Green Smoothies Diary II

In the Green Smoothies Diary I mentioned that skin rashes broke out on my body due to an unknown reason (why, oh why!?)

Green Smoothie Day, everybody!

On the day 5 I suddenly noticed that my hair had fallen out more than usual! (more hysterical note here)
I loose only a few strands of hair everyday, this time I certainly lost more than a few, but fortunately much less than the average amount of 100 strands/day. Still I was anxious. Instead of having plenty of hair as Clent Manich, the guy featured in the Green Smoothies book promised, could I end up loosing it and looking like a bald condor with red blotches all around?
Fortunately the hair loss incident happened only that day, so I blamed the new band I used to tie my hair and decided to go on with the green smoothie / (half!-)raw diet experiment,  though it is hard not to have cooked foods when you usually eat them at least once or twice a day.



On the day 6 and 7 I finally managed only to eat 2 portions of salad (with tofu and cheese in it.  Are they considered uncooked?) / day  in addition to the 2,5 L of green smoothie since I eventually was able to 'ban' the images of food from my head. IF I can be on this diet for at least a month, I will

1. have less work (cooking) in the kitchen, 
2. have fewer things to wash and clean up! 
3. only buy more fruits and leafy greens for us and some vegetarian cold cuts / deli slices for my husband. 
4. eat no meat
5. use our dishwasher less frequently
6. save money: less water for washing, less detergent, less frying oil, less spices to use, less gas for stove, etc..
7. lead a more environment friendly life!

Aside from the financial gain above, my body seems to benefit from the diet too. I don't crave for chocolates as the way I used to when I was having premenstrual syndrome.
I don't sweat much though the weather has been very hot lately (over 34C), and like Clent I am also  feeling calmer.
The energy boost from the GS diet people keep on talking about hasn't happened to me (yet).
On the contrary, I am having a languid mood. I know, my body misses chili, spices and co.
I suppose that not only do hot, spicy foods produce heat inside your body, they also increase the production of sweat, AND affect your temper.

I notice that I don't go to the toilet to do the 'small business' (urinate) so often anymore and when I do the 'big business', I can see that my poop (sorrrrryy!) has darkish green color.

I heard of cases in which people were having diarrhea for a certain period of time when they just began this diet and the symptoms disappeared after their bodies got used to the smoothie diet.

Unlike those people, I didn't suffer anything like that, on the contrary I got constipation and I get it still.

The organic waste in less than 3 days

I usually do the 'big one' once a day, now I do it less frequent, sometimes only once in two days! No wonder my stomach has been bloated ever since.

Maybe the constipation is caused due to a disruption of routine,- instead of  drinking plenty of water and juice, I drink more smoothies and much less water. I have to drink more water, and see if it will improve my condition.
Another  theory of why only certain people get constipated while others don't is because the first group leads a frugal life (see the 7 points above),  avoids to waste anything,  so even letting out their own poop is considered as a waste.
Nah, it is only joking. If you want to know more about constipation see this link.

The skin patches

BTW I got a patch test done too due to my suspicion of having allergy against dandelion greens. It was an ordeal to come back 3 times within a week. They applied some patches on my upper back which were kept in place with special adhesive tape, took blood sample, removed the patches after 3 days, marked the test sites with a black pen and on the forth day checked my back for any signs of allergic reactions. During that period, I was not allowed to take a bath (!!) nor do exercises to keep the marks visible. I don't need any pomade for my hair, all coming oily, shiny and natural.

I haven't got any conclusive result yet for the allergy test since I have to wait for the lab result on the blood test. The red blotches on my body have mostly gone, but the skin feels so coarse and flaky. Strange.

I got also strange looks from people, not because of the flaky skin, but because of the green mixture.
The first question they asked would be, 'What is THAT!?'
And, 'it looks so poisonous,' or 'it looks disgusting, it must be very healthy!'
When I explained what it was and offered them to try it, the reaction would be a series of vigorous head shaking with a quick response 'No, no, thank you! It is too healthy for me.'

Though I am sure it is getting easier to only eat raw foods in the course of time, I don't think I want to do it for long,  especially if winter is coming. My body will probably crave for warm foods.

Besides, I am a person who really enjoys eating, which is to say I like trying, tasting new foods. With this kind of diet, you can only vary / rotate the fruits and greens, basically you create no new recipes.

Another factor that contributes to my reluctance on following this diet is the lack of motivation which certainly play a negative role in any diets. I am doing the diet more out of curiosity. Unlike Clent, I don't have to lose any weight nor suffer any illness relating to overweight. In fact, I don't mind putting on 2-3 kilos muscles, though till now I stay a constant weight and have the same body fat percentage.

But let's see what happens in the future, maybe I can even live on light only, which will even be more money and time saving for me (me, fantasizing).

I will keep you posted when something new comes up (e.g. I become a hairy guy or my palms turn green, etc).
Meanwhile, please let me know what you think about this whole diet craze.
Do you think it is just a waste of time or do you really believe it will do us good?

The next blog on the new danger (!) of green smoothie: here