In regards to eating meat

[Monica]

I awoke with quite the sickening feeling of nausea and fear in my belly. My body does not feel good at all. Very achy. I had another small bowel movement followed by a brief emotional breakdown. I do feel very sensitive emotionally and as I could quite easily become overwhelmed.

Chinese medicine teaches that certain emotions are stored in certain organs. I found this to be true when I experienced a detox of fear when taking herbs for kidneys (fear is stored in kidneys), anger when taking liver herbs (anger is stored in the liver), resentment ==> gall bladder, love/hate ==> heart, etc.

I've also experienced emotional detox many times when fasting. Very normal. It means the fast is working! The important thing is to not suppress them, but go ahead and release them, by having a good cry, hitting a punching bag, talking about your feelings, etc. It helps to have a supportive partner. Also drink plenty of water and remember to breathe deeply to facilitate the cleansing of the cells. Yoga, massage, rebounding, or any gentle exercise is also helpful.

My "other half" feels pretty good. I really don't like that term "other half" it implies that an individual cannot be whole unto their self.

Oh I agree! I like to say, "A relationship isn't 50/50...it's 100/100."

Anyway, I previously felt something strange going on in the heart area, and I have a strange nerve sensation on the right side of my face. I think it is just transient, and related to the emotional instability, but I cannot be sure. I get unusual energetic sensations from time to time and it is difficult to discern between those and the physical ones.

It's also normal to have heightened sensitivity about bodily sensations.

Just to make sure I am covering my bases. Even with all my knowledge of nutrient content of foods, I cannot be sure I am meeting all my body's needs through juice alone. Actually, now that I am thinking about it, it is quite impossible.

I wouldn't worry about meeting nutritional needs during a fast. It can't be done and isn't the point of the fast. The digestive system shuts down by day 2 or 3, and that's when hunger usually leaves (you're lucky you weren't hungry the first couple of days) and the work of detox begins. Based on our own research as well as working with practitioners who specialized in deep cleansing via fasting, we never took any supplements during a fast, as that would counteract what we were trying to accomplish. We did, however, do lots of juice and green powder (bluegreen algae, chlorella, spirulina, etc.) which actually facilitated the cleanse, as well as kept the body from getting depleted.

As you already mentioned, it's also important to take fiber, particularly if your juicer filters out the fiber.

Also, my BMI is down to 18.7. So that means I am in danger of becoming officially underweight.

I wouldn't be concerned about that. You'll bounce back after the fast.

As for the cats, they are both preening. I recently learned that cats will usually preen after being touched by human hands, as they find the human scent to be rather repulsive.

That must have been written by a dog lover/cat hater! Cats loooooovvvvvve being touched by humans! They rub up against us, they snuggle, they adore being petted/stroked, and even demand it! And here's proof: The purrrrrrrrr to let us know they love it!

As they say, "When in doubt, wash!"