Creative Juicing

Last week, I decided a 5-day juice cleanse was exactly what I needed to drop a few extra pounds and lose those crazy sugar cravings I have.  I almost made it, but Saturday we had double birthday parties and cake is just so...cakey. 

But after following a friend's juice cleanse week through Instagram posts and seeing her results, I thought how bad could this be - it's juice? So I went on line and ordered my Jus by Julie 5-day cleanse kit. However, what I didn't plan well was that I would be attempting this cleanse over a weekend with birthday parties and playoff football.  I resigned to do "my" best (translated: I'll go as long as I can without touching the cake). Had I done what I was supposed to do and stayed away from the cake (and the wine...) I have no doubt my results would have been spectacular.  My results are still very good and this cleanse works.

The juices are delicious non-GMO products except for one, maybe 2 (the lemonade with the cayenne pepper was a little rough and the PB & Jus was not good but I don't even like a shake or smoothie with peanut butter, so that's probably just me.).  I was not starving during the day, shockingly and I wasn't craving anything (until cake was shoved under my nose on Saturday night). There are 6 juices a day that you can easily space out every few hours, all numbered 1-6 so you know which one comes next.  And even the gross looking green ones taste great. 

Not only did my cravings for junk - I have a salty, then sweet, then salty snack problem - subside, but my desire to drink wine (even though I had "a day" on Friday that probably required wine) or beer went away.  And with the lack of yucky food and alcohol in me, I realized I had more energy and more focus.  Yes, I was a little hungrier than usual when I went to bed, but I also managed to shed almost 3 pounds - and that was with the cake. 

My creative juices started flowing again too. Last Wednesday, I had a great opportunity to speak to a room of about 25 men, women and teenagers about writing, and their energy, interest and enthusiasm was inspiring.  They all wanted to know what I was working on now.  I talked about Rose of the Field and I started talking about my new project, Out for A Walk. The first book is the third and final installment of my Trinity of Kirana series.  The latter title is a very adult, dark legal drama.  Very different for me, but probably what I need to be writing at this stage of the game.

So with juices in hand, I've been focusing my spare time - which is few and far between with the uptick in my consulting work - on writing my great American novel and finishing a really good story. Jumping back and forth from different genres and very different characters is not as difficult as I thought it might be. The group to which I spoke was very interested in my "creative process." I explained that my stories were very character and dialogue driven and my process (if I even have a method) is to listen for them to speak to me.  They do.  All my characters tell me what they want to say and what they want to do.

I hear voices (not dead people, calm down, weirdos) in my head and that is how my stories unfold. I don't know if I can directly attribute the recent clarity of the voices to my juice cleanse.  It sounds like a stretch, but there is something to feeding your body what it needs, clearing out the toxins and avoiding the stuff your body doesn't need.  In any case, while the juice cleanse didn't locate my abs for me, as it did for my very fit and much younger friend, it did lift a little of the brain fog I've had from three months of travel eating and holiday gluttony. 

I love when my brain starts producing ideas.  Not just writing ideas, but work ideas, decorating ideas, fun parenting ideas - it's almost as if I dripped a little WD40 onto my overworked brain cogs and they started working more efficiently again. Problem is, there is only so much time to address these ideas.  I write them in my notebook of "Ridiculously Good Ideas" and save them for later. 

But the good news, at least for my amazing Trinity fans is that I've tapped into a new way to focus my brain to get all those good ideas on paper bringing Rose of the Field closer to publication.

A big thanks to Julie and her juice.  I'm looking forward to another round in a few weeks in case my creativity needs a boost and I am overcome by cravings for Fruit Loops and Entemann's cookies again. 

And now back to Avery, Timber and Marena...

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