Yum, that looks great!

Ive done it with the banana and berries a heap of times, one of my favs. Ill bet the coconut makes it creamy but. Looks like you did just fine without the icecream maker.

Good news, im actually feeling pretty good today. Slept late but since i went to bed late, no biggie.

Still have taken it pretty easy, not trying to do much, but nothings been difficult today that i have done, and my head is really clear, no brain fog at all.

Ive juiced it up most of the day, lasted till 4pm when i started thinking about fats and realised it was time to go to a smoothie. Had orange juice when i got up, a few glasses. Then a yummy cucumber and mint juice (that was amazing!, will do that again), and then a cucumber and apple (again amazing).

I think im in love with cucumber in juice atm, so refreshing. I havent felt blood sugar spikes and lows today, so thats improving already.

My body is defo cleaning house, amazing what can come out when so little roughage is going in.

My tummy is finally flat again today, and everything is digesting really well. Just had a delicious tomato, carrot and baby spinach smoothie, and am about to go back and make more. Yum 

I did the saltwater flush because everywhere i read about juice feasting recommended a colon cleanse. Ive always been wary of them too, havent really believed they are necessary, but i feared the big detox. From my past experience trying to juice fast id get really sick even in just half a day, so i thought the cleanse might reduce that sickness, and i must say it did. I dont think ill do one again but, all your replies is pretty much what ive always thought, maybe i shouldnt have gone against my instinct.

I am allowing for solid foods occasionally, but mostly im sticking to juice and smoothies. Even doing this im detoxing, but im able to keep it at a tolerable rate. Is hard to cope with detox with cfs, but im trying to ride it out this time. Its been helpful that this time round i actually feel good about the symptoms and know that they are doing good.

Cant believe how much better im feeling already. I told hubby tonight im going to stick this out a bit longer than i originally said, because its working.

So far have had no fat cravings, and my juices and smoothies are starting to be really satisfying. One jug full of smoothie and ive well and truly had enough, the last glass is more than i need. This is a massive improvement, before doing this id have a jug of smoothie and still be hungry, so id have some high fat snack.

I am having trouble with the juices though, im hoping this will improve and each day ill be able to go longer and longer on juice alone. I can feel my sugar levels spiking and dropping. Its whats making me turn to the smoothies or some solid food.

I thought id be craving cooked foods, but im not, guess that proves its the right time to do this.

Another positive is tonight (and this was unexpected), once id had my dinner smoothie i really had had enough to eat and didnt go scrounging around for dessert an hour later. Normally i keep eating and eating till im ready for bed, but tonight havent wanted anything else, its like nutritionally my body has had what its needed and all i want is water.

Am having no trouble drinking enough water, everytime the headaches start, i just have some water and they go away.

Thanks so much for all the support 

Ive been thinking on how ill eat once im finished, its a good point. I think to start with ill keep up juice in the morning, smoothies till dinner, and then a very simple dinner. Might do just mono meals at dinner to begin with and work up to salads. Im keeping it no overts for as long as i can.

Whats held me back in the past alot is wanting to eat with hubby, but i dont feel the need to do that so much anymore. I cant worry about him eating healthy too, its his life, his choice, and eating with me has made him crave unhealthy things often so ends up doing him more harm than good. Im hoping my energy levels will pick up soon and i can start cooking his dinner again. His having to cook his own at the moment while im so tired. But at least my dinner is easy, hehe.

A majoy bonus i hadnt considered eating (or drinking) so simply is its saving me money, never realised what a big cost the fatty foods were. Just eating fresh fruits and greens is so cheap!

Anyways, off to guzzle some more water, am staying up tonight to watch the football. Sleep in tomorrow 

Thanks for all the replies.

I already feel like im improving, my belly is slowly getting flatter. This has proven how much it needs this by how bloated it still is. Im getting very weak and light headed on juice only, so yesterday i had a smoothie, but it was just apple, strawberries and water. Man it was amazing but!, absolutely loved it. I peeled the apple too so it wouldnt aggravate and it worked, no pain!

I have been having the odd date, but not too many, and they are digesting just fine. My caffeine addiction isnt so easy to dismiss but am proud that i went all day yesterday without, even yesterday when we had guests i compromised and had a raspberry leaf tea while everyone else had coffee. I just had a tea then but only after having some orange juice with warm water first.

Ive eaten some solid food this afternoon but again keeping it simple, just some cut up apple and strawberries.

Everything is already digesting wonderfully. Im super tired, but strangely am feeling better despite that. Last night i fell asleep on the lounge (was the dally m's, i hate award things anyways, lol) and went to bed and slept so well for 11hrs.

So im not sticking to liquid only, but with only the odd smoothie and plain fruit im detoxing anyways.

I started yesterday with a salt water flush. I thought it would be painful and unpleasant, but it wasnt at all. Ive had bowel preps before that were awful, but this was such a natural cleanout, no pain, no discomfort.

Its been a really good idea not to buy banana's, i think i rely heavily on them and i tend to mix them with fruits i shouldnt. But after only a day of liquids, im enjoying light smoothies so much.

Have made some yummy juices, im keeping them simple. Grapejuice was fantastic, watermelon juice, and i have done a carrot apple and celery today, yesterday i did chicory leaves carrot and tomato for my green juice. Must say much prefer fruits but, and of course the trusty orange. Im diluting all the juices 50/50.

Ummm, not sure on what my water intake has been, but im peeing alot, lol, so i think im taking plenty in. Im going to keep starting everyday with juice only and go as long as i can.

This has made me realise how right everyone is on the food combining and fats thing. I already have lost the craving i was getting for fats, genuinely want light and simple foods.

I think i might do a greens and pineapple juice for dinner, mmmmm.

Oh i really hope i dont need the probiotics, ive been wondering about that if ill need them once im clean enough.

Im trying to think about my tummy like a babies, what would be ok for a baby just starting out on foods, its helping me keep things simple. Wish i had a juicer, lol, straining blended foods through a teapot strainer is interesting, hahahaa, but it does work, and the cleanups minimal. Need to get one of those nutmilk bags i think.

Oh man am defo gonna have to keep an eye out for those black russians. I get excited about fruit ive never heard of lol, it means theres a whole new experience out there i havent yet had 

Well done Jen on 30days! 

Im dreaming of tamarillo's now, lol. A little while ago, someone came over with maccas, and had fries with sweet and sour sauce and all i could think about was having some tamarillo's. Haha, much better than sweet and sour sauce by a long shot.

Try not to be too hard on yourself, and remember whats said over and over again on this forum, transitioning can take years!

If your ever feeling guilty about what your eating, think back how you used to eat preraw and you might realise how well your doing. Sometimes what we feel guilty for is what once would have been a healthy choice.

I find it helpful to try and keep alot of my favourites in the house. Things like strawberries in abundance, even if they arent organic helps feel as if your still getting lots of treats. Maybe some dried fruit for those emotional times, like dried mango i find really indulgent and a treat.

As for being 100%, well im not there yet, and i continue to heal if im 80, 90, or 100%.

If your tired, i agree with Jen, are you eating enough? Do you consume greens daily? Maybe go onto one of those sites like fitday and see how many calories your consuming in a day. On raw it can seem like were eating alot and it can still be well under 2000 calories, and with 2 young kids, youd be pretty active, so may need much more than that, maybe into the 3000s. If it helps you transition, use fats to get enough calories, food combining is a good idea but personally ive found it difficult to stay raw and worry about food combining. If its raw its still improving your health.

Actually even healthcare workers can fill out one of those forms.

Mantoux (tuberculosis) testing is compulsory, but you can fill out forms for vaccinations themselves. Its not widely publicised though, put it that way. I only found out working in an office doing rosters for an agency when one of the nurses didnt supply the immunisation records and i was told to send one of those forms to say that their aware of the risks.

When i was at uni studying though, i was told we had to have vaccinations agains hep a and b to go on placement. But i think its still not really compulsory, am pretty sure looking back knowing what i know now i could have voiced objections and filled out the form.

Ok, have decided from now on no more sooking about all i do wrong and about all my bad days.

Im starting a new journal thats positive, no more focusing on what ive done wrong.

Ive decided im well and truly over the regular bloating i keep getting, well over being tired all the time, i just want to be well and bursting with energy!

So im embarking on a bit of a juice and smoothie feast. Im not setting a length, and not saying juice only because i know from past experiences i tend to detox too fast on juice feasts and cant get past a day. So im aiming for juice only but will have smoothies if i need them. This is probs my first genuine attempt to do this, although ive tried in the past i havent truly prepared for them, and my heart is never in it.

So ive ordered some produce to be delivered tomorrow for juicing, ive deliberately not gotten any bananas so im not as tempted to have a smoothie too soon. Ive explained to hubby what im doing and why, adding so you can have cooked dinners for a bit seemed to excite him, lol, so i dont think he minded at all. I have bought some dates, so i can fallback on one of them if need be, i dont want this to be hard work, i want to enjoy it.

Im keeping my goal small, am only aiming for ideally juice only till sat morning, but will go longer if i can. Ive got a big saturday coming up so dont particular want to be juice only then, but am intending to be on smoothies saturday, then keep it smoothies and juice till tuesday morning. So that will be a week in total. The idea is to give my digestion enough of a rest so any inflammation heals and hopefully no more bloating.

Once off this, im going to be better about my food combo's and try and keep my overt fats in the evening only.

Im not doing this to get off caffeine, but im not letting myself have any hot drinks at least until sat. Im actually excited to be doing this, feels the right time. Ive been thinking about all the possible juices i can make over the next few days, and how i can carry bottles of it out when i leave the house.

Because this is about healing, im not putting any pressure on myself to get jobs done over the next week, will study when i can but am not going to reprimand myself if im not up for it. Im going to start exercising again, have fallen out of the habit, but for the next week it will be some very light stretching for a few minutes in the morning only.

Drinking a heap of water tonight, and ill be taking a liquid probiotic through it once a day.

Are black russian toms the same as tamarillo's??? They look the same in the pic.

If they are, just wanted to add i absolutely love them, probs my fav fruit!

Im so happy for you Jen, glad your doing so well. You sounds so positive and bubbly in all your posts, you send out such wonderful vibes across the forum.

Yep, certainly was a combo abombo indeed. I didnt get diarrhoea from dinner last night, was referring to a few weeks ago when i got it. But yeah the combos werent good.

Still, all things considering, i dont feel too bad today. I do have pain but, from my period, but since its day 3 and my last few periods ive only had pain on day 1 its pretty clear its from last nights dinner. Specifically, i blame the icecream, i stopped eating soy products well before raw, really not good for endo. I told mum today not to give me soy icecream next time, explained i think its caused pain. Tried to be clear how nice dinner was and how much i appreciated and made it clear the fault is mine since i knew better than to eat soy. Anyways, ive told her next time just to chop up a banana and freeze it for me, so she knows for next time.

My body must be able to sense a little damage, coz today not particular keen on food much at all and craved juice. Just made some carrot and celery juice and it really hit the spot. I had a big bowl of kiwifruit fruit for brekky, i did add ground flax though and in hindsight maybe i shouldnt have today.

Despite having pain my energy is a little better today than it has been so i think im on the improve again. Managed to weed my small vege patch today, it made me puffed but still did it (well i did what i could anyway, there are still some weeds but the worst is gone, had to stop once i was short of breath). Also managed a reasonable amount of study today too.

Got some sun today too, which felt great. Did some studying sitting out in it, certainly makes it all more pleasant working in the sun.

Argh!!! Cooked food!

Have had dinner at mums tonight, and she went to so much effort did this super lovely dinner, clearly thought about me alot, and while most of it was raw it all wasnt. I was ok with some cooked veges, and since ive told mum im willing to eat a little cooked now understandable she took that as a bit more room to move.

Entree was great, the salad with dinner was beautiful and i ate heaps and heaps of it, i had some cooked potato with it, and how it was cooked all oily, herby and oven baked i should have loved it, but i didnt. It really did nothing for me, didnt seem to even fill me up, just was nothing, kinda weird really. So naturally went back for more of the salad and gorged on that.

But then dessert came round, and she was so proud of what she made so there was no way i could be rude and refuse. She bought special gluten and dairy free chocolate to dip the strawberries in, was nice really, the chocolate dipped strawberries were good, but i honestly loved them for the strawberries and since its been so long since ive eaten chocolate it tasted strange, the blueberries were good, the almond biscuits (also gluten and dairy free) were nice ill admit, but i didnt love them and would have been just as happy with just the fruit. BUT it was served with soy ice cream, which turned into such a fuss, because the contained had to be fished out of the bin to check it was gluten free, and when i ate it it was so heavily processed i just didnt enjoy it at all, it made me feel a little sick too since im not used to eating foods like that, left my sinuses all sniffly, and now in general im just feeling ick. I feel so bad because such effort was made, but i would have much rather the berries on some sliced banana with at most a little honey and tahini drizzled.

I guess thats all actually good, since my taste buds have clearly changed so much that the fresh fruit and salad is what i truly loved. Even though ive been eating a little cooked, its been lightly steamed greens, or plain eggs, nothing complicated. I think next time ill give the potatoes a miss, and i might have to somehow slip to mum that soy products arent ideal for me. I have told her this before but i guess shes forgotten. Oh well, no matter, i guess its one night and it was mostly still with the diet anyways. Minus the soy icecream was great.

My periods come, and even with all ive done wrong in this last month im still improving. I think the flow was slightly heavier on day 1 than what its been of late, but the pain was still only mild, nothing more than a little discomfort really, and gone by the end of day 1. I have been extremely tired, but i was before my period came so i dont think this time it was the period that caused that. I was feeling pretty sick in the lead up too, but again it may be unrelated, have been getting nausea on and off of late anyways.

Im starting to think im not getting worse or anything, just seriously detoxing. Even my last bout of diarrhoea, i no longer think it was a bad thing but just more clean up, because despite feeling so exhausted and able to do very little atm, symptoms wise i am showing signs of improvement, my body is clearly healing.

Im thinking tomorrow might be a smoothie day all day tomorrow, feel like i really need to give my poor belly a break. Am hoping for a little more energy tomorrow, i want to get out to the fruit shop, all the online places are charging heaps for bananas atm, i got hubby to buy some from coles on the weekend to tie me over for the weekend and they were ridiculously priced, i just cant afford to be paying these prices for bananas! So hopefully can get out to a shop thats reliably always cheaper.

 

Thankyou so much for such lovely replies! Was really nice to come on and read those, especially since last two days feeling a bit down.

I think im just wiped out from working so hard on getting my assignment done, and now that its done and dusted (thankgod) ive got that superlost feeling, even though i still have heaps of things i could be doing.

Anyways, feeling much brighter now 

Sitting here having a nice green tea, mmmm, so so cold today. Im always a bit worse on cold days, but even though im exhausted i actually otherwise dont feel too bad. Have just battled the dishes and stopped half way through coz i was getting short of breath (it happens sometimes), having one of those i just have no fitness days. Oh well, at least i got some done, im proud the kitchen looks a little cleaner and is useable now anyways. It was an achievement for a bad day thats for sure.

Been eating like a crazy women lately, not complaining, i love eating, hehe. Am pretty sure im easily reaching 3000 cals a day, which is great, ive thought for a while i probs need more calories to allow for healing even though im fairly sedentary, so a great appetite is brilliant. Best of all most of it has been fruit, with very little of it overt fats, although i admit to finishing off the tahini last night straight from the jar with a little honey, haha, felt like a pig, but there wasnt much left so wasnt actually that bad.

Got to enjoy today picking some greens for dinner while they were wet from the rain (had to be out in the rain to get them though), but the smell of the fresh picked basil wet from the rain was brilliant! Cant wait to make dinner and rip up all those green leaves, going to make a real simple tomato basil and greens salad, and using the basil flowers to make it prettier, and serve it with some grated beetroot (might put a garlic and lemon dressing on the beetroot, mmmm). All this food talk is making me hungry again, lol. Ok, im defo back in a better mood, thankyou so much ladies!!!

Ok, will have to see how this goes, hope it works properly. Ive decided to brave it and post some photos, still dont want any of them as my avatar, but thought it would show my progress better than words.

This is from our Europe trip, i was sick then with endo, was in constant pain when i did this trip, fatigue was only mild in comparison to how bad i eventually got at this point. Was able to travel for 10wks but only because im stubborn and had a husband to carry everything for me and help me through it. I had to rest alot while travelling. I dont look too sick here, i had cleaned my act up alot in order to get well enough to travel was eating really well, on various herbs/supplements, was at a reasonable level of control but still in alot of pain. You can see ive lost a fair bit of weight sick, nearly 15kgs, i have put a little back on since march but. April 2006


This is from about a month before i really crashed badly and had to give up work, you can see why hey, my skin is awful. Jan 2007


This ones preraw, im doing ok at this point, im at least back out and about occasionally, but i was still sick enough on this night that i had to rest for 2hrs on the hosts bed. Nov 2007


Fairly new to raw in this one, but when id made a massive improvement quickly and was able to do a reasonable length walk, this is on that walk. Was probs a half hour walk. I felt healthier then than i do now, but at that point i wasnt doing anything at all, ive only taken steps back trying to work and study. Also, even though i had more energy then i hadnt yet started to truly detox, my period was still wiping me out then, its greatly improved since march, a good sign. March 2008


This ones my uni photo, so its very recent. Im actually not having a good day when this was taken, was a little pale, but you can still easily see how much healthier i am by my skin. I still get the odd pimple, but not the breakouts i used to. Early August 2008

Thankyou so much both of you for your uplifting and helpful replies.

Ive stopped with the salt thing, the craving for it has gone, after i ate a heap of tomatoes in a day it went away, i think next time that will be a better path, i knew better.

The funny thing bout the IBS stuff, is its been a much later development in my health, so im not really used to it yet, and having to worry bout what i eat. I use to argue with doctors that there was nothing wrong with my bowels, would adamantly tell them i had no bowel pain, went easily every day, and i really did. It was only after my surgery when i had to have a bowel prep and was poked and prodded that i developed digestion problems, all of a sudden everything was an issue, so im still learning.

Im really lucky, i dont have UC (that i know of), so oranges are ok, i can have seedy fruits and flax seeds just fine. Its just the odd things i respond to but im starting to learn.

List of no-no's:

- Grains, at all, every so often i have some, a little of some so called powerhouse food grain, a small amount sprouted seems to be ok as long as i dont do it often, like a little sprouted quinoa in tabouli, but the cooked amaranth i had recently didnt work at all.

- Too many sprouts, a few in a salad are nice, a sprout dominated dish is asking for trouble, and hubby responds worse than i do to this, so im super aware of it and only have them occasionally.

- Peanuts, raw or not, just dont go well.

- Blended apple, ive never tried this without the skin, it could actually be the skin blended thats a problem. Grated is beneficial.

Ive never noticed problems with fat and fruit combos specificially, but for me it does seem to depend on the type of fat, like avo's never seem to be a problem, and ground flax, chia, that sort of thing. Nuts on the other hand dont seem to mix as well, although walnuts seem to be less problematic than other nuts, wonder if its coz the walnuts are truly raw and maybe my other nuts arent, hmmm.

I try not to get too caught up in food combining, it tends to stress me out and i dont enjoy my diet as much. I figure in time ill do this naturally, hopefully that will be the case.

Im feeling......strange today. I dont actually know how to describe it, my period is due tomorrow, so hopefully its just that. I felt so emotional earlier i had some boiled eggs and coffee and i really dont know why. It seemed to ground me but, i was kinda spacey too. Ive started a superfood powder, one of those green ones with like 13 probiotics, i got it for the probiotics, its not raw but its gauranteed dairy and gluten free, so not sure if im detoxing a little with that, it would explain the strange feeling, plus a little sniffly too.

My sleep pattern is still awry, every time it seems to be settling it goes out of whack again, it hasnt likely helped that last night i was working on my assignment till 1030pm, i was on a roll so i kept going, and now its finished with plenty of time to get my referencing done. Was so naughty but, i had a coffee yesterday to get my brain going to start, it was in such a fog. It worked but an hour later i crashed. I seem to be going to coffee again alot, it all starts with just one, i had one on the weekend coz my in laws had some 'special' coffee that was sent from england, and i wanted to try it. I was certainly not pressured, i chose to, i even got the, are you sure? Everyone knows i shouldnt have coffee, ive explained why, so when i do it i get questioned. Its a good thing, coz often it stops me, but ever since i had that one i keep wanting it, grrr, coffee is so evil.

I am testing the eggs atm, i seem to be really craving them, so maybe im a little b12 deficient and my body is asking for it through a source it knows, but if my period is worse ill cut them out again. They are actually helping my energy levels, but since i have endo to worry bout as well, i have to choose what is good for both, its been a problem in the past, some things that make one better make the other worse.

Im going to try and do controlled cooked food if that makes sense. Eggs often, but with raw food at dinner (i broke that today already, lol, but i had some fruit before rather than after so it was still with raw food). Ill allow the odd meat, but no more than fortnightly, and ill try and cut that back later. One cooked meal a week, generally speaking this will be steamed veges with a raw dressing, so still pretty healthy.

Hopefully can stick to my new plan, i think i need rules or its just a slippery slope. The probiotic powder i bought has b12 in it apparently, its got spiriluna, so not sure thats really a reliable source, but maybe it will solve my egg cravings.....hopefully.

My bowels have settled down now, but my energy is still rubbish. Havent exercised for about a week now, just have been too weak, getting really achy. Im hoping once ive submitted my assignment ill pick back up, will be no real stress than, and hubby has started his new job so things are settling down again.

Am still very high raw, even with all my talk bout cooked food, i think i just like to discuss what im doing wrong, am still doing alot right. Hmm, maybe i need to try and be a little more proud of my efforts, i eat healthier than most people, and my diet is better than its ever been. Despite all my complaints, i am still making progress, every month im a little better, just such a long way to go still, but even with all i do wrong i still progress. I think i made the mistake of diving into raw food headfirst, and now am having to step back a little. The diet stopped being work when i allowed myself more room to move and said 80-90% rather than 95%.

On to raw food fun, hehe. Made a delicious smoothie this morning, was in a mood (probs pms) and just didnt want to see anything green, so made one with 2 passionfruit, 1 banana, 2 oranges, 1 tablespoon of chia, and 2 dates, and a little water. Yep, thats defo a bad combo, i know it, but it tasted amazing! Is without doubt the tastiest smoothie ive ever made, i think ive found a new fav, plus it was really filling and kept me going for hours.