Tomorrow I'm 33.333% of the way there!!

Sorry it has been a few days, however, life, my business (aka work, but the best kind of it), juice feasting, home caring, dog caring, Brit caring has been full on! I feel like I’m starting to understand what a full time working mom must feel like (except my child is George, the foster dog)! I’d like to give it up to this amazing class of woman right now! You go girls!

Therefore, since I’ve been missing in action the last couple of days I decided a Juice Feasting update and brief daily play-by-play on how Day’s 6-9 have been treating me might be the best idea.

Yes folks, I have officially completed week one of my Juice Feast and am diving into week two feeling pretty fabulous. It’s hard not to considering I’ll be down at one of my favorite places on earth tonight: Lavallette, NJ – aka The Jersey Shore, home of more than just fist pumping and spiky hair ;) It happens to be the summer home I grew up in and still to this day is one of my most joyous getaways ever. It will always hold and protect the many, many memories of my childhood, adolescent and teenage years. OK, time to take a turn off memory lane and get back onto the super highway of health and healing; Juice Feasting Updates!

Day 6
1. My body’s pH was 5.8

2. I felt pretty darn good on Tuesday after I experienced a major emotional detox! Wow was it sudden, strong and powerful. It felt like my whole world was tumbling down for a second there. It was triggered by the silliest of things; I couldn’t find my girlfriends apt because 1. I heard the wrong cross street 2. They were doing construction on the avenue and there were NO signs. 3. I am Feasting, it was CRAZY hot and I had George, who as cute as he is doesn’t know how to get around the city for boo! Needless to say I thought I was going to throw up my arms and just start balling right in the middle of the UES. Then my girlfriend came out and found me and the pieces of my world were slowly put back together. Thank goodness! Because I felt like humpty dumpty! Thank you Danielle for actually being able to put me back together again…unlike all the king’s horses and all the king’s men ;) Then I was blessed with a much-needed massage by the most caring, intuitive, magic hands I know and continued to let all the emotions ooze out on the table. Sometimes we just need to ooze, let it out, let go of it and MOVE ON! Tuesday ended pretty magically as well because all the things I vented about earlier seemed to just disappear. Almost like there was a big dark cloud that just suddenly lifted and left me in this beautiful, enchanted garden. Talk about calling in what you want and kicking the rest to the curb! Miraculously, I’ve been living in that garden ever since (with a few random thunders here and there)!

3. Juiced 124 ounces (shared 26 with one of my favorite friends) so 98 ounces in total of: radishes, cucumbers, tomatoes, ginger, bok chop, celery, carrots, lemon, lime, apples, grapefruit, orange & pineapple.
- Also, today and everyday thereafter, I started consuming 24 ounces of lemon, MSM, activated water first thing in the morning (verse my normal glass or two) to make sure my body was in perfect "Flow-motion"!

Day 7
1. My body’s pH was 5.8 (however, after rising to set my Brit up for the day I went back to bed for 30 minutes and when I retested my pH after my power nap it was 6.4, which doesn’t really count because it’s no longer my first urine of the day but I hadn’t put anything in my body, so it makes me wonder…see next two days for more explanation)

2. Wednesday is one of my favorite days lately because it’s FARM MARKET DAY! And normally by Wednesday I’m fresh out of everything because the last visit is typically Friday or Saturday. This week was even more exciting than most because I couldn’t want to see what ingredients were going to make up my list of future Juice Cocktails for the week; would their be strawberries, would their be sprouts, what new greens would glorify my juices this week! So much excitement! And Union Square did not disappoint! I got strawberries & bok choy, tatsoi (in the bok choy family), beets, dandelion, gorgeous yellow & red swiss chard, cilantro & parsley, arugula, romaine, two types of tomatoes, 3 kinds of sprouts, microgreens, cucumbers (including the biggest, longest European Cucumber I have ever seen of which there was only one left and I was the lucky recipient) and SORREL, lots and lots of SORREL. I guess it is as good a time as ever to tell you all I’ve having ANOTHER secret love affair. It’s impossible not to when I’m surrounded by all these juicy, sexy, saucy, delicious greens! Yum! I came home from the farm market with four huge bags of produce and whipped up a summer cocktail that would brighten anyone’s day; Cucumber, Sorrel, Strawberries & Cilantro followed closely by another of; Cucumber, Grapefruit, Orange, Sorrel, Cilantro, Spinach, Red Spinach & Arugula! Heaven, green, liquid heaven indeed! Needless to say I was a very happy girl.

3. Juiced 89 ounces of: radishes, celery, mint, ginger, spinach, mixed greens, swiss chard, dandelion & baby kale, then MY NEW FAV: cucumber, sorrel, strawberries & cilantro, then: grapefruit, cucumber, orange, sorrel, cilantro, spinach, red spinach & arugula.



Day 8
1. My body’s pH was 5.5 (and I think this had to do with me getting up at 5:30AM. I’m finding the later I sleep in the more alkaline my urine becomes. I wonder if my body is trying to tell me something, because See Day 9’s pH)

2. Yesterday (Thursday) contained a bit of exhaustion, coupled with a fabulous second wind and finished with a complete power outage of what felt like my entire system, as in, all engines shut down! Thursday’s are my early day and I rise at 5:30am (since I’m not tri training I allow myself the luxury of sleeping till at least 7am). I work in the morning and normally until lunchtime and then have a break until my evening clients. Needless to say I didn’t turn in early enough the night before and 5:30 came way sooner than my body had hoped for. On top of that, the day prevented me from enjoying any peace and quiet, or the chance to slip in a few quick moments of shuteye. No, it sure didn’t; duty called, work called, the landlord called, George barked, the electrician called, George barked, the UPS guy buzzed, George barked…your getting the picture by now right? And before I knew what hit me the window of opportunity for a little downtime was gone. Thankfully I got my second wind around 4PM and ticked all those beautiful TO DO boxes! The joy of a little check (insert ahhh effect here); unless you are a crazy ambitious, relentless, Virgo perfectionist you may not experience this same level of bliss when crossing things off a list! However, that burst of afternoon energy allowed me to do what needed to be done before evening work called. Then after a nice mile and a half scroll with my two favorite males my evening slowed down until I crashed at 10:30 for some much needed deep, uninterrupted, peaceful, rejuvenating sleep (on my new magnetic mattress to boot, more on this later)!!

3. Juiced 86 ounces of: celery, cucumber, swiss chard, strawberries, ginger, bok chop, apple, lime, tomato, sorrel, red spinach, orange & grapefruit.




Day 9
1. My body’s pH was 6.6 (which is completely in the alkaline range). However, I also slept for 10 hours last night because I was exhausted from a VERY packed, hectic week.) I know my body is not done cleansing, but I’m wondering if it is trying to tell me to slow down a bit. Maybe my body wants a slow, relaxing cleanse and has been disappointed in the fun life/work relay races it has been forced into all week ;)

2. I woke up this morning (Friday) feeling awesome! I was rested, relaxed, energized and excited to wrap up one more day in NYC and head south for some sun, ocean, fresh breeze, bay-swimming, beach-cruising, sand between the toes, barefoot living fun! The power being out in half my apartment couldn’t even get me down, nor could the fact that I was forced to work off my little blackberry verse a normal laptop because of no internet. Life is good and it will be even better this LONG, HOLIDAY WEEKEND! I am also SO excited to start working out again tomorrow folks! Yes, I’ve been on an infusion of herbs to really force my spine and my ligaments to get a move on it and start some serious healing. I was told after a week, I could start exercising again. I am so pleased to say since the start of my juice feast and infusion of herbs I have been back pain free! It is the best feeling ever!! Try living with pain day in and day out; I guarantee when it clears up you’ll be doing imaginary cartwheels just like me! I am also confident doing real cartwheels is just around the corner too!

3. Juiced 88 ounces of: sorrel, swiss chard, spinach, orange, grapefruit, tatsoi, kale, parsley, dandelion, arugula, sprouts, spinach, red spinach, celery, pineapple & boy choy.

Everyone have a wonderful, sunny, juicy, spicy Memorial Day and I'll see you all next week! A million blessings!

The Joys of Pineapple Juice...And the scary SUPER positive side effects!

Who would have thought a 16 ounce glass of Pineapple Juice would make me want to add on an additional 62 days to my Juice Feast/Fast.

On the morning of Day 4 I juiced fresh pineapple juice with some water and it was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! I know, it's extreme to think now I want to feast for another 2 whole months, but I would be lying if I didn't say I was seriously considering and deeply contemplating it! I feel great! Here's a secret though: I still totally feel like I'm cheating! I mean I rarely if ever eat pineapple in my normal day to day life. Compared to my "regular spectrum of foods" pineapple is very high up on the glycemic food index . Therefore, for the amount of natural sugars it contains, I typically avoid it. However, when you are Juice Feasting it's actually quite beneficial (if you don't suffer from high fasting blood sugar), especially for the current state of my body! I have suffered from an excessive amount of inflammation with my broken coccyx and guess what Pineapple has?!? Bromelain: an incredible anti-inflammatory enzyme! Just like proteolytic enzymes. That's right folks, drink it up! I sure am ;) But not in excess, lets not ruin the fun for everyone! Another bonus: because I'm not eating and just juicing (delicious pineapple juice if I haven't mentioned) I don't have to worry about bad food combining, like fruits with any dense proteins or starches! Cause it's "Just Juice"! Ahhh the little things...

I was absolutely flying off my morning Pineapple Juice (in addition to the 60 ounces of glorious Green Juice I made that day)! Sunday afternoon I came back from a very long, very nice walk and decided to make myself a CITRUS TREAT (pictured above)! Honestly, if the Pineapple juice was AMAZING, the Grapefruit, Orange, Lemon Juice left me SPEECHLESS! It was so delicious, I truly couldn't believe it. This citrusy treat was like liquid tangy & sweet ice cream but better! It was EXACTLY what my body needed too; so radiantly refreshing!! I had just been out exercising depleting my fluids and what is citrus good for? You got it HYDRATION! And from many years of running, racing and training for triathlons I am aware of that fact that I may have suffered from chronic dehydration on a deep cellular level! Glad I'm juice feasting and giving my body all the "re-hydrating" it needs! Bonus: citrus fruits are also great for clearing mucus out of the body!

Ok, ok, enough about my fruit obsession! It has just been a really joyous, gratifying experience for me. Thus my desire to share it and relive it one more time! Oh, wait, I did experience it one more time!! Today, DAY 5; I did it all over again!!! Pineapple Juice & Citrus Surprise! And I can do it again tomorrow if I want!!! Seriously, this Juice Feasting journey is UNREAL! I am loving me my fruit juices! Don't get me wrong the majority of my juices are Green Juices and they are just as sweet and delicious, but in their own way. I also feel a much stronger healing presence from the green juices, but the pure, unregulated bliss I am receiving from the fruit is so beautiful! It is allowing me to celebrate this experience even more!

My goal the last 3 days has been to up my overall daily intake of juice; 3-4 quarts of juice (or more) is the suggested minimum, which is 96-128 ounces a day. I was having 80 ounces a day and that felt like A LOT. However, on Day 3 I bumped up to to 93 ounces, then 96 on Day 4 and then wait for it....110 ounces today, Day 5! Go me! Mind you I had to stuff the last 10 ounces down me, but it still went down, so it counts! Remember, I'm also drinking lots of activated water and herbal tea as well. It will be interesting to see when and where my juice intake levels rise and fall throughout the 30 days and if it coincides with anything particularly significant.

Ok so just a brief recap from the last 3 days and then I'll say goodnight as it's already way past my normal bedtime and definitely my juice feasting bedtime!

Day 3:

1. My body's pH: 5.9

2. Energy levels were quite high until I spent too long at the farmer's market and then trying to walk all the way home from 14th to the UWS with bags and Mr. George (if you forgot, he's my little foster dog!)

3. Juiced: celery, cucumber, strawberries, bok choy, green apple, spinach, dandelion, baby kale, romaine, swiss chard (2 kinds), carrot, pepper, lemon & lime

Day 4:

1. My body's pH: 5.9

2. Energy levels & positive thinking & new, crazy, fasting/healing ideas & thoughts were endless! Result of the much talked about pineapple & citrus surprise juices!

3. Juiced: Pineapple; cucumber, pepper, strawberries, apple, carrot, swiss chard, dandelion, kale, baby kale, spinach, turnip greens and celery; then grapefruit, orange & lemon!

Day 5:

1. My body's pH: 5.8

2. Felt good today, but realized I probably need green juice first thing in the morning, then my pineapple juice, then more green, then citrus surprise and finally more greens. I'll try this combo out tomorrow and keep you posted. My guess is, I felt a little spacey this morning because it was a quick sugar rush and less of the slower releasing, longer lasting energy of the great and powerful green juice. Trust me, borderline space cadet is not a good way to feel when you're trying to be efficient, creative and productive with your business.

3. Juiced: Pineapple; cucumber, celery, red pepper, green apple, bok choy, carrots, radishes, dandelions, 2 kinds of swiss chard, baby kale, kale, spinach, tomato, lemon, lime & ginger; then grapefruit, orange & lemon.

Post DAY ONE & DAY TWO Updates & covering some Basics!

Hello! And a Happy Saturday to all you beautiful beings out there! What a gorgeous day! Oh, and if you are wondering, that to the right is my dinner from last night!

I just got back from walking the amazing Mr. George (our dear foster dog) and implementing our new line of training! George has got to learn some manners because as cute as he is, he has some major psychological problems from his past abuse which he is playing out all around our home in the form of urination! Good times! Especially when your sense of smell is heightened during fasting! However, fasting also makes me super positive (yes even more so than I am on a daily basis, frightening I know) so I think we are going to break him into a wonderful, obedient dog. He is already loving, playful and a complete Mama's boy! It's only when he's not cuddled up next to me or resting at my feet that life starts getting a little scary and complicated for him! OK, enough about Georgie!

So I am already on DAY THREE of my feast/fast! I say both because I have always just fasted in the past so this idea of Juice Feasting and pumping 120 ounces PLUS of juice into my body everyday has been a bit of a struggle. I think my body is like, "wait, what's going on, why am I getting all this "food" I thought I was supposed to be fasting." But the main goal, as it always is, is to rejuvenate my body, mind and soul. However, rejuvenation has to be much greater this time around as I am determined to allow my spine and my broken coccyx to heal! See another dose of POSITIVITY, sorry it just oozes out of me! Needless to say I have only been consuming about 80 ounces of juice a day which has felt like more than enough. However, I know I need to experiment with having more. I am also completely comfortable with making this my own personal journey/exploration and am confident in my bodies ability to communication to me.

Having said that I also want to cover and comment on a few things that I would like to keep constant during my Juice Feast/Fast. Here's a list of a few items I want to continually cover as this adventure unravels!

1. I want to keep an eye on my body's pH:

I have been and plan on continually testing my urine's pH which is a determinate of my blood's pH. The ideal alkaline range is 6.4 - 6.8. I'll get more into acid/alkaline balance as we go. For the morning's of Day 1 & Day 2 my pH was 6.8 and 7.0, which are both ideal for me and really for all. However, this morning (Day 3) my pH dropped to about 5.9; yes folks I have already started detoxing! How can I tell? Well my body just went from all happy and alkaline to pretty acidic over night. What this means is my body is starting to push all the toxins, environmental build ups, heavy metals and all the crap it doesn't want out of my body. Now that it doesn't have to digest solid food it can start eating away at all the "bad stuff" and trying to eliminate it from my body. I pretty much assumed this was going to happen this morning because I suffered from a killer headache last night which is 1) a common side effect of detoxing and 2) I never get headaches so I knew something was up.

2. I want to keep a running log of my energy levels as well as any and all detoxing/feasting/fasting side effects.

As I mentioned above I already started feeling the effects of my body "riding" itself of all the "bad stuff." I know and I want you to know that these next 28 days will most likely be filled with ups and downs when it comes to my physical body, my moods, my energy, my thoughts, my determination, my commitment and much much more...There will be days where I feel amazing and want to fast for the rest of my life and days where all I want to do is have a bite of a juicy, fresh, ripe, tangy, sweet, plump tomato! But that's the joy of this, feeling everything and allowing yourself the opportunity to step back, take it all in and appreciate every moment. I really do feel blessed for the ability to heal my own body and be the soul individual responsible for my own happiness. It's scary and exciting at the same time, but as I grow and learn it truly becomes just more exciting.

3. I want to share all the amazing fruits and vegetables I will be remineralizing my body with and where I'm getting them from.

The last two days have been filled with a whole array of delectable fruits and veggies. I'll share (to the best of my ability) all I have guzzled thus far!

Tons of fresh Spinach leaves as large as my hand

Lots of spicy Arugula

Two whole heads of Bok Choy

Handfuls upon handfuls of Mixed Wild Greens

Two bunches of Dandelions (much lighter and fresher than any store bought)

Many stalks of Celery

At least 10 very large, very long Cucumbers (3 kinds, Japanese, Korean and Chinese)

Two pints of glorious strawberries

Many leaves of romaine lettuce

Three carrots

Two bunches of zesty cilantro

A decent amount of sprouts and sunflower shoots

Two juicy grapefruits

Two perfectly picked and ripe tomatoes

A few leaves of basil

A handful of blueberries

The juice of two lemons & one lime

And a partridge in a pear Tree...On the third day of my Juice Feast my body said to me ;)

***(Note everything above, except for the grapefruit, blueberries, lemon & lime (which are still organic) was grown unconventionally, i.e no sprays, NOTHING, not even organic ones and picked up from the Farmers Market on Wednesday and Friday! Did I mention I love farmers markets!)

4. I want to incorporate some of the other fasting rituals I will be performing, taking part in and combining with my Juice Feast and soon after Juice Fast.

The subject of fasting rituals is where I will discuss the type of water I'm drinking, how I'm stimulating my lymphatic system, colon hydrotherapy, why I'm skin brushing, body care, any beneficial exercises, massages, any herbs and supplements I'm taking, why I'm taking them and so on and so forth! As a pre-warning, my gut is I won't be able to disclose them all because there is quite a lot you can do to compliment a fast and some of it is now second nature to me so I may forget to talk about it; but I pledge to do my very best!!

5. I do want to touch upon percentage of body weight lost.

Normally, I don't focus on weight loss as in my opinion it is just a wonderful side effect of fasting. However, if weight loss is your main goal and all the amazing benefits of fasting are your "side effects" then I support it. I say this because any outlet or avenue a person has that brings them into a greater state of health I support. We all have different paths and side streets we use in getting to the "City of Healing." So whatever that is for you, if it gets you there, then that is the main objective!

6. Last but not least, I want to share my inner most thoughts and feelings about this whole experience. But don't worry I'll also be divulging my crazy, silly, mindless, irrational, chaotic, off the wall thoughts as well! Don't think you were getting out of those!

I committed to being honest about this journey and let's face it so many of us are thinking, dealing with, pondering over, stressing about the same things. It's like when one person in a class room asks a question the rest of us were too scared to ask. We all wanted to ask, but fear along with a million other emotions just didn't allow our darn hand to go up! Therefore, I hope by me getting extremely intimate and quite personal some of your questions will be answered without having to even put your hand up!

Did anyone notice how my very long list had 6 very long topics...anyone seeing a trend here? ;) I must admit 6 is my lucky number! Sorry, side-tracked!

OK, I feel good now that we have set some "ground rules," however, I also accept the fact that these can change at any moment. It wouldn't be as exciting if they couldn't, right? I've said my peace for today and am off to the Farmer's Market to stock up on some more goodies then off to the park for a relaxing day of some much desired reading!

Cheers to all and have an absolutely magnificent weekend!!

DAY ONE: JUICE FEASTING AND FASTING FOR 30 DAYS (at least!)

Well today is the day: MAY 20th 2010! Doesn't that date just look great! It sure does feel great! After knowing in my gut for quite some time now that I needed to do a Green Juice Fast, for reasons I'll get into shortly, I am happy to say, "Let the journey begin!" I have decided to add on a period of juice feasting before my fast as well, so I can have a longer healing process but also continue, as normal, to work and function.

I have committed to a minimum of 30 days and will reassess my healing, energy, strength and my physical, emotional and spiritual body after this period to decide the best plan of "next course action." I have also made a commitment to myself and my readers to track, log, disclose, share and experience this journey as openly, honestly and humbly as possible.

So why am I doing this? Good question. I have been detoxing, cleansing and fasting annually and bi-annually since I was 21 years old. That's almost 9 years now. I've done liver cleanses, whole body detoxes, herbal cleanses, spiritual yoga fasts, all types of juice fasts and whatever I felt my body needed at the moment. I have been consistent with at least one and within the last 3 years at least two juice fasts a year. My my recent two fasts, in the last 12 months, were a 14 day Green Juice Fast in June of 2009 and a 7 day Green Juice Fast in November of 2009 followed by a 30 Day Phase 1 Detox (which to simplify is an all raw food detox with no sugar, no grains, no fruit, nothing sweet). Needless to say it has been six months since my last fast and 5 months since my last detox and my body is crying out for some extra TLC!

I think that answers why I'm feasting and fasting in general but let's get more specific, I mean who doesn't love all the insider, personal details! Blogs are like reality TV but in words! It's great. But let's put it out there, this isn't going to be nearly as juicy (haha, "juicy", sorry) as "The Bachelor" or "The Hills." I couldn't create all that drama with me and a bunch of fruits and vegetables if I tried! Ok, moving on. So I would like to disclose the reasons why I'm fasting in my favorite form: A LIST! It will keep me from babbling and give you an idea of what the last 12 months have look like in a very brief overview!

1. The obvious: I fast twice a year and it's been six months (at least a 7 day fast was due).

2. The most pressing: I broke my back (specifically my coccyx) in the 3rd week of August last year and because it went undiagnosed for 6 months the healing process has been less than perfect (that's me being positive!). I think no. 2 deserves a few more sentences; I was in Barcelona at the time traveling on my unbelievable 4 month tour of Europe and I had just taken an amazing yoga class! I was high on life and had been shopping at the markets all day with my 6 bags of fresh ingredients, life was good. My energy was through the roof, as it normally is after a great yoga class, and I briskly walked to the stairs and started down. I'm sure you can all figure out what happened next; old building, marble stairs, very steep stair case, little (grip less) flip flops, 6 bags of groceries and way too much energy! I found myself at the bottom of the stairs in shock. It was one of those moments when you are just praying not to see a bone popping out of your skin and desperately making sure you have feeling in all parts of your body. I was on my own for that ONE night (typical ;) so I made it through the pain, the shock, the pity party I had for myself and finally got myself back to the hotel. I iced it and rested and called my ER doctor friend and asked "could it be broken, are you sure??" He told me I was fine, that I wouldn't be moving if it was broken and that I "was probably being overly worried and slightly dramatic!" There was a bruise the size of Texas on my back for quite some time (luckily my well worked on tan made it much less offensive). Long story short I kept going and was told it was probably just a bruise and made the mistake of not seeing anyone. I mean I was only 6 weeks into my trip and was on vacation adrenaline high! I was swimming the next day and running about 7 days later. The swimming, running, hiking, biking, beach yoga and all the activities that go along with summer/fall explorations went on for the rest of my time in Europe and basically up until the 2nd week of February where my body PHYSICALLY stopped me from doing anything more! Let me just say; thank goodness my body was strong at the time and I had just some off some good triathlon training followed by a two week fast and daily yoga. For that I am so grateful. I don't want to think about what "could have happened." I also realize it could have been a lot worse and am thankful to still be working, smiling and getting around quite well. I am also thankful I decided to do another juice fast back in November and a 30 day detox and was seeing a chiropractor. All of these things could have been taken out of the equation and I wouldn't want to know what the outcome could have been!

3. The residual: My body needs a break. After coming back from Europe I got my life and my business back in action and from December on it has been non-stop work and very little personal care and attention. I think as a practitioner we have to be so very conscious of our own health and healing. We live a super "healthy" lifestyle that is more or less second nature on many levels but we are also giving all of our energy day in and day out. It is very easy to get caught in the trap of forgetting about the importance of our own changing body, on all levels, and addressing those new and growing needs. A healthy lifestyle and what is needed to maintain one is never black and white and we must always be conscious of the ever-evolving human body, emotional body and spiritual body.

4. My back is broken! Well since my back is still healing I haven't been on my usual triathlon training regime which allows me a much longer fasting period as I won't be on a 6-7 day training schedule with 2 hour runs and 5-6 hour bike rides. I would like to mention that with this beautiful weather it has been hard not to miss those workouts. On the flip side, it has been a really beautiful experience seeing how full my life has been without training and being confident in the fact that I don't hold on to any one thing to determine who I am. To be able to let go (even if forced into it) of something so important to my "ego" has been a blessing. I will most definitely go back to Ironman training and still plan on doing a full Ironman soon but am grateful for this perspective.

5. To make some room! My life has felt like an overflowing backpack lately, probably literally and figuratively. Literally because I'm in a good amount of pain most days (from my back) and figuratively because I have piled so many responsibilities into that bag! Starting a business on your own is no easy task, but when coupled with supporting a loved one (my boyfriend, being in a new country, with all the joys of getting a Visa is still not working) can be very stressful and physically draining. And don't forget my back is still broken and I literally am in physical pain. To complicate life, as most of us love to do, I recently fostered a rescue dog! Now I'm taking care of an abandoned Englishman AND an abandoned dog ;) who both require food, love and way too much attention! I wish I could say no, but my heart just hurts when I think about abused dogs and animals. I am also in the building stages of creating a Raw Chocolate Line, recently volunteered at my CSA (community supported agriculture) to start teaching Introduction to Raw Food & Nutrition classes as well as "Uncooking" classes and this summer will start flying all over the country and even the globe for work! The list goes on but I will spare you all of the details...at least for now that is ;) Needless to say, not having to think about my own personal food intake, prepare it (for myself that is ;) and emotionally be tied up in it will free up a lot of my time!

6. Cheers to Health and Personal Transformation! One of my favorite reasons to fast is for all the miraculous transformations that happen! Forget about all the cellular rejuvenation, healing and rebuilding going on (that we will discuss in future posts), but I'm talking about the intellectual, creative energy that breaks through and thrives. It feels as if you are operating at your highest level. I mean who doesn't love that or who wouldn't want that! For me personally, each fast allows me to see the world's, my own and every one's around me unlimited greatness. And it's just so clear and in focus! Why would I not want to bring that into my life, into my practice and into the lives of all those close to me!

OK, there is my very long list of 6 very long reasons why I'm starting this journey of juice feasting and fasting over the next 30 days. I am excited and looking toward the future but also going to take this time to insightfully appreciate and explore the past 12 months. I have been blessed with finding my true dharma and pursuing it, studying and expanding my knowledge with some of the most switched on people in the world, traveling the world with friends and family, finding international love that followed me home, coming back to a home, friends and family I adore and cherish, moving to a new location in my beloved NYC, growing a practice and a business that means the world to me and that I truly love doing and being graced with the wisdom, experience and support to heal my own body.

Let the journey and the healing begin!

HOW IT ALL CAME TO BE….from No, No, No to Yes, Yes Yes!!

My adventure begins with no plans at all. My European extravaganza was spurred by two initial invites. My Greek friend Kostas from Toronto had been inviting me to his family’s place in Greece for two summers and of course I initially said no. Last summer there was no chance as I would have had to take a whole years worth of vacation to go for any decent period of time. And this year my “no” was backed by; “I have to buckle down and start my business,” “I have to train all summer for the Timberman ½ Ironman”, “I’ll be away at school”, “I can’t afford it,” “I always spend my summers at the beach,” “I’ll have tons of studying to do, obligations, relationships,” etc, etc, blah blah blah, come on! I just wasn’t making space for it yet and instead filling that space up with excuses! Invitation number two was based on my best friend of 17 years, Justin Frenzel, being transferred to Milan through work. He was going to be living out there and I promised I would come before October when he left NYC. Now this was one of those “light” promises; you know the ones you really want to do but somehow find excuses not to fulfill. I personally tend to fill my life up so much that it overflows and then everything ends up not fitting into my glass. Now if you have ever been the person, commitment or obligation that spilled over the top of my glass I apologize. It’s hard to make everyone happy and in trying to do so I know I have hurt some feelings along the way. Feelings that belong to some pretty amazing individuals! At least I know when I’m wrong, I have looked my fault dead in the eye and know how significant it is, was and will always be to make sure I do not do this. It’s ok to say NO! If I’ve learned anything at all it’s you can’t make anyone happy, truly happy, until you make yourself happy! Same applies to love. Until you love yourself fully with all that you have and for all that you are you will never have the purest love to give and I think Pure Love is the only way to go!

Ok getting off track here! So I have these two invitations swirling around in my head as well as the fact that I had just quit my job, started a new adventure, chosen a new career, found my true life purpose, embarked on an indescribable journey and shelled out quite a bit of green ones for school and old debt! And my green ones I don’t mean super yummy green smoothies! They are WAY more fun to shell out! Well they are also great to make, drink and even share with your friends! So I just started talking about it, thinking about it, telling people about my invitations, asking people their advice and finally I told my friend Matt who was working in Zurich but was originally from London that I was considering taking my friends up on their offers. He said, why don’t you find a cheap flight and fly into London because it’s direct and easy and I’ll take a couple days off and show you all that London has too offer! After that my mind was made up! London, Greece, Italy what the heck! All that and “light” promises by Matt and Justin that they would do additional traveling with me. And since I can never do anything just a little instead of booking a week or two, three or even a month I said screw it, how long can I stay for! Next thing I knew I was booking a ticket 6 days after I would be coming back from my month intensive at school for 10 WEEKS! Yes folks, that’s how I do it! Felt like an opportunity of a lifetime. I would have no apartment, no job, no husband, no kids, a sports/triathlon injury that needed to heal and everything at my finger tips! Oh did I mention I booked my trip on miles so my flight was 200 dollars and not having to pay for hotels was going to allow me the luxury of time and of course the complimentary chaos of “flying by the seat of my pants as well.” You’ll see what I mean later ;)

So my summer was now going to consist of packing up my life and moving out of my apartment on May 31st. Followed by flying out 3 days later to school in Patagonia, Arizona for a 5 weeks masters program intensive and note to self, don’t give yourself two days to pack up and unpack everything you have and then repack for 5 weeks and THEN only give yourself 6 days after that to pack for almost three months when in those 6 days you also plan a small fourth of July party at your beach house and a quick visit to NYC! Yeah not the best planning there! That’s the spilling over again! Now I could spend the next month writing about how amazing Arizona was but that’s another time and another blog ;) It will be nice to revisit the memories when I do.

So after all that I gave myself just one full day to unpack and repack, which turned into half a day, which as always turned into me not starting to pack until 9PM the night before, trying to take a nap at 2AM and sleeping right through my alarm! Boy was that fun! Slept through and woke up needing to finish packing, shower, make breakfast (aka superfood smoothie, also a necessity) and get to the airport all in 40 minutes. Mind you the airport is about 20-25 minutes away with no traffic. However, yes be shocked, I made it! Over packed, overslept and over did it but at least I was being consistent!

So that is how it all began. And at 6:45AM on Thursday July 9th I stepped onto a road that was going to take me on a beautiful, outrageous, fabulous, crazy, over the top, unexpected adventure! Oh how sweet it is!

Notice given, check! New, amazing life started, check! Grateful, check!

It seems to me that everything big and wonderful starts out small. A tiny idea, a passing thought, an unintentional comment or those quick yet powerful glances. All these things despite being ever so slight end up having the strongest influence over our lives. Well, I am small; all 5 feet 1 and 3/4 inches of me and I want to be big and wonderful. I want one of my unintentional comments to change someones world; to have them try something new, say something different, feel something better or experience something unreal! It will make it all worth it.

I gave my notice at my hedge fund on Wednesday, February 25th. CHECK. A week later the head of HR made a comment to me that solidified everything I'm about to embark on. He said, "If you do what you love, you'll never have to work another day in your life..." And to think I had to burn through 28 years before I figured that one out. However, I did and it is awesome! I've decided to inspire, help, love, heal, laugh, learn, give and renew full time. My future as a lifestyle consultant begins now. CHECK. News of my new career has been spreading and the feedback and support I am receiving is unbelievable! I am reassured almost daily of my decision and it's the most perfect feeling on earth. I am so very grateful. CHECK.

So all in these three little checks might seem small but they are preparing from something big and wonderful. So jump in, grab hold and get ready to experience life on a whole new level!