School and doctor refusing to allow healthy food

Day 6 of the Cleanse
Yesterday's Nourishment:
11:50 AM 1 Quart Master Cleanser: 1 quart warmed water with 6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, pulp (and seeds), 4 tablespoons Grade B maple syrup - I lessened the maple syrup today - and 1/8 teaspoon cayenne spicy
1:30 PM Ran my first mile in 3 months! 4 miles total, with 3 mile walk and 1 mile run
2:30 PM 1 Quart Master Cleanser
7:00 PM 1 Quart Master Cleanser
Total: 3 Quarts

Moving into the weekend and a lighter, quieter schedule, my body felt like it did not need as much "protection" from the environment. I was drawn to scale down the maple syrup to 4 tablespoons and only wanted 3 quarts, even though I had prepared a fourth. I am feeling the same today; it's 3:00 PM and I've only had one quart of Master Cleanser so far. My energy is off the charts! Last night, I went shopping at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods with my High-Level Assistant Denisse, who, along with her sister, is also cleansing. Denisse has also shifted her entire family into whole, vegetarian and raw food. The other day she told me that when she brought home fresh asparagus, intending to make a soup with them, they never even got as far as the pot, as her daughter pounced upon them and ate them raw! Denisse and I were purchasing the rest of our cleanse "foods," and we ended up spending three hours walking through the aisles at Whole Foods and just talking about food. Neither of us was hungry; we both had tons of energy and we were focusing on how to effectively educate people with all kinds of food choices, no matter what stage they are at in their dietary journey.
I said to Denisse, "Isn't is amazing that we've had no solid food for five days and are so energized, clear and focused?" It's such a misconception that we need so much food to thrive, or even to survive; it's the right foods that we need.
Which brings me to the story that Denisse told me yesterday. She and her sister now send their children to school with homemade guacamole, kale salad, quinoa and all kinds of vegetables and fruits. Their collective children (three in all) can't get enough of these foods. They have been to the farmers markets and eaten vegetables from the garden they planted at home. Denisse and her sister's two sons recently had their lunchboxes returned full, and Denisse was told by their teacher that the boys are required to eat the lunch food supplied by the school. This food consists of yogurt, bagels with cream cheese and the like. By the way, Denisse was cleansing when she had this conversation at the school, and she said it only reaffirmed her commitment to her cleanse even more. She was told that she would need a note from her doctor, and since her kids were not lactose intolerant or did not have specific allergies, that was required; otherwise, they could not eat their home-prepared food and would have to eat the school food.
The story gets ever more interesting. The pediatrician to whom Denisse took her children, and with whom she was completely on the same page with regards to nutrition and children, had left the practice, and she was referred to one of the other pediatricians there. Denisse spoke with the office manager, a friend of hers, who wrote a simple note stating that Denisse's children could bring food from home to school. This person was then fired by the doctor's practice, and Denisse was told by her new pediatrician that she did not support what Denisse was doing and that she supported the school's policy. Denisse said to her doctor, "I'll need my children's records, as I will be looking for a new pediatrician," and she left the office. 
I was extremely upset when I heard this story and my first response was, "This is something we need to get out into the local news." As one of the founders of the Rockland Coalition for Better School Foods and someone who has given talks and workshops within schools to educate children, parents, teacher and admistrators on healthy eating, I am wondering how often this is happening daily in our schools? How often are children their ages (two to five) having their food returned or thrown out unknowingly and given  bagels, cream cheese and yogurt to eat instead? Here is how the food chain works: Children are fed these foods; then they contract repeated colds, flus and resperatory symptoms throughout the fall and winter. They are brought to their doctors, who prescribe multiple rounds of antibiotics, which also lower their immune systems. They continue to eat the foods that lower their immune systems, perpetuating the cycle of sickness and medication. These children become adults, who then contract more serious, chronic symptoms due to lowered immune systems resulting from this cycle of food and antibiotics.
I am compelled to blog about this today in hopes that if this is happening to your children in their schools, that you step up and say no these practices and yes to healthy food for our kids.
Denisse will be seeing a new pediatrician who is known to be an excellent doctor in partnering with her patients, and she is planning to meet with the head of the school this week to say no to this policy and ensure that her children get to eat the foods that nourish their bodies. If this is happening to you, don't walk away feeling there is nothing you can do. We need to educate others; it is the best catalyst to transformation. I suggested to Denisse that she offer to give a talk at the the school to teachers, parents and administration on healthy eating. Who knows what their response will be, but it is certainly a way of turning adversity into possibility, which is what we want to teach our children.

Cleansing is Moment by Moment

Day 4 Autumn Cleanse:
Yesterday October 4:
8:00 AM 1 Quart Master Cleanser: 1 quart warmed water with 6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, pulp (and seeds), 5 tablespoons grade B maple syrup and 1/8 teaspoon cayenne powder (I like it spicy)
2:00 PM 1 Quart Master Cleanser
6:00 PM 1 Quart Master Cleanser
7:15 PM 1 Quart Master Cleanser
Total: 1 Gallon

Day 5:
Today October 5:
9:45 AM Enema - switched to this today to take a break from salt water flushing and reach into the colon and intestine to remove old waste. This is what my body guided me to do, as the salt felt a little too retaining and approaching flush from the other end, so to speak, felt right for today.
~ time of first quart of master Cleaner will be at 11:00 AM

Debbie Ford, Author of, "The Shadow Effect," speaks about meeting all parts of ourselves; our light and our shadow, and that it is by doing so that we can truly transform places of suffering into well being. I believe that if we just stay with ourselves long enough to embrace our shadows and not fill the difficult moments with food (or anything else), we create an opportunity for unlimited possibilities in our lives. 
Cleansing brings out our shadows; the dark, "icky" parts we'd rather avoid, deny or shove under the pillow. Yesterday brought up some of those for me. During the more difficult parts of my day, I found myself seeing my life as a whole of shame and lack; I was feeling very less than and very sorry for myself. It was at that moment that I walked by one of my favorite secret pleasures; Fat Cat Pie Co., an organic pizza bistro in Norwalk, Connecticut that offers farm-to-table toppings on their pizza. I love Fat Cat; eating my kale and quinoa salad with Reggiano parmesan, followed by an organic crust pizza with broccoli rabe, eggplant, carmelized mushrooms, sauteed onions, garlic chips and kalamata olives is a sacred ritual for me; every mouthful a surge of ecstasy. It is my non-guilty pleasure, as I don't associate guilt with the art of eating. But yesterday, as I was in my shadow side walking by Fat Cat, the irony of emotional eating revealed itself. At that moment, had I stealthfully gone inside and indulged, it would not have been to asuage any physical hunger, as there was none. It would have been to soothe the wicked beast inside of me; to slay my internal dragon.  
I remember my early life; adolescent and teenage years, when I numbed out with food because my emotional dragons were too scary, but had to take myself wherever I went anyway; thinner or heavier. There was no ecstatic eating while battling my demons with food as my weapon. Eventually, my body caught up with my spirit, and in my twenties, my weight reached two hundred and twenty pounds.
What did I do yesterday when these feelings "hit?" I texted two friends and released them through writing. The act of letting them out and moving them through, without anyone needing to solve it or fix it for me; merely "hear" me, started to diminish them. I also identified what was happening, and knew that  even though it felt large, it was merely one moment in my extraordinary life. If I had eaten over it, it would have become me, merging through the act of digestion into my cells and cellular memory.
Today, my relationship with food is sacred loving and fun, and there is no guilt, pain or suffering associated with it. I counsel clients in Ecstatic Eating!, which is available to each of us, no matter what our journey or our past. Food is our intimate partner, with whom we get to dance the longest, slowest dance of all; never to be rushed, abused or neglected.
After the most difficult part of my day came the most beautiful moments. I had a counseling session and the energy in the office was so pure and high. When I left, the old loathing feelings had completely vanished, replaced with immense gratitude for every part of my life, accompanied by a surge of joy. Leaving the office, I texted these same two friends the deep feelings of gratitude I was having for my life at that moment. It is important to voice the shift into light as well once we have let go of the shadow; what we language becomes us.
My life had not changed, yet I had shifted, merely by allowing each moment to exist and by being present to each moment. I am grateful for the opportunity this cleanse gives me; not to do, but just to be.

Who did I once write in as a presidential candidate?

Day 3 of the Cleanse:
8:00 AM Salt Water Flush: 1 Quart warmed water with 2 teaspoons sea salt
11:15 AM 1st Quart Master Cleanser:
1 Quart warmed water with 6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, pulp (and seeds), 5 tablespoons Grade B maple syrup and 1/8 teaspoon cayenne (spicy)
12:30 PM Quart #2 Master Cleanser
4:30 PM Quart #3 Master Cleanser
6:30 PM Quart #4 Master Cleanser
Total: 1 Gallon

I have been an advocate and activist for health since my twenties; actually, since I was about ten and wrote into the Hills Corporation asking them if they killed horses for their dog food and got an answer back assuring me they didn't kill Mustangs. That reminds me of the disturbing video I saw this week exposing Whole Foods allowing many GMO foods into their store, including Monsanto's GMO corn, and lying to consumers about it. When a friend and colleague of mine emailed her local Whole Foods in response, they responded simply that they needed to train their team leaders more effectively in how to respond to consumers about which foods are clearly labeled as Non-GMO. Hello: That's not the issue. Blaming their employees deflects responsibility even more. The issue is that Whole Foods, which has always portrayed themselves as the number one advocate for non-genetically engineered foods, and has time and time again said that they do not support GMO's and do not carry them, has lied to us who support and trust them because of the drive to make a profit.
Is there also lots of good that Whole Foods does? Yes! Are there many foods worth purchasing there? Definitely. So what is the answer? It is to "call" them on this issue and let them know that this is unacceptable. We need to email our local Whole Foods and let them know that they need to uphold what we trust them to espouse with the food we buy for ourselves and our children. They will respond, and even if it is not the response we want, they will see the numbers of people who care about these choices and will have to step up to the plate with integrity. Here's what I wrote, if you are looking for how to word your email:

Hi,
As a Holistic Health Counselor and consumer, I am very disturbed about this video. I want to be able to not only shop at Whole Foods, but to send clients there reliably. My concern is that Whole Foods carries ANY GMO foods. When the store was founded, I thought that the message communicated at the time was NO to GMO. It's not just about the labeling. It's about trusting the sources, and for Whole Foods to take a stand and not allow GMO foods inside the store. I appeal to Whole Foods to take a firm stand on this and eliminate all GMO foods from your store.
Thank you,
Hope Stanger

Back to my twenties, when I was living in New York City. It was then that I learned of the plight of the U.S. farm workers, and the major health risks they were being exposed to in order to supply the produce we eat. I received regular newsletters from the Untited Farm Workers (U.F.W.) that were so disturbing and graphic. This was an organization that told the untold truth about the lives of the many men and women who were working for low wages in our farming industry just to support their families. It finally uncovered and exposed the truth about pesticides and their impact on physical health. I got to see graphic images of real farm workers with cancer, skin lesions, corroded arms and legs, nerve damage and serious life-threatening illnesses resulting from being sprayed with pesticides while in the fields or handling the earth and produce that was sprayed. I learned all the scientific names for pesticides and the concrete scientific research about the physical health impact of each individual chemical. My eyes were opened and I wept every time I read a new newsletter from the U.F.W. So it's no wonder that in 2012,  I don't even know how to respond to one more person saying that they heard organic fruits and vegetables are no more healthy than non-organics, or that it's ok to eat the produce with hard shells or skins. Of course, I try to educate people time and again about this; that it is from day one of planting, and even before, that the soil is sprayed with a multitude of pesticides/chemicals, which continue to be sprayed through harvesting. The earth is sprayed; the baby seedlings are sprayed; the blooming vegetables and fruits are sprayed; and the fully grown plants are sprayed; over and over throughout the cycle. It doesn't matter if it's an avocado or a red pepper; when pesticides are used, they inundate the entire food. Back in my twenties, during a presidential election, I didn't align with either plan being presented by each candidate. Therefore, I decided at the time to write in as my choice Ceasar Chavez, the founder and head of the United Farm Workers, because I knew he genuinely cared about the health and well being of people on this earth, and that is who I wanted as president of our precious country.
It's food for thought...

Cleansing to Our Truth

Day 2 of the Autumn Cleanse!
8:30 AM Salt Water Flush:
1 warmed quart (32 oz.) of water with 2 teaspoons sea salt, drunk all at one sitting
10:15 AM Core mat exercises
10:30 AM First quart of Master Cleanser, with 6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice and pulp (and seeds), 5 tablespoons Grade B maple syrup and 1/8 spicy teaspoon of cayenne
Noon: Quart 2 of Master Cleanser
5:40 PM Quart 3
6:30 PM Quart 4
Total: 1 gallon and done for the day :)

I cannot believe this, but I am sitting here typing and filled with energy. I feel almost wired, but in a good way. I don't drink coffee, but I suppose this is what people reach for. I've had this feeling from juicing or the frequency of raw foods, but there's an added component. It feels like a letting go and an adding in at the same time. I am releasing the old debris and toxins from my colon, intestines, organs, blood and tissues and taking in the mineralization of new energy. I feel like I could dance for a couple of hours!
That being said, don't worry if you feel exhausted while cleansing. A cleanse reaches to the core, and you can experience incredible energy for a couple of hours and then need to sleep far more than normal. Wherever you are at is wherever you need to be; your body will tell you. If I were fatigued, I would stop typing and go to sleep, even at 8:30.
My first flush of the cleanse was perfect. I remember the first time I did a salt water flush, which was during the 31-day juice feast. It already had felt so vulnerable doing the enemas 7 days in a row, and then when I switched from juicing to Master Cleanser, I followed that protocol. The first time I drank the salt water I said, "I can't do this. It's disgusting, and I'll never make my way through it." The next time, it suddenly tasted a lot better, as if my body had accepted and connected with it. For this Autumn cleanse, I actually loved it! Forty five minutes later I was releasing all of the old.
I had a half an hour of shaky blood sugar in the middle of the afternoon, which then passed. Now my body is filled with a feeling of well being cleansing through me.
Imagine if everyone in the world cleansed for ten days; what do you think the leaders of our government would be like? What about the heads of the food industry? How would the military generals act? What would happen to those suffering from depression, ADD, OCD, anxiety, psychoses and medication overload? That's an evolution I would like to witness. What I find most powerful today is that as I walked through my day, navigating the "stuff of life" with all its dilemmas, fears and stressors, I couldn't hide out in my food. I had to be present to who I am when I am simply in my truth. I had to let go of all my self-judgements and replace them with self-love; as if the cleansing spurred my body to say: "You are who you are, Hope. Now can you love yourself for all of it; light and shadow, and can you allow others to love you "as is" as well?
Cleansing allows us to return to our truth; the souls of who we came here to be. It's an opportunity to let go of our limited beliefs and expand into our unlimited potential. What if you lived your life like each day was a cleanse? Who would you be and what would your life look like? It's only a matter of choice..

When we cleanse, it's not just our bodies....Day 1

Hello World,

Today is Day 1 of Master Cleanser:
So far today:
7:30 AM 1 quart Master Cleanser, with 6 tablespoons fresh organic lemon juice and pulp (and seeds), 5 tablespoons Grade B maple syrup and 1/8 teaspoon cayenne (very spicy)
12:50 PM Quart #2
5:00 PM Quart #3
One more quart to come, but not too late.

I am sipping my third quart of Master Cleanser as I type. Figuring I'd breeze through this cleanse, after juice feasting with no solids for 31 days in the spring, I forgot that my body has been so reconditioned to food that the removal of it is causing a bit of an uproar :) Last week, I celebrated the Jewish holidays with some foods I don't typically eat, and I felt the feeling of "stuffed" that I haven't felt in a long time. When I eat solely raw foods, the molecular frequency is so high and the nutrients so dense that I get filled up without ever getting stuffed. Even though I transitioned back after the holiday, I am still letting go of those meals, as well as the last four months since my previous cleanse.
What am I feeling? A little shakiness (blood sugar), a little annoyance (having my food taken away), a little bereft (feeling lonlier than usual); all of the above.
This leads me into one of the most relevant yet rarely touched upon aspects of cleansing; the emotional component. I blogged about this over the course of the 31-day cleanse. Cleanses are so hip now; so "au courant." Everyone is on a cleanse and everyone advertises one. On the one hand, it is so great that people want to get healthier and can have access and support in doing so. The problem lies in the act of omission. What we need to know is what is left out when cleansing; that we are not only cleansing our bodies of all the food-based and environmental toxins and old debris (and this can go back a lifetime, if we have never cleansed before - more on this in another post), we are also cleansing from an emotional perspective. All the stored up experiences that get processed (or not) in our somatic (body-centered) selves are cleansing as well. Think about what has transpired in your life since your last cleanse; did you end a relationship or have it ended by someone else? Have you had loss, sadness, pain, hurt, anger or any other emotion/experience taking up space? Look at these areas; family, love, relationships, work, joy, health, finances; if you processed any of these on an emotional end, or if they got "lodged" in between your energy centers and held as "wounds" to the chakras (the energy centers we have in our bodies; just like organs, tissues and blood, these also exist and house our experiences) you might need to cleanse them as well.
I also tell clients: Our body is the higher intellect; our minds the lesser! Not that we can't be smart, but it's the body we really need to listen to, and the mind always trips us up with its intelligence. Our bodies really tell us what we need to know, if we pay attention and honor them.
If you are cleansing and suddenly, for no apparent reason feel weepy or angry or terribly sad, you are not losing your mind! In fact, most probably you are healing core issues that have been hanging out inside of you with nowhere to go. Don't reach for the pills to make it go away. Instead, ask your body what it is telling you; literally. I recommend clients speak to their bodies all the time. Then listen for an answer. Once you get one, see if is to just allow the old, bottled up feelings to move through you or whether there is an action that would help heal them. Pull your journal out and write for a few minutes about your discovery. This is the pivotal component that draws people into letting go of their commitments and going back to addictive behaviours; being uncomfortable with the feelings, the emotions, finally coming up to the surface. You don't have to eat over it! Just breathe deeply, ten inhales and ten exhales, and let the oxygen fill you.
If you have never cleansed before, and even sometimes if you have, your body might transport you back to many years ago, where you find yourself emotionally re-experiencing an event from twenty years ago. That happended to me a couple of times during the 31-day Juice Feast.
Don't be concerned; just stay with it and allow it a "voice." Once you do, it will be able to shift and move through you.
So, what's coming up for me on Day 1 as I type? I'm missing loving touch and connection. If you're the next person I see, I'll be asking you for a hug!
PS - My upper back muscles are starting to ache as I blog. This is a sure sign that the cleansing is working! As Dr. Fred Bisci speaks about, when you start to cleanse, all the energy used for the muscles and joints starts to leave those areas and go the the organs and parts of the body needing core healing. That is a good sign.

10-Day Cleanse Starting October 1st

Today's Ecstatic Eating!tm Recipes:
Kale salad:
1 bunch Lacinato kale, massaged with Mom's homemade dressing: 2 cloves garlic chopped, then mashed into a paste with 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, with 1/2 inch olive oil in measuring cup, some Bragg's Amino Acids and 1 teaspoon Organic Stone Ground Mustard (with apple cider vinegar - this keeps it raw and alkaline); then 2 beautifully shredded beets tossed in (shredded with the blade of my food processor), along with 1 sliced Granny Smith apple and a bunch of Crimini mushrooms rubbed down with Bragg's; sliced and tossed in. This was beyond delicious, and I put so much love into it xo
Pâté: ~ 2 1/2 cups soaked sunflower seeds and ~ 2 oz. soaked pecans; soaked in an uncovered bowl overnight with water to cover; then drained and rinsed
Food processed with: 1 red pepper, some spinach leaves, lots of fresh dill, Garam Masala Tandoori seasoning (organic paprika, organic cumin, organic coriander, organic garlic, organic ginger, organic cardamom), and some cayenne; with lots of olive oil, some tamari, 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, 1 stalk celery
Karita's amazing smoothie: Filled Vitamix (64 oz.): Water, box of organic strawberries, soaked high-level raw almonds, maple syrup, a pinch of Himalayan sea salt, a little bit of agave and lots of ice cubes
I love to honor my body with the right foods when it's hungry. What feels great is knowing I eat more of the foods that nourish and nurture my body. That is such a different feeling than filling up with foods that don't digest and assimilate easily, which leaves me with a bloated and low-energy feeling.
Have you ever noticed when that happens to you?


It is the most perfect time for a cleanse with Autumn moving in. This weather pulls us to crave more food for warmth and often quickly put on weight. Then it's March and we wonder how fifteen pounds came on; sound familiar?
Cleansing lets go of all the waste we've accumulated in our bodies; both physical and emotional. We clean out, thereby lightening our bodies and boosting our immune systems.
I'm already noticing people all around with sniffling noses and coughs; their Autumn colds are right on track. Shift your food and you shift your health.
I will be using The Master Cleanser format, as written by Stanley Burroughs in his book by the same name. This will be so different from the 31-day cleanse I did last April - May. Ten days seem like so short next to that! Isn't it interesting how everything becomes relative to what we've already experienced in our lives? I remember when the prospect of ten days would have seemed really daunting, and now my body is craving it and ready to start.
I chose Master Cleanser because the maple syrup makes me think of Autumn and the cayenne warms the body and circulates the blood. My Spring cleanse had the green energy of spring with its gallon of juice-feasting a day. This time of year, I want a cleanse that is simple, warming, nourishing and cleansing. My goal is to feel grounded and ready for the cooler weather when I'm done.