The Cleanse: Days 9 and 10

Day 9 was much the same as day 8 but easier.

Today, Day 10, was only more difficult because of my anticipation to eat regular food.

At 10:00pm tonight, I completed 10 full days of fasting and celebrated with a bowl of organic sweet corn soup and it was awesome!

I'm glad I did the cleanse and even though a few days ago I was thinking I would never do it again, I do believe I will. Maybe it'll be a yearly tradition, who knows.

The Cleanse: Days 6, 7, and 8

The past few days have gotten gradually easier but I'm looking forward to the end of day 10. It'll be nice to actually eat something. Don't get me wrong... I'm not starving. In fact, I'm rarely hungry. And very seldom weak. The only time I've felt weak is when I've gone longer than I should without drinking some of the mix.

Speaking of which, I've decided against calling it "lemonade." It's as much lemonade as it is maple juice or pepper drink. And for anyone curious about how the drink tastes, it's not bad. It's not good but not bad. I would say the initial taste is good but then the pepper kicks in and it has a little burn to it. The maple syrup taste is most prominent and kind of reminds me of one of those honey flavored cough drops.

I did a salt water flush this morning. It and didn't do much. Maybe after 8 days my intestine is close to being clean now.

I've prepared for getting of the cleanse by getting some organic sweet corn soup. I think a day or two of that and then gradually work back into the solids, maybe with a salad or some vegetables.

I definitely look differently at food and even gave my 4 year old daughter a little lecture on wasting food for not finishing her peanut butter crackers. It was never a problem before because Daddy always finished everything but now that I have to throw it away, it pains me.

Two full days left which I'll finish with no problem. Five or six days ago I started thinking that people that did 20, 30, or 40 days of this have to be ridiculously insane. In hind site, I could do it. It's gotten easier everyday. So for those of you that are thinking about doing the cleanse, go into it knowing that those first couple of days are hard... real hard. But every day gets easier.

The Cleanse: Days 4 and 5

Yesterday and today were very much the same. It's gradually getting easier... as in feeling hungry less often. Looking back, the first two days were definitely the hardest.

I've been doing the salt water flush each evening. Yesterday, I learned an important lesson about it: I just used one teaspoon of salt in one 16 oz. glass of warm water and chased it with another pint of water. It had no effect so apparently, not enough salt does not work. Tonight I did two teaspoons in one warm water pint and chased it with another unsalted warm water pint and it had a mild effect (I went twice instead of 4 or 5 times).

So I'm half-way done now. I can't wait to eat some pizza. Oh, weight-wise, I have lost some... how could you not. I didn't weight myself but I can tell by looking so I'm guessing it's been 5 - 10 lbs., but probably closer to 5.

I still do not feel and have not felt weak at all. I feel very good physically. If it wasn't for losing a girlfriend, a job, and my house all in the same week, I'd feel like a King! Alas, I feel hopeful. Good thing for the cleanse. If it wasn't for the cleanse... the challenge and execution of discipline... my mind might be far off.

The Cleanse: Day 3

Hunger today was much more mild. I also didn't "go" even once yet, however I just did another salt water flush 10 minutes ago so hopefully I can finish this blog entry without crapping all over the laptop.

Over all, I don't feel weak and even feel a little more aware.

A thing I like about the cleanse is a new found appreciation food... the slightest bit of food. I made my daughter breakfast for dinner (her and my favorite) and so badly wanted to taste the extra cream cheese on the knife. I have a feeling that I'll never take you for granted again, food.

Another thing I like is the discipline that's required to go on with the cleanse. The practice of will is important for me and right now, I need plenty of it. I couldn't have picked a better time to do the cleanse.

The Clease: Day 2

I've now gone over 40 hours since my last meal and I'm completing day 2 of the cleanse. Most of today has been easier than yesterday... hunger-wise. I also found it easier to drink the mix.

Last night was a first for the herbal laxative tea. It tasted fine and I slept fine - save a few dreams of food and accidentally eating and ruining the cleanse. This morning, a good 2 1/2 hours after waking I had some pretty strong stomach cramps followed by some equally strong diarrhea. Nice huh?

Tonight - about an hour and a 1/2 ago was another first. I did the salt water flush... holy jesus! It came out like water through a hose mouth covered by a thumb. And I crapped about 5 times in an hour and I feel another coming on right now.

Since about 5:00pm, I've been craving food big time. Especially since I helped my daughter with an easy bake cake and then prepared her dinner. Everything looks and smells sooo good! I'm hoping the cravings get better tomorrow!

The Cleanse: Day 1

So, it's been pretty normal so far. I drank about 3/4 of today's mixture at this point. I do feel hungry at times but that seems to subside after not too long. The hunger is more like a craving, similar to what I've read about. I'll think about a particular food and want that, really badly for a good five minutes and then it goes away. I haven't felt overly fatigued or weak. I had expected to. I'm planning on having some of the tea tonight and some of the sea salt in the morning. I'll have to plan it out so I'll not be crapping me-self at work.

The Master Cleanse Mix

I mixed up a 64 oz. mix for each day. It consisted of:

• 12 Tbsp lemon juice - freshly squeezed, organic
• 12 Tbsp maple syrup - grade B, organic
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• fill the rest with filtered water

How I did it:

1. Juice the lemons - It took about 3 whole lemons each day. 12 Tbsp = 6 oz, if that makes it easier. It was for me so I used 6 oz measurements
2. Add 6 oz of syrup
3. Add 1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper
4. Fill the rest with water

That's it.

What to Buy for The Master Cleanse

This post was posted in hind-site to be a little more helpful for folks looking for information and not just pooping antics.

The following is what I bought for my 10-day cleanse and the approximate cost:

1. Organic Lemons - I bought two bag of them to begin with and the cost about $3 for 5. You'll need about 3 lemons a day. The ones I bought were in fact organic which is good, but they don't have to be. The organic lemons
2. Grade B Maple Syrup - It's important that it's Grade B and organic. Whole Foods seemed to be the best source for the syrup for me. They sell a 32 oz. bottle for about $17. I used two bottles.
3. Cayenne Pepper - Should also be organic but I had a hard time finding it. This container was 2.6 oz and way more than enought. It was about $4.
4. Filtered Water - you can but the bottled stuff but I figured on using it more long term. I picked up a Brita filter that attaches to the faucet. It costs about $25 (but I got a $10 mail in rebate - whew-hew!) If you do buy bottle water, you'll need about 60 oz./day.
5. Herbal Laxative Tea - This was about $8 for a 16 pack.
6. Sea Salt - This big container was about $4 I think. (optional)
7. I also bought this hand juicer for $4.

Grand Total : $18 lemons, $34 syrup, $4 cayenne, $15 water, $8 tea, $4 salt, $4 juicer = $87

A bit pricey but not so much when you consider I'm not consuming anything else in those 10 days. Plus there's all the added health benefits.

A Cleaner New Year

To be honest 2008 was a bit of a doozy for me but what doesn't kill you makes you... different When I look at 2009 I'm raising my chin a little.

I don't do new year's resolutions per se but I am a fan of self-improvement and self-reflection. One of several areas of self-improvement that come to mind is being a little healthier. Mainly, eating better and exercising more (or just some).

So to start it off tomorrow, I'm beginning a 10-day "Master Cleanse." What the F, you ask? The Master Cleanse is what you need to do in order to become a Master of the Universe, if you do it enough. This, you see, is my lifelong goal.

The Master Cleanse was invented in the 1940's by some wackjob named Stanley Borroughs and is also known as "the Lemonade Diet." The cleanse, not Stanley. The diet consists of a concoction of filtered water, freshley squeezed lemon juice, grade B maple syrup, and cayenne pepper. Yes, cayenne pepper.

This cleanse essentially detoxifies the body and has been known to give the beneficiary more energy, better rest, and to cure joint pain and other disease in addition to delivering explosive diarrhea. If that weren't enough, you can supplement the diet twice a day with a sea salt flush (intestinal douching) and/or Herbal Laxative Tea. I choose D - all of the above. I am oddly, really, really, looking forward to this.

I whipped up my first batch tonight for all day tomorrow and it looks heavenly.

I'll keep you posted!