Fertilehealthy

I’m sorry for being a bit whiny about being sick this week.  Normal blogging will now resume, even though I’m not feeling any better yet.  I just hate whining!  Who wants to read about that anyway?

So, let me rather answer your questions.  As usual they were very interesting and I hope I can provide you with the information you need.

The lovely, disciplined Heather is thinking of starting Pilates and wanted to know what I thought of it. Heather, I think everyone from age 8 to 98 should do Pilates. It exercises your core muscles, strengthening and activating them, with the result that your outer muscles start wrapping tighter around you, giving you a built-in corset! My instructor always says we are working the inner layer of the onion. You will notice in no time at all how your body changes and becomes firmer. When your core is stable, your balance is better, you move more gracefully and your posture is correct, meaning that you stand taller, look the world in the eye and eliminate all kinds of back, neck and shoulder pains. I do my Pilates at my gym, where they teach different levels, from Foundation and Orientation through to Advanced. The important thing is to really start at the bottom and spend enough time there to learn and assimilate the specific techniques for breathing and moving. The movements in Pilates are typically small, but very controlled and they require concentration at all times. The results truly are dramatic. And you what, I love it! It is fun and challenging at the same time!

Skinny Inside (all the way from Sweden!) wanted to know how difficult it is for me to go out while juice feasting. Well, the key here is planning. I make sure I drink lots of green juice before heading out and if I’m going to be away for some time, I take  Barleylife with me. It’s available in convenient single serving sachets that I just pop into a small bottle of mineral water, shake and enjoy - great for travelling. Michelle has been amazing - she’s been on vacation to a water park with her juicing equipment and this weekend she’s at a Journey seminar! For her seminar, in another city, she phoned around beforehand until she found a juice bar that will deliver juice to her at the hotel, and she’s also taking powdered green juice. Where there’s a will, there’s a way!

As for being tempted by food, it is something we struggle with.  The fact is, we’re not hungry, so we know that our longing for food, and let’s face it, not the healthy stuff, has emotional links.  So we use the opportunity to explore those links.  Michelle has been very successful in healing certain aspects of her relationship to food. I haven’t really been faced with “forbidden food” as much, since my hubby is only eating fruit and salad right now… but next week I have to prepare crayfish starters and paella for my dad’s birthday and we’ve been invited for a curry dinner at my in-laws for Craig’s birthday on Tuesday.  These will be hard for me!

Monica asked whether I’ve been tapping (EFT)? Well no, because I’ve only got to about Page 15 in the book. I thought my illness will afford me plenty of time to tackle all the books stacked on my nightstand, but I just fall asleep everytime I open a book! I’ll get there eventually, but at the moment it look like sleep is what my body needs more than anything.

I reported that I’d bought Eckhard Tolle’s A New Earth, which I of course haven’t even opened yet, and Rebecca asked if I’m going to join the webinar. I’m not, because I haven’t read the book yet, but also because of the time difference. It would be in the middle of the night here. Our PC is in our bedroom, so at night, while hubby is sleeping, I have to be careful not to open blogs with songs on them!

Trisaratops wanted to know whether I will be totally raw vegan after the juice feast. Probably not. We’ll be mostly raw, mostly vegan. Our aim is for 80% raw (I don’t want to give up chickpeas, hummus, roast veggies, sushi and my lovely soups) and 90% vegan. I will still use organic butter, cream and very occasionally some grated parmesan and when we go out (no more than once a week), we may eat meat or fish. But of course it will be good quality meal, properly combined and prepared in a healthy way. I’m thinking grilled fish, ostrich steak, roast lamb shank, sushi, etc. Not pizza, burgers, chicken wings, bacon, etc. We don’t really eat chicken anyway - it’s one of the most processed, toxic foods you can buy today, unless you go certified organic. I expect that we will start losing our taste for flesh foods as we go along, but we are not going cold turkey at this stage. We will not have caffeine, sugar and alcohol. Those things we don’t miss anyway. The lifestyle we are going to be following is called The Natural Way. It’s all about adding the good stuff that will promote health and balance the endocrine system, and avoiding, or severely limiting, the stuff that upset the endocrine system (which by the way also controls our weight and fertility) and promote disease.

Jane (also in Sweden, but coming back home soon) asks if I’m “allowed” chai while juice feasting and how it tastes without milk.  Jane, chai has really exploded on the market here, and you can find so many different kinds.  The one that I like is a rooibos chai, to which I simply add some honey.  It really doesn’t need any milk, be it soy or dairy. We are allowed herbal teas while juice feasting, but with all the juice and water that we have to drink, we just really don’t have time for teas. It’s only now that I’m ill and not drinking so much green juice that I’ve felt a need for something warm and soothing.

She also wants to know whether the flu is a detox symptom. That is an excellent question and I believe that the answer is yes. I did get exposed to my husband’s cold, from which he recovered in two days, but I believe that my immunity has been improving so much that my body decided it was time to fight some past infections that I suppressed with medication. Remember, that when you use medication, you are treating symptoms only, and the underlying problem, germ, virus, etc may stay in the body (I heard a very interesting talk about this by a medical doctor who believes in the body’s abilitiy to heal itself ). Now my body is getting to the point where it feels confident that it can fight the invader and get rid of it completely. The symptoms of a cold or flu (fever, mucous, vomiting, diarrhea) are the body’s attempts to get rid of the problem. But we, having been duped (doped) by the pharmaceutical industry, thwart those efforts by “drying up our noses”, stopping the fever, suppressing our coughs, taking Immodium, etc. I used to do those things too about 9-10 years ago, which is where I now am in my retracing detox journey. So, I am now fighting a flu from 1998! I can’t wait until we get to 1994 (in about 12 days time), when I had pneumonia! Whoohoo! The comforting thing is that I know my body will not take on more than it can handle. And so what if I’m going through some discomfort right now…? I have no work responsibilities, or children that need attention - I can devote all my time and energy to healing. I am blessed. I do miss working out, though!

I am infinitely inspired by you, my fellow bloggers!   There have been some truly wonderful posts this week and here’s a few I would like you to read.

Kyra talks about how unfortunate it is that we, as women, are so defined by our weight, and even our weight loss. 

The eloquent Lyn likens this weight loss journey to climbing a mountain.

Kathy, who always makes me think, wrote about motivation and perseverance. I loved this post!

My wish for you for this coming week is that you will dare to dream and reach for those dreams, like this young man did:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GB2vy6hHOYc&feature=related]

If you are unfamiliar with his story, watch the video of his first auditon (or visit Youtube and watch them all!)  This makes me cry!  He really is phenomenal!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k08yxu57NA]

Have a blessed week!