Day 7 Juice Feast -- How Quickly the Day Passes

Yesterday I thought a little deeper about what it means to age and today a free Coursera course comes to my attention on global aging--I love it! I've signed up although I may only audit the course (I'm forever a student at heart and sometimes I over extend my schedule trying to saturate myself in wisdom). If you're interested see here and check out the brief introduction to the course.

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Today went smoothly enough, if busy. There are only so many hours in the day of a juice feaster! I spent my lunch produce shopping and I'm almost out the door to run a few errands and stop by the library to pick up a couple of books. I've been using the library fairly regularly lately. One reason I love the library is I already have so many books it's slightly embarrassing. Also I like to check out books from the library on health topics like Norm Shealy (cute! cute! cute!), and Sara Gottfried's new book on hormone health because libraries operate on popularity. If books like these are checked out and the demand goes up, the library allocates more resources to stock the library with useful, health sustaining information. I was stunned but delighted last week when I saw a copy of Gabriel Cousen's Conscious Eating in my local library. I wish better information like this was around when I was cruising the stacks when I started out.

I've drunk 3 quarts of juice today and the 4th is sitting there staring me in the eye (ok not really, but it is sitting there). I am a slow metabolizer so it's been a focused effort to get all 4 quarts in me. I am simply not hungry. The juice is particularly important to me in the morning although it's more to stabilize me rather than satiate any hunger. As I thought about it, in part, it's likely because I'm not exercising enough. I like to take long walks at lunch but the rainy weather is difficult to walk in when I have to go back to work. I'm hoping when I wiggle in some exercise my appetite for the 4th or even 5th quart will be more appealing. Right now I'm aware of the issue and letting it go.

My favorite new juice to date? Leaf lettuce, (hard) pear, lemon and ginger. Unbelievable!

My 15 Minute Exercise Plan

I am not an advocate of There's Something About Mary's '7 Minute Abs' or even minimalistic exercise--but it is incredibly difficult for me to exercise enough. More often than not it's difficult for me to exercise at all. On my first Juice Feast I was so unsure of myself that my only exercise was in 20 minute walks at lunch. There was always a concern the blood (not dog-piling in my stomach to digest solid foods) would head-rush me and I might want to pass out if I crossed the unknown line and overexerted myself. The last thing I wanted anyone to think was I was a weakling, Juice-Feasting-vegan. Most of those who are aware when I am Juice Feasting support me, but because this approach can seem so extreme to the mainstream there is a tendency to overreact and blast me with negatives to cease immediately if something seems to go wrong.

I have been working on living up to this commitment for two months. It's my 15 minute exercise plan. I have a rebounder which I LOVE. When I am bouncing on it--I truly enjoy it and typically want to continue on. One problem I have developed from lack of exercise is I no longer know my limits. So I might be having so much fun exercising or hiking that I go beyond what I can expend in energy. The next thing I know I am too tired to do what I must accomplish. I recognize there is a point this feeling must be lived with to overcome my current exercise endurance limitations but as much as I love organizing and planning I have not successfully climbed this hurdle.

My workout typically starts after I get home from work (when I usually don't want to do anything; in fact I am thinking about rearranging this time for meditation and transition with a clear mind into school work). I come home, (sometimes I do a coffee enema), wash my face and change into some workout clothing. I then take my rebounder outside into my postage stamp sized back yard. As it has been a sunny spring I usually face the sun, turn on my MP3 player (pick out 5 songs), watch my happy cat snack on some grass--and bounce. After 15 minutes I gingerly step off the rebounder and make my way over to my garden and ground my bare feet. It is magnificent.