I haven’t done one of these in a while!  I kind of missed it.  It gives me the opportunity to think back on my week (in this case three weeks!) and respond to some of the questions and comments. 

Did you all participate in Earth Hour last weekend?  It did not get an enthusiastic response in South Africa, since we are still suffering from rolling blackouts for two hours at a time several times per week, wreaking havoc with the economy, traffic and just about everything else.  The other evening the power went off at 8pm and Craig and I jumped into the jacuzzi, since it was a beautiful evening.  When we got out about an hour later, I was holding the flashlight while he put the covers back on and as I stepped backwards, I fell off the little “bridge” to the jacuzzi.  Into the beaugainvillea and a rosebush.  With my bare flesh.  I guess you can say that I’m ripped… to shreds!  It’s not that bad,  but I did twist my ankle, which is scary because I’ve had both my ankles in plaster before from bad sprains.  But I iced it, and am only limping slightly now.  I look as if I’ve been dragged through a bush, because I have been dragged through a bush!

Pattie did a wonderful post about exercise and inspired me to the extent that I grandiosely promised to get myself back to gym the very next day.  Well, um, I didn’t.  But you know what, I’m going to do an emotional root canal to find out why I’m resisting exercise at this point.  I mean, I loved how my body responded when I started working out earlier this year.  I was doing so well, until I got flu and now it’s been more than a month since I’ve done anything remotely physical.  I am resisting to the extent that I will rather injure my ankle than go to gym.  There’s something more going on here and I’m going to have to take some time out and investigate…

I’m still enjoying juice feasting, but the same thing that is preventing me from exercising is also preventing me from “experiencing” my juice feast.  I am in effect still not allowing my old, toxic emotions to surface and with it I’m holding on to a lot of physical toxins.  Everything has slowed down - releasing toxins, weight and emotional garbage.  While my body is obviously benefiting from the juicing, I’m not even scratching the surface of what can be…  And I have to overcome that fear!  I have to start letting go…  but of course it’s easier to keep busy (especially when you’re building a website) and not find time for yourself.  The scene is set, I just need to make an entrance into my own life and juice feast.

Thank you all for the nice comments about the new template for this blog.   I feel very comfortable with it and I love the wide text area.   I think it’s a keeper!

Cherry Dolphin asked about waxing - whether I do full or half leg.  I do from my toes to just above the knee.  Yup, I’ve got hairy toes!  I get a terribly itchy rash from shaving and I don’t like hair removal creams, so waxing is the best thing for me.  I also wax my eyebrows and now my armpits.   Sure it hurts, but it’s over quickly and I make sure not to do it just before or during my period, when the skin is more sensitive. 

Speaking of which, I currently have my period, and it’s a breeze again. That alone makes juice feasting worth it! And I know my hormones are getting more and more balanced every day…

Felicia wanted to know how you hang on when riding an ostrich. Well, you hook your legs over his thighs (which are situated close to the body, under the wings - think of the anatomy of a chicken) and you hold onto the front of the wings, while leaning back. For steering you pull the neck to the sides and to stop you pull the neck back, like a handbrake (the ostrich’s neck - not yours!). It’s stops pretty sharpish, so you have to make sure that your weight is to the back of the bird in order to slide off the back and land on your feet, or you’ll end up falling over forward. It’s great fun! Not very elegant, though!

Elize has a question about Vitamin A and carrot juice while pregnant or trying to conceive. We all read that we should not supplement with Vitamin A during those times because it can cause birth defects. There is a huge difference between supplements and food. Supplements, unless they are whole foods (like powdered juices or cold-pressed oils) are synthetic and harmful to the body. You don’t want to ingest those at any time, but especially not when ttc or pregnant. What you do want to do is eat a healthy diet with lots of fresh, raw fruit and vegetables. You should most definitely include the three colours in your diet most days - orange/yellow (carrots, mangoes - beta carotene), red (beetroot - high in iron and helps cleanse the liver) and especially green (spinach, kale, celery, romaine, chard, broccoli - these will also meet your folic acid needs). You will greatly benefit from a glass of carrot juice a few times per week while pregnant. Don’t overdo it, because you don’t want to go into detox mode.

But when preparing for pregnancy, you should detox your body. I believe that a lot of fertililty problems will be averted if we take up to six months to prepare our bodies before trying to conceive. The state of your health is an indication of what is going on at a cellular level in your body and your child will be made up of those cells. It’s in your child’s best interest to cleanse, detox and build some healthy cells!

I have the following problems with supplements:

- they are unnatural substances and are therefore perceived as toxic in the body (they all have side-effects)
 - their absorption rate is poor (about 8-10%), which means that you’re peeing away more than $9 out of every $10 you spend
- science doesn’t have the whole picture yet and I doubt they ever will. There are many substances in fresh whole foods that haven’t even been discovered yet. They help to make the other stuff that have been identified, like the vitamins and minerals, work properly and in the right ratios. You can’t reproduce that, especially if you don’t even know what you’re leaving out.

That is why I avoid all “enriched” foods with “added vitamins”. My body doesn’t want vitamins or minerals, it wants foods that are naturally rich in all the nutrients it needs, even the ones that I don’t know about and it wants me to avoid the foods that rob me of those nutrients! My body needs live foods to sustain and bring forth life.

Thank you again everybody for the overwhelming support and kindness I get from you every day! I love your participation and I love visiting your blogs! See you soon!

About the picture:

Pretoria, the capital of South Africa, is also known as “Jacaranda City”.  Every year in the spring the jacarandas bloom and the sidewalks become carpets of fallen purple flowers.  Photo uploaded to Flickr by giovanni paccaloni.

I love Tertia Albertyn. She wrote a painfully funny, brilliant book, So Close, about her harrowing journey to motherhood, via 9 IVF’s, numerous miscarriages, the death of her firstborn and the eventual birth of her twins, Adam and Kate, now three years old. Tertia introduced me to blogging. Without her I’d be a much poorer person in so many ways.

Tertia’s a real go-getter! And she’s about to launch an exciting new venture, that promises to change the lives of many people.

We are delighted to announce the launch of South Africa’s premier Egg Donor Program.

nurture Egg Donor Program is a concept conceived by two people who are passionate about the world of infertility and egg donation. Tertia Albertyn, well-known author, former infertility patient and now mother of twins, and Melany Bartok, former egg donor herself and the country’s leading Egg Donation Director are both elated to be doing what they feel is their life’s calling!

At nurture, our focus is on recruiting, selecting and supporting top quality donors who are committed to the process of donating. Our objective is to provide complete donor care – encompassing education, information and support throughout the entire process, from application through to donation and beyond.

We look forward to connecting with you and all the other people whose desire it is to give others a chance to realize their dreams.

For more information about Nurture Egg Donor Program please contact either Tertia (tertia@nurture.co.za / 0824418639) or Melany (melany@nurture.co.za / 0766848489)

It is still very early days. We might not have our website up yet or fancy stationery etc, but what we do have is lots and lots of passion and excitement; and 100% conviction that this is going to be absolutely wonderful, not only for us, but for everyone involved - the egg donors, the recipients and the clinics as well! We are totally into creating a situation where everyone benefits - a win-win situation for all.

PS: If you are a young, healthy 20-34 year old South African woman who would like to find out more about egg donation, please send an email to info@nurture.co.za. If you are an old bat with tired, overcooked (vrot) eggs like mine, but you know of young, healthy women who would like to find out more about egg donation, tell them to give us a shout.

PPS: If you are a South African blogger, please consider posting a note on your blog to spread the word about Nurture Egg Donor Program.

PPPS: If you are a man, thanks but no thanks. We don’t need your sperm right now, but thanks for the kind offer!

PPPPS: Woooo hooooo!!!! Do you have any idea how excited I am about doing something that could potentially mean so much to so many people! Very, very excited indeed.