Today I spent the afternoon at my laptop doing just a wee bit of grading but also spending a great deal of time assembling a new blog, one dedicated to raw food recipes. I have a few up already, but because I ended up using the Fantastico instant installer supplied by my host again (it does make things easy breezy), Japanese does not work. I wasted a couple of hours trying to install in manually, but I couldn’t get it to work. I do have one friend who is familiar with both coding and WordPress, but he’s out of the country at the moment… Drat. I want to make these recipes available in Japanese, too!

I did find a really nice theme for my blog, though. It’s not a food-oriented skin, but it very much matches the image I’m aiming for. I’ll post a link to it on my page bar once it looks presentable and contains a few more recipes.

Today was day 3 of my fast, and I experienced no pain. Hunger pangs have completely gone and I had at least one excellent bowel movement of giant black slimy pellets. (Yes, it is acceptable for fasters to talk shit!) My tongue is heavily coated now and my head feels clear. I did need a long sleep last night, however.

As for my roommate, he’s not so lucky - still hasn’t had that euphoric first major poop, and is experiencing headaches still. Maybe the process is faster for me because I’ve done it several times before (and eat lots of raw foods!)

Today I had:

5 psyllium mixes with about 5 cups of pasteurized apple juice
a few glasses of lemon and water with ice and a touch of raw honey

Today was day 2 of the fast. I woke of with the beginnings of faster’s tongue. In the full throws of a detox, the tongue gets a stinky, vile, white, hairy coating of slime. You can use a tongue scraper to regularly remove it. I often find I attend even more to mouth care when fasting, not just to help remove all the toxins and tend to dental hygiene, but because I can’t stand the detox feeling in my mouth.

I also felt less hunger. In fact, I almost forgot to take my second herbal shake today.

My roommate has a great electric massage devise, so we used it to massage our abdominals (It stimulates elimination in the colon). We are not doing any colonics or enemas (though we should), so hopefully this will help. On the Blessed Herbs program colonic irrigation or at least an enema are recommeded, but not necessary. Usually people manage to remove some rancid, rubbery plaque buildup from their intestines in day 2 or 3 with the herbs alone, and that’s what has happened with me before.I had my first big “release” late this evening. Yes, I feel absolutely fantastic afterwards.

Today I had:

5 psyllium mixtures with a total of about 5 cups of pasteurized apple juice

Today was the first day of the fast, and there were a few things worth noting for me:

1) I was much hungrier than I thought I would be. Of course I expected hunger, but the psyllium drinks have usually filled me up in the past. I felt really deprived a lot of the day.

2) I didn’t have any headaches. Usually the first day feels a bit like a hangover.

3) I had a major cramping experience later in the day. It felt like severe PMS. Actually I think it was an internal muscle spasm I picked up when making perhaps a bit too much effort on the can… Whatever the case, I was debilitated with pain, so I took a nap, and woke up just fine.

4) Normal bowel function ensued.

Today I had:

5 physllium mixtures with a total of about 5 cups of pasteurized apple juice

My roommate and I are starting a 5-day fast tomorrow, using the Blessed Herbs program (I’ve done it a few times before, with successful results.) You take these herbal pills in the evening, to activate and stimulate your liver and kidneys, and 5 times during the day, about every 3 hours, you take a psyllium-based powdered concoction with water and apple juice (should be raw, be we are opting for the more convenient and cheaper mass-produced, pasteurized, store-bought version - sorry, I don’t have to money or volition to juice all those apples. I could just take it with water, but I cannot swallow that disgusting, fast-bulking, jellied psyllium mulch without the salvation of some sweetness! Apparently, apple juice helps in this detox program, but I’m not sure about my personal take on juice…)

Anyway, because of this venture, today is eat-all-remaining-food-in-the-fridge day. Boy did we feast! (Doesn’t look like much when I write it, but trust me.)

Today I had:

watermelon
oranges
broccoli, cucumber and dried tomato humus (yum!)
zucchini pasta and tomato sauce (2 giant helpings)
avocado cacao pudding (lots!)
banana smoothie
papaya

Today I went out with colleagues and at first was delighted that there was a “healthy” vegan option on the menu of the dubious restaurant that was selected, so I decided to eat cooked, as I was indeed famished. Wow, there must have been a lot of unhealthy stuff in that “healthy” vegan meal, because I felt so down afterward, in every way. I just wanted to go home and lie down! I think there was MSG in there, as I felt really bloated, too. I’m sure the beer did not help. I did feel better, and hungry, later on in the evening.

Today I had:

green smoothie
spinach, walnuts, and orange miso dressing
raisins
papaya
vegan set- rice, baked potato in tomato sauce, greens, miso soup, salad (pickled?)
french fries!
beer
banana ice cream

Today was a rather cooked day. I gave into temptation under duress, when I know in retrospect I would have been much better able to cope with the days various stresses were I well-fed. Oh well. After a morning private lesson for which I was ill-prepared, I had to go to immigration today, and ridiculously, went to Chofu instead of Tachikawa (I reckon I got confused by the fact that there is a driver’s licensing center in each city, and I always remember where the Visa office is as it is next to one (of them)). In any case, it took me 2 more hours than it should have to arrive, and I was pressed for time to run around and get the appropriate official “stamps” to prove that I’ve paid for all necessary fees involved in processing my Visa. I have applied for permanent residency, but the office is so backed up that they said I could be waiting until next year. In the meantime, they are renewing my current one. The good news is this one is also for 3 years. That was unexpected, as I am part-time status now and figured because of this fact, I would only get a one-year visa. Great! I also bought a multiple reentry permit in case the urge to escape the country becomes overwhelming, despite my current financial situation (where there’s a will there’s a way.)

So back to food - between all the running around there were stops at the convenience store, noodle shop, and Starbucks. This is DESPITE traveling equipped with fresh fruit in my purse. Just wasn’t up for it today- what can I say? Plus currently, I am enjoying a raw fruit smoothie than has been infused with tequila. So kill me. I am going on a fast next week, so actually I should be eating even more raw, but in thinking about that my desire to eat mainstream food seems to have increased.

OK, tomorrow’s the last day of classes, so I’d better finish writing up the exams! (no, there is not that much tequila in my smoothie.)

Today I had:

fuzzy navel (oranges, water, vanilla, dates, pecans)
seaweed salad and cooked vegetables
veggie onigiri (rice ball)
packaged vegetable juice
soba noodles with wakame
herbed olives
soy latte
fruit smoothie with tequila
more herbed olives