Day 32: The Day My Body Demanded Solid Food

I woke up at 5:30am today.  I thought I was going to have a hard time with this, but I didn't.  In fact, I got up, got ready, and made my breakfast juice before the phone rang at 6:30am to begin my interview with Astellas Pharma.  I think it had something to do with the juice I had.  It was pretty good, tart, and refreshing. 


Blue Water:*

•  1 cup blueberries
• 1 2-inch slice watermelon (I used double that, which was not much)
• 1/4 whole cranberries (cranberries are out of season, so I used the same amount of blackberries)

While this did not yield a lot of juice (probably 6 or 8 ounces), it was pretty good.  I think it would have been better had it been really cold.  However, room temperature was pretty tasty.

I was feeling so good that I decided to walk to the Convention Center downtown to begin my 8-hour volunteer gig with the American Diabetes Association.  Today was the 2013 Diabetes EXPO, which was awesome!  I was there by 8:10am (I made great time) and headed over the bookstore where I ran around getting diabetes-related books for people who wanted to purchase them from our library. 

I had my lunch juice around 2pm, which was waaaay too late in the day, but I just forgot with all the running around.  Unfortunately, this was not a very enjoyable juice.  Carrot Apple.  I don't know if it was because it had been sitting in my bag for a while or if my taste buds are just tired of the carrot apple combination of juices, but I was definitely not feeling this juice.

Carrot Apple Juice:**

•  4 carrots
• 2 stalks of celery (I used about 5, because I like celery)
• 1 apple
• 4 sprigs fresh parsley (I think I added more than that, which made a difference in the taste)

I was definitely feeling the burn after hour 4, but then I was asked if I wanted to walk on the treadmills in the middle of the EXPO.  These treadmills were featured to raise awareness for the upcoming Diabetes Tou De Cur (in May) and Walk (in September).  I ended up walking for 70 minutes, which came to about 3.5 miles. 

Man, did I feel it then. I decided that I wouldn't walk home, since I had clocked in around 7 miles at that point.  Instead, I ran around for another two hours until the EXPO closed and we packed up all the supplies for the bookstore.  Overall, it was really fun!  I had a good time and loved working with Brenda, one of the nicest people I have had the pleasure to meet.  (She's an ADA staff member.)

I think we sold over 100 books and made somewhere in the $3,000-$4,000 range, which is stupendous!  Yay!  All that money goes to the ADA's services and programs.

Plus, the EXPO was able to provide free glucose and health screenings for thousands of Washingtonians.  That made me so happy!  It was a great event that went very smoothly.  I hope that the organization is happy with how everything went.  They should be proud of all their hard work!

By 4pm, I was definitely ready to sit down (for the first time in 10 hours) and relax. Happily, I had plans with some girlfriends I hadn't seen in a while at Palomino restaurant.  We sat, had happy hour, and just chatted.  Again, I'm reminded how lucky I am to know so many amazing people!!!

While they ate some delicious treats like mushroom and feta salad, crab and avocado dip with bread, and clams in white wine sauce, I had my dinner juice.  Sadly, like my lunch juice, it was not very good. 

C-Blitz:***

• 1 grapefruit (peeled and cut up into sections)
• 2 oranges (peeled; I used mandarins)
• 6 sprigs fresh parsley
• 3 kiwifruits

Upon further reflection, it might be the parsley that created an unappetizing flavor in this juice. Now that I think back on it, my throat was kind of itchy upon initial drink.  I might have a slight allergy to parsley.  I'm not sure.  Either way, I think my tummy was not happy with all the citrus,

because I felt like I was having a little bit of indigestion, kind of acid reflux.  It was probably the most discomfort I've felt while on the cleanse.  It was not very nice.

Whatever happened, my body was not satisfied.  For the first time in 32 days, I felt famished.  I needed more.  A lot more. And my body was pretty much yelling for solids.

And that's when I caved and had solids. 

Yep, I had my first solid food in 32 days.  I hope you don't think I'm a failure for not lasting until day 60, but I really needed to have more sustenance than juice could provide me. 

I had been wondering what solid food I would have when I ended the cleanse, and I thought it was going to be sushi.  However, I changed my mind last night and had three small pieces of gluten-free, vegan pizza at Pizza Pi.  If you live in Seattle and haven't had this pizza, I definitely suggest it.  Check them out at http://www.pizza-pi.net/. 

Getting the pizza was a bit of an issue though. We had hail last night.  In mid April! Crazy! And it caused a massive power outage in the U District and Fremont (and probably Wallingford but I didn't get confirmation).  I was so worried that Pizza Pi would be closed due to the outage, but luckily they were one of the only businesses on the Ave that still had power.  Thank you!!!  Then, they weren't sure if they had gluten-free crust (the only kind I can have).  Oh no!  Luckily, I got the second-to-last GF crust.  Thank you again!!!!!

I walked to the pizza place from 45th and the Ave and then from Pizza Pi home.  With 8 miles under my belt today, I definitely felt I definitely earned three pieces of pizza.  I went to sleep with my tummy pleasantly full and wondering what the next day would bring after eating solids.

Stay tuned to see what happened on Sunday...

*page 165, "The Juicing Bible: Second Edition," by Pat Crocker
**page 183, "The Juicing Bible: Second Edition," by Pat Crocker
***page 166, "The Juicing Bible: Second Edition," by Pat Crocker