When a Good Scare Gets the Juices Flowing

Ugh. If I could roll my eyes any harder, I'd get a nice look at my brain. I promised myself not to be "the woman who started eating right because a medical scare rocked her world." I hear those stories all the time. Well yesterday was a reminder to go ahead and implement the plan, or I'm gonna miss the mark.

I was sitting at my desk, having a conversation about American Idol with a co-worker. During the conversation, my left arm went numb. I had to be subtle, because I didn't want to alarm my visitor. I wiggled my fingers and made a few loose fists. As my mind turned down the volume on our conversation, my loudest thoughts asked the question, "What the heck is going on?"

I was thankful for the company and the conversation, because it kept me from panic. After a short walk and a trip to the bathroom, I felt almost normal again.

Now there are a few potential reasons I had that scare.

1. I often have strange occurrences on the left side of my body when my digestive system goes on strike. Years ago, I had to see a specialist about it, who told me chest pain and referred pain is not uncommon. Another friend with digestive problems said her pain would settle in her left shoulder. Too bad that's the same marker as a heart attack!

2. Later last night, I had problems with my left collar bone. When I type a lot, a nerve on the left side of neck starts to protest. The numbness was probably my warning for a long night of that weird nerve thingy.

3. My bra is really wearing on my shoulders under the responsibility of carrying around... well... Double D's. You might go numb too.

In spite of the non-emergency nature of the problem, I experienced a moment in time where the status of my health came into serious question. Long periods of eating like a teenager can't possibly be good for a 35 year old body.

Convenience. Habit. Comfort. Habit. Celebration. Habit. Boredom.
Did I mention HABIT?

A cleanse is coming some time after Memorial Day. I'm ready to reset. I really don't care how many times I have to try. The only opportunity to win lies in not quitting.

Rock on.

Back from the Black Hole

Monday, May 1, 2006

Well dang. I disappeared for too long. Do you ever have those times in life when you fall into a black hole, and some unseen force is munching away your days like M&M candies?

I apologize for being away so long.

I finished my last cleanse on Day 5. My tongue was turning pink, and that sealed my thought that I need to leave a little more time between each cleanse.

I'll go dig up the message I left at the Yahoo board and share it here...

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Day 6: Pink Tongue and Orange Juice

This last cleanse was a breeze, and I felt great the whole time. I was surprised that I could only get down 3 to 5 glasses of the lemonade per day, and sometimes I was trying to chug that before bedtime! In spite of getting much less lemonade, my energy was great, my eliminations were great, and I'm pleased with the results.

On the evening of Day 3, I checked my tongue and noticed pink. I ignored that as a hallucination, because that seems waaaaaaay too early for a pink tongue. Lo and behold, I am on pink alert again today, so goes the cleanse.

Having left about 2.5 months between cleanses, I guess it's possible I'd be pink on Day 6 the third time around. Besides the short time off the cleanse, I considered some other possibilities:

• On the last cleanse, I eased myself back to eating MUCH slower. I continued to "cleanse" and lose weight afterward with the orange juice and lots of produce.
  

• I gave myself a hard time about returning to some foods. Now, I realize that I developed some good habits that I didn't give myself credit for. I became a nut about drinking lots of water each day, I replaced MANY of my snacks with organic pistachios, I increased my intake of fruits and vegetables, and I incorporated more whole and organic choices.
  

• My wardrobe is slowly getting too big for me. I hadn't really noticed, but people had been commenting about the way my clothes fit since before I started this third cleanse. Just more evidence that I'm doing something right between each cleanse.

I want to do a cleanse at the end of June, as a summer seasonal thing. The timing is perfect, because I'm able to leave a full 3 months between cleanses.

Rock on, y'all!
Hawa (Moderator)
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In Memoriam on Day 3

Tuesday, March 28, 2006
People describe the life of drinking lemonade as "boring," and sometimes fall off the cleanse out of sheer need to break the monotony. Yet I find so many fun things to do while cleansing, like observing the oddities of life on the Porcelain Throne. So before I continue:

I want to call a moment of silence for the toilet paper rolls that are murdered in large numbers while cleansing. [ ]

It's amazing how little time passes before the lifeless little brown tub is hanging helplessly from the roll. One day, the roll is loaded with soft quilted goodness, and the next day it's just a shell of its former self. I wonder if the septic system would need an upgrade if everybody in my townhouse community cleansed at the same time.

I imagine how teams of preschoolers could have endless fun hours of toilet-roll-cardboard-thingy craft projects. Parents would squeal with glee as the next "I love you mommy" project was sent home.

Here's how Day 2 went yesterday:

• I drank 53.8 ounces of lemonade (5 glasses) plus 20 ounces of fresh spring water
• It took my P.M. Senna tea exactly 7 hours to work, but this time, it "worked" for about an hour. I was up from 3am to 4am killing more toilet paper.
• The strange dull aches in both ears lasted all day long.
• I continued to have nagging pains in certain joints, but it subsided by evening
• I found myself watching cooking shows, excited about eating healthy foods after the cleanse. I didn't want food though, even when they pulled the fresh Italian pizza from the oven.
  
• Cooking dinner for my son was easy. He had an organic pizza with basil pesto and a whole wheat crust. I wasn't the least bit interested.
• I do still fantasize about my next opportunity to have chitlins, but the good thing is, I don't want them right now.

Day 2 of My Third Cleanse

Monday March 27, 2006

Today is Day 2 of my third cleanse. This cleanse rolled-in with no red carpet and no parade. I managed to start without a huge blog introduction or ticker-tape confetti. I even skipped the "I'm getting ready" speech from a hilltop, complete with local news cameras.

This cleanse tiptoed in more like a lamb than a lion because I'm feeling like an old pro. Honestly, the nutty anxiety and the frantic shopping weren't present. In fact, last night, mom said, "Wow, I didn't even know you were on another fast."

This is starting to feel like a familiar road. It's kinda like driving home from work. You've done it so much, that you give little attention to the whole affair. That's in stark contrast to driving to an unfamiliar place, when you might turn off the radio, glare out of the window, and tell passengers to "hush" as you try to read the road signs.

For me, there's no staring out of the window with a white-knuckled grip on the wheel. The cleanse feels natural and right.

A member of the Yahoo group (guruin2) recently dubbed cleansing "an expression of pure love for myself." The rest of us have embraced that statement as the most accurate mission, purpose, and victorious result of cleansing. If you've ever seen a person drive miles to find the right gas for their car, but fuel their own bodies with deadly garbage, then you truly understand the need for "self love" above "car love," especially if you want to ride in a real car instead of the funny looking car riding at the front of a funeral.

It's still early on Day 2, but I can share a few blurbs:

• I started the day at 6:15am with Senna tea. By 11:05am, I was making Toilet Soup.
• Mild headaches, runny nose, body aches, and mild earaches reveal some quick cleansing work going on.
• If you have the habit of waiting until the last minute to go to the bathroom, stop it. Stop it now. I just received a close-call reminder that the first "gurgle" means RUN.