Master Cleanse Forum - Master Cleanser Lemonade Diet

It's that time again!!
Life is good, all in part to due to the health foundation I laid with a 45 day fast about 3 years ago. I no longer feel extreme about getting healthy, as I have for the most part, accomplished that goal. It's about maintenance and slowly building up over my life more and more health through higher skill at self love; and by self love I mean knowledge and practice about diet, exercise and the human body.

I've been needing to fast for a while. The last 2 and 1/2 years of stress at my job and life, and all the caffeine, energy drinks and sugar has cost me. Still, I've been more healthy then I ever have, but still far from perfect, but I always say, progress not perfection. For optimal performance & health I should have done this fast about a month or two ago, but better late than never. I originally only wanted to fast for about 2 weeks, but I remember reading somewhere that the highest levels of healing happen after about 2 weeks, and since I did 45 days last time, I figure 24 days should be more then enough for my current level of health.

After the fast I'll be trying out an elimination diet under the umbrella of a nutritional ketogenic diet/program and then going full keto, which is a diet where your body basically stays in a fasted state, but you can eat as much as you want as long as you keep your carbs in the range of 20 - 50g a day. I'm also going to be doing intermittent fasting, where 1 - 2 days a week, you take a 24 hour break from food. On top of all this, also doing a 40 day caffeine fast. I swear that's it for healthy changes. Don't want to overwhelm yourself

On to the fast.

So far this fast has been brutal. I got sick the night before I began the fast. I had a chest, throat and nose cold for the first 8 days of fasting. I also had severe headaches from caffeine withdrawal, these headaches lasted for about 8 days. My energy levels have been abysmal as well. I didn't really keep a log of my 45 day fast, so I don't remember how it was for the first week or two in the context of energy levels, but I do remember my energy levels become amazing past day 20, so maybe that's what it will be like for me again.

I'm starting this log on day 11 out of 24.

31 male.
Energy levels-> decent(about 70% of normal)
Focus->(10% of normal )
I'm having some flareups for old Aches, Pains & Arthritis, but this is normal. Fasting actually ended my chronic pain during my last 45 day fast, and I'm sure my joints will feel 1000x better when I'm in week 3, and certainly when I finish the fast.

So my only real complaint on day 11 is a lack of focus. I'm about as ADD as you can get, I would kill for some adderall right now... Just Kidding , Never going to touch that stuff again. My energy levels are finally beginning to return to normal, the levels where less than 50% throughout the first 8 days of the fast and have only in the last day or two started picking up again.

I've been sunbathing, going on walks, playing light soccer on a nearby field, doing some body weight exercises, and very light weight work, which feels really good. I keep trying to organize my folders and data in my computer but I'm getting super, super distracted.. Oh well, it's best not to push myself to hard right now, but do what I can.

Day 12 of 24

Energy Levels: 110%
Focus: 40%
Aches/Pains/Inflammation: low

Amazing day. I got about 3 less hours sleep then I require and I've been a steam-engine all day, a shit ton of energy. Ketosis for the win right?. Unfortunately I had a dear friend pass away last week and I heard about it today, he was 81 years old and I've spent a lot of the day grieving. Hardest part about living is losing loved ones.. I wish I could still talk with him, but no more. Well, this is the cost of life, and my manifestation in this world is better for having connected with him. I do regret not spending more time connecting him and communicating when I could have, but I was lost for a long time, and at least I got to talk with him in true mindfulness for an hour a week before he passed. If you love someone and haven't connected with them for a while, do so now.

Well I love this fast today, but am looking forwarding to this being over and moving on with life, a lot healthier and happier.

Signing off,

Adam.

Day 13 of 24

Energy Levels: 30%
Focus: ??
Aches/Pains/Inflammation: low

Today has sucked. Just no energy. I think I over did it yesterday. Took a nap and am now just trying to get through the day by watching movies & playing games.. Totally sucks, part of me wants to quit, but of course I won't, there's no question about not finishing the fast. Hopefully tomorrow will be 1000x better. GL everybody.

I know the self-discipline it takes to only fast for 7-10 days, so congratulations for your extended fast!! I love your ideas for moving forward for after the fast. The low-carb plan, and the day fasts. Interesting! I know what you mean about energy ups and downs. It's kind of hard to plan things on this cleanse for that very reason. You may feel low in the morning, energetic in the afternoon, then dead again that night. I suppose we should simply listen to our body and follow its lead…. it knows what it needs. Good luck!! I enjoy your posts!

Thank you birdy1 for joining my thread.

Day 14 of 24

Energy Levels: 60%
Focus: 55%
Aches/Pains/Inflammation: low

Well, good news is that my focus levels have risen dramatically since the start of this fast, and my energy has been low but consistent throughout the day; all good signs. Several people who are probably too smart for there own good have told me that while on the master cleanser, we're not in ketosis. We're getting far too much sugar, which spikes our insulin, and prevents the body from metabolically switching over to ketosis. So this diet's benefits come purely from the caloric restriction + whatever the lemon/maple/cayenne combo does to us. I may drop the cayenne soon if my skin inflammation doesn't clear up(I've never done well with hot stuff), and I dropped cayenne towards the end of my last fast well.

I decided I'm going to cut the master cleanser short and go pure water fast for my last day or two to help get the body ready for ketosis. I found and ordered a bunch of high quality Now Brand MCT oil for really cheap, like $14 for 32oz from swanson, so that's awesome

I can't wait for this to be over. I did pray about it today, if I was doing the right thing, and I felt a resounding yes, to keep on going. History shows this diet helps me out, so even though I want it over, I go on.

GL to all my master cleanser friends.

Day 15 of 24

Energy Levels: 70%
Focus: 50%
Aches/Pains/Inflammation: low

Today's been a weird day. I had a wonderful deep tissue massage and then I had a chiropractor give me an adjustment, and my low/mid back feels good, but I feel my neck adjustment made my neck feel worse, where it was feeling fine before. I'm feeling ultra sensitive right now because of the fast so it's kind of scared me and threw off my day. Lots of feelings of hunger, and I probably spent too much time watching videos about the world's best junk food. Looking forward to tomorrow, as it's another opportunity for awesomeness.. oh and one day closer to it being over Only 9 days to go, I've got this!

Day 16 of 24

Energy Levels: 70%
Focus: 50%
Aches/Pains/Inflammation: low
Throughout the fast my functional memory has been awful and it's usually very good too. Long term memory hasn't been adversely effected.
Also been very emotional throughout the fast.

Not much to report. About the same as yesterday. Some random bursts of energy here and there.. It's hard talking about this diet with 99.999% of people as they all think your crazy, especially the doctors and med students. It makes me question myself and if I want to do this again. There was some really good quote on here yesterday, "I want to see what happens if I don't give up". I really do.

There's some undeniable benefit of this current fast, such as mental discipline, and a break from food; and the longer term benefits will take time to reveal themselves, but I can't help wonder if there's a way to do this fast where I still have a shit ton of energy and focus. I'm not sure the benefits are coming from the combination of maple syrup/lemons, but I think they are coming from an extended heavy fast with some amount of vitamins/nutrients to keep you going through it.

If I find that keto bodes well with my mind/body, next time I do an extended fast I'm going to experiment with the same caloric target of 900-1200 calories a day, but do it from a ketogenic stand point, it's just that I need to find a way to maintain maximum focus.

Day 17 of 24

Energy Levels: 80%
Focus: 50%
Aches/Pains/Inflammation: low

Energy is picking up. Attention/focus still not good enough for my job which requires extreme focus. I guess it's good that I'm self employed because I've essentially taken a month off for this fast. Finding keto recipes has been pretty fun. I discovered 7 different replacements for potatos: Turnip(.05 c/g) Cauliflower( .03 c/g) Radish (.02 c/g) Butternut Squash ( .07 c/g) Celeriac ( .07 c/g) Pumpking (.06 c/g) Rutabag (.06 c/g). Where c/g is carbs per a gram. Potatos are at (.15 c/g) and pretty much a no no on a 20-30 gram carb target.

I'm going to go on a soup binge for my first week back after I get reacclimated to food with bone broth. Definitely doing spinach cream and cauliflower cream soups. I'm looking for at least one more good soup that can be adapted to keto and is super nutritious and simple.

I'm following your lead HealthOrDeath!! Starting a low-carb diet today. Last night, I made a Cauliflower Chowder, which is essentially potato soup, but made with cauliflower instead of potatoes. Also added some crispy bacon pieces to it for some smokiness, and a handful of grated sharp cheddar for some protein. It's so good feel like I'm eating something off limits.

"It's so good feel like I'm eating something off limits.", lol! That's awesome birdy1.

Yay for us! I'm doing an elimination diet in addition to the keto, and I can't wait to pig out on bacon for a whole day and see how my body reacts to it. It will be the best experiment ever. I also joined an online CSA today, which stands for community supported agriculture. The internet makes everything so easy, so I can amazing grassfed broth/bones/beef/chicken/pig all delivered to some small town in Florida. Amazing!!



Day 18 of 24

Energy Levels: 100%
Focus: 100%
Aches/Pains/Inflammation: very low

Alright! Fully adapted to the fast. I've got all my energy and focus back, and maybe some extra. This is interesting from a biological stand point, because I'm almost positive it took about 20 days before I became super focused and energized during my last 45 day fast. So 20ish days is the magic number for my body. The next 5 days should be a breeze. It already felt like I was running down hill when I hit my final week on this fast, and now that I can work, it's awesome.

GL Everybody, very happy I am doing this fast.

Day 19 of 24

Energy Levels: 50%
Focus: 100%
Aches/Pains/Inflammation: mild

Well. I think I'm going to end this fast early. Since yesterday, I feel cleaned out. I had about 7 hours of amazing energy and then I did get an unusual wave of exhaustion at some point and had to nap for an hour, but before that I even was wondering what I want to do. I would like to start refueling with good healthy foods, and the sooner the better. So I'll play it by ear and at least fast until tomorrow morning and then decide.

So I water fasted for my 20th day and then reintroduced food. I reintroduced food to fast and got sick. I really should have started with about the same amount of calories and added about 200 each day until I got back up to par. Lesson learned.

Very happy I ended the fast early. I felt cleaned out and I felt that I want to refuel. Best to listen to your body.

Look forward to journaling again this december, then I'll keep it an annual tradition in december do some type of extended fast.

GL everybody.

I also enjoyed following you and your journey. Here's to your success! Thank you for sharing. I start my Cleanse tomorrow morning, I just need to jumpstart a healthy eating routine.
Happy Cleansing

I love this quote..." If you're tired of starting over, stop giving up"