Master Cleanse Forum - Master Cleanser Lemonade Diet

What a summer! Lots of activity but also lots of crazy eating. Got an unshakeable bronchitis a month ago. Finally moved out of my bedroom, as I suspect some undetected, unhandled mold and mildew.

So, had a last blast tonight on my wedding anniversary and will be starting my fifth master cleanse tonight.

Bye-bye, supplements. Hello, senna tea.

Starting with SWF tomorrow.

So I drank half a cup of senna tea last night and slept soundly, especially considering I had half a bottle of prosecco with dinner last night.

DAY 1

Had somewhat horrifying realization that I did not prep myself mentally for this cleanse with the quite the same fervor and intention as I have with previous cleanses. Had to really make the effort to visualize "TEN DAYS" and promise myself I won't get discouraged, despite invitation to a wedding on the 25th and husband hanging around, eating. Must steel my resolve. At least I know that I can DO these cleanses.

As per usual experience with MC, the senna got things moving virtually first thing in the morning and I had to weigh myself AFTER that.

Weight: 58 kilos on the nose - target weight for the cleanse is 55. Should be no trouble. Want to shed my food addictions more than go for any sort of "look," (beyond "no muffin top").

13% body fat (I think my BMI scale is mistaken). I feel like 20-something percent

Had the SW this morning at 8:10, careful to measure exactly 2 teaspoons (always a failing in the past) and exactly 64 oz of water.

Glickman's "Lose Weight, Have More Energy, Be Happier in 10 Days" book by my side, and "Master Cleanse Coach" at the ready. Discovered the MC Coach app had been removed from my phone, so my 2 earlier cleanses (#3 and #4) were erased. It's a flawed app, but I love the graphing part of it, and FAQs at a glance. Using an Excel spreadsheet this time round.

Still some significant pharyngitis, phlegm. Want to get well. Just about burned through my adrenal glands fighting a brush fire for 2 hrs this afternoon.

Mood 7 out of ten, Energy 4 out of 10.

SWF never really kicked in, which is weird for me. upping the salt percentage tomorrow.
6 glasses Lemonade and 2 cups mint tea.
Drinking 1/2 cup senna tea before bed. I miss my supplements. Thought about watching "Master Chef" on TV and then thought better of it.
Brush fire emergency meant I got a lot more exercise than planned.
Prepared husband's dinner. Mild yearning for roasted peanuts in cannister in pantry.

DAY 2
sleep was broken, but I probably got a full 7 hrs
weight: 57.2 kilos
Senna already working upon rising, as first thing was a productive trip to the pot.
Body aching from fighting brush fire for 2 hours (in flip flops on a rocky slope - crazy "fight mode" so didn't bother to change shoes). Stretched a bit this morning.

scant 2 TABLESPOONS of sea salt in this morning's SWF at 7:30. Did its thing starting 8:00, so I will stick with the slightly-more-than-a-Tablespoon salt quotient and hope that that pans out for the rest of the Cleanse.

Simply trying to stay busy on my various cleaning chores.

Super sensitive to smells (everything smells terrible... garbage-y, garlicky, dead).

I know that a number of sources on the MC suggest sipping the lemonade slowly. I have always found this virtually impossible. First, the lemonade tastes amazing. I may be somewhat dehydrated. Really trying to drink water between "meals."

Energy: 4 Mood: 6.5 and falling

lemonades: 7
mint tea: 1

DAY 3 draft
weight 57.1 kilos
more than 7 hours sleep last night, which is miraculous for me (age 57). No senna last night.
SWF at 7:15, "flushing" for the next hour and a half (sigh)
Energy 2
Mood 4
lemonade 7
takes an effort to drink water ...urine clear when I have to go, so I'm keeping dehydration at bay.
Unfortunately, felt and looked bloated from morning through the afternoon. Bleah!

This being the dreaded DAY 3, when half the world quits the Cleanse, I know I have to psych myself up for the long haul. So I read posts by Greybeard and Abbey Lee (both are successful Cleansers who write good journals here). Sat down and had a read of Glickman's books to keep me focused.

Eyes on the prize, staying the course. Can't believe this (numero cinco) is the first time I'm doing the cleanse in the presence of my husband (he is supportive, but he has never fasted and he eats like a horse). But I'm determined to get through it. If I can last 10 days, I may just go until tongue pinks out. Never done more than 15 days of the lemonade, but this might be the time I do the long haul and really go for the pink tongue. I've never done less than 10 days, and I always take a nice long ease-out. But that whole thing about the coated tongue.... ain't stayed the course through that. Super afraid of that taking more than a month. I'm due back in HK in a couple of weeks, and I want to enjoy some of that food!

Smells still bug me. Not that they make me want to eat anything (that's caused by the sight of food, like the half watermelon in the fridge, and the peanuts in the pantry). Garlic and garbage cut through me and disgust me.

Keeping busy on my cleaning. Oh, gawd, 7 days to go. Day 3 never a fave.

Terrific progress Bali Lemon! You sound strong and focused!!

Thanks, Birdy!

It takes focus, doesn't it?

But the more I read (of other journals), the more I think that WHO surrounds you is of utmost importance. I advise anyone thinking of doing the MC to first inform those closest to you. The Cleanser's nearest (not EVERYONE) and dearest need to be enlisted as primary support. Communication to naysayers and wisenheimers can be cut off before starting the Cleanse. No one needs to hear "you're not giving your body any nourishment" or "my doctor says.." or "I did that once and it sucks."

I had to laugh out loud when I read how Cleanser / Blogger Abbey Lee managed to keep her 40 day cleanse a total secret from her husband!! But she apparently had the kind of personality which can give a person the edge in a situation like hers.

This is the first time I'm doing the cleanse with my husband around, since he has no reality on fasting whatsoever. He's a very nice man, and he has a part-time cook to do his meals, so I'll make it through. But how can a person expect to do this cleanse if he or she is hearing naysayers and armchair pundits weighing in on the MC without knowing one damn thing about it? It's practically impossible!

I mean, my hat is off to those with the resolve and will power to make their goals while in the company of clueless, invalidative "friends". But I cannot emphasize more, that the most important thing is to get yourself into a supportive environment before embarking on the MC. And getting educated on why the cleanse works will help a Cleanser steel that all-important resolve.

Thanks again. Great to hear from another Cleanser on this conversation.

DAY 4
weight: 56.9 kilos
bloat left last night, and my tummy is flatter today, but not a lot of six pack to be seen.
6.5 hours sleep; could have been better but it's adequate.

checked ketone strip in first morning urine, but no ketosis. I expect that I am simply burning a bit of tissue, reaming out the bowels, and losing water weight. Although jawline is a little chiseled today.
SWF 6:45 and 1.5 hours of eliminations afterwards
mild jowl/cheek breakout after this morning's first lemonade (pores are bumpy), so there is some toxic exposure happening. This helps me know I can't quit prematurely. Tongue officially coated with white. Garlic smelling disGUSting, thinking about pizza. Can hardly wait til I'm thinking about eating healthy foods.

Lemonade tally : 8
mint tea: 1
Mood: 6
Energy 5.5

DAY 5
draft
weight: 56.5 kilos... what's that? 124 lbs? not bad.
Ketosis urine strip revealed "small" ketosis. So I actually burned a little fat in the night
The breakout is gone. Boom. Like that.
Looked in mirror and my butt is tighter, and my tummy is more "in." Friend on fb posted the 28 day plank challenge. So I started that last night and planked for 3x as long this morning. Did my Classical Stretch DVD lesson 'Posture' this a.m.
Mood 6
Energy 4 (yeah, really. Almost took a nap)
SWF took a while to kick in. But the usual, many urgent eliminations. Mostly just biley water.
Lemonade tally: 7
1 mint tea
bloaty feeling as night came on
more later

DAY 6
draft
56.2 Kilos
SWF productive
Lemonade 6 or 7 (lost track while running around Denpasar)
Mood 5 Energy 6.5 - got better in evening. Have to watch that I shouldn't drink my last lemonade too late, because I can get a bit of a sugar buzz

Road trip - wedding of friend's son - meant I had to take the lemonade ingredients with me. BTW, as I found out on my first cleanse, you don't want to let the cayenne sit in your lemonade all day. It just heats up all day and can be unpleasantly spicy. So I always shake in the cayenne just before drinking. What a frickin' mess... my Chinese bag is ruined due to spillage of the lemonade when my "Starbucks Reserve" insecure coffee thermos came undone. Mentally drafting letter of complaint to SB CEO Howard Schultz. Easy to get bent out of shape on this Cleanse.

Strangely withdrawn at the wedding. Of course, I couldn't eat, so I sat on the sidelines while my husband enjoyed all that amazing pork satay and some kind of amazing tofu dish he described later. Yeah, but felt less than social, didn't greet friends as cheerfully as you might expect at a joyous occasion.

Got a cheapo Balinese massage, just to get some pressure on my muscles. Of course, as usual, the 19-year-old masseuse doesn't know the first thing about anatomy (her strokes go down the leg, she hits a lot of gimmicky painful spots that are not tendon or muscle - loaded, etc). Should just do a self-administered lymphatic brushing, but I'm still in the midst of my massive cleanout of the bedroom.

Feeling ever so slightly better each day now.

DAY 7 Draft
got home late last night and slept pretty well. Some breaks in the sleep, but woke up late (6:35, that's late for me) and feeling rested.
weight 55.6 kilos, standing straighter as well.
managed a 60 second plank after a truncated stretching session (Classical Stratch Season 3, Scar Tissue lesson)

finally starting to visualize salads and green leafy vegetables. Food seems less of a big deal to me. That's good.

ketosis negative
Mood 7 Energy 6 whew, uptrending

Massage last night did me good, on balance. Shoulders ache, but I am also moving and lifting boxes.
SWF productive
Lemonade tally 6 or 7; lost track

Pretty good for a day 7; could be Day 8 will be my big scary day of toxicity. I'm ready for it. Was mostly just tired in the afternoon (could only sit and read or watch tv, though).

Day 8 draft
55.7 kilos, dag nabbit!
Oh well. I've netted 5 lbs down on this thing, and that's not shabby. Waist looking skinny. abs tighter. Mood nice in morning.

SWF done. Effective... took only 40 mins to kick in today, perhaps thanks to a sip of senna in the morning. Also switched back to Balinese sea salt which (although disgustingly sprinkled with impurities) is generally a better flusher than Himalayan sea salt.

Lemonade tally 7
Energy 7 Mood 8
Ketosis negative

A pretty good day, but gawd, the smells! Surprised to be still somewhat mucous-y (lost the residual coughing of the bronchitis several days ago)

Are you going for 10 days? I love that you're a few days ahead of me, so I can sort of gauge what to expect next. You've done very, very well on this cleanse!! You're almost at your 10-day mark!!

Birdy

Thanks, Birdy.

This has been an unusual cleanse for me, because I have not had one of those days yet where I'm "OH YEAHHHHH!" and feeling super clean. I DO feel cleaner, but I'm not bursting with energy or anything.

Glad to be trimmed down somewhat.

I set out to do 10 days, but I'm sort of disconcerted about my coated tongue.

I can't stand being in the same room as my husband, who stinks of garlic. Totally weird.

I am just kind of taking it one day at a time at this point, and puzzling over when I should do the ease-out. I don't want to feel bad over ending too early, like with a white tongue and dry mouth. Rats. Will just have to see what I feel like on Day 11.

Thanks for listening.

DAY 9
doesn't feel like a day nine, that's for sure.
55.5 kilos back on the losing trend. Pants falling offa me.

Ketosis strip: "small"
planked for a minute and 15 seconds, so I'm getting better little by little. Abs do look better.

SWF: MIGHT BE TOO MUCH INFO for some of you reading out there...
OK, I'm just surprised to have a couple of rather opaque eliminations. Liquid, for sure, but gol' dang if there isn't still a lot of little tiny bits of crap moving on out of the plumbing! On all of my other cleanses, even my very first one, by Day 9 it was just bile-tinged water coming out. I'm absolutely amazed to be flushing more than that. So I must have really stacked up there in France and the States this summer. True, ate bread in France for the first time in a couple of years, so maybe I'm paying for that. Anyway, very productive SWF this morning.

Lemonade: 8

Hang in there! The tongue and the tide can change at any second!