The Master Cleanse, January 2014
I am beginning the Master Cleanse for the next 10 days, beginning tonight, January 1st, 2014, with the laxative tea. Here, I will document my journey, side-effects, etc. I am trying to be very detailed, so I apologize in advance as it may be TMI.
Basically, it is a diet of freshly-squeezed lemons, pure maple syrup, cayenne pepper and water for 10 days. In addition is the laxative tea and the salt-water flush (naturally decaffeinated tea is allowed also). Take a look at their website for a very specific guide.
I’ve done this once before (lost 7 lbs. and kept it off), and I need something to kick-start my health goals, break my sugar-addition, and basically regain self-control and discipline.
I wasn’t hungry the last time; I did have some caffeine and sugar-withdrawal symptoms (I’ve been off caffeine for months, now – so I think it should go easier this time around), but no other major side-effects. It definitely broke me from the psychological/emotional need to eat.
There’s an option to do a 3-day ease-in, but I am skipping that. Instead, I am trying to eat a little light before jumping in tomorrow.
Here are my starting specs:
Weight: 146.2 lbs.
BMI: 23.8
Waist: 30.5″
Hips: 39″
Right thigh: 24″
Left thigh: 23.5″
Thursday, January 2nd, Day 1: Drank the tea last night, a solid BM in the morning. Had 7 glasses of the drink. Felt a little hungry; the taste wasn’t so great (I think b/c I didn’t have fresh syrup). I definitely missed food today. I had a gurgley stomach most of the day and several loose BM. Didn’t drink the tea before bed since my stomach was already rumbly. No major side effects – felt a little achy, but not sure if that is related to the cleanse.
Friday, January 3rd, Day 2: Started off today with the Salt Water Flush (SWF). I used 2 tsp. rather than 1 tbs. It took about an 45 minutes for my system to flush, definitely very watery. Next time I will try the full 1 tbs. I drank 6 glasses of the lemonade plus water. I probably should drink 1 or 2 more glasses, but I get lazy. I didn’t do the laxative tea either. I got busy on my computer and it got late; I knew I was going to zumba in the morning and I didn’t want to risk having a gurgly stomach. No side effects, except having a very bad taste in my mouth (literally)
Saturday, January 4th, Day 3: I weighed myself today, and I am down 1.1 lb. I skipped the SWF today because I was going to zumba this morning; it’s Saturday, and I didn’t want to get up extra early before the class. I felt fine for my work-out – not sluggish at all from not eating. I had 6 glasses of the lemonade today; the taste is not bad, just very monotonous. My husband is still eating, so everything smells good. Again, no side effects except the bad taste in my mouth. There was no BM today, but I am not surprised; it has to be somewhat forced by the tea or SWF since there is no food being eaten. I felt a little cranky today, but I think it is just because I want eat. I made mac-and-cheese for my husband, and I did taste a tiny spoonful to see if it was ready. I drank the tea tonight; it is the chocolate variety, but trust me, it was no treat, lol.
Sunday, January 5th, Day 4 – I woke up at about 6 am with some pretty severe cramps – laxative tea was working. I had a pretty loose BM a little later. Around 8am, I did the SWF – except I forgot that I should have used warm water instead of cold. Bad move. Almost instantly, I felt nauseated. I had to do about 15 minutes of snow-shoveling, and when I came in, I almost threw up. Not sure if it was from the SWF or the exercising, but regardless, I ate 1 piece of bread to calm stomach.
The SWF did its job over the course of about an hour and a half. There was very little that was solid – most of it looked like dark yellow bile.
Today, I had 6 and a half glasses of the lemonade, several glasses of regular water, an herbal tea (a cheat that is allowed) and the laxative tea. I also had gum today, which I found out was a no-no. Oops! Again, no side effects. I don’t feel tired or full of headaches. I’m just getting bored with the lemonade. I am trying to keep in mind the end results and trusting that I will be in a good place to eat healthy and with more discipline.
Monday, January 6th, Day 5 – Last night, I woke up around 10pm with pretty severe cramps. I had drunk the tea at around 7pm, wanting to make sure it was through my system before I went to work in the morning. The tea worked faster than it ever had and by 10pm, I had a BM. It was pretty painful and crampy. This time, it was more blackish and more solid than it had been with the SWF. It had to use the bathroom several times within that hour.
So, during the day at work, it was easier to continue with the cleanse, as I was busy the whole day. I had about 5 glasses at work, and then I had another 1-2 that evening. I had no problem at work with energy, headaches, etc. I felt fine – even good. The only issue was the foul taste in my mouth.
***After giving it some thought, because of where I was at in my menstrual cycle and TTC, I decided to stop the cleanse after 5 days. I did not do the laxative tea that night nor the SWF on Tuesday morning.
I drank a little orange juice on Monday evening. On Tuesday, I made a smoothie with some fruit and yogurt, I had an orange and some soup for lunch. Then, for dinner, my husband made tortellini , of which I had a medium bowl.
In total, from the 5 day, I lost 2.6 lbs. I definitely feel like it eradicated my sugar cravings. I feel much cleaner and lighter. Since, I have been ‘clean eating’, and my goal is to continue that. If I get to an appropriate point in my cycle, I would like to try to Dr. Oz smoothie detox.
All in all, while extreme, I do feel the Master Cleanse is effective. Some definitely would debate that, and some have had other experiences that were not so positive, but for me, I feel it really pulled out those buried toxins inside me.
Tips I’m Learning Along the Way:
SWF: Hold your nose and chug it. You can still taste it, but it goes down fast. I can do it in about 3 chugs of 10 gulps each. It usually took a few more gulps to get the rest of it down.
Lemons: About 1/2 of a big lemon will give you 3 tbs. of lemon juice – enough for 12 oz. of water. A large lemon gives about 4 tbs or just a little more. Roughly, I plan on using 4 big lemons a day.
