Let food be thy medicine...
Peace.
Well... I have arrived at the sacred time of the year where I fast to detox all the Ama I have acquired throughout the year. I fast 1 day a week every week. That is remove the Ama of that week. But I feel it's necessary to do a longer annual cleansing. And I always do it in the weeks leading up to the Asiatic New Year. This year it's 3/21/16.
I was planning to take that day off because it is my observation of the New Year. But my job is closed on 3/17 (we are always closed Fri-Sun) so I feel some kind of way about being off on the Monday after an already long weekend. My boss knows I take off on the solstice an equinoxes. So my question is why is he giving us off on the 17th? I'll figure it out. I have more than 200 hours of personal time.
I have been having all kinds of health issues since my last fast. I've found from the day fasting that liquid fasting triggers migraines. I'm not trying to be in that level of pain. Either my body is changing or there is something wrong. The doctors can't find anything wrong with me so I have to take matters into my own hands.
Instead of juice fasting for 21 days, my goal is to go raw vegan for an entire season or 90 days. So for March, April and May I'll be eating raw vegan. May is “Raising the Rod” month. I've never been able to keep raw vegan going for more than 31 days. This is really going to be a challenge. If I don't have healing within the 90 days, then I know my discomfort is a natural part of aging rather than some other issue.
I'm shooting for 85% raw vegan. I've done this enough to know that 100% is a setup for failure. 85% for 90 days is more than sufficient. When I say 85% vs 100% I hope you know what I mean. There is a lot of foods, mostly condiments, that vegans use that aren't completely raw. Soy sauce, honey, agave, sugar, raw cashews aren't really raw, maple syrup, packaged juices, etc aren't raw or aren't vegan. A lot of foods aren't easily found in the stores. I'm not waiting for coconut aminos online when I want to use it now. I use bottled lemon juice a lot because keeping lemons is not a thing for me. I'm a Black person who lives in a Black neighborhood. Black neighborhoods tend to be food deserts. Now I have a car and can travel hunting down all the freshest ingredients... but I also have a job, a family, a life and other responsibilities. Raw vegan food takes time to prepare. Driving all the gas out of my car to hunt down ingredients... not going to happen. So 85% gives me the cushion that I need to make this work for me.
Raw food contains natural enzymes. So when I eat raw, I don't need to take the additional enzymes. I've been drinking a lot of water since the solstice, so I'm not concerned about that at the moment. I've been practicing yoga. I'm planning to work on my supplements. I take a LOT of supplements and I take them willy nilly. I think it's too much. How is it different than being on meds? So I'm going to continue to take the women's multi and figure out exactly what extra I need.
My plan is to get back on the good foot when it comes to running. I want to get back to enjoying the run. Which means no more races. Racing ruins the pleasure for me. And if I want a medal, I can make one for myself.
So that is my spring cleaning plans.
Peace
Well... I have arrived at the sacred time of the year where I fast to detox all the Ama I have acquired throughout the year. I fast 1 day a week every week. That is remove the Ama of that week. But I feel it's necessary to do a longer annual cleansing. And I always do it in the weeks leading up to the Asiatic New Year. This year it's 3/21/16.
I was planning to take that day off because it is my observation of the New Year. But my job is closed on 3/17 (we are always closed Fri-Sun) so I feel some kind of way about being off on the Monday after an already long weekend. My boss knows I take off on the solstice an equinoxes. So my question is why is he giving us off on the 17th? I'll figure it out. I have more than 200 hours of personal time.
I have been having all kinds of health issues since my last fast. I've found from the day fasting that liquid fasting triggers migraines. I'm not trying to be in that level of pain. Either my body is changing or there is something wrong. The doctors can't find anything wrong with me so I have to take matters into my own hands.
Instead of juice fasting for 21 days, my goal is to go raw vegan for an entire season or 90 days. So for March, April and May I'll be eating raw vegan. May is “Raising the Rod” month. I've never been able to keep raw vegan going for more than 31 days. This is really going to be a challenge. If I don't have healing within the 90 days, then I know my discomfort is a natural part of aging rather than some other issue.
I'm shooting for 85% raw vegan. I've done this enough to know that 100% is a setup for failure. 85% for 90 days is more than sufficient. When I say 85% vs 100% I hope you know what I mean. There is a lot of foods, mostly condiments, that vegans use that aren't completely raw. Soy sauce, honey, agave, sugar, raw cashews aren't really raw, maple syrup, packaged juices, etc aren't raw or aren't vegan. A lot of foods aren't easily found in the stores. I'm not waiting for coconut aminos online when I want to use it now. I use bottled lemon juice a lot because keeping lemons is not a thing for me. I'm a Black person who lives in a Black neighborhood. Black neighborhoods tend to be food deserts. Now I have a car and can travel hunting down all the freshest ingredients... but I also have a job, a family, a life and other responsibilities. Raw vegan food takes time to prepare. Driving all the gas out of my car to hunt down ingredients... not going to happen. So 85% gives me the cushion that I need to make this work for me.
Raw food contains natural enzymes. So when I eat raw, I don't need to take the additional enzymes. I've been drinking a lot of water since the solstice, so I'm not concerned about that at the moment. I've been practicing yoga. I'm planning to work on my supplements. I take a LOT of supplements and I take them willy nilly. I think it's too much. How is it different than being on meds? So I'm going to continue to take the women's multi and figure out exactly what extra I need.
My plan is to get back on the good foot when it comes to running. I want to get back to enjoying the run. Which means no more races. Racing ruins the pleasure for me. And if I want a medal, I can make one for myself.
So that is my spring cleaning plans.
Peace
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