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Archive of ‘Medical’ category

(1) Five Day Juice and (2) Eating Lifestyle Changes

A big thank you to everyone who has participated in my survey so far! It is awesome to see so many responses but we would really love to see even more. There are a few of you who took the survey but didn’t comment or email to let me know. Without your name, I can’t announce you as the winner so you might not be eligible. Please let me know if you took the survey but didn’t tell me yet!

And if you didn’t take the survey yet, what are you waiting for?

Next week is going to be a major week for me nutritionally. You might remember that I did the Blueprint Cleanse a few months ago. I ate no solid foods for three days and I felt great. However, while I love green juice, I did not love BPC’s green juice recipe. I narrowed down the culprit to romaine. As a result, I was unable to finish my 6 allotted juices each day and missed out on essential nutrition.

Once the cleanse was over, I felt pretty good for a few months. Recently, it all turned around and I haven’t been doing so well. I decided to do another juice fast and give my digestive system a little break and allow my body to heal. I decided to go big this time and will be partaking in a 5 day juice fast with Organic Avenue, the 5 Day Love Deep. Organic Avenue is an amazing raw/vegan store in Manhattan. Last summer, my friend Jonathan took me in there on our way to brunch and I literally fell in love. While I wanted to try everything, we were about to eat, so we shared what I believe was a delicious mint chip smoothie and I vowed to return.

But there was a little problem with that. Organic Avenue is far! The location I went to (they now have another in the west village) was on the lower east side – not near home and not near work. It simply was not convenient for me to go there. But I did take and save their information about their cleanses, so when I decided to lay off the foods for a few days and wanted a different experience than BPC, I decided to speak to Organic Avenue.

I must say, they are so nice there! While I wanted to do another 3 day cleanse (I mean, really, no food for 3 days is long enough for me) Organic Avenue explained that, especially given my GI problems, the 5 day would be much more beneficial. And then they threw in a little discount. They are awesome. I consulted with a professional and got the go-ahead. And so, on Monday, I will embark on a feat so unlike me that you might not recognize me. I will commit to eating no solid food for 5 days. I will write a recap every day and post it here.

Here is a sample menu of one full day:

L.O.V.E. #1. Energy elixir: e3/H20

L.O.V.E. #2. Fresh squeezed orange/grapefruit juice

L.O.V.E. #3. Veggie vibe

L.O.V.E. #4. Masters tonic

L.O.V.E. #5. Cucumber basil soup

L.O.V.E. #6. Green vibe

L.O.V.E. #7. Coconut water

Organic Avenue

While I will miss the BPC’s amazing cashew milk, I am excited for the cucumber basil soup here. And from what I have heard from my friend Cassie, their juice is, and I quote, “magical.” Although their green juice does contain romaine, the all green juice only seems to appear on the menu once each day. I can handle that. It was 4 a day that I could not stomach.

The juices will be made fresh each day, arriving at my door between 6 am and 8 am each morning! I also plan to drink plenty of hot herbal tea to warm myself up and keep myself full and happy.

I want to mention a few important points here:

  • I am not doing this fast to lose weight. I am doing this because my GI problems have gotten out of control once again, and I am looking to give my body a rest, get myself back on track, and return to solid foods with a healthier outlook (more on that soon)
  • I don’t believe juice fasts should be used as a long-term weight loss tool because as soon as it is over and you eat a solid meal, the pounds will come right back.
  • If you are considering a juice fast, I urge you to check with your doctor or nutritionist or health counselor. If you’d like to make an appointment with a fantastic food coach, I highly recommend Gena. If you start a juice fast blindly, you might experience a slew of problems, such as diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, lightheadedness. It is crucial to get professional advice first. I get most of my advice from Cassie and I also speak to Gena.
  • If you are considering a juice fast to lose weight, like I said, it won’t be a loss you can keep off. If you are considering a juice fast to jumpstart you into a healthier lifestyle, and that healthier lifestyle results in your weight loss, that is wonderful! But again, please check with a professional first.

I don’t want to go right back to feeling awful after next week is complete. My mind has been turning recently and I have already made some decisions that I started on, but I believe will have more of an impact after the fast. This is something I never thought I would do, but things change and people change and I made the decision to stop eating meat. I had already limited my meat consumption to only that which I can be sure was raised sustainably, but recently I realized that meat in general is not at all appetizing to me. The times I have eaten meat lately, I didn’t enjoy it very much. I also didn’t feel great after. Not belly pain or anything, just overall blah.

And not only has it not been appetizing, I sometimes feel outward revulsion. I couldn’t figure out why and finally I realized I just am not enticed by meat anymore.

For now, I will call myself a pescatarian. Overall, fish has not been appealing to me anymore either (says the girl who can’t really eat vegetables — so what’s left!). But I would like to want to eat fish and therefore I will not prohibit them. I would especially like to up my intake of wild salmon. For now, I can’t.  I do believe these aversions are my body’s way of telling me something. I’d better listen.

Vegetarian Dinosaur Comic

I do want to add that eating meat from animals raised on sustainable farms has many health benefits and is, from what I have read, ecologically essential. Eating meat from factory farms or CAFOs is not cool. If you want meat, I cannot stress enough the importance of sustainably raised chicken, beef, pork, etc. Know where your food is coming from.

Additionally, I plan to drastically cut down on my dairy consumption. I won’t be actively putting cheese on or in things anymore, except for goat. Goat can stay. I won’t be putting cow’s milk in my cereal. But I will have dairy when my restaurant options are limited or when it is an ingredient in something I really want or when a pizza materializes in front of me.  I do NOT think dairy is bad, I believe it has many health benefits in its raw form. I would just like to see how I do without as much of it after this fast. I think it might be good for me. I think I will feel cleaner. I do plan to continue eating fresh, farmers market sustainable eggs.They are my favorite food to make and they make me happy.

Another change I will make after the cleanse is to have juice and only juice for breakfast. I had been having juice first and then a larger meal a little later, thinking this was the only way I could be full until an appropriate lunch time. I realized after spending a few days juicing until dinner that just a second juice in the morning will keep me full straight until lunch. If you think about it, two 16oz juices are a LOT of vegetables. It’s very easy for me to make one juice at home and buy another when I get near work, so that is what I have been doing and plan to keep doing. Another thing I hope to do more is juicing until dinner, until I can better figure out how to work cooked vegetables in.

Speaking of vegetables, I have been eating cooked vegetables lately but my stomach hasn’t been thrilled with it. I crave vegetables and I need their health benefits and I am hoping that after the cleanse my body will be better able to cope with their fibrous ways. I hope.

And clean food can be so much fun. I made Gena’s banana soft serve twice last week and I am officially in love. Her recipe calls for a food processor, but after I discovered both of mine to be in heaven, I made it in the blender and it came out perfect. Use the “stir” setting in the end to fluff it up. Less dairy ice cream for me, more banana soft serve.

Photo from and recipe on Choosing Raw:

Banana Soft Serve

So that is that. Some big lifestyle changes but I felt really relieved once this decision hit me in the head and I spoke it out loud to the boy. I am excited to update you all each day this week on my Organic Avenue fast. I am nervous (no food‽ 5 days‽) and also excited. And looking forward to feeling better.

Dentist Offices: Just as Incompetent as Doctors Offices

It was the last straw for me. I have been experiencing jaw pain for awhile and finally the pain was so uncomfortable that I couldn’t take it anymore. I made an appointment at the boy’s dentist for the following day.

I called my old dentist to get a copy of my last x-rays, since my insurance does not cover more than one set of x-rays in a one year time period. I needed to come to my new dentist prepared so I wouldn’t have to pay for new x-rays. The old dentist office told me they need my request in writing. I faxed it to them and a few minutes later they called me to tell me they received my fax, confirmed my email address, and told me they can’t fax it to me because it won’t work well. They gave me two options: email it to me or fax it directly to my new dentist (I thought it didn’t work over fax?). Since I didn’t have the fax of my new dentist in hand and I was by my computer (although they suggested I to call and get it and call them back), I told them to go ahead and email. They confirmed my email address and said they would send it.

I didn’t receive the email. Since it was the end of the day by this point, I figured I would check in the morning.

The next morning I still received no email, so I called the new dentist to get their fax number. Then I called the old dentist and said I didn’t receive the email and would be happy to give them the new dentist’s fax. The woman, who at first pretended to have no recollection of talking to me the day before, then said “I told you, it doesn’t work over fax.”

Clearly she did remember me. And clearly she did not remember telling me that she could fax it to the new dentist. Maybe she meant email, but fax and email are two very different words.

So I gave her the OK to email it. Again. She said the person who does this isn’t there and I said I needed it for today. She put me on hold and came back and said she would do it.

A few hours later, still no email. It was nearing the time for my dentist appointment, so I called the old dentist once again.

This time, the woman I spoke to — her name was Frances, although I don’t think she is the same woman I spoke to before — told me they don’t have anything in writing from me and they won’t send me anything without a written request. I told Frances I sent my request yesterday, someone called me to tell me they received it, and now I am just waiting to get the email with my records. I explained calmly that I called the day before and was told the email was on its way; I called again this morning and was told the email was on its way. I never received the email, so I just wanted it sent already!

Frances said she has no proof that I sent in request, and I need to send it again. I explained that I was home today becuse of my dentist appointment, and I don’t have access to a fax. I realize in retrospect that I might have been able to email them my consent, but she did not mention that as an option and I was too heated and upset to think of it myself.

She said I should get someone else from work to do it for me. I was frustrated and while asking someone else (although not from work) have been an option, why should I have to start calling people and seeing who can send a fax for me and hope it happens in time for the office to send me my x-rays? So I told her that is not possible, I already sent in my request, I know it was received, I am just trying to get my records.

Frances said, “You probably don’t need these. Your insurance will probably pay for new x-rays.”

What? How the hell would Frances know what my insurance does and doesn’t pay‽ Frances was so dead set against emailing me my records that she was literally going through each excuse she could think of, wasting much more time than it would have taken her to just SEND the email. And I happen to know that my insurance only covers x-rays once a year, so they wouldn’t actually pay. I feel bad for the patients that believe the stuff she makes up to get them off her back.

I told Frances once again that my insurance won’t pay more than once in a year. I just want my records to bring to my new doctor. By then I started to cry a little.

And then. And then Frances said, “Well it’s your fault you waited until the last minute to ask us for this.”

MY FAULT‽ Through tears, I told this woman that my jaw was killing me yesterday, I called the dentist, made an appointment for the next day, and called her office to get my x-rays. I told her there WAS no last minute because I was just trying to get my pain taken care of as soon as possible. You’d think someone who works in a dental office would know a little about pain.

My tears did not sway her. She said “This is office policy.” I asked, “What if you send them directly to my doctor, not even to me?” She said no. I asked if she could find out who I was talking to before who I know received the fax. She said no. I asked her if she could check to see if the fax was in my file. She said no.

At this point, I ws hysterical and out of ideas. Except for one.

I played a card that I save for only the most necessary situations. It is a card that will always work, but must be used wisely and with restraint. That card, my friends, is the HIPAA card.

Being someone who needs to lug a stack of medical records to every new doctor I see for my GI problems, I am well versed in the experience of obtaining medical records. As a result, I am very well aware of my HIPAA rights.

The HIPAA card must be used only as a last result so as not to dilute its potency. If everyone started throwing around terms like “patient rights”, the phrase would lose all meaning! Once this loses meaning, well, good luck at accessing your own information.

I said, still through tears, “I’m familiar the HIPAA act and I know my rights and I know I have a right to my medical records.”

She said she would call me back.

A minute later, she called back to tell me she (miraculously!) found the fax I sent the day before and said she will be emailing me my x-rays.

A minute after that, I had my medical records in front of me.

What did we learn here?

  • We learned that dentist offices are just as incompetent as doctors offices.
  • We also learned that HIPAA is a sacred word and must only be used in extreme situations.
  • And we learned, as we always learn, that people are assholes.

And since I recently said I would counter negative posts with something positive, here is a funny video of Santana digging in the car (positive) to counter the fact that people are assholes (negative):

And please click here to enter to win a Physique 57 or Core Fusion DVD — believe me, you want these!

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