• Master Cleanse – Day 1
• Master Cleanse – Day 3
• Master Cleanse – Day 5
• Master Cleanse – Day 7
• Master Cleanse – Day 9
• Master Cleanse – Day 11
• Master Cleanse – Day 13
• Master Cleanse – Wrap Up

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Facts And Figures

Over the course of 14 days, here is what I consumed:

• 85 oz – almost 3 entire jugs (32 oz each) of maple syrup
• 60 lemons
• 30 limes
• 21 tsp cayenne pepper

I started out at 180 pounds and ended up this morning at 163.5, so I lost a total of 16.5 pounds or about 1 1/4 pounds a day.

Observations

I had the same experience as my previous time in regard to hunger and desire to eat.  I found it easy to manage the hunger by drinking more lemonade.  I found it hard to manage the “not eating” part.  Eating is so ingrained in us, and the process of eating is such a large part of our lives.  I found that I was thinking about eating quite a bit and missed the ritual and process of actually eating.

My system of making all the lemonade in the morning really works well.  I like having all the squeezing done right away in the morning and it makes it that much easier to follow through with drinking just the lemonade.

I really feel I benefited from the extra days past day 10.  As I stated, day 11 was my Master Cleanse turning point.  I feel renewed and energized following the cleanse.  I also feel mentally in a better place and I want to work to keep myself going on this good path.

Going Forward

I think that now more than ever it is a critical time.  It will be very easy to slip back into bad habits and lose some of the benefits of the cleanse.  Here are my plans and goals for myself:

• Eat healthier and more raw foods.  I plan on bringing a salad to work for lunch as often as I can.  I also want to eat more raw organic nuts and other raw, simple foods.
• Regularly do strength training.  I am pretty good about getting 1-2 bike rides in every week, but I haven’t done much with strength training.  I plan on doing push ups and sit ups on a regular basis and try to build some muscle.

Now it is your turn – if you are thinking about doing a Master Cleanse, go ahead and start planning for it now.  If you completed one, or if you have no plans to do a full cleanse, then write down some goals and plans for yourself.  Let me know what you think too.

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Making Lemonade

I found that squeezing all the lemons in the morning works really well for me.  I picked up some 32 oz. plastic bottles from my local Whole Foods.  They are the kind that are made out of better plastic that is supposed to not leech into the drink.  Since each of them contains the equivalent of 4 8oz servings of the lemonade, that means you can quadruple the recipe.  Then drink up to 3 of the bottles for the entire day and that is your correct amount of lemonade.  So I squeeze 2 lemons into each bottle, add 8 Tablespoons of maple syrup, and about 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper.  Here are a few tips that I found as well:

• Put just the lemon juice and the maple syrup in the bottle.  Add the water and cayenne when you are ready to drink
• Find a container like a shot glass that is about 8 TBSP to make measuring out the maple syrup easier
• Make sure to rinse your cutting board, knife, lemon juicer, etc. before sticking it in the dishwasher – the juice can have a corrosive effect on everything else in the dishwasher by the end of the day.

Cayenne Comments

The cayenne deserves some focus as well.  It is an important part of the recipe as it will stir things up in you and help to expel toxins.  It is especially good for bringing mucus up and out.  Do not skip or skimp on the cayenne.  If it is too strong for you at first, don’t worry – start small and keep adding a little more as you go.

I have read some suggestions of using cayenne capsules instead of the powder.  I recommend against this.  Using a capsule prevents the cayenne from contacting your mouth and there is good evidence that part (possibly a large part) of the process that happens comes from the cayenne reacting in your mouth.

Two other recommendations:

1. Don’t add the cayenne ahead of time, or let it sit in the lemonade for any length of time.  It seems to get hotter as it sits in the lemonade.  Add it right before you are ready to drink the lemonade.
2. Sometimes you just want to drink the lemonade by itself.  It really does taste pretty good without the cayenne messing it up.  In this case, just add a little water to the cayenne by itself – in a shot glass works great – and drink it by itself.  Then you can enjoy the lemonade without the spiciness.

Have any tips or questions?  Be sure to comment and let me know.  Keep following for more tips and insight.

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Feeling Sick Is Normal

I have had the chills of-and-on almost since I started and have probably been running a low-grade fever as well.  I have also been blowing my nose almost non-stop and putting my neti pot and my NeilMed bottle through their paces even more than usual.  Feeling sick can definitely be normal.  Your body is finally able to not invest energy in digesting and processing the constant stream of food we usually subject ourselves to.  This extra energy is now being used to clear out toxins and waste from your body.  It has to go somewhere, and it is trying to get out!

Worse Before It Gets Better

Keep in mind that things will get worse before they start to get better.  This goes for lots of things here: cravings, ailments, feeling sick, etc.  Even things like specific health issues – I had some skin irritation and rashes that I’m hoping will clear up, but they have gotten worse since I started.  Only today have they started to turn around the other way towards hopefully clearing up.

Be Smart

I wanted to close by saying to please be smart.  Most mild ailments will be caused by the detoxification process.  If you are feeling really terrible, don’t hesitate to get help, start eating, or get yourself to a hospital if things get that bad.  It just isn’t worth risking your life over this process.  You can always try again in the future.

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Change Your Mind

The biggest thing to get over is the concept of not eating.  We are so addicted to the act and ritual of eating that it is extremely strange to not eat.  I find that the hunger can very easily be managed by drinking more lemonade – sometimes with an extra bit of syrup – and drinking water.  The thing I missed most was craving the act of eating.  Thinking about what you are going to eat, preparing it, smelling it, and then the texture, taste, and process of eating.  You need to get it in your head right away that you are not going to eat!  There is no “cheating” on this – it isn’t a diet.  It is a cleanse.  If you eat anything then you completely mess up things and it isn’t a cleanse and it isn’t worth doing.

Eye On The Goal

Keep an eye on your goal.  Pick something or several things and write them down or document them somehow.  My first cleanse the goals were weight loss and clearing up the mucus in my head.  This time my goals are clearing up my head (again), hopefully clearing up some skin rashes, and getting back some energy and mental clarity.  When you are really craving something to eat it helps to have a goal in mind.

It Will End

After you get through the first couple of days, then you can count down the days left until the end.  It will end, you will feel better, and food will taste that much better when you have properly earned your way through your Master Cleanse goals.  Keep at it and keep positive.

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Basics
If you aren’t familiar with the Master Cleanse, it is a liquid fast which acts as a detoxification program.  It was thought up in 1941 by Stanley Burroughs. The bare basics of it are that you do not eat solid food for 10-14 (or more) days and drink only lemonade made fresh with organic lemons, organic maple syrup, and cayenne pepper.

Planning

I have the basics like lemon juicer and plastic bottles from my previous time doing the cleanse, but today I went shopping for the ingredients. I got 2 jugs of maple syrup, 4 big bags of lemons, and 4 smaller bags of limes.  You need to plan on about 5-7 lemons per person per day.  I also picked up another box of Smooth Moves herbal tea.

Objectives

Last time one of my main objectives was weight loss, as I was 20+ pounds overweight.  I successfully lost over 20 pounds doing the cleanse.  This time, I am just slightly above my desired weight, so my main objective is detoxification.

My other main objective this time is to document my process and experience to create an ebook I plan on offering to my readers.  Last time I experimented with different ways of managing the actual making of the lemonade and I came up with some things that really worked well.  I believe my methods would be useful.  I also believe that I can offer inspiration for making it through the cleanse.

Logan Challenge

If you have been thinking about doing a Master Cleanse, or if you are having health issues and think it might help, I challenge you to plan and prepare and do the Master Cleanse yourself.  I’ll post more ideas and inspiration here as I go through the process and give updates on my ebook.

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