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Janie's October 2002 Journal
Tuesday 10/1: ~10am: watermelon ~2pm: 11 HI apple bananas ~6 or 6:30pm: salad (~10-16 lettuce, ~1/2-1 cup arugula) with dressing (2 Tbsp. tahini, 4 Tbsp. lemon juice, 2 roma tomatoes) Our camping outside last night didn't last all night - we got rained out. I hadn't seen how my hubby set it up beforehand and it was dark. It was kind of surprising to get in there and discover it wasn't 'in' at all! LOL He had set up the rain fly without the tent & put down something for our sleeping bags. I was a bit dubious about whether I'd be able to sleep there with the grass so long and close to us all night (I have an allergy to grass unless I've been raw long enough & I wasn't sure if it's gone again yet). It turned out to be fine regarding the grass - I think. Maybe some of the detox I had this morning had to do with that? Probably not, 'cause it was different than it usually is for that. Anyway, back to the camping. It was kinda' cool to camp that way. It was a nice night - clear and cool, but not cold. It was cool enough that the mosquitoes weren't bothering us (they've acclimatized too) and it was really a perfect temperature to be in the sleeping bag with your arms out. We layed there all snuggled up, looking at the stars and feeling the nice breezes, breathing in the night air... I was wonderful. After about an hour, one of our cats found us and came over. All of our animals are outside animals, so neither they nor we are used to sleeping together. She tried to sleep on my head - just like a cat! LOL When I didn't let her, she moved over to my hubby and started licking his face and hands. He let her, so she set up shop there for a while, then settled a bit on my legs, his legs, etc. We weren't getting much sleep this way, but it was still pretty nice. I was feeling a bit guilty about shutting our dog out - we were in our garden & I had closed the gate (which the cats can climb over, but the dog can't). Later I had to go to the bathroom & left the gate open, so she came in there with us. She was less invasive and more well behaved than the cat - after the initial sniffing our faces episode. She settled down just beyond our flooring at our heads. After we finally fell asleep for a couple of hours it started to drizzle & the dog left to go to her dog house or the front entryway. The cat jumped on top of my hubby's hips and woke him up. It stopped raining and we went back to sleep, then it started to rain more and we closed the rainfly's entry and curled up a bit to get the bottom of our sleeping bags under the rain fly. That was successful, but the drips from the rainfly ended up going on our flooring and rolling underneath us, making our sleeping bags wet. The rain stopped again just as we were both thinking of going inside, so we swished the rain out from under us, shifted around a bit and settled back down - from inertia mainly. ;-) After about a half hour we both decided that we wanted to go back inside. The mosquitoes had come back as soon as the rain came & we were wet... It was a full camping in the yard adventure - the pros and cons all in half a night! :-) Next time, we'll have a bigger cover and make sure the flooring is well inside the awning - or do a full tent thing... Detox: Well, I woke up this morning with a whole host of detox symptoms: thirst, thick mucus running down the back of my throat, gooey right eye, the left eye is the one with the sty/clog in the eyelid & it was curiously not gooey - but it was a bit worse than yesterday (it hurt some and the bump was larger - but not as large as it's been recently). Even though I had the mucus and all, I didn't feel 'sick' in any other way, so I knew it must be just cleansing. There seems to be a definite connection between the thick mucus and my eyelid clog thing - guess it makes sense - since it's thick it clogs. Anyway, back to the detox symptoms... My teeth also felt 'fuzzy,' which I've rarely had happen at all since going raw, in fact they've felt so clean most of the time that I've forgotten to brush them at times (felt already brushed). I didn't specifically look, but I'm fairly certain my tongue had that white coating kind of thing. Needless to say, I flossed, waterpiked, and brushed my teeth first thing (after checking out my eyes in the mirror, that is). I washed my face focusing on my eyelashes (took shower later) and my hubby made me a hot compress before going to work, which helped the eyelid thing settle down a bit and not hurt anymore. I drank lots of water and did a little almost-bounce thing my friend showed me to do on the rebounder. It's supposed to do something good for your lymph system and you're supposed to do it for at least 20 minutes. I did a half-hour while trying to remember what organs, etc. were involved in the lymph system other than the glands and thyroid. The mucus seemed to thin out about 10 minutes into it, so it must have done that area some good - or just being up and drinking the water helped... Exercise: Last night I did about 1/2 hour on the rebounder, maybe I'll do the hula video tonight. I had fun last night on the rebounder jogging with my knees high both slow and fast, doing side to side twist things with my knees high, putting my arms into it and against it, doing arm exercises at the same time, trying to do quick jump straddles & lots of other things. I did 1/2 hour of a sort of exercise thing this morning - didn't really seem like exercise though. It was the lymph system almost-bounce on the rebounder. You're not supposed to let your heels come off of the material, so you can't bounce much or expend much energy doing it. I'll probably do the hula video tonight & maybe the rebounder if it's not enough of a workout, & maybe a few pushups and dips, then the stretches, of course. Wednesday 10/2: I've been kinda' busy lately, so these logs are getting a bit brief at times... Here's the one from Wednesday: ~9am: watermelon ~noon: 2 large, long Asian cucumbers while walking with my friend ~3 or 4pm: 6 HI apple bananas ~6 or 6:30pm: salad (~10-16 lettuce, ~1/2-1 cup arugula) with dressing (2 Tbsp. tahini, 4 Tbsp. lemon juice, 2 roma tomatoes) Detox: woke up with eye thing having bled a bit on outside of my eyelid - good or bad? better or worse? Dunno'... Can't remember what else was going on today, except I was tired - but that could have been from not getting enough sleep when camping the other night... Exercise: 1/2 hr almost-bounce thing on rebounder in morning, 1 hour hula video in evening, ~1/2hr walk/stroll in afternoon & short walk to/from the store in evening, evening stretches The hula video wasn't an intense continuous workout - but it was a bit tricky to get right. It lasted an hour, but was more like 1/2 hours' workout... Thursday 10/3: ~10am: watermelon ~1pm: 6 HI apple bananas ~6pm: 1/2 large soursop ~7:30pm: tiny salad (~1/2 head lettuce, 1/2 bunch of arugula) with dressing (1/2 large meyer lemon, 1 small local lemon, 2 Tbsp. tahini, 2 roma tomatoes) The soursop was perfectly ripe! I broke it in half with my hands and shared it with my hubby. I didn't even need any utensils and there were no bad spots! Unfortunately I ran out of lettuce yesterday and there wasn't any at market today, but I found a head in the fridge that was hidden & half of it was still good... Detox: the eye thing doesn't seem to be bleeding through my eyelid anymore, but it is tender enough that I can't let the shower's water pressure run directly on it. I remember it getting that way before - on the same eye in the same spot... Arg! I thought it was on it's way out - guess that sprouted hummus really threw me for a loop, or something... After eating the soursop my teeth felt like they needed brushing, so I did. I was a bit unusual to feel that after eating - well, unusual since I've been eating this way. I had a touch of a chemical scent in the shower today and more tiredness. The tiredness might just be from the most obvious thing - lack of sleep, rather than detox though. ;-) Exercise: a bit on the rebounder here and there, swift walking to/from the farmer's market (with my produce on the way back). It's been kinda' hot and muggy, so I didn't really feel like exercising much - too sweaty for too long (even after stopping for a while). I am going to check out and do the other hula video tonight 'cause it's due back tomorrow. If it doesn't get too late I'll do upper arm stuff and stretches too. Farmer's Market: I've been so busy lately that I almost forgot about going to the farmer's market! My hubby reminded me a couple of minutes before it was to start - and I hadn't had a chance to figure out how much cash we had! Luckily I had $20 (which is less than usual, but enough to get some things), so I race walked there in hopes to catch some lettuce before it's all gone (it's the first to go - usually in the first 15 seconds). There wasn't an lettuce when I got there, but I found out later there wasn't any at the beginning either. I got more longon from the farmer who was dancing at the place my hubby and I went to last week - she commented on what a good band it was and how it was fun and I agreed. The guy who usually has the rambutan only had bad looking ones by the time I got to him, so I thought I wouldn't be getting any until I found some at another booth I don't usually shop at. They're most likely not organic, but they could be out of neglect I suppose - I just don't trust those people much, have gotten things over the years that are almost always rotten (but in a hidden way) from the start. Anyway, the rambutan looked good, so I thought I'd give it another go... There was a lot of star fruit, but I just can't eat much starfruit - it's too waxy and makes my mouth feel all smacky - if that makes any sense. ;-) The citrus is starting to appeal to me more now, so I got some tangerines. Of course, I had to get bananas and arugula as usual, but also got the occasional avocado this time. I decided to wait until Saturday to get another watermelon - we've still got enough to last 'till then & I was alone this time (they're heavy and bulky to carry back with everything else). I didn't see any durian - maybe next time... Friday 10/4: ~9am: watermelon ~12:30 or 1pm: 10 rambutan; 6 HI apple bananas ~6pm: 1/2 large atemoya (sweetsop); salad (~10-16 lettuce, ~1/2-1 cup arugula) with dressing (2 heaping Tbsp. brown sesame seeds, 1 small strong flavored local lemon, 1 med. tomato in blender) The dressing wasn't very good. It looked promising because I did the sesame seeds alone this time in the little 1.5 cup glass imitation mason drinking cup on the blender I came up with. (The blender's bottom part with the blades fits onto the jar - matching threads and all). It made a fine powder out of the sesame seeds, but not tahini. :-( I thought it'd be okay though and then added the lemon, wizzed it, then the tomato and wizzed it too. It's just not the same as with tahini - it isn't creamy in the same way & doesn't cover the leaves with that whitish sauce. This was kind of like blended salsa consistency & just didn't do the job... Hmph! I would really like to be able to make my own tahini freshly, right before using it every night... Detox: Well, I guess the reason why my eyelid thing was tender in the shower is 'cause it was working on getting rid of the outside layer. When I finished my morning shower today I discovered that the outside layer had virtually come off & it was oozing stuff! This is kinda' gross, but it was encouraging - I think it's going to resolve itself. I did some more hot compresses and extra showers today to help it along later. I think it helped & it bled/oozed each time, getting smaller and smaller. Exercise: ? Hmm.. I don't remember doing any in particular for this day & I didn't note it with my food... I probably did a bit of stretching at least... Saturday 10/5: ~9:30am or so: 2 longon at market ~10 or 10:30am - ish: watermelon ~noon: 54 longon ~2pm: 6 HI apple bananas before going to workout (workout will be at 3 or 3:30pm) ~5:30pm: 1 tangerine; salad (~16 or 17 cups lettuce, ~1/2-1 cup arugula) with dressing (2 Tbsp. tahini, 4 Tbsp. lemon juice, 1 med. tomato) Detox:My eyelid thing isn't so tender now and is definitely getting better, although it still has some swelling which gets red off and on. Exercise: I worked out with my friend at her gym today. She had a private class at the beginning so I stretched out, did the assisted chin-ups, push-ups, etc. on the bars and a few handstands by myself. By that time she was done and we did the trampoline game together - really fun this time. She came up with a new side to side frog/cat/spiderman/Matrix type of jump that was waaay fun! We played some music this time, which had inspired her to make that one up. I then got inspired too and made a twisting knee-up kind of jump thing that was fun too. We came up with a fun and challenging series & I'm getting better at leaving off the extra bounces in-between so it was a good workout for both of us. It got to be quite a long series of things, but they all went so well together it was easier to remember. We finished off with the lunge walks and a couple of quad. & hip stretches. It worked out really well - we got a good workout & were done fairly quickly too. This meant that I actually had enough time to eat my dinner and relax a bit and talk afterwards before we needed to go and pick up her son. Farmer's Market: Yay! The watermelon people made it -they weren't sure if they would. We bought 2 melons from them. We'll cut up about half of one for the birthday party we're going to tomorrow... There was also a guy there specializing in longons - organic ones. Cool! He showed me how he had two different varieties, a larger 'meaty-er' one and a smaller more flavorful one. I discovered that I like the larger one - to his surprise. He said most people like the smaller, more flavorful one. So needless to say, I bought some more longon (even though I haven't finished what we have from Thursday yet) - I just love them! There were still rambutan at the market, but with the non-organic people. As I bought it they said it was grown without chemicals - cool. I didn't even ask, and I was already buying it, so I believe them. They weren't the kind to say it if it weren't true too... We actually got some lettuce this time too. It was only 6 heads, and while organic, from farmers we'd pick last 'cause of how they go about it, but we got some this time! Yay! We really should start growing it for ourselves again... Sunday 10/6: ~9 or 10am: watermelon ~3 or 4 pm?: 6 HI apple bananas at birthday party - not quite ripe enough, but sort-of edible & organic... ~6pm: 3 or 4 cups or so of soursop; 1 large tangerine; salad (~10-16 lettuce, ~1/2-1 cup arugula) with dressing (2 Tbsp. tahini, 4 Tbsp. lemon juice, 1 roma tomato & 1 med. tomato) Detox: My eyelid thing is still doing better & it's better than yesterday. The sore is still there, but isn't oozing or sore today - a bit in my first shower. It's hardly raised at all now & the raised sections aren't red anymore. I had a big sneezing and runny nose thing this morning after drinking water and taking my first shower. I guess the mucus decided to go from how it's been thick recently to thin - maybe that's why the eye thing's been clearing up too? I decided to do the rebounder's almost-bounce thing to see if it helped. Amazingly, it did! My underarm sweat was a bit icky this morning until I took my second shower & fine after that. Exercise: I did a tiny bit in the morning to get rid of the sneezing, etc. - the almost bounce thing for about 20 min. on the rebounder. I took a few walks and a short run or two with my hubby at the beach today. We also took one of the row boats they had at the birthday party up the river & I rowed it a bit (about 15 or 20 min. or so) for the exercise. I waited until we were in a wide part of the river, around the bend so nobody else could see me. I've paddled plenty of canoes and kayaks, etc., but row boats are always so wide that it's really hard for me to get the oars going properly. I didn't want to be too embarrassed. I actually did pretty well - but did have some problems. The problems could have been also 'cause one of the oars kept sliding around, changing it's length and seating, etc. The other one had problems with it's handle... My hubby grew up rowing a boat on a lake all the time for fun and has wide shoulders, so he could handle the wide-ness and knew how to adjust the oars when needed. I couldn't tell that they were needed until he took back over. If only we had figured it out before I stopped - I would have gotten a better workout... Oh well, it was still fun. :-) I also did some deep wading in the ocean, but didn't stay in very long 'cause the waves were making it a bit too unpredictable and deep for me today. I was trying to keep my eyelid from getting the water on it since I have the open sore and all. Usually I'm not concerned about an open sore, 'cause I can treat it with H2O2 or alcohol if needed. I couldn't do that on my eyelid, so I was being extra careful. I'm going to do about an hour of bouncing on the rebounder in a bit while I watch a TV show. I'll then do some stretches before bed. Monday 10/7: ~10:30am: watermelon ~1pm: 20 longon ~2:45pm: 10 or 15 min. nap ~3pm: 5-7 bananas (hard to tell 'cause they had lots of bad spots - 2 were HI apple bananas & the others were smallish Williams) ~7:30pm or so: salad (~17 cups lettuce) with dressing (2 Tbsp. tahini, 4 Tbsp. lemon juice, 2 roma tomatoes) Detox: The thick mucus in the back of my throat and regular eye was back this morning when I woke up. My sty/clog thing in the eyelid is still doing fine though - still quite flat. Had 2 morning BMs that smelled like the nutritional yeast I used to eat all the time - since I went vegan back in college (even when I went off of vegan & vegetarian for a while recently as well as the last time I was raw). I guess that now that I've stopped eating it my body's getting rid of the remnants. You know, I had to trick myself into eating it to begin with ('cause of the B12) - put it in a salad with lots of dressing until I could deal with it. After a bit I loved it and put it on all my starches and in my favorite salad dressing. I haven't missed it... The french fry scent/exhale was back in this morning's shower - but just for about 5 minutes of it at the beginning. Had a touch of gas (unusual these days) that didn't smell bad - smelled just like the sprouted garbanzo beans I ate a couple of weeks ago - not in the hummus, but alone a couple of days before the hummus. Maybe even plain chick pea sprouts aren't good for me either. Hmmm... Exercise: I didn't quite make an hour of rebounding last night like I planned. I got involved in some computer work ended up watching the hour long TV show while doing that work. When I finally did get around to it my son was watching TV. I wasn't all that interested in his shows, so it made it not as fun. It was pretty cool anyway though 'cause at first I was thinking that I might not even make 20 minutes. The first 5 minutes were pretty darn hard - after the first couple of minutes it seemed to be about a half hour during the next 3! I was tired too. Gee... I slowed down my bouncing for the next 5 minutes and felt okay enough to speed it up a bit again for the next 5. I then decided to just sort of run/sprint it for the next few minutes, slow down and stop at 20 minutes. The thing is - I actually found that faster way easier than either of the two slower ways! I guess that's what my body wanted. I remember that when my hubby and I were first getting to know each other he had told me that it was harder and more wearing on him to walk slowly than quickly or run. He was a runner in high school and all. I can now relate. Anyway, once I sped it up like this I found I was able to keep going for quite some time - I kind of lost count 'cause I started and stopped at off-the hour times. I think it was about 45 minutes or so total. Today I didn't do much official exercise. I did a couple of rounds of almost-bounce things on the rebounder (morning & evening), my evening stretches and a fancy cooked dinner for my hubby and son (which required me to be quite active to get it done early enough, since they asked for it late & it takes a while). I was pretty tired so I decided to go to sleep early rather than exercise more today. I think I've been spending a lot of extra energy on other things besides exercise lately, so it makes sense... Tuesday 10/8: ~10am: watermelon ~1:30 or 2pm: 39 longon ~4 or 5pm: 2 HI apple bananas; 2 Williams bananas ~6:30pm: 1/2 avocado; 2 roma tomatoes; bite of lettuce (ick, too bitter); bite of celery (ick, too bitter) ~7pm: tahini-lemon-tomato dip (1 Tbsp. or slightly less Tahini, 2 Tbsp. of lemon juice, 1 or 2 roma tomatoes - all mashed together) in small bowl, then dipped lettuce leaves into it Well, I overdid it on the fat today... I tried to have the 1/2 an avocado do it, but when the lettuce and celery were too bitter for me I couldn't figure out what else to do that would do it for me... I decided to have only half or less as much tahini as usual for tonight and the next couple of nights to make up for it... I'm also going to get myself together and eat my bananas earlier tomorrow. ;-) Today was kind of a stressful day. Detox: I'm pretty certain the eyelid thing is going away - just waiting for the scab to come off mainly now... That is definitely the fastest it's ever resolved itself once it got to that stage. I guess I shouldn't speak (or rather type LOL) too soon 'cause it's not gone 'till it's all gone... Exercise: Pretty light stuff today. No stretches, etc. Too many things going on, needing my attention... :-( Wednesday 10/9: ~10am: watermelon ~1pm: 21 rambutan ~2:30pm: bananas ~6pm?: 5 Jamaican lilikoi (passion fruit); 1.5 tangerines (1/2 of one was bad) ~7pm: small salad (~2 cups lettuce [all I had], 2 stalks celery chopped, 2-4 cups katuk, ~8 baby carrots chopped) with dressing (1 Tbsp. tahini, 2 Tbsp. lemon juice, 1 large tomato) Detox: Morning mucus & slight sneezing, etc. Funny though - the sneezing isn't accompanied with that 'out of it' stuffed up head feeling or major nose irritation. It's just mucus and sneezing without the feeling of irritation. My nose is a bit irritated though 'cause I get the cheapest toilet paper I can find (to save money) & use that for my nose when needed too. I remember I used to have some cotton handkerchiefs a while back... maybe I should try to find them. They'd be much better on my nose & since I'm not having that much go on, it'd work fine. Exercise: About an hour or so stroll with my friend at the park in the afternoon; rebounder (high steppin' it for about 5 min., got really tired at first again so did the almost bounce for 1 or 2, then gradually brought it back up with a twisting lowish to high bounce for about 5 more, back to 15 min. or so high steppin' it fast like a run/sprint then stopped & did an almost bounce thing 'cause felt a pain in my chest - right where the heart is - stopped 'cause I got scared & decided to play it safe & go slower with it - it was probably okay, but wanted to make sure I wasn't pushing it too much - funny though, it had been feeling really great to my muscles and lungs - I felt like I could go for a really long time & planned to go as long as I felt like it. I can't wait until I can go longer!), since I had to stop early on the rebounder I did Callanetics while watching TV & then whatever usual stretches I do that weren't in that program. I was starting to feel more of my new-normal self again! :-) Female: Yesterday I had an unusually runny clearish discharge - strange. If it wasn't around the time I was expecting my menses I would think it was ovulation... although it hasn't been that thin at ovulation for years either. Hmmm... Yesterday I was wondering if my bleeding is going to stop and be replaced by this? Well, not this time around (I started bleeding today), but maybe later... After our discussion on it all I figured I better start logging my temperature daily now so I'll have an idea of whether I'm ovulating or not & when... I started measuring it again today - I don't think it was exactly accurate 'cause I haven't gotten the hang of doing it again. (You are supposed to do it at the same time every morning, before you get up or do anything, moving as little as possible beforehand). 7:30am: basal thermometer temp. 97.67 degrees Fahrenheit Thursday 10/10: ~9 or 9:30am: watermelon ~12:30 or 1pm: 17 rambutan; 6 HI apple bananas ~7pm: salad (~15 or 16 cups lettuce, 1/4 cup arugula, 1/4 cup tat tsai) with dressing (2 Tbsp. tahini, 4 Tbsp. lemon juice, 1 tomato) Detox: The eyelid thing's scab peeled off today - the skin underneath is still a bit reddish, but not raised or anything anymore. :-) Exercise: Walk out to visit friends at their farm w/ my family. We're trying to figure out how to get some farmland out there. Most of our farmer friends have moved into that area & my hubby and I are really itching to get back into farming. The only keeping us from it is money - which is what has kept us from it since we decided we needed to own the land we farm... Other than the walk I did quite a few different arm exercises without weights as well as some using my body weight (part, like pushups, dips, etc.). I saw a preview of Swept Away and noticed how toned Madonna's arms are - I want arms like that! It inspired me to do lots more with my arms... I'm trying to figure out how to work the main part of my deltoids - the part that faces out to the side & makes that great lump at the shoulders... The trouble is I can't do stuff with weights that I know about 'cause my right arm has this major clicking going on that sometimes hurts if it gets stuck, but mainly freaks me out. I figure if I start out with lots of work that doesn't bring the clicking into play, then I should be able to do the weights later. I also did the 1/2 hour bellydance video routine, and forgot to do the regular nightly extra stretches - oops! Body restructuring: I pulled out more of my old clothes - most of the ones I had packed away 'for when I get skinnier again.' I tried them on and they all fit! :-) It was fun to wear them again - like old friends. Most of them were farming clothes (stained with dirt), but that was good 'cause I had some stuff to wear out to our friend's farm. :-) I was wearing a pair of shorts and athletic top/sports bra kind of thing most of today 'cause I wanted to try to do the rebounder and/or handstands against the door in-between homeschool classes. Only the handstands worked out... Anyway, my son commented on how I was getting a 6-pack. Actually, I'm pretty far from it - closer than I've ever been though. I've got the top of the rows & the columns going pretty darn well, but I know how hard defining those bottom rows can be for women... which is why I think I'm far from a 6 pack. My obliques are quite developed visibly though - guess it's a combo. of lower body fat and the belly dancing? Well anyway, it was that comment that made me think of finding those old packed away clothes and try 'em on. I've missed wearing quite a few of them - saved mostly my favorites. Now I just have to wash them & get the musty, dusty smell out of them so I don't sneeze when wearing them. ;-) Kind-of gross: I am noticing a lot of firming up in areas & a decrease in flabbiness overall in regular positions. In some exercise positions, etc. I also notice what flab I have left all together & localized in one area - it's like my body's sort of starting to sort it and separate that stuff out of the rest of my body - hopefully in preparation to dispose of it. In the meantime it looks way weird in those positions - like when I keep my legs straight and bend over to touch my toes and the floor, etc. my legs look more in shape and toned everywhere except there's an area on the inside of my thighs where there's bunches of wavies and sags and stuff that don't show at all when I'm standing up regularly. I notice it 'cause it's the area right in front of my face when I'm doing the stretch. It didn't use to be there like that - it used to be more dispersed throughout all of my thighs - especially the upper part & around my butt. I had noticed yesterday that that upper part and around my butt had lost a lot of its cellulite, etc. and was reshaping itself. It seems like it's temporarily loosened and collects right in front of my face during that stretch for now. I'm supposing that it will be leaving my body from there as my body can dissolve and dispose of it... Hmmm... I wonder if that's what the mucus is about - or if it's just from being around dust and stuff more lately... It's a strange thing for sure 'cause when I'm not doing that stretch I don't see that stuff on my legs... I also have a touch of the same sort of thing on my lower abdomen - where the bottom rows of a 6-pack would be - it looks fine most of the time, but in some stretches and exercises it does the same weird thing as my legs... I haven't really noticed it anywhere else. The only other place I can think of that would have that happen would be my upper arms. They used to have a lot of flab that seems to have primarily gone away, but I can't think of what position I'd put them into that I haven't already, so I'm pretty sure it's just my legs and abdomen now. I'll probably always have some sort of weird thing go on with my abdomen's skin in certain positions 'cause I got major stretch marks from my son (who's now 14). They haven't been red for over a decade, but they're still very present - some of them are 1/2" or more wide and several inches long/tall. The stretched part is weird skin for sure. Well who knows? Maybe they'll go away too. If they don't, it's fine with me - kind of a mark of having gone through the birthing 'rite of passage' thing and all... I have some stretch marks on my thighs and butt too, but they're not as intense - the skin underneath them still seems intact & they're not as wide and all. The wide ones on my abdomen kind-of cave in at the stretched part, which is the weird part... The ones on my breasts are kind of in-between the others - cave in a little, but are not that wide. I'll definitely report here if I notice any changing in my old stretch marks - it'd probably take a while before I'd notice much though... and it'd probably be after years of maintaining and/or improving my current lifestyle before it'd start to work on them - if it ever does... Female: My menstrual flow is pretty normal, but no cramps (I never had really bad ones though & they usually only were for the first half-day). 7:30am: basal thermometer temp. 97.86 degrees Fahrenheit - I think I might need to change the time to 5am. I seem to be waking up at this time to drink water/pee - it could be a better time to take the temperature... I'll have to see if I keep waking at this same time. Friday 10/11: ~11am: watermelon ~2pm: 12 rambutan; 6 HI apple bananas ~6 or 7pm: munched on freshly picked very large yellow cherry tomato while making & before eating salad (~17 or 18 cups lettuce, 1/4 cup arugula, 1/4 cup tat tsai) with dressing (2 Tbsp. tahini, 4 Tbsp. lemon juice, 9 cherry tomatoes) Exercise: My friend and I were going to do belly dancing this afternoon when we got together, so I brought my video. We didn't end up doing it though 'cause we were both hungry and ate for too long so we ran out of time... We might do it tomorrow after our gym workout. I did a lot of dancing today here and there. My son was avoiding finishing his schoolwork and we've made a rule that he can't watch TV or use the computer or video games, etc. until he's done. This means he's left with books, physical projects and the radio. The radio music just made me feel like dancing - so I did. In the evening I danced in the kitchen while washing dishes and making my son and hubby their cooked dinner and salads - as well as my salad. It was fun! :-) I was tempted to do a lot of arm stuff again tonight, but figured I should wait and give 'em a rest so I can do more at the gym tomorrow. I've found I get a better workout out of myself at the gym if I don't work out much the day before - thus giving myself a better workout overall for the two days than the other way. Detox: Not much change in the eyelid stuff - the skin is still a bit reddish where the scab came off & it's still not raised. Both eyes are a bit watery in the morning as well as a runny nose for me - I wonder if it's 'cause I started sleeping on the bed I used to not be able to even be around. After being raw again I tried being around it more and more until it felt like I could finally sleep on it without getting sick. There's something in it that I'm kind of allergic to, but I figured that now that I have less trouble with my health I might do fine with it. It seems to be doing better, but maybe the mucus I'm having lately is from exposure to it? Hmmm... maybe I'll have to test it out a few times again by sleeping elsewhere for a couple of nights, back and forth again to compare... Female: My flow is normal - beginning to lighten a bit. Lightened enough that I felt like I could go without a tampon for several hours in the evening. Yes, I use tampons... they're unbleached and organic though. I have a hard time with pads. There was a while where I made my own cotton reusable pads years back when I was a farmer & that worked out okay because I had the time to deal with them. I don't have the time to deal with them again yet & hate the store bought ones - ick! So tampons or nothing it is for me for now... I usually only use them for about 2 full days and part of the next one or two anyway... 7 or 7:15am: basal thermometer temp. 97.9 degrees Fahrenheit - Well, I didn't wake at 5am this morning - it was 6am... I guess the 5am thing won't be working after all. I think today's temperature was off 'cause I took it slightly earlier and did so because I was basically awake since 6:30-ish thinking about stuff & wanted to get up... I'm trying to get this down so that I don't have to use an alarm clock, can do it upon waking up with as little movement as possible and at the same time every day... We'll see how it works out over time. Saturday 10/12: ~9:30 or 10am: a longon 'sample' at the farmer's market 10:30am: watermelon 1pm: 80 longon (some were small); 3 HI apple bananas (only 2 were ripe, I ate one not quite as ripe & lost my appetite - funny, that would have been ripe for me before going raw again) ~6pm: ~9 or so surinam cherries; 1 tangerine; salad (~15 or 16 cups lettuce, 1/4 cup arugula, 1/4 cup tat tsai) with dressing (2 Tbsp. tahini, 4 Tbsp. lemon juice, 1 tomato) Exercise: Went to farmer's market by myself, so carrying all the stuff was a bit of a workout. ;-) I also worked out with my friend at her gym - stretches, handstands against the wall, assisted chin-ups, pull-ups, etc., side & front cartwheels & a few passes of various jumping things with our hands up in the air forwards and backwards (just hops, tuck hops, straddle hops, etc.), and our trampoline game - it's getting more and more fun each time as we get more and more inventive & use the radio's music to inspire us. :-) Afterwards we went to her house and ate, then did the short bellydance video together. She liked it and said it was fun for her too! She liked it more than yoga, but said it did a lot of the same stuff for her. I did a bit more arm stuff when I got home & a few lunge walks (we skipped them somehow this time), finishing the day off with some stretches. Ahhh... it was great! :-) Detox: My eyelid looks the same, but the area where I had the big lump in it was a little sore this morning. It hasn't gotten worse visibly though & it was feeling fine by mid-day. This morning I had an intense round of the chemical scent in the shower that is similar to the photography chemicals I used in college. Whew! It was almost overwhelming me too much, but I was able to last it out in the shower until it subsided. Maybe I'll try to take a long hot bath soon - that might help release more stuff... Female: I wore a tampon today 'cause I was going to be away from home, working out and all. I hardly needed it though I went half a day or more with the same one - & it's barely used. I won't need them anymore this cycle. :-) ~7:30am Temp: 97.78 degrees Fahrenheit Sunday 10/13: ~1pm: 13 rambutan ~4pm: 2 HI apple bananas (not ripe enough); bite of icky papaya; 1/2 of small mango; 1/2 of large mango ~6pm: 2 or 3 large tangerines; 3 sirinam cherries; salad (~15 or 16 cups lettuce, 1/4 cup arugula, 1/4 cup tat tsai) with dressing (2 Tbsp. tahini, 4 Tbsp. lemon juice, 3 small roma tomatoes) Exercise: walked all over (several times) a piece of farmland my hubby and I are trying to buy; will do some other stuff later... Detox: No scents in the shower; nothing changed with the eyelid; was a bit sleepy today - I think it was because I had such a great workout yesterday, but it could have been cleansing too. My muscles weren't 'sore' but felt like they'd been used well - just right! :-) This morning I woke with a weird feeling on the inside of my mouth on my lower lip. I didn't have the bumps there like before, but it still felt weird. I thought it might be related to the watermelon I've been eating every morning, so I skipped it this morning & had water instead. It's started to go away by this evening. Female: No tampons today, slight spotting when peeing, which is normal for me by this point in my cycle. This will last a couple of days or so this way. ~6:30am Temp: 97.44 - don't know if that's right - I kept falling asleep & forgetting how long it had been. I could have been taking my temperature for anywhere from as much as 15 or 20 minutes to as little as 15 or 20 seconds! Oops! I'll have to get that straightened out. Monday 10/14: ~1pm: 1/2 large atemoya; 3 HI apple bananas (darn, still not that ripe) ~6 or 7pm: 3 or 4 tangerines; salad (~8-12 cups lettuce, ~1/2-1 cup arugula, 1 tat tsai leaf, 1/2 lemon sections after juicing) with dressing (2 Tbsp. tahini, 4 Tbsp. lemon juice, 3 small roma tomatoes) I drank lots of water all day. I think I ate something else but I can't remember what... Guess I probably overdid the fat percent today 'cause I ate less calories but not less in fat. I don't know how many calories atemoya have though, maybe it wasn't... I figure it'll even out over time 'cause sometimes I'll eat enough calories to support 3Tbsp. Tahini, but I'll continue to eat just 2 anyway. Detox: No particular scents on/in/from me today. My eyelid thing did a little more peeling & is looking even better. I'm still a bit tired overall & not real hungry, but thirsty so I drank lots of water. Exercise: I did the almost bounce thing on the rebounder and took it easy a bit today 'cause I've been a bit tired. I'm feeling a bit sore now - seems like maybe the muscles from the workout on Saturday??? Maybe it's 'cause I haven't worked them out again all that much since, or maybe it's fighting off the extra flu 'bugs' that are around at the moment (in my hubby who's sick). Doesn't seem like it would be directly from the workout - didn't feel sore from it yesterday... Oh yeah, I'm also going to do some light upper arm stuff and light stretching before bed tonight. Female: Hardly any spotting, probably none at all by tomorrow. That makes it 3-5 or 6 days - pretty normal. ~7am Temp.: 97.39 degrees Fahrenheit Tuesday 10/15: ~1pm: 62 longon (would have eaten more, but not enough time - now I've only got a half baggie full left - not enough for another whole meal. Oh well). ~6pm: 5 or 6 HI apple bananas (sorry, forgot to count before composting - know it was at least 5, not more than 6) ~8pm: salad (~8-12 cups lettuce, 1/2 lemon sections after juicing) with dressing (2 Tbsp. tahini, 4 Tbsp. lemon juice, 1/8 small roma tomato, 1 small cherry tomato) Detox: No particular scents on/in/from me today. I'm still a bit tired overall but my hunger started to come back in the latter part of the day, so my meals got a bit scrunched up into the end of the day. I thought about skipping the bananas, but they looked so good at dinner & were finally ripe that I had to have some. I thought about skipping the salad, but wanted that too later... I think it worked out okay & I waited long enough - it wasn't ideal, but it was okay. Exercise: I did the almost bounce thing on the rebounder and took it easy a bit again today. I planned on doing belly dancing, but it's gotten too late, so I'll do some upper arm stuff and my evening stretches before bed tonight. Female: Yup, no spotting today - guess it ended yesterday. 6am Temp: 97.6 degrees Fahrenheit - actually taken 6-6:30 'cause I fell asleep during it - oops! Guess it's accurate tho'... Measurements with little carpenter's tape measure (metal) this evening: Neck (just below adam's apple) = 12.1" (12 1/8") Wednesday 10/16: 5am Temp: 97.16 degrees Fahrenheit noon: 6 HI apple bananas ~7pm: salad (~8-12 cups lettuce, 1/8 cup arugula, 1/2 lemon sections after juicing) with dressing (2 Tbsp. tahini, 4 Tbsp. lemon juice, 10 cherry tomatoes) I thought about eating more stuff today, but just wasn't really into it. Detox: Nothing much to report. My hunger's back, but not full on - probably 'cause I haven't been exercising full on... Exercise: I didn't end up stretching before bed last night, but did do the arm stuff. It was so late I just plain forgot. Usually my body won't let me forget & my legs keep me awake until I stretch, but not this time... Today I'll be doing some rebounding during a TV show, some evening stretches & maybe bellydancing later if there's time. Thursday 10/17: 7am Temp: 97.49 degrees Fahrenheit 10am: watermelon noon: 21 longon; 5 or 6 HI apple bananas ~3pm: 1/2 large atemoya ~5pm: a few tastes of durian 7pm: salad (~8-12 cups lettuce or so, 3/2 small lemon sections after juicing) with dressing (2 Tbsp. tahini, 4 Tbsp. lemon juice, 10 cherry tomatoes) Detox: A bit of the thick mucus down the back of my throat is back - not much though, no scents in the shower... Exercise: Last night's exercise was really fun! I did 20 min. of the almost bounce thing on the rebounder, then started in on the high steppin' it (jog/run/sprint with knees high). The high steppin' was really hard again for the first 5 minutes - so much so that I thought of stopping, but convinced myself I'd do at least 15 min. since 20 was best. The next 5 min. were not quite as hard, but still hard enough to think I was only going to go 5 minutes more (for 15 minutes of the high steppin' it). Then it suddenly became really easy and feeling really good - like I could do it forever! It was great! There I was just running &/or sprinting with my knees going up high (at least as high as my waist) with each step & feeling fantastic! Amazing! I quickly took a look at the clock and it was exactly 10 minutes into the high steppin' part of the routine (1/2 hour into the whole thing). I decided to go for as long as I felt good for or until it was an hour and stop if I got that chest pain again. I didn't get the chest pain, but I did stop short of an hour total - it was 20 min. of the almost bounce thing, 25 min. of the high steppin' it and 5 min. of almost bounce cool-down for a total of 50 minutes. I stopped early 'cause my body just slowed it down some at that point. I was still feeling fine, but it was just going slower all of a sudden - not immensely slower, just a touch. I figured it was a sign that I had done enough for that night, so I slowed down into a cool-down thing. I went a lot longer and better than last time, and I know you're supposed to ease into things so I stopped for now. I still had energy though so I did the short routine bellydance video, one set of 10 rep.s of upper arm stuff and the evening stretches. Tonight I did a bit of rebounding, but wanted to do it differently to mix it up a bit. I started out with the almost bounce thing for a warm-up, then got out the free-weights. The dumbells were set up with 2 5lb. weights from my son's PE earlier on the rebounder & were still nearby (actually a benefit this time from him not putting away stuff LOL). Anyway, I suppose the bar weighs about 2 lbs, so they were 12lb. weights. I just held them down at my sides with the almost bounce thing at first, then did a few sets of alternating bicep curls with pull-up facing hands and side-neutral facing hands. I then tried some - oh I forget what they're called - straight arm out & up in front to shoulder height & down again things. I wasn't able to do them very well 'cause the weight was too much for me (I'm weak in the delts), so I did what I could while still almost bouncing. I kept up the almost bounce and did some other stuff with the weights I can't remember exactly what anymore except I do remember putting my arms straight up in the air above my head with my arms on either side of my ears - like I was going to do those tricep exercises. I found that just extending them up like that with the weights while rebounding was a lot like doing handstands & was a good enough workout for me. I really felt it in my delts. - which is what I need IMO. I did a few sets of those and finished that stuff with the weights hanging down at my sides for a while. Then I did a bit of twisting almost bounce shifting weight stuff before I stopped. I guess that was about 15min. of stuff? I stopped 'cause I wanted to do something different than yesterday but still watch TV (actually it was a tape of the morning news programs I don't get to see normally), so I decided to do Callanetics from memory again. That worked out well & I finished it with some extra stretches that weren't included. Oh yeah, I also walked to and from the farmer's market twice with my hubby today. Farmer's Market: Well, the guy who was auctioning off the durian a few weeks ago had a bunch today and I asked him to pick out a good one for me 'cause I hadn't had one yet. He did & said it was ready today, so my hubby and I went home and opened it right away to try it. I liked the smell, but the taste was just too intense for me - onion! & strong! It stung my tongue it was so strong! I only took a little taste at first - of the outside area of the stuff around the seed (part you're supposed to eat). I figured that maybe it was better a little further in, so tried a bit of that too - ick! onion that stings like garlic! My hubby tried it at the same time & didn't like it either. We had heard that people don't like the smell (although some do), but that they love the taste. I had read that it was like a bunch of sweet fruit all together with a 'touch' of garlic or 'hint' of onion. Well, my hubby and I couldn't taste anything but the fresh strong onion/garlic - except my hubby said he tasted a hint of fruitiness. We decided to take a bit of it in a bowl back to the market and ask him if that's what it's supposed to taste like or if we got a bad one. I was feeling a bit of nausea - even from the little I tasted so that the smell wasn't smelling quite so good to me anymore. Anyway, he looked at it and said it looked like a good one & tasted it and said it was a really good one, but not to take his word for it - to ask our farmer friend who sets up beside him. Our friend had been in on the bidding before & lost. He was down the way talking to some other farmer friends we all have in common. We took it down to him to give it to him 'cause we didn't want it, but figured we'd ask him too anyway. He tasted it and said it was a primo one and was really into eating it. It was really interesting. It was so intense for me that I couldn't imaging having more than a tiny speck of it in my mouth without having to eat lemon or something else with it to tone it down. Here he was just gobbling it up. Some of our other farmer friends hadn't had any before either & tried some too. Two of them loved it and were avidly scooping it up saying how great it was & guiltily stopping themselves. Another tried it and had the same reaction we did, saying he wouldn't ever put any of that in his mouth again. LOL He said something like, "fruit with onions and garlic, no thanks." I was just amazed to see people gobbling it up without needing water or lemon or something else. They loved it & it was obviously a good one 'cause 2 experienced people said it was an excellent one. I guess it's like brussel sprouts or something, but not the same exactly 'cause one of them that liked it didn't like brussel sprouts like me. Well, we offloaded the rest to our friend who came to pick it up after market from our house. He's going to give us $10 credit at his booth next time, which is cool 'cause that's how much it cost us to buy. Well, that was certainly educational & a fun food adventure all the same - even though I didn't like it at all. Maybe I'm allergic - people with my autoimmune thing and/or ones related to it are supposed to be sensitive to sulfa drugs & I know I certainly was to some sulfa eye drops I got about a year ago - stung like the dickens, had to get the prescription changed (only did it 'cause I was in poor health & the infection was real bad). Anyway, one of our farmer friends was saying how onions and garlic have sulfur in them & I remembered something about durian having sulfur in it. She was thinking that's why it tastes like them. I'm thinking maybe that's why it's so intense for me & it stings like the drops or like raw garlic does for me - 'cause I'm sensitive. Maybe having stopped eating garlic and onions had something to do with it too... Whatever it is, it'll probably save me quite a bit of money from buying these expensive things. Good to know. I suppose I'll try it again in a year or something to see if my tastes have changed. My hubby said he could deal with eating it if he was starving or something. I don't think I could, not straight at least. It was really strange though - I liked the smell... Friday 10/18: 6am Temp: 97.38 degrees Fahrenheit noon: watermelon ~3pm 16 longon ~5pm: 26 longon (had to stop before done before) ~7:30pm: salad (~8-10 cups lettuce or so, ~ 1 cup combo. of sprouts: mung, alfalfa & sunflower (greens), 1/2 lemon sections after juicing) with dressing (2 Tbsp. tahini, 4 Tbsp. lemon juice, 10 cherry tomatoes) Gosh! That durian really didn't agree with me & I only had a tiny bit! I could smell it on my breath off and on all night, gradually getting fruitier and fruitier, which was more and more nauseating to me. By morning I was feeling quite gross when it happened, but luckily it stopped by about 10am. I know it's not the fruit for me now for sure. Detox: Durian scents here, there, everywhere! Ugh! Exercise: Not much today, wasn't feeling all that into it with the durian stuff and all... I did some dancing & stretching and push-ups, dips, etc. Saturday 10/19: 6:30am Temp: 97.39 degrees Fahrenheit ~11:30am: longon - not sure how many - was talking & sharing bag for seeds... ~2:30 or 3pm: 6 HI apple bananas ~4pm: 3/4 cucumber ~5:30 or 6pm: 3 tangerines; salad (~17 cups lettuce or so, ~ 1 cup combo. of sprouts: mung, sunflower (greens), ~1/8 cup arugula, 1/2 lemon sections after juicing) with dressing (2 Tbsp. tahini, 4 Tbsp. lemon juice, 10 cherry tomatoes) Exercise: I walked to/from the farmer's market with my hubby and a friend, then went to a farm to check it out to see if we wanted to farm there - did a bit of walking around there too. I went to workout with my friend at her gym & did stretching, handstands, pull-ups, chin-ups, etc., a bit on the trampoline, made up some fun stuff on a thing she had there... It was a circular shaped board with a 1/2 a hard ball centered underneath. I could tell it was for balance, but didn't know how it was used. She was busy with her last class, so I pulled it out and decided to do something on it. It looked like a fun thing. It was - I figured out that the most challenging thing I could think of was to have the platform touch the ground and roll it all the way around without any gaps in touching & without loosing my balance, getting smoother and quicker at it. Later we did the 1/2 hr. bellydance video - see end of detox for details Detox: I had more durian scents - from my underarms this time, & also the chemical scent during exercise, not in shower this time. I had real low energy at the time I was to work out with my friend at her gym. It seemed like a cleanse was coming on or something. She was low energy too - sleepy, but feeling great 'cause she's been doing more and more raw too. (more below) We did do a bit of a workout, yet it was a lighter workout than usual. I was feeling better by 6, and so was she, so we did the short bellydance video together. My friend and raw: The friend I work out with sometimes has been adding more and more raw into her foods, doing raw for two meals a day, and I think one all-raw day too. She just started into it at this level this week and even though she hasn't been 100%, she's been noticing and enjoying major benefits. She said that her tendenitious that had been causing her problems for quite some time resolved itself & wasn't bothering her anymore. She also found it a breeze to get up in the morning, rather than being groggy and needing to drink coffee like before. She also found that she wasn't tired late at night & could stay up later than before. She is/was a big salt & fat eater like me & found that while doing raw she didn't need or want the salt - as surprising to her as it was to me for myself. She was also extremely surprised to find out how salty celery seemed to her when eating raw (as I had been), because when eating cooked she never noticed it in the celery (as I hadn't). She also said that she was really enjoying the flavors of the raw food & didn't want to put stuff on them - that she found them bursting with flavor just plain. She also said that she was feeling much more energetic and happy overall. She was able to work out really well on Thursday and was really happy about it 'cause usually her fibromyalgia or tendenitious or something will interfere or make her sick during and/or afterwards. This time she's just left with fatigued muscles, which is par for the course & quite pleasant to her (to be able to just have that rather than all the other stuff). When we were working out today she did a sit move on the trampoline as part of our routine - without any pain! In the past, we had to cut out those moves 'cause it was too painful for her - would make her jerk and wince in pain & avoid it afterwards, etc. Now she's doing them just fine with no pain! (She had pain from having broken her lower back in a car accident a long time ago & it acts up every once in a while. She had a long car & airplane trip a while ago that made it flare up considerably). Anyway, it was just last week when she couldn't even think about doing those sit moves or certain things with her wrists that she's doing vigorously and readily now! Wow! Cool huh? The amazing thing to her is that she's not even 100% raw & still getting really noticeable benefits. The amazing thing to me is how soon & extreme her results are without being 100%. She's really wanting to do 100%, but is a bit reluctant from a slight fear of too much detox. She's thinking she could just go back if it gets too intense for her, yet is still undecided about what she's going to do. She's really leaning towards all raw though 'cause she's feeling so great. I told her about how some people just do 2 meals raw and 1 cooked for ever and get good results from that & how any addition of raw to your foods produces positive results in my observations, so she doesn't have to go 100%. She's feeling like me though & feels like going for it, but's not sure if she actually will yet. What she's got going now is really working well for her & that's great! BTW - if you're curious, she was coming from a macrobiotic lacto-ovo-vegetarian plus fish diet and usually eats a vegetable, green and grain soup for her cooked meal now - with salad. Sunday 10/20: 7am Temp: 97.1 degrees Fahrenheit 10:30am: watermelon 1pm: 6 HI apple bananas ~4pm: 34 longon 7pm: 2 tangerines; salad (~17 cups lettuce or so, ~ 1 cup combo. of sprouts: mung, sunflower (greens), 1/2 lemon sections after juicing) with dressing (2 Tbsp. tahini, 4 Tbsp. lemon juice, 10 cherry tomatoes) Exercise: push-ups, dips, etc., stretches Detox: I was sleepy today - could have been detox, could have been the heat, could have been from working out... My temperature was up to 98.2 after my nap though, so something was going on - I felt so hot - it was hot. Monday 10/21: 7:15am Temp: 97.9 degrees Fahrenheit (could be off - had trouble sleeping...) 9am: watermelon 1pm: 31 longon 2pm (a bit after the longon - for digesting): 6 HI apple bananas 5:30 or 6pm: 1 tangerine while cooking dinner for hubby & son - meant to eat another one or two, but got caught up in the timing of the meal prep. 7:30pm: salad (~12 cups lettuce or so, ~ 2 cups combo. of sprouts: mung, sunflower (greens), 1/2 lemon sections after juicing) with dressing (2 Tbsp. tahini, 3 Tbsp. lemon juice, 12 or so cherry tomatoes) I ran out of lettuce and lemons tonight, but made it up with sprouts and tomatoes. I need to time making fancy cooked dinners for my hubby & son better with eating my own food. I've been getting so caught up in getting it done, multitasking, etc. so that my son will eat & have time to digest before bedtime, that I've been ending up not eating my dinner until after they're practically done with theirs! I do theirs & then mine, but should do mine and then theirs...oh well, maybe it's better that way. Cooked takes lots longer to digest than raw anyway, so they should be eating before me. Maybe I should just push the whole thing up farther & earlier in the day... Exercise: I did a bit of major weed pulling in our garden again to start the recovery process while my hubby and son were working on the final touches of their pool recovery project. I also did more heavy arm work today - the regular push-ups, dips, etc. but adding some freeweight work as well. I also spaced it out during the day. I've decided that when my son's doing something that I need to be around for homeschooling or is wasting time by excessive bathroom trips and water drinking I can do something rather than just wait (& get him going on the task again). I've decided to do arm work during these situations as much as possible, so I get my exercise interspersed throughout the day a set at a time. It worked pretty well today & I did some extra all together at night after 20 min. of almost bouncing before my stretches too. I figured I could up the arm work even daily since I haven't gotten that fatigue hard to use the next day stuff with them yet. Detox: All kinds of smells in the shower today - so many it's hard to remember them all. Let's see I think it started with the strong chemical scent, first photo chemicals, then some unknown (unfamiliar to me) solvent type of one. Then it went into a powder scent - alternating between baby powder, face makeup powder & baby oil. Ick to all of it! I know I used some makeup powder when I was in 9th and 10th grades to put under the makeup I had to wear as a model, but that's all I did to myself. My mom probably did the baby powder & baby oil to me - she was into them for herself as an adult. I've never liked them as long as I remember - the scents & feel of them were both gross to me. Guess I couldn't express that properly as an infant tho'... ;-) Okay, back to the scents, there was also more of the durian too - gee that stuff never quits. I must really be allergic to it or something 'cause I swear, I only had a teaspoon or less total - certainly no more than a tablespoon. Geez! I don't remember any edible oil scents, but know there were some other scents I'm not remembering offhand. I also am having some mucus in the back of my throat & nose, etc. Tuesday 10/22: morning temp (6 or 7?- forgot): 97.48 degrees Fahrenheit 9am: watermelon noon: 1 large cucumber 2:30pm: 8 HI apple bananas 6:30 or 7pm: 1 tangerine; salad (~8 cups or so of lettuces, lemon sections from juicing) with dressing (2 Tbsp. tahini, 5 Tbsp. lemon juice, 8 or so cherry tomatoes) I had to buy a bag of salad mix from the store 'cause we ran out of lettuce & the next market I go to isn't until Thursday. It was more expensive and not as good, but organic and okay with dressing... Detox: I had really watery and runny mucus? or something going on in my nose and throat this morning - it was really washing stuff away (if there was anything there to wash). It made me sneeze a couple of times just from the volume - funny, I used to sneeze first from an irritant outside my body & then get the mucus. No particular scents today so far and the sleepiness in the middle of the day is starting to pass, although I'm thinking some of it may be from the increased exercise and all... Exercise: I walked to and from the store tonight for my dinner - just a few blocks. I may be doing more stuff besides just the stretching later - if I do I'll put it down on tomorrow's log. Today I continued with doing arm work in the slow times of homeschooling & it's going well I think. I'm doing push-ups & dips off the side of my chair, free weight dumbbell work, handstands and some of that thing where you have your muscles push against each other while moving (isometrics? - can't remember the name). I've been trying to work out my arms so much that I feel it the next day & have trouble doing things with them - to fatigue. This hasn't happened yet. I've been feeling like they're somewhat worked, but not like that. I figured I should/could do more as a result, and am now wondering if it's just that my muscles are recovering better and faster now or if I could have worked out more or harder... I know when I used to do weight work and all I'd work either upper or lower body alternately in order to give the one worked at least a day's recovery time. The recovery time's supposed to be the time the muscles actually grow and get stronger, so it's important in that way. Now that I'm not getting that worn out fatigued feeling afterwards, I'm wondering if I should still be giving it a day off, if I worked enough and/or if it's fine to work them again the next day if I don't have that feeling... Maybe I'll go to Dr. D.'s articles again & see if there's anything about this in the one about overtraining... We filled the pool overnight and it was ready by mid-day today for the first swim. We all swam in it during our son's PE class. It was lots of fun! We all ran around in it (it's 4' deep) as best we could - in the same direction, which made a kind of whirlpool. It was good exercise & it's one of our favorite things to do. We also played a bit of water basketball 'cause we set up the hoop over the water a while back. We did some regular swimming & some other inventive playing where we each tried to balance ourselves in a plastic Rubbermaid large storage tub as if it was a boat - very difficult, we all failed within seconds, but it was fun & we came up with lots of theories and methods of how to be more successful. LOL Later my hubby had to do the darn chemicals so it stays clear. That means no pool use for a day or so until it evens out after this initial batch. We're probably going to get one of those Floatrons this week - hopefully in person, if not we'll have to order it on the Web, which will take much longer. Nobody's said anything about the Floatron & it's process in response to my post asking about it, so I guess we'll just go ahead with it anyway. Don't like that chlorine... Wednesday 10/23: 6am temp: 97.5 degrees Fahrenheit ~11am: 25 longon before leaving for meeting ~1pm: 6 HI apple bananas after meeting ~7pm: 3 tangerines; 2 chayotes sliced & dipped into dip like my dressing, but thicker (2Tbsp. tahini, 3 Tbsp. lemon juice, 6-8 cherry tomatoes) & also ate katuk leaves inbetween bites of chayote dipped in dip - delicous! There was no salad left at home or at the store, we had one volunteer lettuce left in the garden, but it had started to bolt and was way too bitter for me (even after soaking). Luckily 2 chayotes were ready on our vines, so I had them for dinner - it was perfect! Detox: Still had runny nose a bit - I'm not sure what's up with it, but I feel fine so I'll just go with it. The runny nose got pretty persistent when I was pulling weeds and grass in our yard, although it was still staying inside. I've taken out my old cloth handkerchiefs again & they're working perfectly. I don't have much volume going on, so they're just right. Exercise: Not a whole lot 'official' exercise today, although I had lots of movement. I had a short walk in the park with a friend while she was helping her son go to sleep in his stroller - I guess it was about 30-45min. of a walk/stroll. I spent about 3 hours pulling large weeds and grass to edge around our pool, fences, etc. in our yard. Our weedeater is broken so this is the best way to get it done for now. My hubby got involved in it too when he got home & we had our son do it with us for PE. After we cleared out the area behind the pool my hubby and I put down some shade cloth back there so it wouldn't grow back as well. We're going to eventually put down some river stones all around the perimeter of the pool so that people can get in and out of the pool without having to rinse off the grass, dirt, etc. each time. It'll be a while before we can afford the stones though 'cause it's a 20' diameter pool & a 3' band of stones around the perimeter takes quite a lot of them. They're not cheap here either. Anyway, back to the exercise - I didn't even end up stretching, which is probably why I had a bit of the restless leg syndrome the next morning (Thursday). Stretching seems to help prevent the restless leg syndrome thing for me - just something I've noticed personally, but have never heard of it research-wise. I went to sleep way too late this day - I need to start trying to get to sleep earlier 'cause I keep getting woken up earlier than I'd like & not being able to get back to sleep... Thursday 10/24: 7am temp: 98 degrees Fahrenheit (probably off - woke up several times for several things about every hour since 4am) 10am: 3 large plums noon: 5 HI apple bananas? (forgot to count, but wasn't as many as usual) ~4:45pm: ~5 or 6 sirinam cherries from tree I found on way home from the farmer's market 5:30pm: 1/2 large atemoya 7pm: 3 tangerines; salad (~8-12 cups salad mix which was mostly lettuce but had a bit of: arugula, kale, dill, mint, nasturtium leaves & flowers, oregano) with dressing (2Tbsp. tahini, 4Tbsp.+ lemon juice, 1 roma tomato & 3/4 large reg. tomato) Detox: More mucus & durian? Hmm... I wonder if it isn't the durian anymore, but has stirred up old onions & garlic to detox? Seems so strange it would go on for a week after such a tiny bit... Anyway, the constipation seems to be finalizing itself & the mucus started to go away after that (sometimes they seem like they're connected - constipation & runny nose/mucus), so maybe that part of it's over. Whew! I don't know if I'm going to be very inclined to ever try durian again after this - if I do it'll be years from now at the earliest. Exercise: We did another family PE swim in the pool this evening. I raced my son around the pool - running in the 4' deep water - several times. We all got the whirlpool thing going & then I decided to walk against the current - hard & fun - like those old movies of people walking against the strong winds in western towns with tumbleweeds going by and all. LOL I worked on a several treading/stroke types of movements that seemed to be very inefficient for traveling, but efficient in working me out. I also started to make up other movements that were similar to weight lifting moves using the water as the resistance with my hands spread out. I know people do all kinds of work out routines in pools and all, so I'm probably re-inventing the wheel, but I've never been in any of those classes or seen the stuff... Maybe I should see if the library has any videos on that - I think the health club has some classes too. Maybe I could do their day visit thing on the day of the class to learn some moves, etc. Oh yeah, I also walked to/from the farmer's market with produce and all today - although I didn't carry all that much 'cause my hubby went with me. He likes to load himself down evenly & I don't like to carry the watermelon, so he gets most of the heavy stuff. I used to be glad he wanted to carry all the heavy stuff, but now I'm starting to think of it as a workout opportunity missed... maybe I'll try to get him loaded up evenly a different way in the future. I know I should have stretched, but I didn't - forgot actually. We had some fun and unexpected things happen at home, so I was distracted. :-) Friday 10/25: 7am temp: 98.3 degrees Fahrenheit 11am: watermelon 1pm: 6 HI apple bananas 5:30pm: 1 cucumber 7pm: 3 tangerines; salad (~8-12 cups salad mix which was mostly lettuce but had a bit of: arugula, kale, dill, mint, nasturtium leaves & flowers, oregano) with dressing (2Tbsp. tahini, 4Tbsp.+ lemon juice & sections from 1/2 meyer lemon used for juice, 2 roma & 2 tiny cherry tomatoes) Detox: basically same as yesterday - mucus & durian-ish stuff - not as bad though... Exercise: Hmmm.. I know I did stuff, just can't remember what... I'm writing this the next day & I just can't remember what exercise I did yesterday, strange. I suppose it's 'cause I've had so much stuff happen in other areas of my life between then and now. Oh well, I'll have to remember to write it down better next time. Saturday 10/26: ~6:30am temp: 97.9 degrees Fahrenheit ~8:30am: watermelon (not a lot) ~10:30 or 11am: 2.5 Asian apple pears (yum!), 1 persimmon 2:30pm: 11 apple bananas in car on the way to workout 6pm: 4 tangerines; salad (~2cups mung sprouts, ~17 cups salad mix which was mostly lettuce but had a bit of: arugula, kale, dill, mint, nasturtium leaves & flowers, oregano) with dressing (2Tbsp. tahini, 4Tbsp.+ lemon juice & sections from 1/2 meyer lemon used for juice, 2 roma tomatoes) Detox: allergy/runny nose mucus kind of thing in morning, no scents, plenty of energy today & my appetite was back to about where I think it should be Exercise: ~ 2 hrs. of stuff at my friend's gymnastics gym with her; 1/2 hr belly dance video. It was a great workout - varied & fun! I started off as usual with stretching; self-assisted: pull-ups, chin-ups, other ups (bar behind head); incline push-ups - the easier way; and handstands against the wall. I then did a bit on the balance circle half-ball thingy, hopping sequences with my arms raised down bouncy floor mat - just straight up hops, then tucks on each hop, then straddles on each hop (or as close as I could get to them LOL). I'm starting to get the hang of the bouncy floor & could actually do the tuck hops right - cool! I did some real sad straddle hops down the bouncy mat though (lost the hang of the bounce with these - hard with your hands up in the air). I also did some front cartwheels both sides back and forth, etc. and of course our trampoline game with my friend. :-) I also went back onto the trampoline a couple of times to try and get the straddle hops down better with my arms up. I usually do them with my arms down between my legs on the trampoline, which is probably why it's extra hard on the floor with my arms up. I did some running & jump off of the spring board (inbetween my friend's running & tricks off of it), and other stuff can't remember off hand. We then stretched out some more, went to her house, ate our dinners and finished off with the 1/2 hour belly dance video which has some nice strength/stretching combo. moves in it that we both really enjoy. Sunday 10/27: ~6am temp: 97.9 degrees Fahrenheit ~10 or 11am: watermelon ~4 or 5pm: 4 or 5 HI apple bananas ~7 or 7:30pm: salad (~14cups salad mix of different types of lettuces) with dressing (2 Tbsp. tahini, ~4+ Tbsp. lemon juice, 2 roma tomatoes, sections from 1/2 meyer lemon used for juice) I ate a bit light today, but didn't have much activity either... I hurt my neck this morning - but it was probably partially or completely caused from some stuff I did on the trampoline yesterday. We were doing a bounce on the knees into a bounce on all fours to a tumble to our feet. I kept getting the tumble wrong and landing on my shoulder. It felt fine at the time & when I woke up this morning though. My hubby decided to give me a little massage this morning & noticed that some muscle areas were really tight (inbetween my shoulder blades), so worked on them a lot. They were definitely feeling it - it was quite intense, but they eventually relaxed. A little while later I took a shower and was leaning my head over slightly to the right in order to brush the tangles out of my long wet hair, when it felt like my neck was trying to adjust itself and didn't quite make it. I'm not sure if it was trying to go a good way or not, but being stuck inbetween was definitely not good. I tried to lean over & hang out my neck to get it back in place, but couldn't tell if it worked. My muscles were all tensed up and hurting at this point & I knew I'd screwed it up somehow. Darn, and I had been thinking about going in to my chiro. sometime soon 'cause it had been a really long time since the last time. I used to have a really bad back & needed to see him fairly regularly in order to 'train' it back into recognizing the right position as the normal one. I was seeing him about once a month & then started to have financial troubles, so cut it back a bit until I just stopped going. It's been at least 6 months since I've been there & I have known I should have gone - could feel things out of line here and there, hoping they'd resolve themselves. Well, I guess they didn't - now I've got a real problem too. Hmph! Now I have to go & will probably have to go a bit more after this to get beyond this one. Maybe the adjustments will stick better now that I'm raw & I won't have to keep going back so much, maybe my body will know it's straight better now. Detox: I had a pretty bad allergy attack - or something like it this morning right before I hurt my neck (or noticed it was hurt). I think it was the old one to our bed that I seem to have gotten over since being raw. Maybe my body was a bit overwhelmed by the injury? I also had some flatulence, but didn't hurt in my belly. No scents in the shower or out, although I was having some cottage cheese and cream cheese memories today... which could have just been from the association with our cottage cheese ceiling. I was laying on my back letting my neck chill out and looking up at the ceiling. ;-) Between the injury and the sneezing, blowing my nose, etc. I just felt like sleeping some of the time & did. It would all feel better if I layed completely still. The allergy stuff wore off in the afternoon after I went outside to the garden, went in the pool & layed on our living room floor (watching TV). Exercise: Well, I felt like exercising - all except my neck which kept the rest of us (by body's parts & cells) from doing anything much (such a party pooper LOL). ;-) I did do some leg stretches while laying down & some lunge walks down the hall in the evening & quite a few pliettes (sp?) too. I did a tiny bit in the pool to warm myself up before my hubby tried to help out my neck with me floating. It did help my neck some, but I couldn't do it for very long 'cause the water at that angle and temperature made my ears hurt really bad for some reason. It felt like when you have an infection, but didn't last after I stopped and the water in my ears warmed up. Monday 10/28: ~7am temp: 98.5 degrees Fahrenheit 11am: watermelon 2pm: 8 HI apple bananas 7 or 7:30pm: 1 small tangerine; salad (~10-14 cups salad mix of different types of lettuces) with dressing (2 Tbsp. tahini, ~4+ Tbsp. lemon juice, 2 large roma tomatoes, sections from 1/2 meyer lemon used for juice) I got my spine all straightened out today - mostly. There was one spot that didn't want to move, so he only did it partially. We'll get it later. My muscles are still tweaked though. He said that the spot my hubby had been massaging could have been a nerve area, rather than a muscle area & could have inflamed it a bit. He said I should stay away from my upper body work, lifting or things like that for 3-5 days and see how I feel before starting back. He said that the muscles back there were all stressed out & a bit overworked. I guess that's the answer to my wonderings about whether to alternate days with upper/lower body work (so I give each area a day's break). I guess I overtrained it - I was focusing a lot on that particular area too, so it figures. Now I have the answer - eventhough I didn't feel sore the next day I still should have given the muscles a rest it seems... Well, live and learn I suppose. It wasn't that big a deal, so it's not too hard of a lesson either (thank goodness). I'll probably stay away from the stuff on the trampoline that can stress my neck too - just in case. I'll be okay without the tumble thingy, there's so much other stuff to do. He gave me a couple of herbal muscle relaxant capsules to take tonight, but I don't want to take them. I took them from him in case I really wanted them tonight, but it doesn't seem like I'll need them. They've been gradually relaxing more and more as the day goes on & now that I'm ready to go to sleep, they seem ready to melt into dreamland with me. Hopefully my legs will cooperate too - might have to stretch them some in order to avoid the restless leg thing. It's weird - even when I was really hurt & now with the tweaked muscles - I feel really great, except when those things come into play. Even then I feel great except those spots & those spots don't seem to be suffering anywhere near as bad as they would have in the past. In fact my chiro. was a bit surprised to find out how much I had going on because I seemed so much healthier, happier and energetic than I had when I saw him last (& nothing was particularly wrong then - but I wasn't doing raw again yet then either, so I had that wrong & I think it was affecting me in many ways). Detox: I had minor allergy stuff today - hardly worth mentioning. Funny how it went away so fast. I also got rid of possibly the last bit of the constipation I got from the durian (or coincidentally at that time). There may be one more coming... Interesting how the sneezing/allergy type of stuff coincides so often - congestion in 2 forms at once... No scents or other stuff to report for today. Exercise: I walked to/from my chiro. appt. this morning & really didn't do much else but stretching. I worked out my legs yesterday so I'm giving them a break... Tuesday 10/29: 7am: 98.42 degrees Fahrenheit 10:30am: watermelon 1pm: 5 HI apple bananas 7pm: Made my dressing as a dip (2Tbsp. tahini, 3 or 4 Tbsp. lemon juice, 1 med. tomato, sections from 1/2 meyer lemon after juicing) and dipped slices of 1 peeled chayote into it, I also ate about 4 or 5 tamatillos & dipped them at times too, I took the tomatoes out of the dip and put them on lettuce to eat as a kind of wrap & did the same with cabbage as well as dipping that one, oh yeah - I also had about 1/4 med. tomato just dipped straight into the dip at the end. I was feeling more mobile and all & felt like making a cooked dinner for my family. I haven't made this one in a long time - steamed new red potatoes with a kind of salad dressing sauce on top (lemon juice, olive oil, nutritional yeast, Bragg's Liquid Aminos, diced tomato, fresh chopped herbs from our garden: green onion top, basil, oregano, rosemary). It is one of my hubby's favorites so I arranged it on a nice cobalt blue plate on a bed of lettuce with mung sprouts, cherry tomato, a couple of chayote slices on the side. Our two sprouting broccoli plants are producing so I garnished it with a couple of lightly steamed long shoots of broccoli. I did the same for my son without the sprouts & chayote & with short broccolli florets (he won't eat the stem part, no matter how tender). They loved it - it was fun to do too! I arranged my own dinner in a fancy way too and it was really delicious! I know I've said it before - in response to my son's amazement that I'd cook a fancy dinner without eating it, but it really is true that I feel much more like making fancy and new things for my family now that I'm raw & not eating them than when I was eating them. It's funny! I don't always cook now 'cause they can cook for themselves or have raw like me, but I didn't always cook then either - relying on leftovers. They don't like leftovers as much as I did, so when I do cook now I need to make sure not to make too much or it'll go to waste. I used to eat the excess, being grateful I didn't need to think of and prepare anything when I got hungry. Now I won't touch the stuff (for eating that is) and just go for the raw when hungry, which is just as easy or easier as leftovers. When I do cook, which seems to be almost more often than before, I'm being a lot more inventive and varied than before, when I was eating it. LOL I have so much more energy than I did then. Then I'd just make something easy & simple with a minimum of prep. & I could just start, go away, check for when it's done, spice and eat. Now I'm doing more things that require more prep. and more constant attention while cooking and/or have several elements that are being done at the same time. This last meal was inbetween fancy & simple, but arranged in a fancy way. Even though it's fairly simple & it's possibly my hubby's favorite (& now maybe my son's), I haven't made it in probably about 5 years or so. That cooked in my body was really getting me down. Sometimes I think that maybe I shouldn't cook so much or get so creative with it & maybe do the same with raw stuff so my family will convert quicker. LOL Maybe I will, but the thing is the kind of transitional raw recipes I'd make for them would still be things I wouldn't want to eat (spices, oils, miscombining and all). If they didn't like it I'd be bummed out about wasting it. I have a better feel for what they'd like when it's cooked. Maybe I'll make little tiny amounts of the raw things & let them try them out so I can start to get a feel for what they like in raw stuff... Exercise: All kinds of leg stuff that I could think of that didn't involve my upper back or arms: various squats, pliettes (sp?), lunges, lifts, stretches, etc. Detox: Not much allergy stuff happening anymore, no scents most of the day - had a slight solvent type of one from my face when I washed it before going to sleep & a bit of the durian, onion or garlic underarm BO Wednesday 10/30: 7:30am temp.: 98.7 Fahrenheit ~noon: 5 or 6 HI apple bananas ~4pm: 2 persimmons ~6pm: 1 tangerine; salad (~10-14 cups of: lettuce, cabbage & mung sprouts + sections from 1/2 lemon juiced) with dressing (2 Tbsp. tahini, 4+ Tbsp. lemon juice, 2 large roma tomatoes) I had a lot of progress on my muscle recovery today - I can turn my head to both sides & more significantly tilt it to both sides almost fully, without stiffness. I do still have a bit of tightness in one area, but I'm pretty sure it'll be all better soon. I think I do need another adjustment to my neck before I do more gymnastics. I'm going to try and get a follow-up appt. for Friday so I can keep my Saturday schedule. My family and I went & bought some Halloween candy - we had some before, but my hubby and son (mainly son) ate so much we knew we needed more. The last few years we'd usually each pick 2 candies that we liked to hand out so that we could snack on them if we wanted - that'd make 6 bags & then we'd all decide whether we needed more & what kind after that. This year I'm not eating the candy, so we got less at first & then realized it wouldn't be enough to hand out - thus this trip. Instead of getting candy for me I got some little jack-o-lantern lights & was really happy about it. I saw some about 9 years ago at a Halloween event and really wanted to get some myself. They're like X-mas lights, but have little plastic jack-o-lanterns on each light - fun! I've been looking at all the stores every year since then and haven't found them. I found them this year though - yay! Exercise: skipped today 'cause I'm still on orders to skip the upper body stuff & I did lower body yesterday... I did do quite a bit of walking though... Detox: No scents, no allergies... not much on this front to report Thursday 10/31: ~7am temp: 98.26 degrees Fahrenheit ~10am: watermelon ~noon: 3 plums; 6 or 7 HI apple bananas ~7pm: salad (~12 cups of: salad mix of lettuces with a bit of chard, kale, etc. and a few fresh herbs, I added cabbage to this) with dressing (2Tbsp tahini, 4+ Tbsp lemon, 2 tomatoes) Happy Halloween! We had been scooping out our watermelon from the rind with our last watermelon in preparation for today. I made a jack-o-lantern with the watermelon rind & it turned out really nice! It was a big hit with the trick-or-treaters and their parents too. We could hear people commenting on the face I carved as they came up, then hear their amazement in realizing it was a watermelon. I have pictures below. It was fun - like a little 'trick' in itself. We handed out the standard 'treats' - well, whatever wasn't already eaten by my hubby and son. LOL I put up my jack-o-lantern lights across the gate entrance & made some paper decorations for the door. It was fun! I love Halloween -wish I had more time to do a costume and more stuff. My hubby loves Halloween too, so when we have the time we do lots of fun stuff. Exercise: I did a bit of leg stuff & stretching - still kind-of taking it easy 'cause I don't want to start back in too fast... Detox: Not much to speak of... although I'm not feeling
as energetic as usual, so something might be going on - but it doesn't
feel like cleansing...
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