Juice Fast--Day 9 Summary

January 13—Day 9

6:30 a.m. Well, I’m adapting to the routine of my early morning quiet time with lemon/ginger/cayenne tea and making the day’s first entry for this journal. The taste for the yerba mate will return, as it always does, but for now, I really look forward to the lemon tea. My mouth always feels a little cottony and the lemon cuts through the phlegm well. I woke up at 3:30 and really had to make myself stay in bed until 5:00. We’ll see if I suffer for the five hours of sleep I got.

I’ve not yet mentioned another important daily process to include in a cleanse/fast: skin brushing. The skin is the largest organ of elimination, and by now you should know that during a fast the body certainly needs to eliminate a lot. When you brush your skin with a dry brush you are also stimulating the lymph nodes, which, in turn, helps with further circulation and elimination of toxins and boosts the immune system. As such, it is important to keep this avenue clean and open. Skin brushing is done before the bath or shower on dry skin. Always use a stiff, natural bristle brush--such as bamboo. I use one that looks just like this:

Start at your feet or ankles and work your way up the leg (front and back) only stroking in one direction--up. Repeat for other leg and both arms. Repeat on the buttocks, up back of shoulders and change motion to circular over the tummy. Your skin brush is like a tooth brush--one per person. Plenty of other websites give much more detail than have I.

1:00 p.m. I just had my first juice of the day (fresh) and I feel great. I’m off with my mom and daughter for errands and shopping.

5:00 p.m. I was out for several hours this afternoon but accidentally left my water bottle in the car. I’m home now and feel really tired. I could just need more water—drinking now—or could be feeling some fatigue from the extra effective detox going on still today from yesterday’s massage.  I’m making a green powder combo, but I sense an early bedtime. 

I am excited that tomorrow I get to start thinking about/preparing my first meal for Sunday morning. I already know what it will be: banana/raspberry ice cream. It was my husband’s first meal after his 7 day fast at a clinic in Colorado a few years back and we’ve made it on and off ever since just because we love it so much. It has two ingredients: frozen banana and frozen raspberries. That’s it! And guess what! We'll make it with the same big juicer I’ve been using to make my fresh juice all week—with one small adjustment in attachments. I’ll take pictures!

I'm also going to make a very brothy chicken and quinoa soup with parsley, onion, celery, carrot, and miso to have for lunch after church. YUM! Soup (if organic and light in texture and flavor) is actually a pretty good way to break a fast, if you focus on the broth and don't stuff yourself with too wide a variety of ingredients. I know a lot of people believe in sticking to raw foods for a while, and I intend on staying very heavily raw for a few weeks--forever would be good!! But I have a hard time with a dry salad as my first meal and any acid in the dressing, even if a simple homemade apple cider vinegar base, has always tended to irritate the skin in the roof of my mouth. Soup, in very small quantities is nourishing and soothing. Just steer clear of cream bases or spicy ingredients, and it should definitely be homemade and totally from scratch--even the broth!

I'll talk more tomorrow about the absolute most important but hardest part of a fast: gradually breaking it properly--don't do it right and you'll pay in a big way. And the longer the fast, the more important to break it properly.

Good night, DAY 9!!