Master Cleanse Forum - Master Cleanser Lemonade Diet

I am no stranger to the master cleanse. I did my first one back in Mar 2008 right after I'd had my wisdom teeth removed. My face had been swollen for nearly 4 weeks and I couldn't eat much so by the time the swelling went down my appetite decreased. Since I'd been home for those 4 weeks, I had nothing but time and came across the master cleanse. The more I researched and watched testimonial vids, the more intrigued I became. So right after, I set out to do my 1st master cleanse. It was easy breezy.

There were some headaches and the constant trips to the bathroom was a bit of a hassle but at the end of it, I was the thinnest I'd been since I was a teen. 121lbs. I was amazed at how I managed to lose inches and yet had no saggy skin. I felt great. My overall appetite had decreased and I only ate to satiate my hunger. I was no longer comfort eating. Even if I ate junk my weight managed to stay off. I did mini fasts that summer and in Sept 2008 I did another MC for 15 days. I was 124lbs.

Since then my weight kept on coming back because of bad habits that I developed and today I am 191.2lbs. I have attempted the MC so many times since then but never been completely successful. I have health issues like PCOS, adrenal fatigue, low iron, hormonal imbalance. I am constantly tired and have no energy. I have anxiety and panic attacks. I am not productive in my everyday life. I think the biggest factor for health issues is my current job. I hate it. It's stressful and everyday I wake up, I wish I could run away and just escape.

Yesterday was my birthday. I have vowed to start this year of my life anew. I am determined to succeed at this MC. I hope it is a catalyst for change in all aspects of my life.

Day 1: Well I started the day late since I am off work. I have had 3 glasses of the lemonade, 2 cups of tea and water. Even though it's cold here in Canada I find adding crushed ice to the drink satisfies my need to chew something. No real hunger cravings or cravings. I feel as though I can smell rice being cooked but no one is cooking it and I live in a house, so no idea where the smell emanates from. My weakness is carbs, especially rice. I adore it. It makes me happy. It makes me feel good when eating it. I have my SM tea all brewed up and waiting for me. I should have several more glasses of the lemonade even thought I'm not very hungry. Since I am off work for the next couple of days, I should have a good handle on the ups and downs of this cleanse when I am back to work. From past experience, I usually deal with feeling cold, tired, sleepy, irritable. I get aches throughout my body and sometimes have severe headaches. I have nothing planned for myself so I am looking forward to resting.

I am really grateful I've found this place. Reading here gives me insight into myself and is a constant reminder as to WHY I am doing the cleanse. More than needing weight loss, I need my health back. I need my life back. My aim is 10 days but if I can hang in for longer, then I will do that


edit - my 2017 journal is here

Good luck on your cleanse! Hope all goes well.. You can do it!

Motivational quote for today

My whole sleep cycle has been off for weeks and hopefully I can reset it with the MC.

Day 2: Went to bed at 5am on day 1, and woke up at 12pm on Day 2. I awoke feeling great. Sharp mentally. Energetic. Happy. Not very achy or bogged down like I usually experience which is typical of those with adrenal fatigue.

I successfully did my swf. Still as gross as I remember. Felt nauseous while chugging it but took breaks and I got it all down. Not looking forward to it but it does have a role to play. After my swf I had 3 glasses of lemonade and around 8pm was falling asleep on myself. I went to bed and relaxed and fell asleep by 9 or 10pm. I slept until 4am. I am having my laxative tea now and then I'll go back to bed. I am glad I was off work so I could accommodate myself feeling sleeping so early and just hitting the sack.

I need to drink more lemonade and water on Day 3. I didn't have enough on day 2, but I did sleep a hell of a lot.


Start of Day 3:
weight in: 188.6lbs

End of Day 3.

SWF was successful. Still disgusting as usual. The pink himalayan sea salt tastes awful. Glad to be off work and took a nap for a couple hours. When I awoke, I stayed in bed for a couple more hours. I am dreading tomorrow because I am back to work, and hope I have enough energy to get through it. I have been napping during the day since I was off.
Overall feeling good. If I wait too long to eat then I get really hungry and weak. As soon as my mind runs on food, I know it is time to start having more lemonade. I haven't been able to drink 12 glasses of it. Most I've had is like 7 a day. I'm really trying though. My lips are peeling and chapped to all hell, from the acidity.

Day 4 - morning

I went to bed around 2am last night. I was feeling energetic and wasn't even tired but forced myself. I awoke at 7am feeling grrrreat! I am energized and not achy. I woke up and popped right out of bed. I haven't done that in over two years. With my adrenal fatigue and other issues, I wake up feeling groggy and unrested. Tired. Achy all over. Headachy. Weak. I lay there and try to gather some strength and will myself out of bed using energy I don't have.
I've had down times with this present MC fast (mainly due to my messed up sleep schedule) where I had to nap but overall I've been feeling so great. Not very achy or grumpy as I did in previous MC fasts. I don't understand the high energy and overall feeling of happiness. Maybe I am happy that I am finally succeeding at something I've set my mind to. I don't know. But I will keep on fasting if I feel this great.

Morning weigh in : 186.6lbs

I started work super early and my commute is 2hrs so I skipped the SWF and did another cup of SM tea. I will do the SWF tonight.

Motivational quote for today

End of Day 4

Continued to have high energy throughout the day. Got home late and no swf. Having another cup of tea instead. I feel great. Was really hyper most of the day. Mental clarity. Felt happy and idk why. Really unusual for me.

Constant thoughts of food but seeing actual food doesn't temp me at all. In fact it grosses me out. Tongue is coated and I think this partially why I am not interested in food lol. That gross feeling curbs my appetite a bit.

end of day weigh in: 188.0lbs

Day 5 (warning this might be tmi)

I haven't been sleeping so well. Last night I went to bed after 2 am and awoke at 8am. Felt weak and hungry at first but felt a bit better once I got up and going. Eliminations have been like clockwork every morning, but then again I've never had an issue in that department prior to MC. Stomach was churning a bit from the tea so another elimination during the work day. No chance again for SWF. Tomorrow I start midday so I can get it done then.

Amazon Prime maple syrup delivery did not show up before my shift. Went to work with only 4-5 servings. Since I wasn't very hungry I sipped on a couple servings of lemonade but mostly drank water. Today I've noticed a lot of aches and pains: left boob (sorry if this is tmi), shoulders, neck, upper back, head jaw. These are all that plague me on the daily, so I think the MC is working on removing inflammation? Yesterday the pain was along the bra line under the left boob but today it was the top part. It feels muscular and is so uncomfortable, but the pain is manageable.

Mood and energy wise I've been pretty consistent since the start of the fast: I felt good and I had more energy than I am normally used to, but not as much as previous days. As the day drew to a close, I felt the low energy: sleepy and tired. It is still cold and snowy here in Canada so I continue to feel really cold especially my feet. Chapped lips have gone away and I keep slathering on lip balm. Skin on my face looks brighter and I don't look as puffy as I did before. I am going to try some oil pulling tmrw before I eat and brush.

Hunger and exhaustion seems to have caught up with me tonight. I am really hungry and chugging the lemonade. I don't want my body in "starvation mode" so I need to consume enough calories to satiate the hunger. At the same time, I'm also really drowsy and desperately trying to stay awake so I can have more lemonade.

Mind a bit foggy so I hope I made sense



End of day weigh in: 185.4lbs

Still the night of Day 5...intense right shoulder, arm, elbow, wrist pain. I have old injuries to this arm so I'm not surprised but damn it really sucks! I'm drinking lots of water to aid my body in flushing out toxins. I've also been continually stretching out achy parts (as shown by my physio) to ease up the pain.

Going to try and catch some zzzz

Day 6 - midday

Slept until 11am today. Aside from feeling tired, the aches and pains are still there. Today I no longer have chest, back, neck, arm, shoulder pain. It's now my lower back, legs and hips that are killing me. Today I also I noticed when awakening, my eyes cleared up faster but my vision seems a bit blurry.

I'd forgotten to mention that Tue and Wed this week, I had a bit of a sore throat. I also still continue to have a stuffy nose and often feel phlegm at the back of my throat.

(TMI warning) Cramping from last night's tea is uncomfortable and giving me a bit of a tummy ache. Aside from the typical 'butt pee', I've noticed some of my eliminations are just dark mucous. I guess it's built up plaque? As long as it's coming out of me, and I am eliminating a few times a day then it's all good.

Energy wise, today I feel normal. Not very energetic as previous days but not tired either. Again I am still amazed that I don't feel my usual sluggish self.

Body observations: my stomach is already less puffy than before. Where before I looked like 9mths pregnant belly lol, I can see my stomach is flatter. I also don't feel as "heavy" when I walk. For those of you who've been heavy you may relate...when you're heavier, it is a struggle to carry this weight around. I would get tired. Knees would hurt. Back aches. Out of breath. Heart racing. But this week since I've been on the MC and have been experiencing high energy, it is so much easier to carry my weight and body around. Walking is no longer a chore and as daunting.
I will have to say that that 191.2lbs is the most I've ever weighed in my life. I used to be between 128lbs-142lbs and go up and down. Even then I never had a flat stomach but I could walk for very long distances and never get tired. I would work out etc. So the last few years gaining all this weight was really a struggle to find a way to lose the weight, and keep up with the changes in my body. It was an awful cycle of not having enough energy to work out so I'd gain weight...but the weight I gained made me tired and not want to work out. I saw no light to the end of this tunnel.
I don't know where all this will power has come from but I am so determined to see this all through. I think journaling here is making me be accountable for myself and is a huge huge help in this process. I can put all my feelings and thoughts down on "paper". I can re-read previous days highs and lows.

Will post again at the end of the day


Last night I dream I put food in my mouth and remembered I am on the MC, so I spat it out.

I'm just one day ahead of you, I started on April 1. I keep dreaming of food as well! It accidentally lands in my mouth and before I know it, I'm chewing. I did a hot yoga class yesterday and my sweat smells like lemons. Sometimes I think I smell like booze, but it might just be the lemons fermenting inside my body. Good luck!

I've enjoyed reading your posts. I am on Day 5.
I laughed at the dream of eating then spitting it out. I dreamt the exact same thing!

Here's to us!

^ Thank you both for commenting. I've read about others dreaming about the food but never experienced that before. It was so strange

I got lazy last night and didn't do an update.


End of day 6: I had several glasses of the lemonade after work was done. I am finding I don't have an appetite during the day, but at night I become really hungry and consume more calories then. I drank my SM tea and tried to sleep around 2am.
Energy wise, I felt good overall. I had more aches in my arms, legs and boobs again. Throat felt scratchy and still had a bit of a stuffy nose. I started doing oil pulling at night and find it's helping my mouth feel cleaner.

Afternoon of Day 7: My alarm went off and I fell back to sleep. I awoke at 9am and felt really tired. I sat up in bed for a bit, enjoying the warm sunshine across my face I finally got up and started the day.
I went to work and ended up tripping on the rug and falling, as soon as I entered the building (their fault). After a quick trip to the doctors, I am home. It's a soft tissue injury and muscle strain, nothing too serious but will be a couple days off. The upside is now I can rest, and do the swf properly because my hectic schedule didn't allow for it. I am *so glad* I skipped the tea and swf this morning lol because it would have been awkward...having to go to the bathroom constantly. So far I've only had water today and I'm now about to chug that SWF. It's gross but so beneficial.
I had planned on walking outdoors since the snow is finally letting up here but with this injury I might just do weights instead.
Body Changes: I can already feel my arms and legs are slimmer. You get used to the girth of your body lol so I can tell based on touch. My legs feel so smooth and tight, especially areas that had cellulite. I am amazed by how clear and bright my face is starting to look. Aside from being less puffy, my large pores seemed to have shrunk and wrinkles look softer. Under eyes are still dark though. My tongue is still coated but it's mostly at the back. I have tongue fissures (cracks on tongue) and I've noticed the cracks seem less deep. I *really* want this to be healed. I also noticed my seborrheic dermatitis looks better.

^ Hope all of you who are on this journey too, are hanging in there with the cleanse

Day 8

Once again I dreamt I was eating food. Really strange for me to dream about food. Awoke feeling groggy and wanted to sleep more, but a few mins later I was off and running to the bathroom. I downed the SWF right after and when things had subsided I felt rather sleepy so I napped for a few hours. My right eye is still blurry when I wake up and takes longer to get in focus. I am sure something cleansing is happening in there.
I awoke with extremely achy and stiff muscles in my back, arms, shoulders, neck and wrist. Not sure if that is from the fall at work or the MC detoxing my body.
I've been trying to up the cayenne dosage and cut back on maple syrup today...to see if I notice any changes. For every 3 maple syrup I added 4 lemon juice. If anything I felt hungrier, faster.
During my hungry moments I found myself wishing I could taste food: pizza, breads, mac and cheese. The smell of food also made me really hungry. I wished I could end the fast and eat, but I ignored that and remembered I was in this for my health to improve and renewed my determination.
I don't think I've mentioned this but since starting the cleanse, I've been watching cooking videos on YT daily. Idk why but watching people preparing and tasting food is comforting. It doesn't make me hungry, it just makes me feel good lol
Energy was normal today. I noticed I felt colder overall but again I can't tell if it's due to being in a cold climate, low iron, or from MC itself.