Need buddy to do green smoothie fast!!

[Saeran]

I have been raw vegan for 6 weeks and have lost 20 pounds!! I recently went on tour to Miami and lost myself in a sea of cooked food. I am so sick--I am now literally doubled over with stomach cramps. It has only been a week of being somewhat off--but we all know that after raw, only a little cooked can cause a lot of problems!! Anyway, I am planning to begin a 7 day green smoothie fast starting tomorrow. I have never done a fast this long and would like someone to do it with me--so we can help each other! My boyfriend would do it, but he's traveling out of town for the next couple of weeks and I'm not letting him take the Vita-Mix! Any takers? I'd be SO happy to share the experience!

[thru_her_eyes]

Hey id love too im trying to get back to raw and its been soooo hard this kind of fast would so help, so no solids just green smoothies for seven days? ok anyone else gonna join

[Ariannah]

I've always been curious, why is it called a "fast" when whole food is being consumed? A fast is, by definition, the body taking a rest from digesting whole foods.

[Banshee]

I'm in...I've only had green smoothie so far today......yum!
When do we start?

[soulstar]

A rose by any other name....

Dear Saeran,

Might I suggest that you consider calling it a Green Smoothie "Cleanse". Just a thought. Whatever floats your greens. :D

I am on my Day 11 of a Green Smoothie Cleanse, and for now I am continuing. My first aim was 7 days, then 10, now it is 14. I increase my commitment in small increments, so that it is easier to committ to continuing it psychologically. Val, another RFT member here, has been my inspiration. (Thanks, Val;) )

I have found it to be very tasty and fulfilling. If you or thru_her_eyes, or anyone, have any questions you would like to ask me about my experience, feel free to private message me.

Val is the champion of the "Green Smoothie Experiment"- as she calls her wonderful blog.
She has been consuming only Green Smoothies for more than two weeks now! Her blog is very colorful and and creatively done, too!

Enjoy your Greens,

Adios,

Elena aka Soulstar

[Saeran]

Ah--well ok then, a green smoothie cleanse it is! Fast, cleanse, tomato tomahto... I figured people would get the drift. Let's stop splitting hairs and start drinking!

[Saeran]

Can you tell us a little about your experience so far? How is your energy level and has it changed as you go longer into the experiment? Have you noticed any obvious benefits so far? Any info you'd like to share would be illuminating!

[soulstar]

Dear Saeran,

I meant no offense by suggesting "cleanse" in place of "fast". I hope none was taken. If so, I apologize.

And I say, yes, let's drink up!

Anywhoo, my experience is just 11 Days long, so take it with a grain of greens! ;) Not sure if it will illuminate anyone, either, but I am more than happy to share. Some of my results may be rather trivial for others, but I appreciate them all!

#1- I have no mucous or congestion in my sinuses or throat, in the morning.
#2 My partner said I have stopped my occasional snoring completely.
#3 I wake up feeling more energetic!
#4 I have more energy throughout the day!!
#5 I have improved my regularity;)
#6 I have reduced my cravings for dense fatty foods
#7 Lost weight after being at a plateau for 2-3 weeks while on 100% Raw!!
#8 I crave LOTS of GREENS in my Smoothies!!!!:D

Your mileage may vary...:)

Enjoy YOUR journey!


Elena aka Soulstar

[vwinters]

Hi Saeran,
I look forward to hearing about your adventures with green smoothies. As Elena aka Soulstar mentioned in her post below I’ve been living on green smoothies for the past two weeks. Thanks for the kind words Elena. I’m averaging about a pound of greens a day. Mostly romaine lettuce. I’ve also kind of struggled with what to call it. If you saw the pile of food before I blend it up you would call it the fixings for a couple of good raw meals so the word “fast” doesn’t seem appropriate. I think the term “Green Cleanse” (http://www.fredericpatenaude.com/green/green-cleanse.pdf) was coined by Frederic Patenaude. I believe he advocates doing a green clense for 7 days and I’m going to do it for quite a bit longer. I don’t much care for the term green smoothie diet. I’m currently referring to it as my green smoothie experiment. But I’m on the look out for the perfect term.

As for my results.


Significant relief in Chronic Sinus condition
Complete relief of long standing debilitating IBS.
Reduced swelling in my feet.
Loss of 29.6 pounds in 20 days.
Some side effects:

Fatigue
Irritability
Difficulty sleeping
You can consider me your green smoothie buddy. Please feel free to email me anytime. valeriekwinters@yahoo.com (valeriekwinters@yahoo.com)
VW
http://www.tagworldresources.com/Tagworld-Graphics/Animated-Emoticons/5e62d28d4f6be95d441327978d53fbb1.gif (http://www.tagworldresources.com/TagWorld-Graphics/Tagworld-Animated-Emoticons/TagWorld-Image-1190.aspx)
http://www.ketoforum.de/diet-ticker/pic/weight_loss/11398/.png (http://www.diaet-ticker.de)

[Banshee]

Reading this thread just inspired me....I'm psyched, and starting tomorrow!:D

[soulstar]

Welcome Aboard, Afavro!:D

[jocelynAZ]

Okay, I have question -- and hopefully it's not too silly of one! Heheheh!

I love green smoothies and have at least 1 of them everyday, if not every other day. They're awesome! My question has to do with soley doing green smoothies for such a long period of time, whether it's 7 days or longer. My question mainly has to do with the sweetness of the smoothies...

Soulstar & vwinters ~ since you two have been on this for a while, maybe this would be better addressed to you gals...

Since green smoothies incorporate 60% fruit & 40% greens (I'm assuming this is based on the Greens for Life book), do you find that after a while you get tired of the sweet flavor of just having green smoothies? How would you handle your "salt" cravings on this type of "cleanse"?

Thanks for your feedback! :)

[Missvanilla]

I am in!!
I would like to water fast but I am just too budy in this period, so a green smoothie cleanse sounds perfect to me!
:)

[mblessed]

Soulstar, thank you for sharing your experiences with the Green Smoothie Cleanse. When you mentioned it earlier on this thread I was curious as well, so I was sooooooo HAPPY when I came back and you had already replied. YAHOO!

And, thank you also for the PM yesterday, when I was saying Hello and had a question about the Vitamix. I PM'd you back, I hope you got it, as I have a big learning curve here with all of this. I'm having fun though!

Blessings everyone,

Marcia

[vwinters]

Okay, I have question -- and hopefully it's not too silly of one! Heheheh!

I love green smoothies and have at least 1 of them everyday, if not every other day. They're awesome! My question has to do with soley doing green smoothies for such a long period of time, whether it's 7 days or longer. My question mainly has to do with the sweetness of the smoothies...

Soulstar & vwinters ~ since you two have been on this for a while, maybe this would be better addressed to you gals...

Since green smoothies incorporate 60% fruit & 40% greens (I'm assuming this is based on the Greens for Life book), do you find that after a while you get tired of the sweet flavor of just having green smoothies? How would you handle your "salt" cravings on this type of "cleanse"?

Thanks for your feedback! :)
Good question. To tell you the truth sweets were never as attractive to me as savory foods. And as it happens, this past week I’ve been experimenting with savory smoothies and find that I enjoy them very much…although I need to watch how much garlic I use…talk about some garlic breath. Victoria Boutenko has a number of savory green smoothie recipes in her book ‘Green for Life’. I’ve not experienced a specific salt craving but I transitioned gradually over a period of 2 months.

Here is a recipe for a savory smoothie that I’m drinking right now for lunch.

1/3 pound of lettuce
1 cup mango
1/3 cup blueberries
4 or 5 cranberries
½ stalk celery
½ red bell pepper
3 cloves garlic
Marble size chunk of ginger
½ lemon juiced
Several sprigs of cilantro
2 cups water

Makes one quart = lunch for me.
VW
http://www.tagworldresources.com/Tagworld-Graphics/Animated-Emoticons/23debd6c3fe44a1dd82e40cb3e56d79f.gif (http://www.tagworldresources.com/TagWorld-Graphics/Tagworld-Animated-Emoticons/TagWorld-Image-1149.aspx)
http://www.ketoforum.de/diet-ticker/pic/weight_loss/11398/.png (http://www.diaet-ticker.de)

[star1919]

oooh oooh oooh... *raises her hand* Count me in ladies... I've been wanting to try a green smoothie cleanse, experiment too!
What a great time to do it with all of you! :D

I'll be starting tomorrow... *headed for store to get the fixin's*

Val... I would love to hear more about your savory combinations as you create them. Anyone else making green smoothies they love,
it would be fun to share combinations, recipes. :p

[Saeran]

Wow! Thanks to all for your interest. I have been having a very hard time today. Without your support, I would have eaten a sandwich by now. And maybe some chips. And chocolate chip cookies... Gee, was I a raw vegan for six weeks with no problem before this past week?! I feel I hardly see her through all these weird cravings! How is everyone else doing?

[tinystrawberry]

some Buddhists consider the deffinition of "fasting" to abstain from any type of food (be it meat, or dairy or whatever) for a certain amount of time.

[soulstar]

I normally have one sweet smoothie early in the day and then I have a savory smoothie in the evening.

One of my favorite savory recipes:

Gazpacho

a lot of tomatoes
1 cup or so of pineapple
1-2 Cups of green (I like Spinach best in this smoothie, but any green is good)
2-3 stalks Celery or 1-2 Cukes
Parsley
lime or lemon juice -Optional (I use this sparingly, cuz I don't like my smoothie to get too sour)
a touch of scallions - Optional
(sometime I add a little red pepper)

Sometimes I leave out the Celery and or Cukes. I really play with this recipe alot.
The Gazpacho base is Tomatoes/Greens/Pineapple

You could leave out the Pineapple and substitute with orange or another sweet fruit to make it tasty.


Savory Smoothies in General:

My preferred base to start a savory smoothie are both greens & tomatoes & parsleyand then I play with it from there. You can use whatever fresh herb is available- basil/dill/etc
Organic Parsley happens to be my most economical choice at this time of year here.

My 2 other favorite additions to Savory Smoothies are CELERY & CUKES

Of course Greens are a main ingredient- And I love romaine/spinach/swiss chard/beet greens/bok choy/ and red leaf lettuce

PS
I tend not to use too much onion and no garlic because for me, personally, it overpowers the smoothie. Others might like to add jalapeno, and garlic, etc. Go for it! It's YOUR smoothie. Put your favorite flavors together!!

Enjoy experimenting, everyone!


Elena

[Ariannah]

I apologize, I didn't mean to sound nitpicky, I was genuinely curious, and not intending to imply criticism in any way shape or form. Everyone's descriptions have been very helpful in defining it for me. Thank you :)

[jocelynAZ]

Elena & VW ~ Thank you ladies for answering my question! I must confess, although I do have the Greens for Life book, I have not yet read it all the way through. Since the both of you mentioned Savory Smoothies, I'm assuming Viktoria mentions this in her book?? :) I've watched her DVD too but it's been a while and I don't remember her mentioning anything about savory smoothies. I must've missed it.

I guess savory smoothies would be like blended salads??


Thank you!!

[Banshee]

I made myself a gallon of EXTRA GREEN (as much as I could deal with) smoothies.....hopefully will get me through the day till I get home tonight...

[soulstar]

Hi jocelynAZ

Yes, Savory Green Smoothies are similar and can be Blended Salads.

You can make them as simple as you'd like or you can add a bunch of ingredients. It all depends on what your purpose and your taste buds are like.

Since I have been on a Green Smoothie Cleanse - I have tended to add more Greens than I might if I were making a blended salad, normally.
When I am on a Green Smoothie Cleanse I also stay away from starch veggies(beet/carrot, etc), dates/sweetener/sea salt/ etc because I want to keep it simple and less work on my digestive system.


Otherwise, I do sometimes add dates, sea salt, and even some nuts or sunflower seeds, and starchier veggies like carrot and beets, and even spices.


I have seen people blend a ton of things into their Blended Salads. It can become a real extravaganza of flavor, etc.

My intent for consuming Savory Green Smoothies was to get a kind of healthy "Raw" UN-Chicken Soup" effect. I was looking for a mild and mellow green healing elixir. For me personally, that means I don't feel drawn to adding things like onions, garlic, spices, etc. But others have other needs and purposes, and taste buds!:p
(At the same time, I did add pineapple for a burst of flavor that satsified my need for a complex flavor.)



I certainly enjoy adding more flavors to my blended salads when I am not on a cleanse, though.:p


Sorry if I rambled a bit and repeated myself. I hope this has helped.

[star1919]

Soulstar... Thank you sooo much!! :D

Love the gazpacho smoothie and your ideas for creating savory smoothies! That will make all the difference for me... *smiles*


As for today, when I woke up... I felt like doing a water fast. Did that over the weekend and it felt great. I'm doing it today, maybe a couple more. Then, I'll start in with the green smoothies... Mmmmm... looking foward to it!

Wishing everyone a positive, energized day! :p

[mershwista]

Ooooh count me in...I think I'm going to go for juice in the mornings and then green smoothies throughout the day, though, just because I am now addicted to juice. Not really, but after a successful juice fast over the weekend I associate juice with that feeling of success.

Anyways, question: On this fast are we limited to green smoothies? Or can we eat whole pieces of fruit/veggies, too?

[star1919]

Mershwista... *giggles* great question for the fasting thread!! :D

Yup... you'll keep things lively! :p

[soulstar]

Mershwista asked:

On this fast are we limited to green smoothies? Or can we eat whole pieces of fruit/veggies, too?

That is a very good question.

I was following a particular Green Cleanse Program, that I may have referred to earlier. I was able to eat whole pieces of fruit within this program. I usually had 2-3 pieces a day, and 2 large smoothies.(BTW, I wasn't doing a FAST, only a CLEANSE. It may seem semantical, but the focus of a cleanse is different than that of a fast.)
Others may prefer to consume only green Smoothies. It is a personal choice.

In my program, I was consuming only fruits, greens, and high water content veggies, like cukes, celery & tomatoes.

I veered away from salt, sweeteners, nuts, seeds, avocados, starchy veggies (carrots, beets), and cruciferous (cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower).

When I am not doing the "Cleanse" version of a Green Smoothie, I add a lot more variety, and allow for more complexity- spices, ets.

Once again, What a person consumes will all depend upon what each individual's intention is,
and where on the spectrum of "cleanse" they'd like to be.


All the best,

Elena

[star1919]

Mershwista... you're so funny, that I thought your question might be you kidding. If not, sorry. This water fasting must be going to my head :eek: Anyway, your juices and green smoothies sounds great! You're on a roll girl... :D

Soulstar... always great to learn new things. Thanks for sharing, and for the savory smoothie ideas!


As for me, am going to do green juices today. Then, will start adding in green smoothies. I like the idea of juices and green smoothies.

How are everyone else's green smoothie adventures going?


Wishing everyone a positive, energized day! :D

[mershwista]

I'm feeling really ancy about now...all I have eaten today is a blended mass of grapes and mesclun lettuce. I'm not hungry at all by now, and I have had enough water that I don't want to drink anymore...

I don't feel particularly energetic but just ancy...like butterflies in the stomach. What does everyone think this is?

PS otherwise this has been quite a normal day.

[star1919]

Mershwista... I'm not sure if I understand what you're experiencing. A few thoughts, it might be a little bit of rumbling in your stomach as you transition past the initial hunger stage. If your stomach is a bit upset, that can occur if the toxins are dumping too fast. Carrot juice can be good to help clear some of the toxin bile and help settle things down in the stomach. If you're feeling a bit nervous, that sometimes occurs as the nerves in the body are clearing toxins. But, I don't know if you're far enough in to be experiencing that. Perhaps, you're feeling a restlessness. I've felt that before. Fasting is a process of physical and emotional clearing, detox. It's amazing how wise the body is and clears what you're needing.

It is important to keep drinking fluids, water even if you're not feeling thirsty. It helps the body to clear the toxins. Dry body brushing can be beneficial too... especially when fasting. There is information about that on the first page of the 'Fasting Support' thread. Also, it can be helpful to walk some each day. It doesn't have to be quick. But, walking helps the lymph system clear toxins better. Stretching is good too.

Fasting varies so much from person to person. And, even individually with different fasts. Trust your sense of it. There is more fasting information on the info page of the support thread if that is helpful.

[mershwista]

It's more of a nervous type of ancy...I don't know if maybe the toxins that were in the process of leaving during the last fast from this weekend just stayed there at the theoretical exit just waiting to get out and then all went for broke or what's up...but that's what is going on.

[star1919]

Mershwista... if you're experiencing some detox in nerve endings it can cause a feeling of nervousness, feeling anxious. Fasting does impact the emotions in other regards as well. Helping your body to clear toxins faster is probably a good thing to consider. If you go to the 'Fasting Support' thread on the 1st page, 1st post, there are some links that could be helpful.

Under the Misc Info Section: there is a link for 'detox stages' while fasting. And, a 'salt water flush' to make sure your bowels are clear. Next, there is a 'simple detox bath' recipe. And, a link for 'dry body brushing'.

These things can help your body release toxins more quickly. Walking each day, a little stretching will help the lymph system clear toxins easier. Remember to drink LOTS of water thirsty or not. When I'm fasting, I schedule the same times each day to make sure I'm drinking an abundance of water.

Lastly, fasts impact both the physical and emotions. If you have any meditation or soothing music, it may be good to listen to. Maybe a quick evening walk. Or whatever you feel drawn to do. Nurture yourself physically and emotionally during this healing, releasing time. It doesn't need to be complicated... just simple things consistently.

You're doing great... have a great night! :D

p.s. You don't need to keep doing the salt water flush. Just do it once to make sure your bowels are clear.

[mershwista]

Thank you so much...I will go read those links now :)

[mershwista]

Some of those links, in case anyone else wants to read them:

http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?t=24061&highlight=salt+water+flush
Talks about the salt water flush

http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?t=12099
MissLinda lists the detox stages.

[star1919]

Mershwista... so glad you posted the link about fasting detox stages. It can help to have a sense of that.

Here's a link that explains how to do the Salt Water Flush:
http://www.colonzone.org/salt-water-flush.php

I'd recommend setting aside a couple of hours for this process. To do it at a time that you're not rushed and able to be home.
It varies for each person, but this will help if this is your first salt water flush. You may prefer using uniodized sea salt.

For info about a green smoothie cleanse, there are a few links on the 'Fasting Support' thread, 1st pg, 1st post.
And, links about water or juice fasting. There is a fasting group that just started, Spring Equinox 2007.

Wishing everyone a positive, energized day! :D

[mershwista]

Very cool; thank you : )

[star1919]

Mershwista... I have a busy week ahead, and won't have much time to catch up at RFT.
If you want to share in fasting journeys, I bet you can join the Spring Equinox group.

I saw in your signature that you're a flutist. I'm just listened to your song 'Angelica' and now listening to 'Snowing'.

Here is a link for those that would like to hear this beautiful music... :p
http://www.myspace.com/mershwista