Right here with ya! Im starting a juice fast today. I will only be able to fit in 10 days until I go on a long trip visiting family in another state. I may have social gatherings this weekend as well. I really do not want to start the negative self-talk if I have to break and eat a salad (or something similiar).Im not doing the whole IP, not at this time. But this is still some great healing time and great practice juicing! Stay positive and keep jucing as much as possible. ))hugs(( ~eme

I would consider yourself before 'others' when it comes to healing yourself.
If I recall you've had some pretty major health issues at hand and one MAJOR way of caring/loving yourself is to allow yourself to heal. The IP program will bring healing if you go with it.

I say this because the emotional component of my health issues has to do with always putting others first as well as their opinions and not taking care of myself. I am a very compassionate person so giving and caring for others comes easy for me but no longer to my own demise.

Doing this fast and cleanse for the 1st time in April gave me a sense of truly loving myself enough to forgo all social stuff, negativity from others, lack of understanding ect. I literally had to change my life to accomadate being on the IP program. Was it worth it? Absolutely. Staring Round 2 today.

There is a reason you committed to it in the first place. Honor Yourself.

Hummingbird Sage

>>> I told myself that if I did break the fast before the 30 days I wasn't going to beat myself up, so that is my goal. My new tentative plan of attack is to juice everyday until dinner where I will eat veggies. When my social scene has settled down I will pick the fast up again. I can say that I am disappointed, but still glad I made it this far. Any comments on my tentative plan are appreciated.<<<

Given the entire situation (in the tiny nutshell version you've posted), your plan *seems* like a good one...depending upon the various variables of your "societal scenery". And we should NEVER beat ourselves up over stopping a fast (unless the reason we stopped shows that we aren't serious about our health & healing).

Like I've said many times already (and will likely say thousands of more times)....it's my job/calling to present the truth the best, most effective way I can - thank HEAVENS it's *not* my job to decide what any one person does with it. And it's not my job (nor any one's on this or any other forum) to "judge" one another negatively. We should all strive to be full of loving support (yet share the truth and UPHOLD the truth).

That being said, I present these 'truths' to EVERYBODY reading this post:

--We are DEFINITELY in a war when it comes to healing ourselves naturally and living a truly "good" life. Depending upon one's level of knowledge, research, where each is on 'life's staircase of learning'(and whether or not we've removed the 'sheeple blinders' partially or in full)...our battles take on various 'personalities & intensities), and our battle plans & weapons for victory are created & chosen accordingly. (Also, let it be known that I think it's a crock that to be truly normal and heal our bodies naturally requires some type of a 'battle plan'...but it does, so there's no use wasting any time/energy lamenting the fact. Let's just win the victory so that those that follow us do not have to deal with it!)

--There's also the 'relative truths' to be considered and factored in. If I have lived my entire life with absolutely NO pain, and I get a paper cut...? That pain is THE WORST, most excruciating pain I've ever experienced in my life. It's rates a 10 on the scale of 1-10. But if I've been tortured as a prisoner of war, a paper cut is a .5 (or doesn't even register as pain). Both "pain ratings" are truthful & correct. What is a totally "unwinnable" level of societal pressure to one person, could be a 'dustbunny issue' to someone else.

Personally, Rocky and I (now) would never be influenced in any way, shape, or form by the "@sshole sheeple"....we k-n-o-w know they're blinded & brainwashed (not their fault), and that our health, life & bodies are worth far more to us than the opinion of a person that is the intellectual/emotional equivalent of a slug. Most of them (doctors included) truly do mean well - but they don't know the truth. We wouldn't let the tantrum of the 3 year old affect our health choices, and we won't let sheeple-slug-people do it either. Why would I EVER allow the opinion of someone that knows substantially less than me about ANY given subject, affect my choices...especially when that subject is my precious body (and that of the husband I adore). That's where WE are. That doesn't mean it's where anybody else is (or that we have any right to 'look down our noses' at anybody else who isn't where we are). Still, when we don't say the truth, many times we prevent others from having the opportunity to learn, change their outlook, and grow into true power & freedom!

--Along this line of thought, ALL of us has (at one time or another) said to a child: "Well, if that's the way your 'friend' is going to treat you, they're not a true friend at all, and you don't need/want 'friends' like that...because they are NOT true friends". We adults need to remember this TRUTH is not just a 'saying' and it does not just apply to children and teenagers; it applies to US every day. But because of the war we are in (the gradual degrading & dumbing down of our our society), it's more acceptable and more "politically correct" to change our good actions to bad actions, rather than risk standing firm in truth & solid knowledge... and possibly making someone else feel a bit uncomfortable. :::sigh:::

How do we choose to handle "toxic food social functions"?(let's say a 4th of July family BBQ or holiday...a huge event, where attendance is considered 'mandatory'). Well, after 5 years of "walking the walk", we simply don't 'get into it' any longer...everyone in our family KNOWS we're different (read: total freaks, lol)...but over the years, some have seriously started to 'come over from the dark side'. Initially, we got our strength and resolve from simply "knowing the truth" (and NOT wanting to be one of those people that 'talk the talk' but don't 'walk the walk'!). So if we were in the middle of a serious healing endeavor, we either declined the invitation, took our juice jars with us in a cooler, or brought along food to the family gathering that we could eat (and nibbled on theirs, depending upon the food). But we ALWAYS made it perfectly clear to the host/hostess that we weren't offended; we weren't trying to be pushy; we didn't want to make an issue or a scene...but that we were on a strict diet for healing our bodies (and we just wanted them to know in advance, so they didn't feel uncomfortable or like they'd done anything wrong or un-hostess-like...and that we did NOT expect them to create a whole new menu just for us). In our family, most of these functions are "everybody bring something" - that makes it easy. I'd always choose to bring a huge veggie tray, fruit salad, homemade breads, spreads/dips and make a killer desert (organic cheesecake or carrot cake).

Now-a-days we're "out of crisis" situations with our health, and we can easily plan our quarterly cleanses and various juice fasts outside of "required holiday gatherings"...so that's what we do.

If invited to a "quickie birthday cake & ice cream" function, do we eat the cake & ice cream? Yep. Why? 1) Because my organs are cleansed, my diet is awesome and I know my body can easily recover. 2) Because I don't want to make anybody feel like they can't invite us or have to go to a lot of trouble for us. 3) I am SURE it's NOT going to 'set me back' and cause a return to old habits & thinking (birthday cake & ice cream ALWAYS makes me feel terrible...I get an immediate 'sugar buzz' & dizzyness; my teeth tingle & ache, I feel like crap overall, and the next day I have fewer bms and my poop stinks. Bottom line: this is generally an elderly person's birthday - and they don't have that many birthdays left to have...and I want to share that time with them in a way it's joyous for them.


--Remember, in the immortal words of Dr. Schulze : "The word 'sympathy' in the dictionary comes between sh*t & syphillis...and never ONCE in my clinic, did sympathy help heal ANYONE!"

Having pity-parties for ourselves and our situation does not help us or strengthen us; feeling sorry for the 'sheeple slugs' and changing our regimes so we don't offend them (or make them feel bad) does not help them OR us. It's a war...any person or thing that diverts us from our battle plan & winning strategy IS the Enemy - no matter how well-intentioned or deceived they may be. And sometimes...that Enemy is US :(

So, when we plan to do a healing protocol or regime and find we're deciding whether or not to follow our plan & intentions, here's what I think we need to consider:

--Am I quitting because of a lack of willpower, resolve, stick-to-itivensess, or boredom when I KNOW this is good for me and I should be doing it?
~Bad.

--Am I quitting because my body is reacting strangely, it worries/scares me and I don't understand what's happening. ~Legit.
But be SURE to ask questions so you can learn what's going on (example: it's TYPICAL for IF#2 to cause sensations of burning, acid reflux and cramping)...so you can make a WISE decision.

--Am I quitting because I'm having a typical reaction, but I don't like or can't handle the reaction? (As in, cramping/burning from the IF#1 or chills from juice fasting?)...or that "starving thing" that happens when juice fasting that is nothing more than our brains, emotions, & habits screaming for food.
~Sometimes legit, other times it's an excuse (you know which it is).
Generally speaking, we need to work through these kinds of things, because if we don't, we're just putting off working through these kinds of things :)

--Am I quitting something I really know/feel I need to be doing because of societal/spousal/family pressure (or because I don't want to make others uncomfortable)?
~Semi-legit
Every warrior needs a battle plan & strategy for this....OOPS you didn't know, forgot or ignored the fact that we ALL NEED A BATTLE STRATEGY for this! Yeah, yeah Uny, I didn't make a plan; I honestly didn't expect to encounter this type of opposition...so what do I do NOW?

The first thing? Know YOURSELF! WHY (exactly) is this bothering & hindering you? There's nothing wrong with examining and admitting the truth. Many (many!) people have NEVER stood up for ANY truth that caused them to be "different" or caused conflict. If that's the case, then put those puzzle pieces out there on the table and see what picture they create as you put them together. The fact is, there are percentage of people reading this that would truly rather 'patch themselves together', never experiencing the victory and freedom of truly normal living & vibrant health...if it means they have to have conflict with their family; change their circle of friends or job; or experience negative 'peer pressure'. If that's the case, admit it. And then decide if you can live with it. If you can't live with it, then put it out here on the forum, and we'll all support you and offer what we can from our own experiences to help you overcome. You'll never be able to create a successful/winning strategy if you don't start with the truth about yourself.

Remember! Hitler fluoridated the water of the countries he invaded; the Soviets fluoridated the water in their prison camps - that's to numb and create apathy, and squelch those that would rebel and fight. Most of us have been fluoridated, and much of that numbing fog of apathy WILL start to fade as you start cleansing & restoring your body.

--Lastly, there's :::insert scary organ music here::: ...the dark doorways that we don't EVER want to look behind (or don't even know we have). Things like 'fear of success'...if I become 'rock solid' in my health, "life" will require MUCH more of me; if I get well people will start expecting more of me; or they will stop 'babying me'? does my illness 'feed' something else that I'm not facing?

How about those nasty self-esteem issues...I'm not worth the effort; I don't deserve to ask/demand my working spouse/family to spend more money on produce & herbs - or give of their time? If I take the time to heal myself, I won't have time to "give" to others...because I'm a giver not a taker, and that's just natural to me (that's not necessarily all it is...any self-esteem/respect issue can easily be past abuse, egoic need for praise/attention, bad spiritual/emotional conditioning, old -but now useless- defense mechanisms, martyrdom, self-esteem, and/or self-respect issue, etc., etc., etc).

How about self-efficacy? (that's what we *believe* we can do/accomplish)...I've never been able to stick with ANYthing for more than a week; I don't believe I can learn and understand enough about all this to make it work for me; I'm just naturally a 'follower', I don't have the ability to be a self-starter and any kind of a warrior.

Whatever it is, YANK OPEN THAT DOOR and expose it to the healing Light. The fear of what's on the other side is FAR worse than ANYTHING that can be there!!! No matter how big the demon, how harsh the reality, it WILL all fade and become less when exposed to light...and there is nothing more soul-wrenching, exhausting & sicken-ing than living a life of ceaseless struggle, lack of hope and constant defeat simply because we're afraid to face what-might-be the actual cause.

Back to Lajoanna -

Gal, you've done GREAT work so far! The goal of any solid natural healing protocol is a steady upward trend. You are DEFINITELY accomplishing that. No matter WHAT the reason for discontinuing, your plan of juices and veggies is fantastic - it shows great intent, good thinking and how serious/devoted you are to your healing mission. Use this time as the true opportunity for learning, planning future victories (and avoiding future pitfalls) that it is! (And please do NOT think I meant 'all of the above' "at you" specifically - this was something I needed to get into print so we all could have it to reference & post for others).

And always remember: "Don't let life discourage you; everyone who got where he is had to start where he was." Lao-Tzu

Healthiest of blessings!!

Unyquity