I told people (and myself) I wasn't going to post all about doing the Master Cleanse on Facebook and Twitter. It sort of seems like a blog isn't relatively far off from those but how else can I explain why I am SO THANKFUL FOR FOOD!
Ya see, I did the Master Cleanse these last 5 days. And I really like food. And it was TOUGH.
Here's how it went.
I only did one ease-in day (three are recommended but not required). For my ease-in day, I stayed away from processed foods, meats and dairy. That day was pretty challenging in itself I will admit, even from my perspective now. But if I thought that day was hard, the next day was straight up miserable.
I started out the day with a 32 oz bottle of lemonade made with lemon juice, organic grade A maple syrup (which, for the record, tastes maybe half as good as regular maple syrup), and cayenne pepper. The cayenne sounds like the worst part but as it calls for very little it isn't too bad, at least not at first.
I had to work so that meant my day was, litterally, a long one. I'm a receptionist so I sat at my desk, answering phone calls and chugging down the lemonade until it was gone. Then I switched to chugging water to keep my stomach full. Resisting food (even with a full stomach) when you haven't eaten all day is hard and I wasn't about to let myself get hungry.
I missed protein so much though and I could tell.
Around 1pm I started getting real clumsy and as the day went on, I felt my body starting to just feel bleh. That's the only way I can describe it.
That night I drank my (I'm still humored by the name) Smooth Move tea as the cleanse calls for. Nothing happened before bed so I went on to sleep. 6:21 a.m. I wake up with the worst cramps I have EVER HAD. And I'm a woman. I know bad cramps. I went to the bathroom and found out that the tea does, in fact, work. I felt much better then and went back to bed to sleep in (this was Saturday morning).
Saturday was much better. I felt good, I would dare to say, the whole day.
Sunday was a challenge and here's where I learned a lot about food.
For lunch after church (long story short) there was lasagna, bread, salad and huge, ripe, red strawberries. The lasagna especially smelled and looked like paradise on a plate and I know it had to be good. My boyfriend did this cleanse at the same time as me and he was there.
WORD TO THE WISE: doing something like this with somebody is so helpful. Anyway, we stayed strong and resisted stuffing any of that cheesy goodness into our mouths, but we did sit at the table with others who were eating. I think that was the first time it sunk in-the fact that food is such a good thing. I mean, I knew it was. But I saw it in a new way.
Food draws people together in a way nothing else does. You have to eat to live and to do that with other people is a special thing that I often took for granted before this cleanse (where I couldn't eat with people. Or without them for that matter). Especially as believers, recognizing that the Lord is the one who gives us food and then enjoying it together is a very GOOD thing and it must be honoring to Him. On the other side of the spectrum, I learned through that meal that you don't have to be stuffing yourself or piling your plate high to enjoy yourself through eating with other people. I enjoyed the conversation and company of the people around me who were eating even though I wasn't eating at all and it made me want to make healthier choices once I can share meals with others again. I guess I sorta had the impression that for you to really be enjoying a meal together, you had to eat the same food too, but I don't think that's always true. The sole fact that you're both appreciating a gift from God together, at the same time, can be enough.
Sometimes I think about how I haven't eaten solid food, or anything besides lemonade, for 5 whole days and that makes me feel pretty proud of myself. I know it's not a 40 day fast or anything but I'm glad to have seen that self control in myself to resist food for 5 days. And now, when something junk-foody and probably delicious is tempting me that I know I shouldn't eat, I can think back on how I said no to all food for 5 whole days.
I'm hoping that will take away a little of it's shine.
So Monday was okay. Not as good as Saturday but not as bad as Friday. Tuesday was about the same as Monday. And Wednesday (yesterday) was my LAST. DAY. AH! I practically heard the Hallelujah Chorus running through my head as I finished my last swig of lemonade yesterday afternoon. It wasn't bad, per se, but the maple syrup and lemon taste was starting to get a bad rep with my senses. The cayenne had started to seem nasty to me a while back and I looked into alternate means of getting that down (I finally got some capsules from a friend and swallowed them like vitamins. I recommend that).
This morning I did (or tried to do) the Saltwater Flush. I don't think it worked out entirely like it was supposed to but it hasn't totally failed. The SWF involves 2tsp. of non-iodized salt (I used sea salt), 1 liter of purified water and access to a bathroom sometime in the near future. I heard the mixture tasted gross so I wasn't going to do it at all but then I thought I should at least try it my last day. I mixed the salt with a small amount of warm water until it dissolved and then I added a little more filtered water to make it not so strong. I chugged half the saltwater down and rinsed that down with some regular water and then went back again for the last half of the salt water. I had to push myself to finish that cup of saltwater because whoever said it was gross wasn't lying. But, immediately rinsing it down with the rest of the liter of normal water, it turned out not to be too horrid.
So today is my first ease-out day. That means fresh squeezed orange juice, other juices and maybe some soup. I'm doing the ease-out days more quickly since I only did the cleanse for 5 days (instead of the normal 10) which means I may be eating soup for lunch- for which I'm very excited.
One more thing this cleanse has brought me is a renewed appreciation for tastes. I still can't believe how good my fresh orange juice tasted this morning. I'm excited to try so many things now.
Tomorrow I'll be having cooked veggies. Nothing sounds better than steamed broccolli and carrots. I don't think I would have been excited about something like that or be as thankful in this new way for food, if I hadn't done this master cleanse.
So, I think it was a success.
Ya see, I did the Master Cleanse these last 5 days. And I really like food. And it was TOUGH.Here's how it went.
I only did one ease-in day (three are recommended but not required). For my ease-in day, I stayed away from processed foods, meats and dairy. That day was pretty challenging in itself I will admit, even from my perspective now. But if I thought that day was hard, the next day was straight up miserable.
I started out the day with a 32 oz bottle of lemonade made with lemon juice, organic grade A maple syrup (which, for the record, tastes maybe half as good as regular maple syrup), and cayenne pepper. The cayenne sounds like the worst part but as it calls for very little it isn't too bad, at least not at first.
I had to work so that meant my day was, litterally, a long one. I'm a receptionist so I sat at my desk, answering phone calls and chugging down the lemonade until it was gone. Then I switched to chugging water to keep my stomach full. Resisting food (even with a full stomach) when you haven't eaten all day is hard and I wasn't about to let myself get hungry.
I missed protein so much though and I could tell.
Around 1pm I started getting real clumsy and as the day went on, I felt my body starting to just feel bleh. That's the only way I can describe it.
That night I drank my (I'm still humored by the name) Smooth Move tea as the cleanse calls for. Nothing happened before bed so I went on to sleep. 6:21 a.m. I wake up with the worst cramps I have EVER HAD. And I'm a woman. I know bad cramps. I went to the bathroom and found out that the tea does, in fact, work. I felt much better then and went back to bed to sleep in (this was Saturday morning).
Saturday was much better. I felt good, I would dare to say, the whole day.
Sunday was a challenge and here's where I learned a lot about food.
For lunch after church (long story short) there was lasagna, bread, salad and huge, ripe, red strawberries. The lasagna especially smelled and looked like paradise on a plate and I know it had to be good. My boyfriend did this cleanse at the same time as me and he was there.
WORD TO THE WISE: doing something like this with somebody is so helpful. Anyway, we stayed strong and resisted stuffing any of that cheesy goodness into our mouths, but we did sit at the table with others who were eating. I think that was the first time it sunk in-the fact that food is such a good thing. I mean, I knew it was. But I saw it in a new way.
Food draws people together in a way nothing else does. You have to eat to live and to do that with other people is a special thing that I often took for granted before this cleanse (where I couldn't eat with people. Or without them for that matter). Especially as believers, recognizing that the Lord is the one who gives us food and then enjoying it together is a very GOOD thing and it must be honoring to Him. On the other side of the spectrum, I learned through that meal that you don't have to be stuffing yourself or piling your plate high to enjoy yourself through eating with other people. I enjoyed the conversation and company of the people around me who were eating even though I wasn't eating at all and it made me want to make healthier choices once I can share meals with others again. I guess I sorta had the impression that for you to really be enjoying a meal together, you had to eat the same food too, but I don't think that's always true. The sole fact that you're both appreciating a gift from God together, at the same time, can be enough.
Sometimes I think about how I haven't eaten solid food, or anything besides lemonade, for 5 whole days and that makes me feel pretty proud of myself. I know it's not a 40 day fast or anything but I'm glad to have seen that self control in myself to resist food for 5 days. And now, when something junk-foody and probably delicious is tempting me that I know I shouldn't eat, I can think back on how I said no to all food for 5 whole days.
I'm hoping that will take away a little of it's shine.
So Monday was okay. Not as good as Saturday but not as bad as Friday. Tuesday was about the same as Monday. And Wednesday (yesterday) was my LAST. DAY. AH! I practically heard the Hallelujah Chorus running through my head as I finished my last swig of lemonade yesterday afternoon. It wasn't bad, per se, but the maple syrup and lemon taste was starting to get a bad rep with my senses. The cayenne had started to seem nasty to me a while back and I looked into alternate means of getting that down (I finally got some capsules from a friend and swallowed them like vitamins. I recommend that).
This morning I did (or tried to do) the Saltwater Flush. I don't think it worked out entirely like it was supposed to but it hasn't totally failed. The SWF involves 2tsp. of non-iodized salt (I used sea salt), 1 liter of purified water and access to a bathroom sometime in the near future. I heard the mixture tasted gross so I wasn't going to do it at all but then I thought I should at least try it my last day. I mixed the salt with a small amount of warm water until it dissolved and then I added a little more filtered water to make it not so strong. I chugged half the saltwater down and rinsed that down with some regular water and then went back again for the last half of the salt water. I had to push myself to finish that cup of saltwater because whoever said it was gross wasn't lying. But, immediately rinsing it down with the rest of the liter of normal water, it turned out not to be too horrid.
So today is my first ease-out day. That means fresh squeezed orange juice, other juices and maybe some soup. I'm doing the ease-out days more quickly since I only did the cleanse for 5 days (instead of the normal 10) which means I may be eating soup for lunch- for which I'm very excited.
One more thing this cleanse has brought me is a renewed appreciation for tastes. I still can't believe how good my fresh orange juice tasted this morning. I'm excited to try so many things now.
Tomorrow I'll be having cooked veggies. Nothing sounds better than steamed broccolli and carrots. I don't think I would have been excited about something like that or be as thankful in this new way for food, if I hadn't done this master cleanse.
So, I think it was a success.