My 10 Day juice fast became a 3 Day juice fast, which is okay because I have never done a juice fast before and I want to go easy.  My doctors said YES to a 3 to 5 day fast, and he was right on target.

Today was Day 3:  Started off with Mean Green juice, then later made pear, fennel, cilantro, and lemon.  After the juice the elimination was... well..  can you say "sludge?"  This morning I started soaking about 10 prunes, and they were ready to eat by 4pm.  I would say to soak them for at least 8 hours. They were delicious and my first food since Thursday evening.  But the elimination was... well..  can you say "sludge?"

I have been reading on the internet on how to break a juice fast, so I recommend that anyone doing this, please read, read, read the information or your fast would have been pointless.  The prunes flush out the toxins that were released during the fast.  The toxins were released from the bowel, but just kind of laying there, so the prunes will push out what was left in your bowels.

Then after eating the prunes, continue drinking the juices, preferably a fruit based juice. I saved some pear, fennel juice for this purpose.  Later this evening I may eat some grapes or some watermelon, since it is recommended that I eat a soft fruit.  Then tomorrow I will start off with a juice, some fruit and then a salad during the day.  As a treat, I will probably go to Whole Foods Market for a nice salad.  I will forego the other salads and dishes and just have green leafy salad with some veggies, and a light dressing, nothing creamy-ish.

For me, the cleanse is to rid leftover matter that has been laying in my intestines.  It is also to reacquaint my body with raw foods, as I have backslid a lot and need to get back on track.  I feel best when I am eating mostly raw, but seem to drift back to old habits.  So it is a "reboot" of my system.

I want to sprout beans, so I bought a wide-mouth quart jar, and got cheesecloth (food graded), and then went to Jo-Ann's Fabrics and bought some needlepoint plastic mesh 13"x10" for $.59.  I traced the outline of the lid (not the ring) and cut it out, then laid it on top of the jar and put the ring on and closed the jar...  I have plenty of the mesh left so when and if it gets funky, I can easily cut out another round and toss the other one.  I will use the plastic mesh for beans and the cheesecloth for seeds or smaller things.  I am soaking mung beans and before I go to sleep tonight I will drain them very well and first thing in the morning rinse them well and prop the jar so it is kind of at a 45 degree angle.  This will keep most of the beans on the side of the jar and allow the water to drain out.  The idea is to keep the beans spread out and moist, but no water remaining to create mold.  They will sprout in 4 days or so and you can let them continue to sprout til they are the desired length.  Then you can store them in a plastic bag.  I think I will keep 2 or 3 jars going so I can start one each day and rotate so I will have fresh mung bean sprouts every day.

I will use the mung bean sprouts in salads, and I am reading about other ways to use them.  They are very nutritious and "good for what ails ya" like my grandpa used to say.  Here is the nutritional data on mung bean sprouts (raw).

http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2333/2

I use this website to look up foods so I can see what I am eating or juicing.

No bike ride today because when I woke up this morning I felt goony-headed and took a shower, made a juice and rested, then the "sludge" release and I started to feel better.  Later I went to the mall and walked around a bit and came back home. Tomorrow is another day for the bike ride.  I want to get up VERY EARLY!!  We will see how that plays out.

More later.....