watch your fingers! - days 9 & 10

3rd day of raw and im preparing and creating more food than ever! with some bloody repercussions... i like to observe what my reflex reactions are to things. i dropped a nice curse when i sliced my finger open last night. should have gone to bed while i was ahead. still learning. moments like this render it so much more amazing to me that when Gandhi was shot, he fell down saying Ram (his mantra - a name of God), or when i tell my gramma to talk to test her hearing aid, she starts saying the hail mary. what's your internal mantra?

and sprouting? ...it really IS fun! i can't believe im saying that either. but those crazy posts about living food are true. to see a sprout emerge from what was hard as a stone is really neat. day 1 had my chickpeas just starting little white sprouts (pic forthcoming)

day 2 meant slightly longer sprouts - and then they were pulverized into hummus. i wanted to wait for green on the sprouts, but i cant imagine letting them grow longer than 2 days b/c the sprout is fibrous and i think it could start to make the bean a little tough. i have always hated chickpeas, but i like the sprouted taste & consistency. i started sprouting lentils this morning. keep you posted.

i made the hummus with raw (of course) garlic. my sugar-loaded body despised onion and garlic, but ive had such a taste for garlic so i caved, thinking it my body's cry for immuno-defense and additional detox-ifying help... i sampled some of my handiwork before bed last night; first thing this morning, my coworker commented about my garlic smell. so in typical c. fashion, i offered it around to everyone in my vicinity so we'll all stink! :D

god's gift: avocados with a squeeze of lime, sea salt, and fresh black pepper. mmmm! next up: guac w/ fresh cilantro.

went to the doc yesterday and he was very positive about the cleanse. (note: this is my doctor, approving of it for my own body, so dont take my word for it. if you're concerned about trying it, get your own opinion. so there.) the supplements tested very well on my body. he commented that my muscles are working so much better ("like a completely different body") than when he saw me a few weeks ago. i asked him why i am so exhausted and he says im converting my body from a sugar-burning body to a fat-burning body. oh. and that it should take about 2 to 3 weeks before i stop being so tired. he always seems to tell me what i already know, i had mentally given myself a 2-3 week timeframe. i expect that i should be back to normal energy or beyond sometime next week.

thought for today from dalai lama's autobiography... he says lots of positive things about the West, but this comment after he visited NYC particularly struck me...

"Another observation is that there are a lot of people in the West who live comfortably in large cities, but virtually isolated from the broad mass of humanity. I find this very strange - that under the circumstance of such material well-being and with thousands of brothers and sisters for neighbors, so many people appear able to show their true feelings only to their cats and dogs. This indicates a lack of spiritual values, I feel. Part of the problem here is perhaps the intense competitiveness of life in these countries, which seems to breed fear and a deep sense of insecurity.

For me, this alienation is symbolized by something I once saw at the home of a very rich man whose guest I was on one of my trips abroad. It was a very large private house, obviously designed expressly for convenience and comfort, and fitted with every kind of appliance. However, when I went into the bathroom, I could not help noticing two large bottles of pills on the shelf about the hand basin. One contained tranquilizers, the other sleeping pills. This was proof, too, that material prosperity alone cannot bring about lasting happiness."

live large,
c.