DAY TWO -- a slow start

Last night I steeped the tea only 50 seconds (directions say 1-2 min. during the first five days). I'm afraid it might be too powerful for me b/c I usually response very well to herbal rememdies plus I was already very "regular" before starting the cleanse. I've read that if you're already regular you probably don't need to steep the tea for long or might not even need it every night. Usually only those who had chronic constipation before tend to need long steeping times.

The morning paranil capsules went down fine, and I mixed the fiber in 100% juice Cran-grape. I like it better than w/v-8.

For breakfast I unconsiously made yogurt and cottage cheese w/unsweetened granola, strawberries, blueberries and raw sunflower seeds. I usually have cottage cheese for breakfast and was on autopilot, I guess. I didn't want to waste it so I ate it anyway. I made a mental note to use apple sauce instead of cottage cheese and/or yogurt tomorrow. I'm making the dahl today that I didn't have engery to make yesterday. I already have some brown rice made to go with it.

So far today nothing in output, but I do feel like I need to evacuate. Hopefully that will occur soon!

UPDATE: I only went a normal amount, maybe slightly more. No straining or anything. It was relatively soft. Nothing too weird yet. Only one time. I'm hoping for at least two, if not three or four times per day, especially once I up the paranil and fiber on day six.

I steeped the tea for about 1 min, 10 sec. Maybe that will bring better morning results. Many people evacuate upon waking. I'd love that!

DAY ONE -- the beginning

For anyone just tuning in, I'm starting a two or three month parasite/colon cleanse today.

First thing this morning I ook 2 "paranil" (anti-parasite) capsules this morning. Felt a little queasy but didn't know if it was in my head or real queasiness. Fifteen minutes later I did 1/2 scoop of fiber in 4 oz of v-8 followed by 8 oz of water. You start out gradually. On day five I'll up it to 4 parnils and a whole scoop of fiber. Tonight I take 2 probiotic capsules and then right before bed drink "kleritea".

About a half hour after taking the fiber I had to go (it's very filling) and went a LOT. I'm usually "regular" in the morning but this was more volume than normal. I examined it to see if anything was crawling around or for evidence of something that could have crawled. LOL. Yeah, kind of early for that. But what I did see was odd. When I wiped I looked really closely and distinctly saw two flecks of something silvery/shiny, like pieces of aluminum foil. EW. Now I know I have not eating anything like that that I can ever remember. Nor have I applied it externally anywhere on my body (especially there). So how did that come out????

Then I went again, about a normal sized amount for my morning "business". That, combined with the first round is a whole lotta crap!

Now I've just eaten breakfast. A large yummy granny smith apple with raw almond butter. For lunch I'll have a big salad with hummos. Tonight I'm making a pot of dahl while the family has steaks on the bbq.

And, it's middle child's 10th birthday!!! (10 years???) So I will have a sliver of chocolate cake with peach ice cream. But since I'm still on my period, I figure the chocolate is medicinal. ;-)

Feeling a little rumbling in the gut right now. Might be time for another trip to the toody-wah. I'll update each day's post with any newness rather than making a new post.

UPDATE: Those rumblings led to another trip to the bathroom. this time softer, almost runny but not huge in volume. That's been it so far today. I did have a slight urge before dinner but nothing came of it.

For lunch I cheated and had the last piece of lefter over vegetable pizza, and some carrots and hummos with artichoke hearts and kalamata olives chopped up in it. YUM. I forgot I'm supposed to be cutting out vinegar. I have to make lemon vinagrette for my salads w/flax seed oil.

This evening I felt really really REALLY tired. That's common the first week or two, apparently as the parasites die off. I took a nap while my WONDERFUL partner marinated and then cooked steaks on the grill and baked potatoes for Child #2's birthday feast. Instead of that I had a sweet potato and a mess of asparagus made w/olive oil. I also made a cup of chai tea so I wouldn't fall asleep during the birthday celebration.

The cake and ice cream were DELICIOUS. The gifts were well appreciated. I love watching kids open up presents!

I have a little headache, again, common, but I'm not sure if it's from the cleanse or just a continuation of the headaches I've been having off andon all week.

Anyway, here's a pic of the product I'm using. Currently I'm doing Colonix (on the right), and after two or three months I will switch to Toxinout (on the left) for one more month.

What tarot card are you?

Here's my outcome:

You are The Moon

Hope, expectation, Bright promises.

The Moon is a card of magic and mystery - when prominent you know that nothing is as it seems, particularly when it concerns relationships. All logic is thrown out the window.

The Moon is all about visions and illusions, madness, genius and poetry. This is a card that has to do with sleep, and so with both dreams and nightmares. It is a scary card in that it warns that there might be hidden enemies, tricks and falsehoods. But it should also be remembered that this is a card of great creativity, of powerful magic, primal feelings and intuition. You may be going through a time of emotional and mental trial; if you have any past mental problems, you must be vigilant in taking your medication but avoid drugs or alcohol, as abuse of either will cause them irreparable damage. This time however, can also result in great creativity, psychic powers, visions and insight. You can and should trust your intuition.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

Today is the day!

The package tracking shows my shipment on the truck for delivery to my house today! I can't wait to get my hands on it. It was excruciating to wait once I took the plunge (pun intended) and ordered. Now the day is here.

I'm a little nervous about what I might see and posting about it, but I hope that this blog might help others considering a cleanse.

I'll post again after I open the package and examine it!!!!

UPDATE: I pawed through ones of the kits, opened up all three things and smelled them. The fiber has a banana flavor and smells like Circus Peanuts, the candy! Remember those? LOL

I start tomorrow.

Migraine Update & Got cloth?

The migraine I had the other day must have been hormonal b/c I started my period yesterday. Makes sense. I started feeling like it was coming back last night but slathered my neck and upper back with tiger balm and dived under the covers and feel fine today. Thank Goddess!

I need to sew more cloth pads so I'm not constantly having to wash them right in the middle of my menses (I mean besides the preliminary rinse). If you've never used cloth, I'd highly recommend it! I don't like to be plugged up, so the keeper or a sponge won't work for me. And I refuse to use chlorine-bleached commercial pads. Once in a while I will use unbleached disposables from the health food store but I find them very unsatisfying, not to mention expensive.

I used to pin plain rags on but I do find using an actual flannel pad is neater. I have plenty of cheerful flannel, so I just need to buy snaps and a gizmo to put the snaps on (hammers always break the snaps and I've read the plier-like gizmo is much better).

Hopefully I'll have more to report about the parasite/colon cleanse soon! Right now I'm still waiting.

Lots of walking today

My oldest is getting, well, pudgy, due to a sedentary lifestyle. And I really need more exercise.

I was on track with exercise and getting relatively fit for quite a while, but with my most recent epidsode of hypothyroid symptoms, I was convinced my levels were low and I stopped a lot of my activities waiting for my blood test to be ordered, administered and analyzed. Really, if it's thyroid, diet and exercise won't help (at least not much). So I spent a lot of time vegging on the couch.

Then my levels came back supposedly "normal". In the mean time, I think like I lost a lot of muscle strength. Well, plus suddenly weak muscles was one of my symptoms.

In response to this and the issue with my oldest, I've begun a regimine of walking. Today we walked one mile each way to the grocery store. That's a total of two miles plus a lot of walking around the store that we're not really familiar with, looking for the items on our list. Now my legs and feet are so sore I could almost cry. I think I need better shoes, b/c, even with about a month of very little activity, a measly two miles shouldn't do me "in' like this!

I'm off coffee! Woo-hoo!

I'm not saying permanently, but with yesterday's migraine I had two cokes instead of coffee. This morning I'll have some chai tea (with black tea; I know not much better) instead. I wanted to cut coffee out for the cleanse and wasn't looking forward to it. Now it's done.

Also, the package is well on it's way. I'm checking the shipping company scans, and, even though it says it was delivered on April 19, it continues to make slow progress across the country. It's over the mountains of the West and must now be trekking across the Great Plaines toward the Midwest. I think it should be here Friday. I hope so, b/c otherwise, with New Year's, I'll have to wait until Tuesday. I'd really like to start on (or before) New Year's to get a "clean" start to the new year. ;-)

Coming Clean

No, not in the literal sense like with a colon cleanse, but I have to revisit what I said about gradually cutting out foods to do a two week candida elmination diet. I'm not cutting things out. In fact, if anything, I've been gorging on more junk as if I'll starve for those two weeks. I intended to gradually cut back. I guess if I thought if I kept repeating it, I'd eventually believe it.

I'm "coming clean" here because I've been doing shadow work, and I know it's necessary to integrate my "dark side" and embrace all the good things it brings. I'm not sure what good it brings to sometimes exaggerate (or even fabricate) things so they'll seem better than they are, but I'll think on it a while and post later if I figure it out. I suppose it's a survival technique.

Today I have a migraine from pigging out on Chinese food yesterday. I thougt that particular restaurant didn't use msg but now I wonder.

So this post is going to be short since I can no longer look at the screen w/o my eyes crossing....

You are beautiful, in every single way!

Beyonce's right! Who knew? One of the ways patriarchy grips women is it's message that we have to be better than who we really are. This is evident everywhere. Look at the Virgin Mary, so often painted with the moon beneath her feat, symbolizing how she has "risen above" a woman's natural cycles. The examples are endless. Here's a a modern version demystified.

I want to give a huge hat-tip with a curtsy and a bow to Every Woman is a Goddess for blogging about this eye-opening piece. And the original source (as far as I know), user edk197 on YouTube.

I'm sure you, endarkened reader, are already well aware of this, but as they say "a picture speaks a thousand words".

Anticipation ...

Remember the Heinz Ketchup commercial with Carly Simon belting out "Anticipation ... an-tis-i-pay-yay-tion, it's making me wait!" (or perhaps you remember the actual song). The whole time the ketchup ever so slowly creeps toward the edge of the bottle and finally drops down onto the plate of food? That's how I feel right now. I want to start my colon cleanse now! I've been reading a support board with tons of posts from other people all about their experiences with this product. . I want to see and feel results. I want to see what comes out of me.

So I sit here waiting for my parasite and colon cleansing kit to arrive. I received the email from the company stating it had been shipped on Dec. 22. They included a link that eventually gets me to the shipping company website with a tracking number. But the delivery company website says it was delivered on April 19. Weird.

It being Christmas and all, there aren't really any updates. So much for technology. It should arrive Thurs. or Fri. Maybe there will be an update on the shipping company's website tomorrow after the holiday.

In the mean time, I'm gradually cutting all animal products, sugar, honey, vinegar, wheat and corn out of my diet b/c I plan to do a vegan yeast elimination diet the first week adding organic eggs & kefir the second week. We'll see how it goes. It'll betough when the family will still be earing "normally". I plan to have a lot of hummos and fresh cut-up veggies around and a nice pot of dahl for snacking. I'll also make some bean salad but, since I'm cutting out corn also, I won't be able to have some of my fav. foods like tortilla chips with beans! Agh. Now this product claims you don't have to modify your diet, but I thought it would be good to do anyway.

The other challenge I'm facing is that I want to convince my doctor to swtich me to Amour Thyroid. Armour thyroid is a natural product of dessicated (dried) pig thyroid. Most doctors don't like to use it b/c it developed a bad reputation of being inconcistent when the newer, synthetic, versions came on the market. I don't know how my doctor will react. He's fairly paternalistic but understands I'm not the average bear. We see him b/c (A) he's on our insurance and (B) he doesn't try to interfere with certain health choices we've made for our kids. So I will discuss it with him and pretty much insist he change me over. I've already checked, and it is on our insurance's formularly, so I can use that to my advantage. I'll try to appeal to the scientist in him that trial and error are a good thing. He can see what happens to me. Two of my friends have done SOOOO much better on Armour after trying the synthetic versons. If he refuses, I will probably pay out of pocket to see a more alternative doctor to get the prescription, but that would suck b/c I'd also have to pay out of pocket for the prescription as well.

Two things that could really improve my health and impact my life on a day-to-day basis. I see them in the distance. I can almost "taste" it! But I must wait here, patiently anticipating them. I know things happen in their own time, but it's sometimes a tough lesson to learn.

Addendum (aka Thank You Great Goddess for Great Partners!)

Wow, so I'm selfishly sitting her all morning, and my terrific partner made pancakes and hot chocolate for breakfast. Where would I be without this support? Not on here, with this blog started, for one thing.

THANKS HONEY! Love ya!

Just a little peek

Welcome! This blog is a new venture and I intend to share whatever my heart desires. So be prepared for a mish mosh and smattering and nitty gritty of my life's journey.

The Goddess Pele and her Grandmother, the Great Uli, have been tugging at me for the longest time. Now I'm finally ready to open myself to their teachings.

I'll be starting a parasite and colon cleanse on January 1. I'll journal that experience here along with whatever suits my fancy. This has been a long time coming, until my youngest finished nursing. He's old enugh now to take the kid's version of the herbs, so I'm not waiting for him to stop. I'm going ahead with what I know I need to be healthier.

So, if you've read enough cliches here and wonder where the "rest" of this blog might be, be patient, check back and see what's in store ....