Today I have had

• An orange, mango/banana/orange smoothie, egg yolk with orange juice

• Mango/banana/orange smoothie and avocado salad (consisting of red onions, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, avocado and extra virgin olive oil).

• 2 bananas, pineapple and avocado salad.

• raspberry/blackberry/orange smoothie and avocado salad.

Today I have felt a bit weak. I took a run this morning before I had eaten and on top of this then eating the egg yolk, I don’t think it set me up very well for the day. Having to wait 2 and half hous after the egg yolk was quite tough because I was busy. I think I should stick to having the egg yolk in the evening instead. Apart from this I feel really good and no cravings. I have been quite hungry at times but this is because I have been a bit slow getting food to my mouth (busy day!). I think this is reflected in what I have eaten today though. I may have some fruit and nuts this evening as well.

My journey so far has been somewhat slow. I have been mostly reading and after reading Sassi’s Blog recently I decided to purchase the eyebody book to learn more. Sassi has had great results with this approach (for more information visit Eye Body) and I now want to know more!

I have been quite unorganised on the exercises but I do still incorporate blinking, moving and centralization into my day. I have found that if I am looking at my bub I am actually centralizing! It seems whenever I look else where I have more trouble doing so and have to just imagine that I am or convince myself.

My eyesight is much clearer than it was 6 weeks ago and my eyes have become less sensitive to sunlight. I used to go out and really have a hard time even slightly having my eyes open, but now I have them fully open. There is still some sensitivity but it is so much better than before. My breathing has still remained how I have wanted. I really need to work on blinking, moving and centralizing a bit more aggressively now and I feel I am ready to start a proper practise and have the time to do so! Also today we had a sunny day, which hopefully means no more cold rainy days. This means I can go do thenning technique with palming which I have wanted to do but haven’t really had the opportunity to in this weather. I know some people use an artificial light for sunning, but I have read several times you should only use sunlight.

So tomorrow I shall be starting and this is what I shall do in the morning and before bed:

• From the natural vision improvement kit I will follow the relaxation part. Releasing tension of my muscles through exercises (I will be starting this after a morning run so that should help too)

• 2 sets of 50 long swings (this requires swaying body left to right, allowing your head and nose to swing softly around the room).

• 50 infinity swings (this is a variation of the long swing but you put your fingers in front of you and follow one hand to right and the other to left in a figure of 8 )

• centralization using 2 pencils.

• Palming again for 10 minutes (in the morning this will be done with sunning so for a little bit longer).

I don’t think this is too much to do on a daily basis and so I should be able to easily stick to it. By next Sunday I should hopefully be able to see some improvement or what these exercises give to me. Before I do this though, I will be working out actually how decent my eyesight is, using the eyesight chart I have, so I can see if there is an improvement in this in a week. I will still also be incorporating throughout the day blinking and moving as much as possible. I seem to struggle now and then with the blinking and lately have been spacing out (I have a lot on my mind!). I catch myself and rectify it though and if I can’t then I usually shut my eyes. I also think my diet is going to help me stay more focused as well. It has given me a surge of energy I have needed and I seem to procrastinate less on tasks.

Today I have had

• 3 bananas and hazelnuts.

• some water

• a smoothie of raspberries, blackberries, bananas, some orange juice and some hazlenuts.

• a smoothie of raspberries, blackberries, bananas, some orange juice and some hazelnuts

• 2 bananas and an avocado salad (consisting of red onion, lettuce, avocado, tomatoes and cucumbers wit lots of cold pressed extra virgin olive oil on top)

• Orange juice and egg yolk.

I had a really good day again today and had no cravings. Nothing new really to report.

For those who would be interested in this for acne (although I am not on the strict diet) my skin seems to have tightened up, and my pores are smaller. I really like the condition of my skin and it seems to be improving.

Today has been a good day also. On my old diet I used to get agitated, as though I needed something in my diet and it was missing. Even though it is only four days in,I don’t feel this agitation and just eat when I am hungry and am completely satisfied. I am also not bloated as I would be before. I do feel quite good, not tired and generally very stable.

Today I have eaten:

• Cantaloupe melon (muskmelon) and avocado salad (I just love this so much, it is so satisfying to me).

• Smoothie consisting of raspberries and blueberries and some hazelnuts.

• 2 bananas, some more cantaloupemelon (muskmelon) and avocado salad again.

• More homemade smoothie with hazelnuts.

• I shall have a few oranges this evening and some more nuts.

I haven’t been that hungry today. The avocado salad is extremely satisfying and I could eat it all the time! I will, however, be trying some other suggestions in the future, because well I should have some variety and I am guessing the salad may eventually get boring? Or maybe it won’t. For now I love it.

Nothing really to report, apart from I am feel really good.

I woke up this morning at 7am I was ok, I changed my son and then we both fell back to sleep for a few hours while I was feeding him. When I woke up after this I felt quite drained and a bit shakey. My muscles ached too. As soon as my boyfriend got me some fruit I started to feel ok again. Every bit of fruit I had I wanted more! I think this might be a result of breastfeeding and going so long without food (overnight). On this diet you have to eat regularly so my body can’t be used to the big pause on top of feeding my son. Anyway after this I felt a lot better and had an ok day. I felt tired today but all has been good.

This is what I have eaten:

• 1 orange, a banana, a bowl of cantaloupe melon (muskmelon), handful of grapes and some hazelnuts.

• A bowl of grapes and salad (consisting of avocado, red onion, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber and lots of extra virgin olive oil).

• Grapes, cantaloupe and big bowl of salad (same as above).

• 1 ½ oranges and bowl of salad (as above..I actually LOVE this salad).

• Raisins and Hazelnuts.

I also intend to have my egg yolk in a minute with a little freshly squeezed orange juice and will continue to have raisins and hazelnuts. I really love the avocado salad, especially with red onions. It is very satisfying.

Today has been ok as well. Last night though I went out to get some more nuts and a ripe avocado only for my boyfriend to decide he wanted to eat lots of ridiculous treats. Luckily it didn’t bother me too much and well shouldn’t really after only one day. He has a bloody cheek though!

This reminded me though that I wanted to make a point of something. My fruit and vegetables generally come from the local market, if not there then I will get organic but I tend to stray for supermarkets. I have, however, purchased my eggs from there and organic ones too. I am not sure currently where I could them. In the future, if this diet works out for me I will probably look into box schemes to get my fruit – organic and locally grown then and I could potentially get wholesale prices, especially as I love juice and well it takes a lot of oranges to make a litre of juice!

Anyway today I have eaten:

• 2 oranges, fruit salad (oranges, pineapples and cantaloupe (muskmelon).

• 2 bananas, fruit salad and salad consisting of red onions, lettuce, avocado, tomatoes, cucumbers and olive oil

• 2 bananas and cashew nuts.

• Grapes and more salad

• A little bit of water

• Banana, orange and handful of cashew nuts

• A little bit of water

• About to have some more fruit and salad

To be honest when I look at this list it really looks like I don’t eat enough but I put my daily intake into the nutrient calculator including what I am about to eat and have found I am only low in zinc and b12. I expected the b12 because I am increasing the egg yolk – tomorrow I shall have 2 egg yolks so this should boost this up and the zinc. So I am quite impressed so far, even though it is only 2 days. I am impressed because I am listening to my body quite well – this might be harder when cravings kick in, but I am getting what I need – which is much better than my old diet.

Apart from when I was pregnant, I have always had a big problem eating enough, so to know that I am on this diet is really good (in fact I am over energy intake!). Of course I was intitially worried how this diet would affect my bub while he feeds, but I know he is getting everything he needs and he is fine. I am still worried about what to digress when I reach week 2, but in the long run I know this will be beneficial for him when he is on solids.

Anyway so far things are ok and it is good to know I am eating appropriately.

Ok so this is my first day on the Wai Diet. I have eaten:

• 2 oranges and a handful of cashew nuts.

• Handful of sun dried apricots and cashew nuts.

• Fruit Salad (oranges, pineapple and cantaloupe (muskmelon) and small bowl of tomatoes/cucumber drenched in cold pressed extra virgin olive oil. I did intend to have avocado in it which is more filling to me but they are not ripe ? Tomorrow though!

• 2 Bananas and handful of cashew nuts

• Handful of sun dried apricots and cashew nuts

• More fruit salad and cashew nuts.

• I did have some water during the day – not much though.

And I am just about to have some freshly squeezed orange juice with an egg yolk (my body is used to egg yolk already but I am going to start with 1 egg yolk and build up to more during these few weeks). I intend to then finish the evening with more fruit salad.

UPDATE: I had more fruit salad as stated and also had a banana. The juice I had with egg yolk was fantastic – nothing beats freshly squeezed juice!

This isn’t going to be a typical day for me – well the fruit salad will be, but I won’t be eating cashews all day I will be relying more so on an avocado salad (because I love avocado and it keeps me full for longer). I must admit I was less prepared for my first day than initially thought, so will be off to get some more nuts other than cashews!

I did have a slight headache today and am not sure if that is because I am not used to having such a diet. I know that things get tough before you reap the rewards.

Overall I have had a good day. I have eaten when I have felt hungry (to see if you are hungry or just craving Wai suggests asking yourself whether you want to eat fruit – if not then it is most likely just a craving) and have had no cravings for cooked foods so far.

So I was thinking it was about time I cleared up my diet, especially as I have decided to embark on a marathon this year and especially because I am a mother and am breastfeeding. Seems a little late to be starting, but when I say clean up I mean try this raw diet malarkey. I already have cut out dairy (which upset my bub anyway) and feel a lot better for it. I had strolled across a diet called the Wai Diet long ago. It was first a free acne book, but the diet to me made sense and it was more natural than our current societal diet of rubbish and fast food. I also incorporated a lot of it – eating raw egg yolk, and making sure I ate fruit with fat etc, but when I turned pregnant my diet dramatically changed and I was eating a LOT more. Now that everything is settled I want to try this diet again. I want my bub, when he starts eating to eat properly – to consume lots of fruit and raw food and be healthy and vibrant. I want to lead by example as well, so now is the most appropriate time to properly do so before it is his feeding time.

I do wish I could have done this before I was pregnant, but life works in erratic ways and one can not always been in the desired state they want to be for things.

So for those who have never heard of this diet, here are some quotations from the website (Wai Says):

“The Wai Diet is about eating raw, natural, easy to digest foods, excluding all cooked foods and foods that naturally contain high levels of anti-nutrients or (plant-) hormones”.

“The basic principle of the Wai Diet is to give the body what it needs, and to avoid that which is harmful to it. The diet will provide us with all the necessary macronutrients (carbohydrates, fats, protein) and micronutrients (vitamins, minerals and trace elements) we need”.

The Wai Diet basically consists of:

• fruits (raw, can also be juiced or (sun-dried)
• olive oil
• raw egg yolk
• raw fish

Optional:
• nuts
• other oils
• raw meat (not advocated)
• sugar
• other

I shall be eating lots of fruits, olive oil, and raw egg yolk. I shall be documenting my progress daily and shall be starting this diet tomorrow. I shall be doing it for 30 days initially to see how this diet is for me.

For more information on this diet you should read the free book. It is a long read but is back up by scientific research. The forum is also a helpful place to learn about this diet if you are interested.

I would also like to note that I am not doing the strict diet – which is the Acne Diet. This requires you to be strict for the first 2 weeks and then to introduce ‘munchfoods’ to see which flare up your acne. I am not doing this, I am following the free book which is packed full of information on food/energy etc and is extremely informative in so many areas. It is a little more flexible and in the second week you can start having munch food (if you want) each day.

This evening my sister asked me to give her a lift somewhere. I reluctantly said I would, but this meant putting on my glasses of which I haven’t for over 4 weeks now. I decided to quickly try them before I set out and they were too strong. Even looking through them for a second made me feel sick and dizzy. It was horrible and I wasn’t sure how I would manage to keep them on for half an hour. I started to look for old pairs, but I only found a scratched pair, so had no choice but to use my, now, too strong pair. On top of having to deal with my glasses again, I had to drive in the dark. Not exactly the best combination, but I had to (well I didn’t have to but my problem is I can never say no or I dislike immensely letting people down).

The journey was awful. My eyes kept going in and out of focus. I felt sick, dizzy and could not concentrate on the task at hand; which made me drive a little bit dangerously at times. It was horrible. Trying to fight against the strength of the glasses at the same time as trying to continue my good vision habits of blinking, shifting and centralizing was almost impossible. I did persevere but it was extremely hard, not to mention trying to concentrate on where I was going. I was relieved to get the darn things off my face.

I did notice though that my eyes quickly adjusted back to how they had been for the past 4 weeks (although they are still a little sore from the strain). To me this is a sign that I have been exceeding in good eye practice and that I have made the right choice.

That experience has reinforced my notion never to wear glasses ever again. If that means I can’t drive a car again – so be it. It was awful and I guess having had my glasses off for so long showed me how bad it really is. I now know that I will definitely get my vision back and that I shall be free of this horrible burden to my eyes forever.

So to anyone skeptical of this natural vision improvement malark, I challenge you to take your glasses off for a few weeks, and then put them back on. If you think the only solution is to put up with that strain and stress on your eyes, then you are nuts! You don’t need perfect vision – you can manage in life without it (of course until you improve enough to meet standards ).

I don’t care that my vision isn’t exactly clear right now, but when I put those glasses back on, I realized how very wrong I was seeing through them. Even though my vision is blurred, I know I am seeing properly – more so than through glasses and thus lies my determination in staying this way.

If you are reading this and debating what to do about yours eyes – please take a few weeks off from your glasses. It isn’t hard to adapt to and you will feel a lot better for doing so. It will be the first step to a beautiful journey in recovering your eyes.

This week I have been reading Relearning to See like a nutter. It is quite fascinating really, learning about sight. It probably isn’t to someone who has beautiful natural vision, but someone like me who is in a blurry mess most of the time, learning natural vision is quite interesting. It is a shame it has come to this, but nevermind, I am attempting to change it and with each day I am more and more confident it will be soon that I shall reach my goal.

Quackenbush teaches the 3 principles of natural vision – movement, centralization and relaxation. Knowing how we see and knowing these three principles is crucial in improving your vision. I have spent the week consciously incorporating them into my life. When speaking of movement, Quackenbush refers to how we see – not just staring at a particular object and trying to see it, but moving our eyes around the object, ‘sketching’ it. Our eyes are constantly shifting from one point to another – our eyes are never still. Movement also refers to blinking. In those individuals who have blurred vision, these qualities are often reduced substantially (we don’t blink as often) or are simply missing (our eyes don’t move they just stare). In order to see clearly again, one must learn to sketch/shift and to blink often and lightly. Quackenbush references the way children behave – they constantly are moving, exploring. Unfortunately we as adults are continuously telling them to be still, and trying to instil in them unnatural restraints that essentially have caused our problematic eye issues. Instead we should be like children and we shouldn’t restrict ourselves. Movement is essential to good vision. It is natural.

Centralisation goes hand in hand with movement and is the notion that the human eye can only see one point clearly at any moment. It is having one’s primary visual interest at one small central point at any moment and this is the only point that is clear and most colourful. Anything else is less clear. Anything in the peripheral is not clear. This does not work unless you keep shifting your attention to different points, to ultimately see the entire picture. When you stare you diffuse instead of centralise and this causes strain.

Now for relaxation, you cannot relax properly unless you breathe properly. Abdominal breathing is natural, normal breathing. Breathing through your nose is natural normal breathing. A quick 6 steps to abdominal breathing is:

1. Sit or lie comfortably.

2. Put one hand on your chest and one on your stomach.

3. Slowly inhale through your nose.

4. As you inhale, feel your stomach expand with your hand. If your chest expands, focus on breathing with your diaphragm.

5. Slowly exhale.

6. Rest and repeat.

You shouldn’t pull the abdominal in while inhaling and shouldn’t lift your shoulders up. This is extremely important and once done enough this type of breathing can become automatic again.

These are the three principles that I have been trying to incorporate into my everyday life regularly – all day and all night (with the breathing).

Everyday I have made sure I kept my eyes moving, my head moving and neck at least partially moving. I have sketched objects, blinked a lot and also tried to establish centralisation as well. I don’t think I am quite there with the centralisation (although I imagine I am – imagination being important too), but with the exercises I have I am hoping this will be in my grasp in the very near future. Whenever I sit down and have a moment I have sketched and attempted centralisation more consciously.

I have also noticed I tend to tense my jaw up a lot – I guess this is with the lack of movement in my neck and head. From the start of the week I had already made abdominal breathing an automatic function. I also tested this when I was quite stressed. As soon I felt overwhelmed I checked my breathing and found I was still abdominally breathing – this is usually when you might slip back into old habits! I also noticed with this that my shoulders and neck didn’t tense up and cause me excruciating pain as they normally would when I am under pressure. I have also found that I tend to not get as stressed as I used to.

By the end of the day my eyes are not sore and tired – they still are very fresh! When I walk about I notice how much I can see clearly and can read signs that I would have never been able to weeks ago. Also when I look at things I don’t *try* to see – trying hinders vision. When I do this I have had flashes of clear vision and although it is very quick it is fantastic! Overall I have had a very good week. I am enjoying the less tense, less sore lifestyle already. Of course I still have far to go, but once I have cracked centralisation I should be there fairly quickly. I look forward to relieving the all of the tension in my neck and shoulders completely. But this coming week I shall be incorporating some of the exercises every day in order to gain back centralisation. Wish me success!