Mama Is Coming to Town!

My mother is making her first trip to NYC since her diagnosis. Travel was restricted during her treatments -- not by doctors, but by the medication itself. Chemo happened every three weeks. Treatment itself generally ate up an entire day -- two medications and sometimes a blood transfusion. The first few days after treatment were spent sleeping. Then it would be like having the flu for a week. And then the last few days before the next treatment, she would feel, relatively, normal. Combine that with going bald, and traveling just wasn't in the cards.

My mother hasn't come to NYC very often in the 11 years I've been here. This is only the fourth time, and the first time she's flown. The first time she came here, I believe the reaction was "How do you live here!?!" The way the taxi and car service drivers operate just isn't for her. In fact, when I mentioned that she could use my car while I was at work, she emphatically declined the offer. I can't blame her. The one time I drove to a briss I got towed.

But this trip may be a little different. My mother lost weight as a result of her chemo, and that inspired her to keep losing weight now that her treatments are over. She's been going to Weight Watchers and has lost 11 lbs in the past 3 weeks. This not only helps with her Type 2 Diabetes, but also with her injured knee. My mother has needed knee surgery for years, but they won't do it if you're overweight, and insurance companies aren't keen on paying for it if you get diagnosed with Stage 4 Cancer. They don't consider you a good investment. But I'm hoping that increased mobility and more jeux de vie will make this trip more fun and less taxing.

The challenge is all mine this trip. Three meals out with family and friends in three days while not eating or drinking will be no small task. Not to mention that my mother will want me to eat. That's what mothers do. Like it's their job. (Well, it kinda is.) But I'm 23 days in now! I'm playing the back 9. It's all down hill from here. Piece of cake. (Mmmmmm . . . cake.)

Daily Breakdown: Wednesday

JuicesConsumed: Spinach/Celery/Papaya/Carrot/Banana/Strawberry/Pear; Green Machine, Vega/Water/Banana

Weight Loss:  .5 lb (Juice Feast Total: 13.5 lbs)

Bodily Functions:  Normal

Exercise: Yoga

Feeling lighter

My weight hasn't changed much in the past week, if at all, but I am feeling lighter. Every class I take at the gym, though strenous, feels like I'm carrying less of a load. I feel like I'm getting more extension in yoga. When I'm jumping around in Zumba, I feel like gravity is a bit more friendly. But it may just be that for every 1 lb you lose, they say it takes 4 lbs of pressure off your knees. So, in my case, I've taken 52 lbs off my knees. No wonder I feel lighter.

This weekend I'll be getting my bicycle ready for the season, so I can start riding to work every day. Time to get used to dodging cabs again. I'm a safe cyclist, but NYC poses obstacles that are always new and exciting. I go one mile out of my way every morning just to avoid Flatbush. Any of you who know Flatbush in Brooklyn will understand that the one mile I go out of my way in each direction is a fair trade for my life. When the new sports complex is done, I can't imagine the life and death drama Flatbush will become.

I'm looking forward to getting back on the bike. As much as I like my gym, it will nice to have more outside time. The gym will be reserved for yoga and the much needed post-bike shower!

Daily Breakdown: Tuesday

JuicesConsumed: Spinach/Nectarine/Cantaloupe/Carrot/Banana/Strawberry; Acai for Me, from Crunch, Aveda Tea

Weight Loss:  .5 lb (Juice Feast Total: 13 lbs)

Bodily Functions:  Normal

Exercise: Yoga

Spring Cleaning

Okay, if I'm cleaning out the inside, I'd better clean out the outside too!

I started Spring Cleaning when I got home from work last night, and boy, was I a grump about it. I desperately needed to move the bedroom furniture and banish the dust bunnies, but my heart wasn't in it. I did it, begrudgingly, but I did it. It's amazing what even the best vacuum misses. This morning, I must admit to feeling a bit brighter knowing the dirt was gone. And i'm sure my sinuses will appreciate the effort.

But it made my think that maybe I should be doing more for my insides. I haven't gotten my wheatgrass growing like I'd intended. I am consuming protein which is very different to last year's cleanse, and I'm wondering what effect that is having. (It's green pea protein, but protein nonetheless.) Should I be trying to be more aggressive about cleansing?

Daily Breakdown: MondayJuicesConsumed: Spinach/1/2 Apple/Cantaloupe/Pineapple/Carrot/Banana/Strawberry; Vega/Water/Banana; Peanut Butter Smoothie

Weight Loss:  -1 lb (Juice Feast Total: 12.5 lbs)

Bodily Functions:  Normal

Exercise: Nope

Hump Day!

Today is Hump Day, Day 20, the official midway point! And I couldn't be more thrilled, if you couldn't tell. Last year, I only did 30 days, so by Day 20 the count down was in full force and I was sifting through menus trying to pick out my first meal. While I still have 20 days to go this year, I reserve looking at menus until I'm 3/4 through so I'm not completely obsessive about it.

Things have been going well, and I'm feeling good. I took care of myself this weekend, and went for a massage and a facial. I don't get facials very often, and I never wax my eyebrows, but I was going for the whole cleanse, and it seemed like the thing to do. Ouch. I looked like a boxer after the fight. The losing boxer at that. I woke up the next morning looking the same way as well! I'm definitely cleaner, but who wouldn't be losing a layer of skin. Women, how do you wax and pluck on a regular basis? I'm just a wimp, I'm afraid. The spa I went to had a whirl pool and saunas to relax in prior to the treaments, and you could even get smacked around with oak leaves if you so chose. I did not. The sauna was a bit too much for me, and I only lasted a few minutes before sitting in a deck chair and chilling out.

Just under 3 weeks to go, and I must admit to being much more nervous about the show I'm working on than 21 days of juice. The show is deeply personal, and reveals more than I ever have in a truly public setting. I know . . . how can a woman who makes some mention about her bodily functions on a daily basis be concerned with revealing something? But I think we all keep secrets on some level. We may have done nothing wrong, but still ashamed and afraid to be judged. Writing a blog, you are at least one step removed from judgement. For one, you have no idea if anyone really reads the silly thing, so you can blather on about anything without much hesitation. But theatre, small theatre, you are 100% certain who is listerning to you and who is not. You see people look away, nod off, breast feed. You see people become engaged or look at their watches. It's like hanging your underwear out to dry in Central Park.

And what do you do with a secret you've held on to for 20 years once it becomes public knowledge? Am I letting go of an unnecessary burden?

Daily Breakdown: Sunday
JuicesConsumed: Kale/Orange/Cantaloupe/Pineapple/Carrot/Banana/Strawberry; Vega/Water/Banana; Kale/Celery/Cantaloupe/Pineapple/Carrot/Banana/Strawberry/1/2 Apple

Weight Loss:  0 lb (Juice Feast Total: 13.5 lbs)

Bodily Functions:  Normal

Exercise: Walk in the park -- literally.

The Temptations

I have been running around more than usual lately getting ready for an audition. Saturday was the big day. My friend and I walked out of the audition, and down to the end of the block where I raised my nose in the air and said, "Is that fried clams?"

I guess with all of the pressure off my mind could return to simpler things -- What's cookin'? Things have never smelled as good as they have in the past few weeks. My sense of smell may have become stronger, if that's possible. I can smell bacon from at least 100 yards. Garlic, garlic can stop me in my tracks. In the past few weeks, I have spoon fed an adult chocolate cake, just so I could smell it. I have given over to my sense of smell.

Thankfully, we don't watch anything in Smell-e-vision. When you're not eating, you start to realize just how much food is on TV. Commericials aren't even the tip of the iceberg (lettuce with blue cheese).  How many times to characters eat? LOST had whole episodes about food, but at least they thought they might starve until they the Dharma stash. And I consume enough mango to not be jealous of John Locke. But seriously, I'm about to write the Writers Union to complain about contrived reasons for characters leaving a room. They never have a character leave the room to pee, but they're always going for coffee. Where do they think all this coffee is going to go? And these 95 lbs women eating pie and donuts -- please! They never give these women opportunity to go to the bathroom to vomit them up, as they obviously don't digest them.

As much as I follow my nose these days, there is little I smell that I would actually eat if given the option having chosen to remain vegan. Being vegan is definitely limiting, but I find I feel better so it's a small price to pay. The number of unlikely vegans joining my ranks keeps on growing. Learning that Bill Clinton had gone vegan to repair his health was a shock, but not half as unexpected as learning that Mike Tyson has gone vegan. (I'm sure Holyfield wishes he had gone vegan much sooner.) You can picture Cindy Crawford eating a raw diet, but Tyson dropping 100 lbs (to 250) by becoming vegan seems almost unimaginable. But even more against type, Tyson while reducing weight has maintained muscle.

I have been able to give in to one temptation. Something I fondly called "Crack in a Cup" while consuming. I found a vegan Peanut Butter Smoothy. It was 20 oz of pure bliss. It was peanut butter, flax seed and almond milk, and it was just what the doctor ordered.

Daily Breakdown: Friday
JuicesConsumed: Spinach/Papaya/Pineapple/Banana/Cantaloupe/Carrot; Berry/Beet from Jamba; Hawaiian Harvest; Vega/Water/Banana

Weight Loss:  0.5 lb (Juice Feast Total: 13.5 lbs)

Bodily Functions:  Normal

Exercise: Spin Class and crunches

Daily Breakdown: Saturday
JuicesConsumed: Kale/Pear/Cantaloupe/Mango/Carrot; Vega/Water/Banana; Peanut Butter Smoothy from the Gods!

Weight Loss:  0 lb (Juice Feast Total: 13.5 lbs)

Bodily Functions:  Normal

Exercise: Zumba!!!

Zzzzzz. . .Zzzzzz . . . .zzzzzzz . . . .

I've stopped snoring. As a kid, I snored like a small frieght train rumbling past. Over the years, I've improved to where I sound like a small bulldog wheezing. But now, I don't snore at all. And that is only since the juice fast has begun. I know I have been sleeping better, and I'm sure not snoring is playing a role in that. So the question is -- why did I stop snoring?

Weight plays a role in sleep apnea, so was I heavy enough to be making myself unwell? Sure it's possible. According to the BMI calculator, when I started this feast, I was on the 54th percentile and listed as "overweight". Today, I'm in the 40th percentile, and still listed as "overweight". (If I drop one more pound, the calculator will say I'm "Normal".) For those of you unfamiliar with the calculator, if you're in the 50th percentile, that means you're average for your height and age. If you're in the 25th percentile, then 75% of the population is heavier than you. http://www.halls.md/body-mass-index/bmi.htm

Another possibility, my allergies could have been causing my snoring. I have always had hayfever, which as a child caused asthma attacks. I was prepetually congested for years. And then last year, when I gave up dairy, it seemed like my allergies disappeared. I could finally breathe freely. As a result, I never put dairy back into my diet. My doctor said that I may just have an reaction to cow dairy and that sheep & goat may be fine. I have yet to test that theory. So, it could be that I have removed another allergen. Celery, soy, wheat, dairy and shellfish are known as key allergens in exercise-induced anaphylaxis. The only one of those allergens to be in my diet since the juice feast began is celery. My protein powder,Vega doesn't even contain soy. Dairy and shellfish aren't in my normal diet, so we're looking at soy and wheat being potential problem.

What I have learned in the past two years, is that the body will tell you what is good for you and what is not if you listen to it. It may not be a huge reaction like anaphylaxis. It can be as small as a zit or a stuffy nose. When I went to lectures on raw diets and juicing last year, the thing I heard over and over again was that "if you remove obstacles, the body will health itself." That premise is what launched my juice feast to encourage my mother to make diet changes. If she changed her diet, perhaps her body would try to heal itself. I have never understood America's fascination with medication. There's so much you can do to improve your health and your environment just by changing your diet, so why would you want to trust everything to a little pill?

Daily Breakdown: Thursday
JuicesConsumed: Spinach/Papaya/Pineapple/Banana/Cantaloupe; Mango/Pear/Banana; Hawaiian Harvest; Vega/Water/Banana

Weight Loss:  1 lb (Juice Feast Total: 13.5 lbs)

Bodily Functions:  Normal

Exercise: Diesel, Killer class with a great teacher!

I could get used to this . . .

It has been over two weeks now, and not eating has started to become normal. That sounds terrible, doesn't it? I sound as though I have an eating disorder. Or maybe I should just plead "Temporary Insanity"?

When I tell people what I'm doing, or not doing, it seems to elicit the most heartfelt reactions. People either think I'm a complete whack job, or talk to me about other cleanses that they've tried or a friend has tried. The people who throw me in the whack job catagory seem to assume I've done no research, have never spoken to a doctor or a nutritionist and my only motivation is to lose weight quickly. They think what I'm doing is extreme and unhealthy, and somewhat ridiculous. I won't say that anyone putting me in the whack job comparment is completely wrong. Opinion is by definition a judgment that rests on grounds insufficient to produce complete certianty, and they are entitled to their opinion.

I don't feel the need to justify my choices. People can dislike my choices and question my integrity all they like. Nothing I say will change that. I could say that "I have never felt better", and they would call it a lie. I could say, "I'm trying to be supportive" and they would call my motivations selfish and attention seeking. I'm not out to change their minds. I'm here for the person who doesn't have a choice about changing their diet, and doesn't think they can do it. I'm here to say "I've never seen a cookie I didn't like, but I can do this." I'm here to say, "Change is not easy, but you don't have to think it's impossible."

So, why only 40 days? The juice feast is only 40 days, but the discoveries I make on this journey will continue to inform my choices for a very long time.

Daily Breakdown: Tuesday
JuicesConsumed: Spinach/Papaya/Pineapple/Banana/Cantaloupe/Carrot; Aveda Tea; Mango/Pear; Hawaiian Harvest; Vega/Water/Banana

Weight Loss:  .5 lb (Juice Feast Total: 12.5 lbs)

Bodily Functions:  Normal

Exercise: Yoga - felt like Gumbi