Friday, February 09, 2007

Day 10
Weight 195

Well friends, if anyone happens to be reading this or following my experience on the Master Cleanse, I have made it to day 10. You will notice there are no posts for days 6 through 9. Mostly because things were the same as days 1 through 5. The flush continues to work well, when mixed with the proper amount of sea salt, the herbal tea laxative works ok, but will sometimes give me some minor stomach cramping in the mornings, but stops once the 'cleanse' is complete in the morning. I have not had any food other than: about a 1 inch long piece of raman noodle, one kernal of corn (which I think I spit out), and one piece of wheel pasta. This was just to taste them before feeding them to my daughter to make sure they were a) not too hot, and b) cooked properly.

Honestly somewhere in the day 5-6 range not eating food didn't really bother me. I can sort of see how doing something like this master cleanse could possibly lead to the beginnings of an eating disorder if one were inclined to that sort of thing, or had a history of that type of a problem.

Overall, I feel better than when I started, I have more energy, and generally have a better attitude. Due to a hectic work schedule and some pretty lousy weather, other than just a couple of days, I have not had the opportunity to get outside and run or ride my bike.

I am really pleased with the amount of weight that I lost and am anxious to see it stays off once I beging eating again. I will write a post for my blog to let everyone know what happens.

My plans for coming off the cleanse are to switch to the Michaels Naturopathic Programs Ultimate Detox & Cleanse for about 4 days. I will take their supplements and begin with eating fruits and vegetables (raw, if possible). Once the master cleanse is complete you need to replace some of the good bacteria in your system which has been flushed out through the cleansing process and the Michaels program supplements contaiin those things.

Overall, this has been good experience for me and I will no doubt do it again. I don't know how often one is suppose to do this sort of thing, but it will be at least several months before I do it again. Total cost for the cleanse was less than $100 for the 10 days, and probably around $80-$85.

Thanks for following along, and I hope this helps you.

Sunday, February 04, 2007

Day 5
Weight 202

It has been a pretty good day. I looked up the lemon cleanse diet first thing this morning and I think I had been putting two tablespoons of sea salt in a quart of water each morning, and the diet listed 2 teaspoons. So, I only added two teaspoons of sea salt to my water this morning and nothing seemed to happen other than I drank a quart of salt water. No 'cleansing' this morning at all, so I suppose I just retained the water. I have probably not had all the lemonade I was suppose to have today, but I have been busy cleaning up the garage and the day just slipped away from me.

My energy level seems to be increased and I feel good. I still miss eating and get the urge to eat in the afternoons. So far, I have been able to resist.

I am thinking about quitting this cleanse after day five and continue with a different cleanse, one that allows you to eat, for 5-7 days. Will just see how I feel in the morning.

Day 4
Weight 204

Things went pretty well today. I seem to get hungry each afternoon, but other than that, being hungry has not really been much of an issue. The morning routine has remained the same, so I won't go into those details again.

I haven't felt tired or run down. All in all, things seem to be going ok. I wasn't able to exercise any today due to a too hectic schedule, but might try and get out for a run or bike ride tomorrow. Temps still remain way below normal for this time of year, but at least it looks like we will have some sunshine tomorrow which always helps.

I continue to drink 5-6 cups of coffee a day too.

Friday, February 02, 2007

Day 3
Weight 204

Well, I have managed to get through the 3rd day of my master cleanse. I drank a cup of the herbal tea laxative last night before going to bed since I didn't have to be any where too early this morning, in case things got going really well.

I slept in this morning until about 8:00 because I stayed out at the Indian Casino until 1:00a.m. and was a little tired. I actually came out of the casino about $800 ahead, so it was worth my while, and of course fun. Anyway, I drank the tea and went to bed when I got home and really didn't notice much difference in my morning due to the tea. I drank the salt water flush first thing, and it worked like a charm again. About half an hour after drinking it, I used the bathroom 5 times (see footnote 1 below) over the course of about 20-30 minutes, and the flush was done, I showered, and went in to the office. I honestly don't see the need for the laxative. Maybe the flush doesn't work as well for other folks, but I will drink it again tonight before going to bed and see how tomorrow morning goes.


I drank 8 glasses of the lemonade today (10oz each). I already have my lemonade made for tomorrow and will drink 10 glasses.

Today I felt good but got a pretty hungry in the middle of the afternoon. Probably because I ran out of lemons and didn't have any lemonade from 10:00a.m. until 5:00p.m. Probably not the way the program is designed, but hey, life gets in the way sometimes. It is tax season and I have to meet with clients.

I have read that day 3 is one of the tougher days, and for me it was pretty tough in the afternoon when I was so hungry. Would have helped if I had planned better and had my lemonade made the night before.

The weather here has been below freezing temps for the last few days with some mixture of snow, sleet, and rain so I haven't been out to run. My eight year old daughter and I are home alone this weekend, so unless she goes to grandma's or one of her friends house's to play for a few hours, I won't be able to get out for a run. Might set my bike and trainer up inside the house and do some spin. I am curious how I will feel after exercising.

To sum it up, so far so good and I am still bent on going the full 10 days.

Now I am off to drink my tea and go to bed.

footnote 1: As with any pure liquid diet, pretty much pure liquid comes out. Seems to exit rather forcful as well, so there is some splattering and subsequent soiling of the toilet that takes place. Just wanted to mention this so that everyone can live this experience with me, and you can plan for some additional time each morning to clean the toilet before leaving the house.

Thursday, February 01, 2007

I am doing a cleanse and thought I would write my account of the experience. I will try to update my blog every day or two and keep you informed of my progress.


Day 1
January 31, 2007

Weight: 208

I started the Master Cleanse today, or sometimes called the Lemonade Cleanse or diet. The cleanse process takes 10 days. I think I can give up eating for this period, but I will probably still drink some coffee each day (organic of course). I felt like I needed to do something to jump start a weight loss program and get back on track with my training for ultra distance marathons. Also, lots of stress in my life related to work and finances so I thought what the heck, you know, what can it hurt.

Basically, these are the supplies needed:

For the Lemonade:
Mix and drink 6-12 glasses a day. Here's the recipe:

2 tablespoons of fresh squeezed lemon or lime juice.

2 tablespoons of grade B organic maple syrup,

1/10 teaspoon of cayenne pepper, and

8 fluid ounces of spring or purified water.

Other supplies:

1/2 pound non-iodized sea salt (for the salt water ‘flush’ each morning)

a box of herbal laxative (to take at night, before bed, to help ‘get things going’ in the morning)

I picked up my supplies at one of the local health food grocery stores. I think I bought enough of everything I will need except for lemons and bottled water. Total cost was about $53. I don’t figure this is too bad since I won’t be eating anything else during this period.

Today went ok, although I did drink some coffee. I only had 4 of the lemonade’s but I didn’t get started until almost noon today. Since I have to meet a client tomorrow, I am going to skip the herbal laxative tonight since I don’t know how I will react to it. I never did feel too hungry.

Day 2
February 1, 2007

Weight 205

Somewhat encouraged by the weight loss although I suppose it is water retention being released and not real weight loss. Got up this morning and drank the salt water flush. 20-30 minutes after drinking it I needed to use the bathroom and begin the cleanse. Probably had to go 4 times during the next 45 minutes to an hour, then it was safe to shower and go on into the office. Didn't have a stomach ache or dicomfort, just felt like I had gas and needed to go to the bathroom. If you are considering doing this cleanse, I would make sure you either get up early enough to take care of the morning cleanse before having to leave for work, school, etc. or make sure your morning schedule will allow you to go to the bathroom frequently. Judging by this mornings results, I am not sure I need the herbal laxative, but I think my schedule is such for tomorrow that tonight I can take it and if I need to spend some extra time at home in the morning, then that will be ok.

I mixed up some lemonade this morning before leaving the house and will do my best to consume the proper amount today. Also I am going to have a few cups of coffee this morning when I get to my office.

I occasionally get hungry, but don't feel like I am starving. When I get the craving to eat, I just drink some more lemonade.