The Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul

Water and Tea are crucial to the Juice man. I had headaches on day one and two. I wondered if these were from caffeine withdrawal, a juice high, my fatty brain tissue deteriorating, spirits speaking to me from another dimension, a puzzle that wore on me for some time. I know what dehydration feels like though, and after some time to consider it, I realized I needed to drink more water. Water is refreshing, it brings life and allows organisms to metabolize. Without water all that Juice and its plethora of nutrients and vitamins were going into my body without sufficient liquids to carry them off to my organs. The first sign of dehydration is thirst, but drinking a ton of Juice everyday diminishes that ever so natural feeling. The second sign of dehydration is chapped or parched lips, though again, my whistle was wet as a one being blown by a lifeguard on a crowded beach. The third and most awful sign of dehydration is a headache. These can be ignored because they are casual headaches, not like a migraine that is an all encompassing cloud of pain and sorrow. A slight discomfort of the frontal lobe, with vision and fast movements being shitty. Sort of like a hangover. Actually, its really like a hangover. Frankly a hangover is mostly dehydration mixed with toxic poisoning. On day three I started to drink more water, and on day four I realized I should drink just as much water as the amount of juice I'm drinking. A little easier said then done, but if you take a bottle of water everywhere you go, it makes the act of drinking it easier. I have often been in the camp of water chugger. Walk to the sink, fill a glass, down it, and repeat. I'm attempting to do both activities. Chug and Go we might call it.

Tea presents another hydrating possibility. I was offered tea on day two but didn't know if I should include it in my cleanse. Its not Juice, its not beer (medication), and its served hot to warm. Should I allow this inroad to my otherwise strict diet? The answer came to me from my inner Buddha who said, drink that shit. It's delicious, liquid, and is essentially the juice of dried herbs and stuff. I'm speaking of Herbal Infusions of course, not to be confused with black, white, green, red, twig, or pu'erh teas of the caffeinated variety. Herbal tea is a wide array of herbs that people steep hot water onto and is filled with rich ingredients that assist the body and general hippidy dippity wellness. So why not? It beats having just beets for breakfast. Plus the denial of coffee, my warm liquid of choice in the morning takes a psychological toll.

My tea of choice this morning is a blend of Chrysanthemum, Camomile, and Hibiscus, notice the coffee carafe in its sorrowful neglected state. Sad face.

Enjoy thy self.

Virgin Bloody Mary

So, I'm not going to say I haven't had any beer. That would be lying. I have. It got me drunk quick too. I feel full and satisfied with all this juice, but my beer is my medication. A physician wouldn't deny his patients his meds while he's on a fast, come on! I'm having to stick to a strict regiment to keep this whole thing going. I had two beers while watching the giants play on day 1. Then on day 2, an invite presented itself to go out to dinner. I brought juice and ordered a beer while I watched her eat pizza in front of me. Last night the giants played as well, so beer was in order. These discretionary measures I have taken during the course of my journey have been what I thought was best. We should always do what we think is best, dogma be damned.

Tonight however, I am going to refrain from my medication and simply have a virgin bloody mary. The thought was presented by a colleague of mine who just finished seven weeks of cleansing (Who-Ray Angeline!). She sent a few interesting recipes my way that were her favorites. I haven't done any recipes exactly, mostly winging it. There ain't rules you know. Looking at recipes are always good though, especially if your trying to bake something and want bread to rise. So I took a look at hers.

Bloody Caesar (tastes like a yummy virgin bloody Mary!)
Ingredients:
1 large tomato
1/2 green bell pepper
1 celery stalk
1 clove garlic
2 carrots
1 teaspoon Worcestershire
Splash Tabasco or tapitio

My ingredients looked like this.

Essentially a pile of tomatoes, a bunch of celery, a bundle of cilantro, a bag of green beans, and I wish I had a pepper to make it spicy but I didn't. I refused to add Worcestershire or tapatio. If I start down the condiment path now, who knows where it will lead. Some lines are meant to be crossed, others are not.

I did not eat the stalk of chard. A plain garnish used to stir the juice, as it can separate readily.