The Master Cleanse!

[oregonisaac]

So I am embarking on a Master Cleanse for the first time starting in a couple hours. I am eating for the last time for a while.

I feel great right now, although I ate at the NW Veg potluck earlier today and had a plate full of all kinds of stuff, so I am a little off in my gut.

I plan to post how it is going here day by day. I really no nothing about this process, and am being lead by a friend who has never made it though. But we will make it the 10 days, and when I get out the other side I am going to try the raw life!

[robert]

Awesome Isaac!

Great to see you at the potluck tonight and I'm glad I was able to share your last meal with you. I look forward to this journal of recording your experiences on the Master Cleanse. We're here to support you and I'm here just down the road to support you if you need anything. Just give me the word.

Your new best friends are maple syrup and lemon water. Enjoy the journey!

[jonzen]

Hi Oregonisaac, I am very interested in this process. Is this a product you are taking? Or just no solid foods, mostly water and some juice? Did I miss a thread somewhere? Are you going to continue working out while you are on the cleanse?

[Odidnetne]

Hi Oregonisaac, I am very interested in this process. Is this a product you are taking? Or just no solid foods, mostly water and some juice? Did I miss a thread somewhere? Are you going to continue working out while you are on the cleanse?

The Master cleanse (generally) involves homemade lemonade with cayenne pepper (sounds weird, but it's not bad), and salt water flushes in the morning, and a lot of liquid.

[oregonisaac]

It has been about 9 hours since I have had anything to eat, and I am half way through my first glass of the master cleanse drink. For anyone interested, it is:

B Grade Maple Syrup
Fresh Squeezed Lemons
Cayenne Pepper
Distilled Water

I have not worked out the ratio yet, I dumped about a tbls of cayenne in this first glass and it is way too spicy. But maybe this will be a kickstart for the cleansing process.

I was hungry when I got up, but the spice and lemon seem to be curing that...for now.

It is a good thing I have a job where I can sit and squeeze lemons all day.

I do not plan on doing any weightlifting during the cleanse. I think that if I breakdown my muscles with no protein intake I am asking for trouble. I do plan to continue Budokan training classes, which is a yoga like martial art, and maybe do some minimal cardio, but I might be crazy to think I will be able to do that.

I will keep you posted!

[Odidnetne]

I'd recommend just doing some walking for the most part to keep the "garbage" that you want to get rid of moving around.

[oregonisaac]

This is the longest I have gone without food that I can remember already, and I have had a few moments of difficult hunger. Mostly when driving and being unable to drink the drink (I need to make up some traveling supplies).

So far the only other thing I have noticed is an elevation of my senses or a more intense presence. It is fairly mild currently, but then again it has only been 15 hours.

[oregonisaac]

I think I have found the recipe that works for me. In a tall glass of water I put 1/2 squeezed lemon, 1 tsp cayenne pepper, and about 2 tbls of maple syrup. It is fairly sweet.

I can smell the onions on my office mates whichever from across the room, but surprisingly I am not craving it. I am not hungry at all right now.

I have felt kind of a cloudy almost headache feeling starting in the last 1/2 hour. Nothing serious, not even a real headache, just what feels like a little bit of pressure. All the citrus I am getting is starting to make my throat hurt a little, but I was putting a whole lemon in every glass before.

[Zack]

All the citrus I am getting is starting to make my throat hurt a little, but I was putting a whole lemon in every glass before.

Glad your cleanse is going well man, keep going strong.

Also, it's interesting you say that, my throat has been bothering me and I didn't even stop to think it might be citrus....

[Michelle]

I've done the Master Cleanse several times, the longest was 14 days. That's great that your friend is fasting with you, I know from experience that it's sooooo much easier to do with a buddy.

One thing I discovered was that if I kept the lemon juice to water ratio strictly at 2Tbsp lemon juice to 8oz of water, I felt the best. Not all lemons yield the same amount of juice, so measuring worked best. More or less juice in the lemonade seemed to create an excessive amount of bathroom trips or else made me feel hungry and weak. I don't know why that is, but the person I fasted with and I both found it to be the case. The maple syrup, I could adjust to taste without any problems.

Other than that, the thing I did on my successful fasts (but not on the ones that I broke ahead of schedule) was mix up all of my juice for the day at once. If I didn't, I'd get sick of squeezing lemons and mixing juice every two hours and lose my enthusiasm... and end up not drinking enough of the juice. That probably says more about me than the fast itself, but anyway, that's a strategy I found most helpful. I also learned (the hard way, stuck in a traffic jam and thirsty) to carry the juice around with me at all times in a cooler.

Congrats! You've already made it through one of the hardest days! You've also inspired me to think about doing another fast soon. I'm overdue, I'm sure.

[oregonisaac]

It has now been about 17 1/2 hours and I am feeling good. I am going to make an extra sweet batch to make sure I have some extra calories and go do a little cardio at the gym. 30 minutes of stair climbing or something if I can handle it.

Just checked in with forum member Lilikoi (my fasting partner) and she is going strong too! It is great to have support and external accountability.

Then I am going to go home and juice a big batch. Fortunately I work a job where squeezing lemons all day is not a problem, but I will need to have some on reserve for while I am out of the office!

[oregonisaac]

I decided to go for a run instead and enjoy the fresh air, I had plenty of energy but as I hit about a 1/2 mile or so I felt a slight hunger pang start and so I slowed down to a brisk walk for the rest of the way without any trouble. Day 1 in the bag, going to settle into a good nights sleep and will update tomorrow!

[Zack]

Be careful about using up energy, be moderately active, but conservative. Gotta save your energy.

[Lilikoi]

Lilikoi here, Isaac's fasting pardner...thought it only right that I drop in and lend a little cyber support as well. I have full faith he'll see this challenge through - that we'll see each other through! (For the record, I lasted about 8/9 days last time I did this, flying solo no less, and think that pretty respectable for a first fasting/cleanse!!)

Anyway, I was studying like the diligent student that I am supposed to be but we blew a fuse here at the homestead and it gave me an excuse to poke around here online in the dark since the laptop is the only thing running...Smooth Move tea by candlelight, mmmmmmmm.....I forgot how one of the side effects of this cleanse for me is having lots of energy and needing less sleep, as my body's not depleting it's ATP on digestion! Maybe I'll finally catch up on reading... I just got off the phone with my gym buddy, he and I are gonna hit the treadmills in the morning....

Interesting comment about the lemon to water ratio, Michelle - I'm gonna investigate that tomorrow!

[robert]

You forgot to mention that a totally awesome vegan bodybuilder helped you move this weekend and that oregonisaac is already being affected by the cleanse because he forgot to give me my camera memory card back. Neither one of us can find it.

Time for both of you to eat! Just kidding. No eating for you two. I'm just down the street, around the corner, in the neighborhood, and a phone call away, so let me know if either one of you need anything, including support....or a cool t-shirt

Great that you are both doing this together.