obsessed by the thoughts of food...and at the same time, you're breaking those food addictions that cause you so much grief. It's a BIG MIND TRIP.


WHY I'M DOING IT--
It starts me off breaking my sugar addictions. It clears my mind and my body of toxins. It focuses me and I feel it will help me build the mindset I need for the next few months and beyond.



There is more, so much more. It takes me two days of ALMOST fasting to work my way up to it. Yesterday and today I did the cleanse BUT ate dinner. Tomorrow is my first day of doing ONLY the cleanse.


And in an hour, I'm going to give myself my first enema at home. Lord help me. Should I blog about that? Or is that too much?

The Journey Begins

It starts. Well, It's already started. It's been a long journey until now. I have quite the long journey behind me. And yes, it's going to be long journey ahead of me too. But, isn't life a long journey? You betcha.

You all have your journeys too. With weight. With looks. With beauty. We question. We seek. We avoid. We chase. We want to attain. We want now. We have a destination. What does your destination look like? I bet you know in your head your destination. But is IT REALLY what you want?

I had a destination in my mind at 15. That destination led to anorexia and bulimia...and probably one of the most negative times in my life.

I had a destination in my mind at 18. It was the exact opposite of what I had earlier. It lead to extra weight and lots of fear. It's taken a long time to chip away at that fear. It's not all gone even now.

I've had a destination in my mind for a long time (cough Nicole Kidman cough) but finally...over and through my training and education and reading and learning of the past two years.

Finally
Finally


The destination is not what I'm really after...or at least, it looks different than it ever has before. More important than my destination is the journey...every single day...of being my best self.

I thought of putting up some of my goals here. And I will. I thought maybe I should tell you how much weight I want to lose. Though, I'm debating what the right number is for me. In fact, I'm debating whether or not to put a number on it at all. I thought of posting the photo of the bathing suit I want to wear the next time I sit at the beach. And well, maybe I will, but maybe I won't get that suit either.

I do, however, want to be real. I want to discuss the science behind our minds and why it's so hard to change.

I'm going to be super vulnerable about the battle of my every day brain and the fights that go on...every single time I eat.

So, if you're ready for that. Well, then let the journey begin. Glad you could join me.