By Guest Blogger on February 6, 2012
My husband and I recently did an 8-day juice fast. Not as big a deal for me, as a nutrition coach, but a pretty big step for my husband. His idea of “green” was sautéed spinach and eggs; healthy meant a hemp smoothie. Green juice? Never.
It turned out to be a pretty big deal for our marriage.
You know the physical effects of cleansing or juicing: glowing skin, (wow; like a moonbeam) weight loss, (a good five pounds for me, eight for him — darn those men) increased energy, and clear thinking. But not much is said about the emotional piece.
There’s a big part of the cleansing ritual that rocks our emotional world. The more intense the cleanse + the longer you go, the more profound your experience may be.
Juicers don’t come with a warning: Proceed at risk. Juicing may put you in touch with long forgotten emotional issues you’d rather leave dormant.
Each time I cleanse, I’m surprised at the insights, revelations, and forgiveness that surfaces. Old thoughts come in, sometimes days of negative stuff, comments, hurts, offense, fears.
Why am I thinking about that? That was years ago, pre-happy marriage. She was always passive-aggressive; why did I hang in so long with that friendship? I was wrong to say that. I could have done better. I’m glad to have moved on. I made mistakes; he made mistakes, some we made together.
Hurts, pains, fleeting moments of “a-ha’s”… healing again, moving through it all again. No big drama, but pin-pricks of pain that had added up.
Our 8-day cleanse was like that. Things floated in and out. We talked and processed. We made peace with others, and most importantly, we made peace with each other.
By day six we realized what had been going on — things had come up and out. They left. They were gone forever.
We felt clear and content. Satisfied with where we were. Actualized in our thoughts. We got real about ourselves and eachother. Somehow dealing with our separate pin-pricks had brought us closer.
“By day 6 we could say anything to anybody,” I scrawled in pencil on my calendar. We went to a party, sober and drinking green juice. We smiled, we laughed and we felt like we had a secret.
It was a wonderful secret. It said, I’m clear in my thinking, I’m 100-percent honestly present, and I’m tuned into you. Expect no pretense or posture. Here I am. A wonderful way to be.
We regretfully went off our cleanse after eight days. It was over.
We mourned the lightness of being, sadly knowing it was time to return to the real world. My husband woke on day 7 and said he didn’t want to stop. I feel amazing. He looked at me — I felt like I could never eat again. How weird is that?
I know. I knew. I’d been there before. We felt lighter, and his skin looked like a moonbeam. We’d connected and shared a crunchy couple of days, emotional turmoil + processing and emerged from the cycle on a higher level—in touch with our emotions and each other in a profound way. We were floating, hovering above Earth.
We’d both ignored things … previously thought silly things. But they were important enough to come back and demand to be dealt with .
We looked at each other and smiled, sadly.
“We’ll go easy,” I said. I’ll make a vegetable soup … and one day we’ll do it again.
Holli Thompson is a nutritional stylist who focuses on holistic health, cooking, and alternative medicine.
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By Guest Blogger on April 25, 2011
By Cherie Calbom, MS
TV hosts such as Dr. Oz have taken juicing and green smoothies to mainstream America, and the popularity of juicing has soared. It’s catching on with all sorts of people – from soccer moms to busy executives, stars and athletes. That’s because it’s a quick, easy and economical way to get healthy and stay fit. Many stars eat raw food and juice to prepare for a role or an appearance. Some athletes power up their performance with the high-energy fuel of raw juice. But for most Americans, it’s a way to energize their day and get healthier.
People who embark on a juicing-for-health program often get excited because they lose weight so easily. But after the initial thrill of the pounds melting away without a lot of effort, they usually say weight loss became secondary to all the other great health benefits they experienced.
It may seem too simplistic that what you eat or drink could have a profound impact on your health. But a recent study, which evaluated surveys of 500 people on a living foods diet, showed amazing health benefits from choosing raw foods. (Freshly made juice is the supreme raw food). The study showed that more than 80 percent of the people surveyed lost weight. But that was only the beginning of their transformation. These people reported marked improvements in immunity, digestion, allergies, women’s issues, and chronic illness. They enjoyed better sleep and the need for less of it.
They also described improvement in many skin conditions such as eczema, skin eruptions, dryness, oiliness and susceptibility to sunburns. Their hair grew thicker, stronger and more lustrous, with decreased thinness, weakness, oiliness, dryness, dullness and dandruff. Nail strength improved. Body odor decreased sharply while eyesight and sense of smell improved. There was a marked increase in energy, and a significant decrease in addictions and use of medications. Results also showed a substantial decrease in allergies. And, the vast majority of respondents (87.5 percent) reported better mental, emotional, and spiritual health.1
So what’s really going on when people consume live juice that could offer such stellar benefits? When you consistently drink fresh raw juice, especially vegetable juice that includes plenty of dark leafy greens, along with eating lots of vegetables and fruit and a very healthy diet, your whole internal environment changes. Juice, which is rich in antioxidants, cleanses the body of stored wastes and toxins that interfere with the proper functioning of cells and organs. This garden-in-a-glass offers an abundance of vitamins, minerals, enzymes, phytonutrients and antioxidants – a cornucopia of nutrients that increase the mirco-electric potential of the cells. This improves the body’s use of oxygen so the muscles and both the muscles and brain are energized.
A healthy, vibrant internal environment is a key to optimum health. This means our cells, organs, and systems are able to do the jobs they are designed to do. A healthy bio-terrain also requires plenty of enzymes, which are abundant in raw juice. Further, vegetables and fruit are very alkaline, which helps to balance a diet that is often quite acidic for most Americans.
Raw juices are also replete with biophotons – those light rays of energy plants get from the sun. When we pasteurize juice (all commercial juices are pasteurized even the ones in store refrigerators) those beautiful rays of energy are destroyed. The latest research by Professor F.A. Popp and Dr. H. Niggli shows that, in addition to the chemical composition of our food, light energy (biophotons) is an important factor in food value.2
The more light a food is able to store, the more nutritious it is. Naturally grown, sun-ripened, fresh vegetables and fruit are rich in light energy. Therefore, the capacity to store biophotons is a measure of the quality of your food. Stored energy from the sun finds its way into your cells via food in the form of these minute particles of light. They energize cells by supplying fuel for the mitochondria (the energy furnaces of your cells that pump out adenosine diphosphate, the fuel that is used by cells). Practically speaking, this means you feel more energized and your metabolism revs up.
Often, people who can’t lose weight because of toxins, find that fat just melts away on this diet, which includes two glasses of vegetable juice a day along with a low-carb diet that is rich in living foods. One reason juice facilitates weight loss is because it’s concentrated with nutrients. Along comes the antioxidant-rich juice that binds up toxins and carries them out of the body. Then, the body can let go of fat cells that were storing toxins to protect delicate tissues and organs.
People often report that when they change their diet to include plenty of live juices, their body undergoes a transformation similar to a caterpillar becoming a butterfly. They start feeling better, lighter, and more energized as time goes on. Sleep improves. Energy kicks up a notch, and mood improves. The mind becomes more alert and creative, while disorganizing brain fog fades away because all the nutrients in fresh juice help the mind and body revive.
In the process, overall health improves. Ailments and chronic diseases begin to heal for many people. Then, a person’s whole life changes because they have the energy to accomplish their goals.
Cherie Calbom earned a Master of Science degree in whole foods nutrition from Bastyr University. She is author of the best-selling book, “The Juice Lady’s Turbo Diet,” along with seventeen additional books including “Juicing, Fasting, and Detoxing for Life.” She has appeared on scores of TV shows including CNN and Fox National News.
Sources
1 Raw Food Diet Study http://www.iowasource.com/food/lenkastudy_0806.html Accessed April 22, 2011.
2 McDonald’s and Biophoton Deficiency http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/ciencia/ciencia_industryweapons78.htm Accessed April 22, 2011.
Photo credit: bitt
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By Kris Carr on January 19, 2011
Crazy Sexy Diet Posse!
I’m bowled over by the massively supportive and enthusiastic response to Crazy Sexy Diet! It’s now the #1 best selling book on Amazon. Holy green juice! It filled me with joy to see hundreds of health crusaders ready to take 2011 by storm at my New York City book tour events this week. And did you happen to tune-in when I rocked the plants on Good Morning America? If you haven’t picked up Crazy Sexy Diet yet, what are you waiting for, sassy?
Check out some of my top tips for supercharged living below, plus my favorite green juice and smoothie recipes. This handy list is a great reminder when you fall off the wellness wagon. Speaking of which…Have you jumped on board for the 21-day Crazy Sexy Diet cleanse? There’s still time! It’s happening right now, so scoot over to my.crazysexylife.com and make some Crazy Sexy Diet pals.
Peace & sparkly unicorns,
Kris Carr
Top 15 Crazy Sexy Diet Tips
1. Get back to nature and back to the garden – preferably the organic garden – when affordable – when not, try to choose fruits and veggies that are less sprayed. You can find a Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides at foodnews.org. There are over 80,000 chemicals in our world today, eating them and putting them on our bodies is a dangerous proposition.
2. Create an anti-inflammatory diet and lifestyle. Learn about pH, the acid/alkaline balance, and say goodbye to the SAD, acidic diet in favor of alkaline raw organic veggies, sprouts, green drinks, green smoothies, enzymes, vitamins, minerals, love and oxygen.
3. Make juice not war. Green smoothies are great too. My favorite juicer is the Breville Ikon, and the best blender is the Vitamix. Instead of your morning cup of Joe, (or nightly cup of booze) try filling your day with fresh vegetable juice.
4. Drink lots of clean, purified water.
5. Decrease the amount of animal products you consume (especially dairy products) and move towards more of a plant-based diet.
6. Refined sugars and processed starches are the devil – dump them. If it’s made in a lab it takes a lab to digest. If it has a shelf life longer than you, don’t eat it. Choose low glycemic foods as much as possible.
7. Shake your booty. Your lymph system, which carries away waste, needs you! Unlike your heart, it doesn’t have a pump. Aerobics is the pump. Brisk walking is the pump. Yoga is the pump.
8. Give your colon a regular spring-cleaning. That’s right, flood your body with alkalinity and flush it of toxins. As the good stuff goes in the bad stuff should come out – on a regular basis.
9. Use natural skincare products. Your skin is your largest organ and what you put on it you literally drink in. Everything you consume either gets assimilated or eliminated. Chemical creams and perfumes tax your body big time.
10. Stress also creates acidity, so turn down the volume on chaos and turn up the joy factor up. Find and regularly commit to activities that help you bring it down a notch. Some ideas: meditation, gratitude journaling, guided relaxation or visualization CD’s, nature.
11. Snooze. Snooze. Snooze. Optimal hours: 11-7am.
12. Chew. Your stomach does not have teeth.
13. And stop eating late so that when you snooze, your body can focus on repair instead of digestion.
14. Set boundaries so that you have the physical and emotional time to take care of yourself – it’s not selfish, it’s self-preserving.
15. Make time for fun, for love, for laughter!
Make Juice Not War Green Drink
It’s our motto and our morning beverage. Here’s what we serve in the Carr/Fassett home daily. This recipe makes almost 32 oz.
-2 large cucumbers (peeled if not organic)
-Big fist full of kale or romaine
-Big fist full of sweet pea sprouts (if easy to find)
-4-5 stalks celery
-1-2 big broccoli stems
-1-2 pears or green apples (optional)
*Other optional greens we love: spinach
Kris Carr’s Green Smoothie
Makes enough for 2 people. You can adjust the recipe accordingly. My taste buds are different than yours so don’t be afraid to play!
-1 Avocado
-1-2 pieces of low glycemic fruit: we love green apple, pear, berries & cantaloupe
-1 Cucumber
-A bit of kale or romaine or spinach
-Coconut water (or purified water)
-Stevia to taste
*You can also add a sprinkle of cinnamon and some cacao.
*You can also use coconut meat or almond butter or nut milk in place of avocado.
PS- The prevention is hot revolution is on the rise! Catch me next at these hot spots (full schedule here):
-January 20 (7 p.m.): Fairfield Theater Company | 70 Sanford Street, Fairfield CT 06824 (Sold out!)
-January 22 (12-2 p.m.): Elizabeth’s Gone Raw | 1341 L Street, NW Washington, DC 20005
-January 23 (4-5:30 p.m.): Borders |8027 Leesburg Pike, Vienna, VA 22182
-January 24 (7-8:30 p.m.): breathe books | 816 W 36th St, Baltimore, MD 21211
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By Kris Carr on October 1, 2010
Hi juicy friends!
This week I am honored to have a super special guest, my hubby Brian. He’s the Master of the House, the Pharaoh of Breville, the Vitamix Whisperer and he’s here to give you some special tips and tricks. Hope you enjoy and have a brilliant weekend tootsies….
Peace & family kitchen time,
Kris
PS. We forgot to mention that we use purified water or coconut water or even almond milk to blend our smoothies. Lately we’ve been enjoying some almond butter in place of avocado in our blender disco. Oh my, it’s good. xo!
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By Kris Carr on August 11, 2010
Hi Spiritual Marathon Runner!
This week’s Love List is all about the simple things that help me make a shitty day (canSer check-ups) a little easier. I bet lots of you know exactly what I mean. On Friday, I’ll be vlogging about the best tool I’ve found to cope with the fear. Until then I hope you enjoy my list! Share your tips/tricks if you’re moved to do so…
1. The flowers that Brian picked and placed in the car for our very long drive. Just when I thought he wasn’t romantic – bam!
2. Sports bras with no metal so I don’t have to strip down to nothing and wear a gown. Plus, ya ever notice how cold the CAT scan room is? Headlights galore!
3. Trash magazines. Who the heck can focus on a highbrow novel while sitting in the waiting room at the canSer hut? Not moi! Bring it J-Lo. Hola Snooki.
4. A nice hotel with a King size bed and really expensive movies. We make scan night in Boston date night – a fancy dinner and a room with style help take the edge off (bathtub included…ahhh Epsom salt and lavender).
5. Red Super Girl underwear with stars. Um, need I say more? I think not.
6. Bringing an extra green juice for after my scan. The shit they pump into me sucks, but the greens I pump into me when they’re done help move the garbage out.
7. My amazing oncologist who continues to help me cope with living with canSer. Seven years later, he’s still suggesting that I do nothing (meaning no conventional treatment). Many oncologists would have pushed drugs by now. No thanks. Make juice not war baby!
8. The fabulous (and more than likely gay) tech who suggested I take a few Ativan and listen to Streisand if I ever find myself in need of an MRI (they take longer). What a wonderful way to kill the time!
9. The post scan vacation Brian and I took with the whole Fassett clan in Cape Cod! My nieces and nephews ROCK.
Off for a run…
LOVE u…
Peace and nuclear medicine,
Kris
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