Day 6- Saturday

9:30am- Alas it's the MC Weekend.
I woke up at 7 this morning and am still a little stuffed up, but the fluid is shifting downwards now in my throat. but feeling relief around my head. I slept through the night, only rising once with no dramas. Phew. My mood is brighter today, and I am going back over to the house around noon to meet the cable guy.
I made a little bit more of the juice this morning, using 15 tbsp of the maple syrup and lemon juice, and consuming 2L of this mix. As it is Saturday and my day is not as predictable as at the office, I figure I should make more in case I find myself fidgeting. The juice really takes the edge off cravings. I didn't believe it before I started the cleanse, but I think the magic is in the Cayenne. I weighed myself this morning at 54 kg, so I can confirm with the rest of the blogs and feedback I've read that you indeed do lose about 2 pounds per day. It is remarkable, I can actually see it when I look in the mirror. As far as BM's go, I am still cleaning out old waste. The discomfort I felt last night passed and I feel okay.

I spent the majority of the day at the house. It was an aweful experience because the house alarm went off and we could not shut it off for over an hour. It was so painfully loud and we had to call in the cable guy's brother who used to do alarm installation. If it wasn't for him, I'm sure we would have been waiting for hours longer before ADT or some other firm could sent an engineer around....and then it would have cost a fortune. As the cable guy was up in the loft space of the bungalow where all the piping is we had to turn off the heat, and as I have already had a very low chi this was a bad idea. I went dead cold, and could not warm myself up. In addition to this, I ran out of my MC juice around 5pm and my body went into a spin again. I really do not recommend this. I couldn't get back home in time with the alarm going off, and by the time I got home it was well after 8pm. I chugged back three glasses and had a half hour steaming hot shower before I could return to normal. It is like my alter ego came out, I felt volitile and really angry at the house. I had to go into a state of meditation to calm myself down. I went to bed asking myself if this cleanse is really worth it. I am hating how I feel, it's just aweful.

Day 6 Verdict
Body- FREEZING, Freaking out
Mind- In a funk.
Spirit- Angry
Energy- low low low.

Day 5- half way there!

7am- the night was not restful. My stomach was painfully bloated, swishing and gurgling all night, I got up a few times but could barely pass anything. My lower back is aching....kidneys. My sinuses are still messed up and my mucus is much thicker today. I'm still sneezing. ZERO mojo, I do not feel even remotely pretty. I feel ugly and rough. I'm starting to wonder if this is even worth it.
I took a side photo this morning, to compare from Day 1 to this morning. I can definitely see a difference after only 4 days.
I took the lax tea this morning and am hoping this will help me feel better. I cannot believe how much liquid I consume and how little I am going to the loo. I would have expected it to be the total opposite to lose 2kg. I don't have any hunger pains but this morning I saw a commercial for baked beans and was thinking of how lovely it would be to have a plate of them with scrambled eggs for breakfast. The craving was again, psychological, and I quickly dismissed it. Instead I prepared my juice for the day.

10am- I'm warm but my energy is pretty sacked. It takes so much effort to do anything and it takes twice as long. Even my reading and typing is slower...it takes me much concentration to absorb what I'm doing. Thankfully my workload is administrative these days, so I can take it at a comfortable pace without having to feel stressed about deadlines etc. I am glad I'm doing this now as I will be entertaining clients a week after the cleanse is done, and I'll need to get my body back to eating solids. I could really tuck into a creamy cheesy fettucini alfredo...

11am- lax tea kicked in. I have to go every 10 minutes and am having waves of stomach cramps. But after each movement I am feeling slightly better. My sinuses have improved but not 100%, my ears get clogged then pop, and I feel pressure under my right eye. But at least I am breathing through both nostrils now, this is progress. I gotta go easy on the lax tea though, omg, the cramping is quite uncomfortable. On the bright side, I can tell that what I am detoxing now is the old stuff. Over the first 3 days your body gets rid of all the foods consumed in the previous few days before starting the cleanse, but the real cleansing begins once that's out. I assume that's when the body starts truely healing and "hopefully" starts feeling better. I want my energy back!!

11:45am- prayers answered! I can feel my blood flowing through my warm hands, and I'm feeling a lot perkier. I dont' know if it's because I just flushed away old junk but I feel a major difference from this morning. I hope this means it's all turning around.

1pm- I am feeling cold, i don't believe it! And my sniffles are still at it. What is going on? I have to head to the house and finish that spare room, and I feel I have just enough energy to do it.

10:30pm- My stomach is uncomfortably full of trapped air again, I am so bummed. I am almost finished painting the spare room and would have been done had it not been for the moisture and having to re-do a wall with sealant paint. I have two more walls with one coat each to do and then DONE! Getting wrapped up with painting I forgot to drink so I went without water or my juice until after 6pm.....not good. My sugar levels went into a spin and through me into a very terrible mood, I nearly lost my temper and got snappy and irritable. As soon as I got home, I got warm, made some tea, drank some juice, and settled Lil Ms Master Cranky down.

Tonight I watched Andy tuck into a gorgeous vegitarian pizza loaded with goodies, and the smell was nice. After we watched Gordan Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, where he focused on an Italian restaurant. My favorite. My emotions did start to ache at me tonight, I do "miss" eating, tasting, enjoying food. This cleanse is starting to get me down, I feel sick and I hate it. My tongue is now acting up....some of my taste buds feel like they are almost dead, it's like I have crumbs on my tongue and I try to get them off and realise they are like paralyzed buds....that's the best way I can describe it. I'm nursing my lax tea right now and really praying I can sleep thru the night, but my bloated gurgling tummy seems to be casting a different forshadow. Day 5 is over, and I am over it!

Day 4

Oh, this is far from fun.....my detox has gone into a lurgy phase. I cannot stop blowing my nose, my throat still hurts and I had a very broken sleep. My stomach was LOUDLY gurgling all night and i suffered cramps but didn't go to the loo. Frustrating because I had the lax tea before bed. If I've gotta go through the motions there should be some results! All I have to show are a pile of tissues. In the back of my throat was a metallic taste.

8:45am- I'm running late this morning and made a little extra of my drink. Not hungry, and I made two bagels for Andy who had a cancellation this morning and could lie in. I have no mojo, feel crap still, and my temperature is now up and I feel very hot. I keep experiencing either extreme. I really cannot wait to power through today. On a positive, I weighed in at 55kg today. In the new year I made a resolution to get to 52kg, or 115 lbs. Shedding toxins, eating well, and exercising will get me there!

2:25pm- Coming back from lunch and my sore throat is gone, but my nose is now dripping to the point where I cannot control it. The mucus is thin and clear, nothing too nasty. It's just irritating as I cannot breath well and I am sneezing every few minutes! The cayenne pepper works wonders on the back of your throat if it is sore. It tingles and feels like the Vit C is fighting any infection that may be going on. I still have low energy, not enough to sleep, but I move alot slower than normal, and my mind feels foggy. Go Detox Go! The MC is not enjoyable. It is the most extreme of detox I have ever experienced. I would encourage anyone who would devote 10 days to this to take the first 5 days off work, especially if you don't have a desk job like I do. It really takes it out of you.

5:50- Now that I have a raw nose, I am ultra annoyed. Not only does it feel like a full blown cold but I have barely had any BM's today, and my tummy is grumbling like crazy. I've consumed so much water, tea, and MC juice, I'm ready to burst! I'm now at the point where I'm asking for mercy! How long can this last?!

7:05pm- My kidneys hurt, my head is all clogged up, and I have the shivers, hands are freezing, my stomach hurts. I went to the loo, barely. (Please stop reading now if you cannot handle information about bowels.) I know it's disgusting but this is for documentation purposes. The majority of this movement was made of clumps of mucus. I think this detox is going into the next stage, cleansing deeper now. I am praying tomorrow will be better.

Day 3

9:52am- I'm at the office and this morning and Day 3 begins with a sore throat. I am sneezing and have mild cold-like symptoms, my sinuses are releasing and I've been blowing my nose. But instead of feeling chilly, I am actually quite warm. I hope this continues throughout the day as I'd rather be too hot than cold. My headache is gone, and although I still feel weak I'm not as exhausted as yesterday. Since these are all signs of detox, I must keep at it. My BM's are watery now, with very little solids so I know I'm on track. I weighed myself today and I'm 56kg, so over the last couple days I've lost a kilo. I can see my hip bone a bit more, bonus. I have been feeling urges to chew, and my craving has continually been for ham and cheese, and pizza....all savory stuff which is weird because I have a sweet tooth. But since I had been consuming quite alot of those things I can understand my craving for them. I eat tons of italian- pasta, pizza, garlic and tomato anything, and salt.

Brushing teeth more is necessary when doing this Master Cleanse. When detoxing, the tongue gets a fuzzy white coating. It is totally gross and is the worst especially in the morning. But it needs to be done a couple times in the day, and then before bed. When the tongue goes back to pink the worst is over and your body is on it's way to becoming squeaky clean! I can't wait :)

11:15am- feeling cold again, just made a herbal tea. I was thinking about how 10 days feels mammoth. But running 10km did too. I can do it. The trick is to really live in the present moment. That is the only moment we have and need to bring our awareness to. The rest of it will take care of itself.

I see the route of a detox as parabolic. The system drops low for a while before it turns around back up. That is why the first half of the cleanse is so hard and why so many people fail. I believe that strength of mind is critical in the first 3 days, not just to overcome the mental desires for food but to endure the horrible affects of cleansing. When others see you going through this they beg you to stop, saying your hurting your body, and it's so easy to give into this. But once you understand why it's happening it's way easier to focus on the goal. Once I get to day 5 I'll come back to you to confirm it though.

1:30- I'm home for lunch, and not falling down to nap, this is progress! I made a peppermint tea and hung up some laundry, did some dishes and a general tidy. I go back in a few minutes and I actually may pull through the rest of this afternoon. I'm cold again and am wearing an additional coat back to the office.
Note, I'm finding the laxative tea gives me cramps and a bit of discomfort. Be close to a washroom as the trips are frequent.

4pm- very weak, energy low, want to crawl into bed, my eyes hurt and i'm squinting with these fluorescent lights.

5:55pm- My stomach is calm and would you believe it...I am not hungry. This is actually kinda weird? My throat still hurts and I am continuing to sneeze and clear my sinuses. Hot tea is really soothing when you feel like crap. Tonight I'm going to take some wheatgrass as it is high in protein and allowed when fasting. My mind feels very slow, mental focus on work was very challenging today.

Day 2

I woke up at 7 this morning and felt ready to rise. I ended up going to bed last night around 10:00 just after Heroes had finished. Mom called me around 10:30 for a quick chat and then I konked out. Although I'm awake I don't have bundles of energy, but I feel ready enough to begin the day.

I just finished making my batch of juice and am about to shower for work. Nothing out of the ordinary today. I don't feel hungry, although it is national pancake day- my favorite!
I could have pancakes any day of the year, but since I rarely do there's no need for me to pine about it now.

I didn't do the saline flush but substituted 4 caps of Oxy Powder with my juice. I know it sounds crazy but I welcome the symptoms of detox. As horrible as they feel, at least I know it's working.

11:30am- not enjoying detox right now. My head hurts, especially the back of my neck. I am not hungry, but I feel horrible. I want to go back to bed, my eyes hurt and I feel really drained. I still have not been to the loo today, I've had so much water already, I thought I'd be hydrated enough. I'm trying to focus on my work, but I can't help but watch the clock until lunch comes so i can go home for a snooze. My body is hating me so much right now.

12:20, finally the first loo break. Ick. But the headache feels less afterwards.

8pm- I still feet horrible with the shivers, but having some herbal tea, a shower and a hot water bottle works wonders. I feel really weak, but still not hungry.

I decided to try the saline flush, and I will NEVER do that again! I took 1 tbsp of salt and mixed it into one glass of water. BEWARE- do not try this. I gagged after about half a glass. I simply couldn't finish. It was too strong, and I tried to dilute it and go again, but at that point I was so turned off from the idea and battling my nausea. I guzzled a bunch of water to flush and hydrate what I was able to drink, and it took about 2 hours before anything happened. I much prefer the laxative tea. A word of caution if you do the saline flush is to dilute the salt in a litre of water and guzzle like that.

Verdict Day 2
Body= crappy
Mind= strong
Spirit= low
Energy= low

Monday- Day 1

It's morning, and I am feeling pretty neutral about starting. I felt a lot more enthusiastic as I was reading up on the Master Cleanse last week, and now that i've had a few days to let it all sink in, i'm feeling less emphatic, but still know this is something I really must do for my body. I took a front and side photo as I want to monitor if my body changes in appearance over the next 10 days.

Last night I had the laxative tea and decided to get a good nights rest. Was in bed by 10pm. Got up at 7:30 this morning and made my daily batch about a half hour ago. I had my first glass in a wine glass, because it looks much more appetizing. Down the hatch, and lovely! Actually, the cayenne pepper is a good touch, no problems with the taste, I like it. Within 15 minutes I had to go to the loo. So, detox in full force!

Detox has been around for ages. I've been doing some fact hunting and found some cool info. It's probably too much information for some who are not so comfortable talking about their bodies.
The colon is responsible for the elimination of toxins in the body. The human colon is approximately 5.5 ft long (almost as tall as me) and 2.5 inches in diameter. That's a lot of space to cleanse! I wonder how much that would weigh if it was full? Excuse my potty-mouth but that's a lot of shit to shift!

Some experts I read about quoted the following:

"In cultures with 70g of daily fiber consumption there is no colon disease. Even the American Medical Association and National Cancer Institute recommend that a healthy diet includes 20-30g fiber daily. Increasing fiber consumption should be a first priority for everyone. The facts are overwhelming…Medical professionals should recommend the use of fiber to all their patients.”
Louise Tenny, Master Herbalist

“Infirmity and sickness, at any age, is the direct result of loading up the body with food which contains no vitality, and at the same time allowing the intestines to remain loaded with waste matter.”
Dr. Norman Walker , inventor of "juicing"

“Dis-ease symptoms are an effort of the body to eliminate waste, mucus and toxemia.
This system assists Nature in the most perfect and natural way. Not the dis-ease but the body is to be healed; it must be cleansed, freed from waste and foreign matter, from mucus and toxemia- accumulated since childhood.”
Professor Arnold Ehret


“Of the 22,000 operations I have personally performed, I have never found a single normal colon and of the 100,000 that were performed under my jurisdiction, not over 6 percent were normal.”
John Harvey Kellog, M.D.

Yikes. And that's just the colon.... There are plenty of other organs that assist in handling toxins and other nasties.

This afternoon a funeral is taking place for one of Andy's friends from football. His name was Mark, and he found out around Christmas time that he had cancer. He was 30, had just proposed to his girlfriend and was going to be married. He past away last week. From the outside, he looked normal, healthy, and strong. It was a shock for Andy, it really affected him. It isn't natural to die at 30. I think that around the age of 30 we start to recognize our mortality, but it really makes an impact when you see people you grew up with getting disease. Everyone knows someone who's gotten cancer nowadays.

We spend so much attention on our exteriors- make up, clothes and spa treatments. So shouldn't it make sense that we spend just as much attention to our interiors, and getting aware of the parts we can't see? In our western culture it is more important than ever to do everything we can to maintain our health. Nothing else matters if we don't have that.

People at my office think i'm fanatical because I have a desk full of vitamins. But I am not sick nearly as much or for more than a couple days. I dont' consider myself at peak health or fitness. But the more I learn about our insides, the more I realise how scary it can be if something starts to act up. Our bodies have the ability to heal if we give it a chance.

It's about the choices we make with the knowledge we learn. Our body can be a temple or a shack. From the sounds of what the experts say, it looks like the western world's body is a shanty town.

1:30pm- at home, tidying up flat during my lunch hour. I am sipping a herbal tea (this is my only luxury), and returning some personal emails. Yeah, I'm feeling the urge to bite into some spelt cracker bread, but I resist. I'm normally such a grazer, eating as I move throughout the day. Some people have snack time, at 11am or so....but not me, i'm used to snacking every 15 minutes or so. I always have something within arms reach. So Day 1, I'm not physically hungry, but I am psychologically starving!

8:14pm- I felt exhausted and really cold just before my shift ended at work. I got home shortly after 6pm, I had a nap on the couch, listened to my clock's second hand tick, beckoning me to change and hit the gym, or go finish off painting the spare bedroom. But I couldn't do it. I had a nagging headache, wanted a shower, and wanted to crawl under the covers of my warm bed.

Now that i've had a shower, I feel somewhat better, although I'm going to make a hot water bottle in a moment. The nagging headache is still there, but I've just drank almost all my juice for the day and that has helped it a bit. I turned on the TV and Heroes is starting up again tonight at 9pm, I might just wait around to watch some.

Although I physically feel like crap, I actually feel good because I made steps towards progress. 1- I passed the first day of cleansing without eating a thing.
2- I told my boss the truth about my visa and that I would be leaving in April.

And as an extra added bonus I saw that the Pet Shop Boys are releasing a new album called YES next month. I caught a preview on iTunes and I'm already drooling over it. Cannot wait!

Tonight in exchange of a saline flush I am opting for Oxy Powder, an oxygen based intestinal cleanser which does the same trick as drinking salty water, but goes down easier.

Day 1 verdict
Body= not hungry
Mind= wants smoked ham and craving savory
Spirit= neutral, releived.
Energy Level= Medium to Low. Tired, headache, cold hands and feet.

Time to make that hot water bottle. g'night!

Contemplating the Master Cleanse

In August 2008 I stepped on the scale and came in around 118 lbs (just under 54 kg). Today I stepped on the scale and I am 126 lbs (9 stone or about 57 kg). Now due to the fact that I have been weight training and have tripled my strength in some places I know that part of this change is due to muscle, but definitely not all of it. I'm much happier with my body shape now, but I'm still so conscious of my mid-section. When I gain weight, that's the first place it deposits. When I came off my special Nutri-Chef meal plan and relaxed my eating habits, my relationship with sugar sneakily snuck back into my life. I have lost the control. It's a love-hate relationship. Sugar has me once again in it's pocket.

The side effects of sugar really affect my life. I feel sugar rushes and then smash, I get moody, I crave more sweets, my digestion goes down the drain, and I often feel the effects of stress more: bad sleep (nightmares), headaches, I don't feel rested when I wake, and often throughout the day I feel very sluggish and sleepy. Some days I've caught myself struggling to keep my eyes open and have been using chocolate and coffee to jolt me alive the rest of my work-shift. And lately, I've noticed it really affecting my vision, I squint at my computer screen alot, eyes tired, sometimes hurting a little.

The rest of my routine is pretty good, I do eat 3 balanced meals a day, I train in the gym 3-4 times a week, bang out 30-45 mins of cardio at a time, and usually drink just about enough water.

But, it's that time now for a detox. I threw my food awareness out the window when I went to Jamaica. The "all inclusive, all you can eat, whenever you want, (and even when you don't want)" set-up catered to my every sweet desire....and I pigged out! Oh Cake.... I LOVE cake, and cake was everywhere all the time on holiday. I still dream of Rum Cake. I had it after breakfast, lunch AND dinner. Yes, piggy-pie was shortly followed by sleepy-pie who fell asleep in the pool lounger and barely escaped a 3rd degree sunburn. Isn't that what all inclusive holidays are about?

My boyfriend, being a personal trainer, says that I should lay off the treats and just continue with the rest of what I'm doing, but I insist I need some extreme measures to kickstart back to the better fitter me i'm used to. When it comes to cleansing, or eating well, I cannot dabble. It's all or nothing. He shakes his head at me, thinks that not eating is not right, but I have always believed in fasting. It is not only good for the body, but for the mind and spirit too. For people who don't believe in the mind/body connection, try fasting and on day 2 or 3 trust me...you'll start believing.

I've done the juice cleanse- tick
soup cleanse- tick
super foods- tick
alkaline foods- tick
atkins- tick


And now the most extreme of all, I am preparing myself for the Master Cleanse.
This cleanse has been around since the 40's and apparently works wonders according to all the research and blog reading I've done. Now, I'm going to keep a blog about the experience, and see exactly how it will effect me. The cleanse is simple- you consume only liquid made of fresh squeezed lemons, Grade B Maple Syrup, Cayenne pepper and natural spring water. Followed by salt water flushes and laxative tea. I don't mind the taste of any of these so I hope that makes it easier. I just know the psychological cravings for demon-sugar will kick in from the moment I say GO!

I think of this as a proper cleanse, not a diet. Diets are a lifestyle, a cleanse is a short term, thank God. Let's face it, cleansing is a bitch. It is hard on your willpower, and it takes it out on your body. Detox comes out of your skin, your bowels, your sweat, your breath, everywhere. The last time I did a detox I had to take a day off work because I had terrible headache, fever, nausea and was going to the loo ALOT. And why would I put my body through this???? Well, the way I look at it, it's better OUT than IN! Right? You can say "ew gross" when it comes to detox and poop but hey man, everyone poops. It's how our body is designed to detox. If you're body can't function at it's best it WILL deposit the crap inside you, putrifiying itself and causing other disgusting dis-ease and dis-comfort. And well...that is MAJORLY "ew gross" if you ask me.

Simple and Easy do not mean the same thing when it comes to cleansing. No cleanse I have ever done has been easy. Gaining back your power over food, over sugar, over your cravings is like going through withdraw from drugs. If you want to challenge yourself with dealing with temptation, I recommend trying a cleanse. It will test you to the max, and you come out feeling enlightened, stronger, more confident, and radiant. That end result is always what I look forward to, as well as shedding a few pounds of unwanted toxins.

I've been able to share this information with some of my work colleagues and some of them are very opposed to me attempting this. Hayley, who temps in my dept is eager to give it a shot too as she is also pretty interested in health and wellbeing. So, we may give it a go together, which may be an extra little support system along the toughest days.

I intend to monitor my progress through my blog, as well as upload some photos to see if there is any physical change. But I already know that feeling more energy and feeling clean will be the best payoff for me. I'm actually looking forward to it. My main desires have always been to find clarity, focus, empowerment, and purpose. Those are the things I am always searching for and I believe that cleansing of the body physically can help acheive those goals. Once I reset, I'll be able to keep on top of food much better.

The next 10 days are busy as I have gotten some moving boxes to fill and rooms to paint. I know as long as I'm not idle I can burn through the time. You know those moments where you pause and take a deep breath before you begin something big? Well, I can tell you right now this is one of them, and there are going to be plenty more too.