Master Cleanse Forum - Master Cleanser Lemonade Diet

Hello cleansers and happy new year!

I'm really excited to start this cleanse and love that there is a new forum for journals and blogs -- great idea!

I've done the MC before (40 days in my first try, and several shorter ones in the years since -- always trying to repeat the 40-day cleanse, and not quite making it) and I've dieted or been conscious (or willfully unconscious) of what I eat during much of my adult life. I hate to admit it, but I basically fit the profile of a yo-yo dieter.

I'm back up to my highest weight in many years, 199 lbs on my 5'8" frame, and I'm really tired of doing this dance.

The healthiest I felt was when I was doing the long cleanse and for several months thereafter. I kept the weight off for quite a while. Then life's challenges got between me and my health -- a bad breakup, relocating a few times, another breakup, and now I'm in grad school plus I work full-time, so I'm short on time and sleep and reaching for fast food or the deliciously convenient Trader Joe's frozen-food items has led to my ballooned weight.

Like a lot of people are doing at the new year, I've taken stock and I want to restore my health this year. A big part of it will be shedding the excess weight and all the toxins, etc., that go with it. I'm looking for balance in my life, rather than the frenetic pace that I allow myself to become enslaved by as I try to keep up at school and work. I want to take better care of myself this year, so nutrition, meditation, exercise and getting 8 hours of sleep will be among my goals, along with gratitude for things like just coming across the MC, having the ability to do this for myself, and having this great forum to turn to so I can stay on track and be reminded of my goals.

After the cleanse I plan to eat a mostly vegan and raw diet. I say mostly because I know I love things like ice cream and cheese and butter too much to say I'll never ever have them again, but they will be reserved for special occasions a few times a year -- I'm more of an everything in moderation kind of girl, and my goal this year is to be more about the moderation rather than the everything part! In principle, the vegan philosophy makes the most sense for me, so that's what I will aim for post-cleanse.

So, the big challenge: Stress has been high in my life in the past year, and I've tried to do the MC a few times this year too. The trouble has been that when my stress level rises, my body goes straight to stomach upset and acid-reflux symptoms. When that happens, the last thing my body wants is an MC drink (or maybe that's just my go-to excuse to stop cleansing) as it feels too acidic and that it will exacerbate my already upset tummy. At any rate, I'm going to try to stay on top of my tasks better so that I don't get overwhelmed and stressed out, and I'd like to stick with the MC until I reach my goal weight. That said, as someone more insighful than me pointed out this summer on one of the discussion boards, mini-goals might work best, so I'm going to give that a try.

My first mini-goal: 10 days of cleansing. Today is Day 1. I plan to post here every day, or maybe more than that if I need to. I'll record my stats and what I'm experiencing on the cleanse. Feedback is welcome and I'd love to offer support to any of you as well.

Health and happiness to all!
New Beginnings

DAY 1:
Starting Weight: 199
Goal Weight: 135

The boring stuff: Had the Smooth Move tea last night and this morning (will brave the morning salt water flush in a few days when my colon is more clear); drinking MC mixture throughout the day, I made a little over eight 8oz cups for the day (adding the cayenne just before drinking a serving); and I will also have a cup of detox tea as well.

Mood-wise, overall I'm excited to be doing this for myself, but when the hunger pains hit (typical for me on the first few days) my mind grumbles too and I wonder if I have it in me to do this again. When that happens, the strategy for now is to drink some more MC and write in this journal.

I think that's enough for now -- best wishes to everyone cleansing!

Hi Benni,

Thanks for posting -- and congrats on your 30-day cleanse! I have such respect for that, especially knowing how challenging it's been for me to repeat.

I appreciate your encouragement and send it back to you -- looking forward to reading your updates once you begin!

Cheers,

nb

This is where the perfectly imperfect part starts:

Wow, well, I was off to a good start, but what can I say...I caved.

But I'm getting back up on the horse and will start again tomorrow.

The short story: I accepted an invitation to meet up with a friend I hadn't seen in a while at a local wine bar I hadn't been to yet but was dying to try. I love wine, but told myself I'd just drink some bubbly water with lime and enjoy the conversation. But I have no willpower. I had a glass of wine. The worst part though is that after I got home, with my defenses down due to the wine, I tore into some delicious items in my freezer...wah!

What might have felt good for a moment led to some very uncomfortable stomach cramps, etc., since my intestinal system was more or less emptied after 2 days on the MC. I'm super disappointed in myself but have taken stock, reminding myself why I am doing this -- health, cleansing toxins, wanting to feel comfortable in my own skin -- literally. The phrase that came to me during this reflective time was "Run, don't walk, to the life that you want."

I thought about just updating my blog with "Day 2" when my rebooted Day 2 came around, without acknowledging my straying from the path and ignoring the fact that my Day 1 and Day 2 entries wouldn't exactly be dated one right after one another, but then I decided that being honest about the process and how it's going for me is probably more helpful to myself, and it might be helpful to someone who might read this.

So here I am: an imperfect but persistent woman, who is embarking on a "Take 2" on my MC journey. I'll continue to be as honest as I can about what is going on for me during this cleanse and hope to post more regularly to keep me on track and in touch with this process as well. I will drink the SM tea tonight and will start again tomorrow.

Wish me luck -- I wish the same for you!

Cheers,
New Beginnings

Good for you! Glad you're starting again. You can do it!! Which you already know since you've completed lots before

But good luck all the same!!

Thanks so much Sunnie, I appreciate it!

I hope you meet your goals on the cleanse too!

hi, dear! we have very similar stats (i'm 5'8" and my highest weight was around 195 a couple of months ago). i've managed to get down to about 180, and i'm starting my cleanse tomorrow, as well. my goal weight is somewhere between 130 and 140. we should definitely be cleanse buddies! completing a forty day cleanse is really impressive. i'd love to be able to do one for that long. if you don't mind my asking, how much weight did you lose during the forty day cleanse? did you do any additional exercising? good luck with everything. happy cleansing ☺

softboats, this is freaky: i think we both posted similar messages on each other's journals, so i think for sure that means we should be buddies! yay!

on that first 40-day cleanse, i lost around 50 lbs., can't remember for sure, but i got down to 135. Haven't been this heavy since before that first MC.

I did some light exercise during the first cleanse -- I lived by the beach then myself too (Southern California) and can relate to what you said about everyone around you being so in shape and feeling like you weren't. anyway, living by the beach and in a warm climate made it easy to do outdoor exercise during the cleanse -- i would bike along the path by the beach or run/walk, and i did yoga.

now i live in the mid-atlantic, and it's chilly wintertime here. i've been doing yoga this week, and plan to join a local gym so i can run on the treadmill during the winter months, even though i'm not a fan of running on treadmills. we're expecting snow this weekend, so i want to have a no-excuses option in place if the roads/bike path i run on aren't clear. i would really like to incorporate exercise during the cleanse, but for me i find if i push myself too hard with cardio exercise, i end up not losing weight, which seems counter-intuitive, so i'm just going to start with the light exercise again and see how it goes.

how about you, what are your exercise plans?

looking forward to buddying up!

newbeginnings: your honesty just shows that we are all imperfect beings. Falling off a log is only important if you don't get back on. You've accepted you weakness and moved on. I can relate so much listening to you. I'm beginning to think the hardest part of the cleanse is not the cleanse, but society. Once you decide to make positive changes in your life it just seems there are more obstacles in the way to prevent positive change. Your MC family is here for you. Keep on keeping on.

new beginnings-
as for exercise, I'd recommend light stretching, yoga positions, things that don't really elevate your heart rate but stretch your muscles out. A lot of walking also helps.. You don't have to be power walking, but just to be active & out.

I love your honesty- I think one of the most important things is to be honest with yourself. I think you're doing a great job picking it up again and getting back on. I wish you the best of luck & look forward to reading your updates

teamrose and memoriez, thanks so much for the support! it really helps to know i have people in my corner who know what this journey is all about. and thanks also for the exercise advice! i've read both of your journals and find you both to be very inspiring as well -- we can do this!!!

Okay, so first official day back on the plan -- Rebooted Day 1:

Here's something a little weird: Last night I had two separate and somewhat unsettling dreams about two of my ex-boyfriends, probably two of the most significant, long-term relationships I have had in my adult life. One relationship ended badly, and I still probably harbor unresolved feelings about it (it turned into a bad relationship and I don't want to be back with him or anything -- like not even close -- but it still stings to think about him) and the other was a really nice guy and at the time I wished I felt "in love" with him, but I knew I wasn't, so we eventually broke up. Anyway, these two relationships are pretty far in my past so it was really weird to dream about them both and on the same night. I woke up feeling really unsettled. Is this part of the cleansing/detoxification process? Anyone else have this kind of experience while cleansing?

I guess I have to say that the whole dating thing is part of my motivation for wanting to lose weight and be on the MC. Being overweight has kept me from being out there on the dating scene, since I don't feel pretty and don't feel like I look cute in any of my clothes. And that last bad relationship was pretty damaging to me and it has taken me a while to work through it (and it looks like I still have some work to do). Typical psych textbook stuff: being overweight and feeling unattractive has been a bit of a security blanket for me so I wouldn't have to face dating again.

I'm still scared but I feel like I want to try to date again, and losing the weight is a big part of that -- not that I'm holding off or anything until I reach my goal weight, but I am ready to feel good again and this cleanse is a big part of helping me get to that place, physically anyway. Though now it seems like there might be some emotional or subconscious effects of the cleanse happening too -- and wow, I really wasn't expecting that. I'm still feeling a little weird about the dreams, but with those feelings that have come to the surface that don't really feel good, perhaps this is an opportunity to look at them, acknowledge them, and then let them go. Here's hoping I can get to the other side with this!

I hope that made sense!

Aside from all that, I'm super excited to be back on the cleanse, and I'm feeling renewed by the support on this board. I took the SM tea last night and this morning, and I'm drinking my MC mix -- will brave the SWF in a few days, once I'm sure the intestines are more clear.

I weighed in again this morning (not sure if I will do that everyday, but I wanted a Day 1 starting weight again) and I'm at 195. I guess I didn't do too much damage when I strayed from the plan.

I think that's it for now with the update. I'm wishing you all a great day -- keep going, we can do this!

Something happens to that barrier that separates the conscious and subconscious during fasting. Many people have shared having very meaningful dreams deep into their fast that revealed important keys to understanding themselves better. We should not be surprised at this, the bible says that in the last days “men will dream dreams.” (Joel 2:28)

Don't you wonder if it is simply that fasting quiets the external senses enough so the inner senses can be brought to the fore and for the first time in years we regain connection to our spiritual self, and more importantly to our connection to God.

hi rose, yes, i believe it now! i'm still feeling freaked out by the dreams, so my guess is that just like the toxins in our bodies that are being expelled during cleansing, there are emotions, conscious/subconscious thoughts, and spiritual questions that arise during the cleanse that we need to resolve and/or expel. i guess i just wasn't expecting them to come up so soon or so strongly at this early stage -- but these particular feelings and questions are here now so i guess that's my cue that it's time to work through them. it's certainly given me a lot to think about, and i'm glad i'm not alone (or a total freak!). thanks for sharing, as always, i really appreciate it!

Enjoying reading your journey and I love your discussion and believe very strongly that the cleanse and any fast for that matter does indeed bring you to a new spiritual understanding of yourself and the world you live in. One thing that has helped me through this is reading books about spirituality. There are so many books I have used if anyone wants any recommendations let me know.

Wishing you both a wonderful night!

newbeginnings, your enthusiasm is so inspiring! i'm glad you had a good first day back on the cleanse. i'm really excited to be going through this journey with you! i've done several smaller cleanses before, and during those i was having very vivid dreams, as well. i would always wake up feeling slightly freaked out. seems to be some sort of side-effect.
so. here's my update. i'm so embarrassed. everything went really well for me throughout the day, i was feeling very in control and not hungry at all. unfortunately, i totally caved tonight at work. i waitress at this delicious italian restaurant, and my boss is always giving us free food and samples in the kitchen on our breaks. it's hard to say no, especially since i have no willpower at all. but that's ok. i'm going to get back up on the horse, as the saying goes. i think i'm going to wait to start again on monday, though, since i have that day off of work, and i feel like being away from all of the food will help me out so much. for some reason, i feel even more determined than i was before to go through with this. i am absolutely hellbent on it now. i refuse to fail. i suppose that's the silver lining, right?
stay strong on your cleanse, girl! you can do this! i'll be joining you again on monday. happy cleansing! ♡