master cleanse

Day 1 and 2 were tough. Headaches, body aches, tired, moody, hungry. Today I wokeup with a tension headache, but as soon as I drank my first dose of lemonade I started feeling better. Yesterday I was sneezing and coughing (probably swine flu) but today it’s clearing up.

Apparently it’s been 2 years since my last successful MC? Eek, that’s way too long. I remember how proud I was about my 19 days.. I want to feel that way again.

I have previously MC’d for 10 days and 19 days. This time, my third attempt (all previous third attempts have failed) I would like to go for 20 days – longer if I’m feeling up to it. Getting through today, Day 2, is a crucial first step.

Today I feel groggy. Head is stuffy, lots of mucous. Don’t know if it’s MC related or I just picked up a cold. Either way, I’ll just let my body work itself out.

I meant to make this entry at 10 days post cleanse, but I just didn’t have the time. I was in Vegas for a work meeting, then San Diego for a trade show, now since I’ve gotten back from San Diego I’ve been sick. Everything from my upper chest to my sinuses has been at some level of dysfunction since Monday, but I’m finally getting over it.

First lesson, I should have probably started taking my vitamins after 5 or so days post cleanse. I haven’t been sick in at least 2 years, and I’m a little pissed off that my immune system fell into such disrepair. I won’t make that mistake again.

As far as my post-cleanse plan, I’ve been sticking mostly to it. I have eaten beef twice, in small quantities, and I think it’s the source of my food allergy. The day after I ate beef, the skin on my back became very rough and dry, sort of rash-like. This also started to come down my arms and on my thighs to some degree, but stayed off my face and stomach. After I noticed it I started taking 1 benadryl per day, and it never got worse, but it’s been a week now and I’m still trying to shake the last of it. Trying to let my body work itself out instead of taking massive amounts of benadryl.

My stomach definitely shrank during the MC. When I came off, just about a cup of vegatable soup make me insanely full, but now I’m back to where I was before; 4 or 5 cups of soup and 8 ounces of water, and I’m full. It sucks, I want my shrunken stomach back. I blame myself.. and a week spent in Las Vegas.

I ultimately gained about 12 pounds back (of 31 lost). I attribute this to mostly water weight (since I don’t get a lot of salt during the MC) but also to eating well. Tons of fruits, lots of dried fruits, about 2 gallons of vegetable soup (that I finally finished today) and a decent amount of semi-health conscious social meals with friends and corworkers. I made a promise to myself that I will not MC again until I’m below the lowest weight I was at while on the MC, so now that I feel like I’m back to normal, I’m going to make some new dietary choices and try to add more exercise to my daily routine. I’d like to do that for a month, then compare the results to that of the MC. We’ll see what happens. I’d like to lose another 80 pounds by September, I know, tight schedule.

I probably won’t be MC’ing for a while, at least until June. I have a road trip across the Mojave Desert planned for May. Not to mention, I’d like to stay off the MC for a while so I don’t turn into an MC junkie. Actually, I want to try and find a way to capture the high mental state and high energy that the MC provides without the downsides of the MC. I have a plan which involves oatmeal and soy. Watch my 43T blog for updates.

Happy MC’ing!

Last Friday I broke my 19 day MC a day early. Saturday I bought and cut up a whole pineapple; the first time I’ve ever done that. I also drank OJ and made soup. Since then I’ve been eating veggie soup, veggies, salad, beans, brown rice, a few tortilla chips, and lots of fresh salsa. I felt pretty good until today, when I feel mentally, physically, and above all, nutritionally exhausted. The suspected culprit for today’s slump? A veggie burrito yesterday for lunch. After I ate it, I went into a “post-lunch food coma” which resulted in me coming home about 3pm and taking a nap in front of the TV; something I almost NEVER do.

Now today, I’m tired. I’m unmotivated. I just feel… blah, and I deeply miss the lean, pure feeling of the MC. This is the point where one risks becoming an “MC junkie”. I’ve been asking myself all morning “Did I feel this crappy before the MC?” It’s hard to tell, since I was on it for 18 days. I seem to have forgotten a little bit about what life was like before the lemonade. I can only imagine if I had gone the 28 days that I originally planned (before I settled on 21), I might have forgotten how to eat entirely (Yeah right).

But even still, even though I feel like crap, and my skin is breaking out again, I think I feel better than I did when I was eating tons of meat and dairy. I think the lesson learned here is: eat less, and eat whole foods that give me energy.

I’ve gained a few pounds back, that is to be expected. I’ve made an agreement with myself that I can’t do another master cleanse until I get back below the my 31 pounds lost on the MC. I’ll accomplish that via the more traditional way, through good nutrition and exercise. I’m also going to make sure I stay off the MC for at least as many days as I was on it, so for this round that means 19 days.

As I write this, I’m now sitting in my hotel room at the Flamingo in Las Vegas. All my friends and coworkers wanted to go to one of those Brazilian steak places, but since I’m trying to be a good vegetarian, I skipped out on dinner. I feel better than I did earlier today, so I think I’ll go lose some money at the blackjack tables and find a nice salad with my name on it. Good luck to everyone on your MC endeavors and feel free to hit me up if you need a word of encouragement.

I cheated yesterday, really cheated this time. I had some chips and salsa.

The good news is I feel fine. I feel a little badly that I fell apart in the last mile, I only had another day and a half to go.

But this morning I had an epiphany. The post cleanse isn’t there exclusively to ease your body back to normal foods, it’s to ease YOUR MIND back to normal foods. By successfully doing the post cleanse, you decrease the chances of a binge-fest shortly after you finish the cleanse.

So the cleanse doesn’t really end on day 10… it ends when you finish the post cleanse. Add 5-7 days onto the end of your end date and that’s when you’re really finished.

So yesterday I only ate a few chips and a little bit of salsa, but I could easily have eaten 2 bags of chips and a gallon of salsa. I did it because I was so close to finishing. But I think if I told myself the finish is really after the post cleanse, I would have made it.

I don’t feel bad. I lost 31 pounds in 18 days and I’m pretty happy with those results (note: I am overweight. Your results may vary). I feel great, am craving veggies (BTW, the salsa I ate was the fresh stuff from the deli section, not the boiled and preserved stuff with no life in it) and I’m cringing at the thought of eating dairy, meat, chicken, or tons of fat. So at this point, I think I have the right neuro-associations in place to avoid gaining any weight back and perhaps even to keep losing a few pounds.

I’m off to Vegas next week, but I’m going to slowly add vegetable protein back into my diet and start some strength training. That should help me convert fat into muscle, then I’ll take a stab at another MC in a month or two. I’d like to get down to my goal weight by my birthday, which is in September – totally doable, and I feel like this MC has totally jump started the whole process.

I’ll check back in here in 5 and 10 days with progress. I’m still going to make veg soup this weekend, but then it’s off to Vegas on Tuesday where I will attempt to behave myself :)

Cheers!

This weekend was rough… I’m still recovering.

On Saturday I hiked up Mission Peak in Fremont. When I say hike, I really mean “climb up a steep ass mountain”. I put extra maple in my lemonade, drank about 20 ounces of water with maple syrup before I started, and packed 3 liters of water. Even with all of that, I was completely zonked and out of energy about 3/4 of the way up. The funny thing was, the first hour I had enough energy to go nearly non-stop, only stopping after steep inclines. After that, I had to stop every 100 feet or so to let my body catch up with my ego. I got about 3/4 of the way up, and only having about half a liter of water left, I decided to head back down. All in all it was about 2 hours uphill, 2 hours downhill, an another hour or so of level walking. It was the most intense workout I’ve done in years. When I got home I passed out and slept for 5 hours. I got a sunburn too.

So as a result, all yesterday I was STARVING. My legs were saying FEED ME. No amount of tea, lemonade, or maple syrup could help. I almost, ALMOST broke – the only thing that really kept me from falling off the wagon was the thought that eating real food would make me sick. I was so hungry I peeled and ate a lime, which only made me hungrier. Even today my lemonade just isn’t hitting the spot. I’m definitely ready to come off, but I can easily make it the rest of the week so I think Friday will be my last day. That will be 19 days.

The other reason I want to come off is for a social engagement. My grandfather’s birthday is next week and they want to go out to eat on what would be my 22nd day. I can’t come off a 21 day MC in 1 day, so 19 makes more sense. That gives me 3 days to phase foods back in on an accelerated schedule.

Pounds lost: 27.7

I cheated this morning.

I know.. I KNOW… you’re not supposed to sip the maple syrup…

But seriously it was the sweetest thing I’ve tasted (pun intended) in what feels like forever. It was so good, I had TWO sips!

Things are going well. I started this week feeling great, then hit a slump, now I feel great again. Barring any health problems, I intend to go all the way to 21 days.

Pounds lost: 21.1

I was worried about my potassium levels, so I was considering eating a banana around day 12, but I did a little homework and found that maple syrup has potassium (and more). Check it out:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maple_syrup

My clothes are so loose, it’s crazy. I’m wearing a new belt and I’m already on the second notch. I used to have to rifle through my undershirts to find one that was looser than the others, but now they’re all loose. I can’t describe how good that makes me feel.

When I come off the cleanse, I’m going to drink the OJ as prescribed, but then I’m going to take a shot at the “sacred heart” diet (minus all the animal products). Take a look:

http://www.idiet4u.com/diets/sacredheart.html

Also, another tip. Limes are so much better than lemons. I never tried them until now, but I can’t imagine going back to lemons. Not only do they taste better, but they’re a little sweeter, but they have no seeds AND less pulp. WIN WIN.

You know, the sweetest thing about losing weight when you’ve been fat for so long are all the little things that are hard for fat people that non-fat people take for granted. For example, fat people can’t tie their shoes without holding their breath. I’m finally getting to the point where I can tie my shoes and it’s not this monumental effort.

One thing I’m looking forward to, being able to go to Six Flags or Disney Land and not being “too big” for the rides.

I decided this MC I would only update every this blog every 5 days, so this morning I was itching to update it but figured I should wait until the end of the day to write something. Not that anything changed between then and now, but I guess it could have.

Day 1 and 2 were kinda rough. Partially because they were Day 1 and 2, but also because I was a dumbass and forgot my lemonade both days, so I only had my green tea + maple to give me enough energy for the day. Needless to day, I was zonked both days, but the flipside is I think it helped me get over the hump that much faster. Day 3 I wokeup tired, but ready for my lemonade. It tasted good and I had tons of energy. Energy levels and moo have been steadily increasing since then, and today I feel awesome. So awesome in fact, I think I’m going to go hiking this weekend.

What have I noticed? Increased sense of smell, cold feet/legs/fingers, mucky tongue, MC breath. My face cleared up on my face and my back stopped itching. No weird detox symptoms, no flu like symptoms or hot BM’s. No joint pain, no muscle pain, no real fatigue other than day 1 and 2. No real hunger past day 1 and 2. No headaches. Almost no desire to eat, other than some North Beach Pizza that was brought into a working lunch yesterday. VIVID dreams… strange vivid dreams, but not about food. Taco Bell and Denny’s commercials are evil, and if you let lemons sit in the fridge too long they get too sour.

I’ve lost 14 pounds and am on the last notch of this belt. Monday I will wear a new belt which was tight when I bought it last week, but will probably fit nicely now.

Going to try a 21 day MC. Wish me luck!

I need to think of an appropriate 43things consequence for not completing this. Any suggestions?

I’ve had 3 people do an MC based on my recommendation, and now several other friends are showing interest in doing it. So tonight I spent a few hours writing up a HOWTO guide, with the recommendations and advice that I make to people who are thinking about doing the MC. If you’re a newbie or an expert, please take a look and provide feedback. If you have something to add, I’ll gladly list you as a contributor.

http://docs.google.com/View?docid=df3bknwc_8hns4xc