I have done several Master Cleanses... the last one was 40 days long in 2005. I ate raw food for four months the next year and have done many liver flushes all along. Since returning to cooked food I have seen my health deteriorate. I tried to go raw and could only manage 8 days in a row at most - but I kept trying. On January 5th of 2009, having just begun to go raw yet again, I fell and injured my left hip and have been hobbling about ever since. Healing some, but not nearly enough to be my hill climbing happy self, I gained weight as I rested and allowed the hip to heal.
I have done quite a lot of thinking while I have been laying about... Firstly I realized that the reasons I have overeaten in the past are all but gone and that I have many more skills to cope with the remaining feelings that come up for me when I go raw. Secondly I recognized that most of what I have wanted to blame on aging is in fact a result of bad nutrition and not moving my body regularly.
In April, I tried once again to go raw in a small way, a salad a day, three fruits and 20 minutes of cardio - only to discover that my hip does not want this at all. I trust my body at least enough to hear that. I know that eating raw is the best thing I can do for my body, and I also know that having been on cooked food for the last couple years I am deeply habituated to the heavy feeling of that food. So, to enable myself to go raw I decided to clean out my system first, take the emphasis off eating and begin with my old friend, The Master Cleanse. I am beginning this latest Master Cleanse on Sunday April 19, 2009. I will journal my journey here daily. I may go longer but I am shooting for at least 21 days.
Friday- Day Minus 2: Today is for any cravings, lots of fruit and mental preparation as much as anything. I want this, I want how it feels during the cleanse as well as the benefits afterwards. I want to heal this tired body and segue into eating raw 100% for a long, long time!
Saturday night- Day Minus 1: I am calmer and even more sure that now is the time for this. I am making the Smooth Move tea and getting ready for bed. I forgot how yummy the tea is!
Sunday - Day 1: Ah, yes, the Salt Water Flush. I chug it, warm and it is over and done! I made it with precious pink Himalayan salt for the first time as I ran out of the usual Fleur De Sel I normally use. It tasted salty, I really could not have told you it was different salt. I will have the Fleur for tomorrow's SWF and will see if I notice a big difference. I certainly did between the Fleur and bulk sea salt in the flush. I slept long and hard with the laxative tea in me... intense dreams, but not remembered. ~~ Growl - I want to eat. I forgot how strong this urge is the first days... Growl. ~~ It is really lovely here today. I can hear the birds chirping and the air smells sweet. I shall be walking very slowly to the HFS and stocking up on lemons, salt, tea and maple syrup and then walking very slowly home. *** I made it there and back... in the heat. It is hot in my city. It took 45 minutes. So I got in my cardio today along with a little sunshine. The other good news is that moving makes the eating urges go away for a while. I am going to remember that.
SWF, 96 oz water, 8 lemonades, laxative tea & a 45 minute walk
Monday - Day 2: The Yogi Get Regular tea tasted really nice, but the cramps woke me this morning. I may have to brew it for a shorter time. I feel very sluggish and sleepy. It is unusually hot here and that is contributing. SWF was even easier with Eden Sea Salt today and it totally wiped out the cramps. I still want to go back to bed. ~ I made it through a short walk, the lemonades taste better than ever. It is only in my thoughts that I really want to eat something. Drinking lots of water really helps everything to feel a bit better. It is still hot, though. Should be cooler and overcast tomorrow which will make my life and this cleanse easier. My right knee is giving me some pain - not epected, but the healing of the MC goes back in time and maybe unbeknownst to me I somehow injured my right knee while compensating for the injury to my left hip! ~ I am fine as long as I am busy, walking, posting, researching, sharing... as soon as I sit to relax I WANT TO EAT! Not from suggestion, but from inactivity. More lemonades time. ~ I tried a sprinkle of cinnamon in the Smooth Move - nice!
SWF, 114 oz water, 10 lemonades, Smooth Move Tea & 15 minute walk
Tuesday - Day 3: I am skipping the SWF today. No cramps with Smooth Move tea. Heavy sleep in the warmth, I want to go back to bed again. ~ I did, that helped. I am pouty - don't want lemonade, don't want food. Don't want to be - this is all detox. It took more than an hour and some deep breathing for me to figure this out. So, I made myself a double lemonade and drank it. I will get through today. I will! If only by the skin of my teeth! ~ I managed a 60 minute hike carrying heavy stuff... dolls to ship on the way out, 20 lemons and a big jug of maple syrup on the way back! My left hip gave no trouble, but my right knee really complained on the way back... and it was none to happy on the way out. So, total rest tomorrow and the next day, no walking - just lots of Body Flex breathing. Oddly I did not get winded as I have been on this particular walk. I think the lemonades are already really helping me. Yay! Plus the clerk who checked me out with the lemons was very impressed. Admiration never hurts the motivation during the first days! ~ Okay, this is a surprise... I feel wonderful. Happy and good. I could eat, but I can easily have tea and hit the sheets. I watched 3 episodes of great BBC series on DVD - State Of Play and was in such a great mood to totally enjoy it.
103 oz water, 10 lemonades, Smooth Move tea & 60 min hike
Wednesday - Day 4: I am on the brink of understanding something essential to me being raw. I really am feeling how fast and loose I played with my health - which is the basis of my very life! And for so long. I never felt this responsibility before. I feel awed by the power. And my ignorance and naivete. And I could actually see in my mind the connection between food and the condition of my bones and muscles. I think I really got it that I am made up of what I put in my body. Mentally as well as physically. And I was totally raised to ignore the body's needs. Not anymore. Not ever again. ~~ Salt Water Flush was easy peasy today. I am drinking lots of water but don't seem to want lemonade. I have passing cravings for eating.. still not specific, just want to EAT! I just really don't want to be feeling and thinking this stuff that I am feeling. De-tox!! I can hear that in a sing-song voice. I don't want to be cleansing, I don't want to be detoxing. I want to eat a big hot dinner! LOL Even as I write it - it is only faintly true. I just want to feel better and detox feels icky. I will make myself have another lemonade. No walking today, so maybe a round of breathing will help. I will try all of skills and see if they help. ~~ Finally - Relief! I tried it all and nada in results.. well, all my tricks are fun, but they did not eliminate the irritation and impatience - but dancing did. I did a very gentle 20 minutes and got all sweaty in an over heated room.. and showered and I feel like me again! Only better! Yes! I am going to have to include some sweating each day to help deal with the detox.
SWF, 120 oz water, 10 lemonades, Smooth Move Tea & 20 minutes GENTLE boogie
Thursday - Day 5 Well, I got part of an explanation of why I was detoxing so much yesterday... I am down 10 pounds this morning from day one. Amazing and totally expected. (I just re-read my first MC journal and by day 6 I had lost 13 pounds) I am grateful for the break and weight loss, but healing and feeling better is the main reason I am doing this cleanse. And being 10 pounds lighter is a huge benefit for my hip and knee! I am going for a short walk first thing. ~~ Okay, so I am a boo-boo head. I told myself I would rest for 2 solid days and instead I danced last night and then walked just now. Not surprising that my hip complained almost the whole way on the walk. headshake I still don't deal well with injury and sickness. I want healing NOW. I assume if all is quiet, then all is well. And that is simply not how healing goes. Ah, well, rest for the rest of today, for sure. maybe I can truly take it one day at a time. Now for the SWF. ~~ Just a quick note - I am working and feeling pretty fantastic. ~~ I worked a lot and it was fun & productive. I am having my tea, watching an episode of State Of Play and hitting the sheets! A really wonderful day cleansing. I caught a glimpse of myself in my minds eye - back some 25 years I was running up and down stairs with radiant health and strength! I like that picture a lot!
SWF, 60 oz water, 10 lemonades, Smooth Move Tea & 10 minute walk
Friday - Day 6: I really pooped today. A lot more than the normal SWF clean out. It delighted me since I am in the cleansing mode. I know it means something was released and that is always a good thing in cleansing. And I want to stop now. I want normalcy. I want higher energy, feeling full again. I miss it. And it is breezy and chilly out, so I am cold. A couple hot lemonades will help with that, I think. ~~ Or a lot more sleep. Hot lemonades helped, but even more helpful was a long nap.. 4 hours. I guess that ended day 6. I am still having lots of discomfort in my right knee. Makes walking a bit of a crapshoot.
SWF, 60 oz water, 8 lemonades & 15 minute walk
Saturday - Day 7: I just reread my journals from my other MCs. That helped give me some perspective about how I am feeling now. Up, down, sideways.. so many different feelings came and went on the cleanses.. I guess my moodiness is normal for me cleansing. That thought helps. I had fabulous highs and icky lows - just like now. So. Onward. ~ ~ I want to stop. I don't want any more lemonade. I don't want to be so empty, low energy and have all these tormenting thoughts. Detox sucks and it sucks eggs! Of course I shall soldier on, because stopping now, in the midst of detox ick drags it out, slows the process and so stretches the experience. I just had a thought.. as bad as I feel and am thinking right now.. after the detox passes I will feel that much better and think much brighter thoughts. Okay, time for another lemonade. Too many hours between them! ~ ~ I really am in cleansing mode, no matter how much I complain... I know this because I now have a huge smile on my face having checked in with Cake Wrecks and I do not want one little bite! ~ ~ Well, this lead to cruising pics of raw food dishes.. aka raw food porn... and I totally wanted to cave.. My sister called and we talked me through it.. And hours later, I am still cleansing and fine. I will continue. I want to do this.. when detoxing I want to have DONE it! I had another 2 warm lemonades. Good for when it gets cooler here. ~ ~ I remembered how I hurt my knee long years ago... perhaps this daily pain I have been having in my knee is a revisit and release of that injury. I certainly have had that happen in previous cleanses. My sister says she would go with that thought if it were her knee.
30 oz water, 6 lemonades & Smooth Move Tea
Sunday - Day 8: The Laxative tea did it's work and woke me with some cramping. SWF calmed everything down and after a quart of water I went back to bed. Wonderful sleep. ~ ~ I hiked to the HFS and got 10 more lemons and climbed my favorite big hill home and got sweaty. A few squawks from both the left hip and right knee.. but MUCH softer. Yay!! I feel confident I could go again tomorrow if the maple syrup runs out. ~ ~ I pooped today.. hours after the SWF had done it's work. I intuit that this is something big and old leaving. I am delighted. I am working today, too.
SWF, 85 oz water, 12 lemonades, lax tea & 30 minute walk
Monday - Day 9: The scale registers another loss - which makes it 14 pounds so far for this cleanse. I think sweating and moving helps a lot. I managed another faster hike to the HFS and back for more maple syrup and lemons. Both hip and knee were much quieter. It is so breezy out today it nearly pushed me off the curb! I love the wind, it invigorates me. Now for the SWF. ~ ~ I want something other than the lemonade... I am hungry - actually hungry and I don't want lemonade. I will try a mug of peppermint tea. That was okay. I am just going to have the laxative tea and hit the sheets.
SWF, 58 oz water, 8 lemonades, 16 oz peppermint tea, Smooth Move tea & 30 minute walk
Tuesday - Day 10: Almost half way done! I am cold. I have tried more socks. Hot tea and a walk... nope, still cold. Other than that, I am pretty great. My right knee seems to get irritated in bed somehow. I am not at all sure how, but I woke and it was annoyed after being really fine all yesterday. The SWF hot helped everything some and I am not having any gas pains today so far. One good thing about my right knee bothering me is that it totally distracts me from being extra careful about my left hip. So, I get to see how much it has healed and that is a very good thing. ~ ~ LIMES!! I forgot I could use limes for variety. Excellent! ~ ~ Cayenne is the key to staying warm on the MC, it seems. As soon as I had a double lemon-limeade with lots of cayenne I got toasty warm! I am working on the second double now.. with lots more cayenne (well, lots for me). ~ ~ I made it through today... and am ready for sleep. I worked well, felt warmer and drank a lot of lemonades.
SWF, 50 oz water, 16 lemonades (some with limes), Smooth Moove Tea & 10 minute walk
Wednesday - Day 11: I am down another 2 pounds and began my day with a hike to the HFS for more lemons, maple syrup. Neither hip nor knee began complaining until the trip home.. laden with my supplies and even then it was not loud. I got all sweaty again. And it felt so great to be climbing the hills again, breathing hard, muscles pumping and I got to enjoy it for a change. ~ ~ Someone asked me how long I was planning on doing this cleanse and it got me thinking and checking the calendar. I could go longer, there is time before I have a houseguest. I feel really good today and for the last couple days, and I noticed a congested lymph node on the back of my head is less than half the size it was. I am thinking about it. It is a powerful cleanse, and my body loves it. And it does slow the metabolism some, it is not food and if I chose to go longer I would only be 1/4 of the way through a 40 day cleanse. I am going to think some more. ~ ~ After more thinking I am pretty sure I will be more than ready to end this on day 21. I am not trying to prove anything or push myself. I want a break from the whole eating thing, a lightening of the burden on my body and some healing and I am getting all of that. I think 21 days will be perfect. ~ ~ And I went to bed. Very short day. (I have been staying up later and later and later and so beginning my day later and later and later... today it began so late and I was still so wiped out I decided to try and switch up to daylight hours)
SWF, 50 oz water, 30 minute walk
Thursday - Day 12: Well, the switch up to daylight did not work, so I am going to go with my own inner flow now and trust it. Powerful dreams. ~ ~ I am irritable today, impatient. Can't paint.. so I will make doll hats and play DVDs. Grrrr!!! ~ ~ Mood passed pretty fast! As the days go by I am struck by the fact that I am doing this. It is not easy not to eat - it is counter intuitive for most creatures that are not really illing. I am kind of dazzled that now is the time I could do this. So many false starts for the MC and going raw.. and now I can do it. I am really grateful. I can tell that the benefits are already adding up. I am having lots less distress in my left hip - the one I damaged in January. that is really a huge relief. And my right knee is not bugging me today. We shall see how it is after my hike tomorrow. I feel calm about food. Yes, I want to eat. I am looking forward to it. And I also am enjoying this distance, this peace. This feeling is why I came back to the MC. I really appreciate the perspective I gain about eating, and especially the sharpness of all my senses.
90 oz water, 16 lemonades, Yogi Get Regular tea
Friday - Day 13: I brewed the Yogi Get Regular tea the same way I do the Smooth Move and no cramps. I like no cramps and the flavor is interesting, a nice change from Smooth Move. The Salt Water Flush was fine, not fun, but I got it done, and I am drinking water. The SWF makes me thirsty! ~ ~ Feeling some heaviness in the liver area, so I think I will soak my feet in epsom salts after I give that area a massage. ~ ~ I got rather mellow from the magnesium and went to bed and slept. Amazing dreams.
SWF, 30 oz water, 8 lemonades & 10 minute walk
Saturday - Day 14: Oh, I could stop tonight. I really could. I can almost taste the orange juice and visions of food are floating around my head. I don't want more lemonade. I do NOT want the SWF anymore. I feel kinda done. ~ ~ It took a while, but I see that this mood is detox. A hot shower might help right now. ~ ~ It did . And talking everything out with my sister helped, too. A lot. I really rested today and everything was feeling good through the afternoon. I fell asleep and did not get in the tea.
SWF, 20 oz water, 6 lemonades
Sunday - Day 15: I am down another 4 pounds - total 20 for this cleanse so far. I feel rested and am drinking the SWF. More vivid, complicated dreams. ~ ~ I want to eat again today. Really strong urges, having a time prying my brain off the idea of food. ~ ~ I went for a walk and that helped, although the right knee barked all the way. I will walk again to the HFS later for more lemons and limes. I am burning incense to please the nose. ~ ~ Bad cravings are continuing... and I am getting really cranky about it. I am going to hike to the HFS and see if I can just buy lemons and limes. ~ ~ It is official, today sucked. I went to bed, thinking a nap before going to the HFS would help, because I did not trust I would ONLY buy lemons and limes... and slept for over 7 hours. I woke up peaceful, calm. Detox sucks, but it does pass and then I feel like myself again.
SWF, 30 oz water, 10 lemonades, 15 minute walk
Monday - Day 16 - ending the cleanse: Okay, I am still detoxing like mad. I am very uncomfortable and I want to stop like you would not believe. So, I gave myself permission to stop. And I noticed no relief in me. So, I went to my older MC journals and read and saw that I moved my butt almost every day for a half hour or lots longer and had lots less detox misery. So, I suited up and boogied for a solid 30 minutes taking care to not stress my right knee. I got so sweaty and I feel so much more alive, powerful and determined to finish this cleanse. "Detox? We don't stop for any stinking detox!" Sweating.. yes, I forgot that way to speed up the detox and smooth out the experience of cleansing. And my knee is not complaining right now. ~ ~ Many hours later, I still want to stop now and I do not want lemonade at all! I have not had this experience on the MC before. Not sure what I will do. ~ ~ It looks like yesterday was my last day - I ate a meal. I know that it is not the way to end a cleanse.. and I have very creative justification. But, mostly I have to go take some enzymes and digest now. Fifteen days is a good cleanse. ~ ~ I am so relaxed now. Digestion is rumbling along. I will be sure to get apples at the HFS to prep for the liver flush. I can feel the pressure in my liver still, both before and after breakfast.
SWF, 50 oz water, 1 lemonade & 30 minute boogie
Tuesday - Day 2 - off the cleanse - I admit I really like eating. I also must admit that only a day and a half off the cleanse, back on mostly cooked food and I am getting up from the chair like a feeble and pained old woman again. My right knee HURTS! I really see that I get no more free rides.. I need to eat well to be well. And I really love feeling well. So, I shall drag my limping self to the HFS and get some good raw food and the stuff for a liver flush.
Wednesday - Day 3 - prep for the liver flush I drank a quart of apple juice last night. That actually felt pretty terrific, liver and all. I am taking malic acid caps with each meal and shall be doing the liver flush tomorrow. 30 minute hike.
Thursday - Day 4 - More apples juice and malic acid. But I fell asleep early, so the flush will be tomorrow.
Friday - Day 5 - Lots more apple juice and malic acid caps with each meal and I began the liver flush today.
Saturday - Day 6 - Passing stones and liver sludge all day long. About a dozen larger than pea size stones all bright green. Another dozen of much smaller stones, also green. And I feel the lift I always get from a successful liver flush! Now, back to increasing raw!
Master Cleanse - Lemonade Diet Links:
Master Cleanse Booklet Online
Free counters provided by Andale.