“Everyone has a doctor in him or her; we just have to help it in its work.  The natural healing force within each one of us is the greatest force in getting well.  Our food should be our medicine.  Our medicine should be our food.  But to eat when you are sick, is to feed your sickness.” – Hippocrates

I’d remember when my mother would look at my pimples during my not-so-sexy adolescent years and say — “Aiya! Huo qi tai da! Your fire energy is too big.” I’d immediately place her odd and off-putting comments in the you obviously don’t know anything category and religiously scrub my face with oxiclean wipes with no prevail.

[Sunflower seeds from our neighbor, Scott]

Now as adulthood creeps at my heels, I come to realize that mother knew everything all along.  How annoying.  But you see, Chinese culture has always practiced holistic methods when it came to healing.  In order to treat a disease we must start with the root of the problem and heal our bodies, opposed to treating them.  Hence the strong influence of acupuncture, herbal remedies — truly homeopathic remedies that still runs prevalent in the culture today.

When I would pull a muscle, mother didn’t give me Alleve.  She made me lay down and she’d pull out her tray of tools — long acupuncture needles, weird smelling plants, gigantic fire sticks that she’d stick in large glass globes to help suck the “Bad Qi” out of the body. It all goes back to the whole “respect your body and it’ll respect you” thing, that the basis of health includes a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.  (World Health Organization)

So often in modern society, we dismiss the roots of our own problems and are quick to place the blame on others.  Our quality of life is solely dependent on our own personal practices – our habits, virtues, morals, and core beliefs ultimately mold and determine the state of our well-being both mentally and physically.

Recently, having to deal with excessive work overload along with the stress of wedding planning has left me at an unhealthy state of mind and body weight.  I’ve felt irritable, constant tightness and stress in my neck and shoulders, and often wake up exhausted and unrested.  With work overload it usually leads to bad eating habits, mostly late night and often found comfort in foods high in sugar and fats.  So I had to stop.  Reset myself. So I’m starting a juice detox for the next 14 days.  <insert shock and WTFs here.>

It’s something I’ve been curious about doing for a couple years but I guess I just never mustered up the self willingness to do it.  But sometimes you just need a big kick in the ass to get things kicking into gear.  So what better reason to detox your body when you’re feeling your worst?

I do not recommend anyone to detox or practice any form of fasting without doing your own personal research and consulting your doctor first.  What I choose to do is under my own discretion so please take my experience with an open mind and a grain of salt. My curiosity for juicing was reignited after watching Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead.  Joe Cross was more than 100 pounds overweight, on a butt load of prescription medication for his various illnesses, and was tired of not finding relief with struggles of poor health.  He trades in the junk food and vowed to drink only fresh fruit and vegetable juice for the next 60 days.  The documentary follows Joe across 3,000 miles with a goal to get off his prescriptions and achieve a balanced lifestyle.  After watching the film, it reiterated to me the excessive nature of our eating habits, the amount of poor quality food we ingest knowingly and unknowingly and the exhaustive and often detrimental effects of stress and negligence that has slowly evolved into a normality in our lives.

Fasts have been practiced in many different cultures and religions since the beginning of time as a way to enlighten the inner spirit and purifying and reviving the body.  After looking through several cleanses, I’ve finally decided to try the juice detoxification cleanse which I will talk more about in the coming days.

I went for a check up with my physician where I had a complete metabolic panel, blood enzyme and chemistry, and CBC test performed to note any differences that may occur from my fast.  I will also be taking daily photos of my complexion and body to note any differences along with chronicling any physical and emotional observations to see if there’s a direct correlation between the increase in the rate of health and better state of mind.  I’ll be sharing the before and after results at the end of my fast.

I invite you to follow my journey for the next 14 days.  There will be tears, laughter, I’m sure plenty of anger but hopefully the outcome will be rewarding.  I invite readers who may have had experiences in detoxes in the past to share their personal experiences and knowledge as I am merely a fasting detoxing virgin.  So here’s to good health, good spirituality and good energy throughout my fasting adventure…here goes nothing!