I got onto the Master Cleanse because I had become dumpy and tired. Seven years ago, I met Peter Glickman (super fit, wiry guy with lots of mellow energy) and filed away the MC in my memory banks.
Life history: I was a dumpy and tired teenager, tried every silly diet until I got married and decided to get pregnant. Pregnancy & breastfeeding forced me to eat healthy (no sugar or caffeine for 4 years. e.g.) and after breastfeeding, my metab changed to make me thin for the first time in my life. Dedicated exercise kept me that way until menopause. Bang! Within a year of the change of life, I had a big gut, a muffin top, my face was fat, and I had no energy after eating lunch.
So there I was, dumpy and tired, was exercising less and less, finding no motivation to keep it up.
In December of 2013 I quit sugar again, notably chocolate in any form. I decided to give the MC a go because I was away from my freakishly fit husband who eats 3 square meals a day and has never been anything but lean. Visiting relatives in HK in the only mildly humid springtime, it was easy to just try the MC. I was a little leery of doing MC in equatorial Bali, where dehydration is too easy. Somewhat jetlagged in Hong Kong, I jumped right into MC. I followed Glickman's website
http://themastercleanse.com/master-cleanse/mistakes/and also this one, which was super informative:
http://mastercleansesecrets.com/step1.phpI can't let anyone do the MC without reading this:
http://www.chewfo.com/diets/the-master- ... void/#prep ...and I learned from all of these writers that if you do the cleanse by the letter, it will work. I admit I allowed myself a Calcium Magnesium drink on some nights because my joints were aching from all the walking one does in Hong Kong. Without MSM to take (thinking especially about Glickman's stern warning to avoid supplements), I thought the cal mag would be the least invasive joint and bone supplement to allow myself.
What the MC did for me was give me a delicious diet for 10 days in which I was hungry only a handful of times near the end of it. All-you-can-drink spicy lemonade was my day! It made me lose water and fat that was making me uncomfortable and unattractive. It left me feeling energized all day long. But most of all, it gave me a huge lead on the 25 lbs I wanted to lose. I'm currently transitioning off the MC by drinking OJ (I'll be back on solids -in the form of raw foods- in two more days). I have logged 6 lbs GONE in the course of the cleanse. I recognize that because some of the loss was water, it could creep back in as my calorie count goes up. But the point is, my stomach is small enough to stop me from going back to big portions and now that I see the results, it is huge motivation to keep going. That's key for me. Also, going home to Bali means I will be swimming every day (great exercise and appetite suppressant) and -secret of Hollywood stars who lose weight for movie roles- I will be out of the kitchen (cook's territory).
So this made me know that I CAN change my body back to its slimmer version. I'm on the way.
Some tips: if inconvenient, the senna tea is not as important as the salt water drink in the morning (which is mandatory). I skipped the tea a couple of times and the salt still did its trick.
As Glickman points out, sometimes the toxins coming out will alone create mood changes or cravings. Don't give in or give up but soldier on through and you come out feeling better. This means that (despite some websites out there) you don't drink other stuff or consume solids of any kind. You're giving that GI tract a rest, not burdening it further.
Also, I never let myself get hungry if I could help it. When I went out on errands, I would bring a jar of the Lemonade along to sip. God knows the world (HK especially) is full of great food smells and coffee shops and temptations. Nice to have the lemonade there to stave off cravings. I chugged as much as 12 1/2 of the 11 ounce glasses per day, and I know it's possible to go up to 16 glasses with no harm done.
Best of luck to all. I've got my blog to finish up, but I'll post when I lose some more weight post-cleanse.