Post Master Cleanse

So, its been a week since I ended my Master Cleanse diet. I was so excited to reach my goal because I didn't think it was possible to stop eating food for 10 days. As much as I wanted to eat the tiniest piece of gum, I didn't. My mind said NO, and I listened. Therefore, I am quite satisfied with the diet because it did what it was supposed to do, in addition to losing weight. However, I discovered that it was easier to lose the weight, but much harder to keep the weight off. I GAINED 5 LBS back.  In the morning, I am 177-178, but at night I am 180. I read online that it was typical for people to gain half the weight back, due to the fact that calorie intake will increase as we eat NORMAL.

When I was doing the cleanse, I didn't go anywhere outside my home that focused around food. I stayed home to fully commit to the cleanse, and also to avoid embarrassing bathroom situations. Now that the diet is over, I may have over indulge in things outside my home, such as chicken and shrimp alfredo, kfc, snicker bars, and gummi worms. So now that I gained 5 lbs, I know that it is necessary to stay away from the bad food, and commit to cutting back on my carbs, drinking lemon water, eating more veggies, more soup, no beef, and sticking to popcorn, fruit, and granola bars as snacks. However, I'm not gonna beat myself up for eating a snicker, just don't eat 2 or 3. In addition, I am committing to working out more often. I started running in the park in the mornings and working out on my treadmill. I'm planning to buy shape up sneakers because I need athletic sneakers to keep my feet from hurting. My shin(front of leg) is sore from running, I guess im utilizing new muscles. I also bought a wii fitness plus with scale to keep active as well. Today, I went to the store and bought lots of mangoes, bananas, plums, and peaches. So on that note, I may have gained some weight back since the cleanse, but I'm working harder to keep the weight off because losing the weight on the cleanse was just too easy.

Day 6

Oh my, day 6 was the hardest. I had more bm through the day while at work. My tongue is white, and I woke up with my eyes almost closed shut. So the toxins inside of me must have been trying to get out of me. In addition, i felt more hungrier than any other day.  I felt a little embarrassed at work to talk about how I was doing so good and not feeling hungry, and then today my stomach was growling loud. All day I  was tempted to eat something. I cooked chicken for my daughter, and touched it to make sure it wasn't too hot to give to her. I had sauce on my fingertips and it was soooo tempting to lick, but I didn't. I went to the grocery store to pick up more lemons and sea salt, and grabbed turkey bacon and yogurt and bananas too because they were on sale. I also worked out on the treadmill for less than 10 minutes before I went to bed. I feel more uncomfortable at night because my stomach growls and rumbles as well.  I'm just waiting for the ease out to start so i can go back to eating again. I hope day 7 won't be this problematic for me because when my stomach is growling so much, I began to think that I'm starving myself. But I didn't feel like this on the other days. I'll continue and see how day 7 works out for me.

Day 5

Yes!! I made it to the halfway mark and it was my 1st day back to work since I started the master cleanse. I am excited to have made it this far considering how much I have been wanting particular foods. The bruise on my leg is still there, but it no longer hurts when i touch it. I felt energize through the day except for 2 hours after work because I needed another drink and only brought enough to work to get me through 8 hours without spoiling. After work, my daughter wanted to go to a park, so we went for a short period because I began to feel tired. I knew I needed another drink but tried to wait it out. So other than that, I was okay. At work, everyone was passing around snack foods and I had to decline and explain that I was trying out a new liquid diet. Some knew about it, some didn't, so i had to explain that it works to detox the body and weight loss. Well those are the reasons I'm using it. So they understood, and said they will offer me some baked snap pea chips next week lol. I was very attentive at work today, and I completed a lot of work. So, the lemonade really does give me the energy I need to get through the day. At first I thought the laxative didn't work because I only had bm after the salt water flush, but this morning  I had bm without salt water flush. I assume it was because I drunk the tea early last night, but either way 2 bms today compared to only 1. So my body is removing all the toxins as planned. My boyfriend noticed that I was sweating a lot, and I rarely sweat. So, I'm not sure if it had anything to do with the diet, or maybe because I was really hot(in NJ we are expecting a heat wave this week, and its been in high 90's.) So tomorrow is Day 6, and I'm so tempted to stop the diet because I weighed myself and was hoping to have last 10 lbs, but it said i gained 2lbs, so I'm a little confused. I hope the scale is malfunctioning. To have gone through all of this and not lose at least 15 lbs will be hard to deal with. In addition, I will have spent close to $100 on the products, and that's the most I ever spent on any weight loss supplements. But we'll see how day 6 goes.....

Day 4

Sooooo, day 4 was a success. I am very surprised to have made it this far. I no longer have hunger pains and now I'm starting to think that I could do this cleanse for more than 10 days. The salt water flush isn't a problem for me anymore since I started waiting 2-5 minutes in between gulps. I have great energy through the day. I find that I have to keep myself  busy, and the day passes quick. Today I cleaned out my closet and itemized clothes to donate to Salvation Army. I didn't realize that so many clothes were in my closet between my daughter and I. However, someone will be happy to receive my clothing, it was almost $1700 worth of items. I was going through my clothes between 10am-4pm, then quickly dropped them off. Then I have another 2 hours of playing in the park with my daughter. We did a lot of walking and running around. So I pretty much had an active day with only lemonade in my tummy. I made it home in time to cook dinner for the man of the house, and it doesn't bother me anymore to cook food that I can't have. It is a pain that I can't taste it, or that I didn't know that the rice was well done. I do have a funny story to tell you: I had 2 dreams that I cheated on my diet. I can't remember what I ate, but remember waking up yelling omg I have to start over because I ate food. I was soooo relieved that it was just a dream. Tomorrow is day 5 and it will be my 1st day back to work, so we'll see how that turns out. Ciao!

Day 3

So Day 3 was great! After I finished my salt water flush, I went back to sleep. Today I slept in late and had to force myself to get up to drink the lemonade. I guess I was tired from yesterday because I stayed up really late or maybe tired from the whole process of not eating food for 3 days. After I drunk my lemonade, it blasts me with a bunch of energy. lol. I was really bored today, looking for things to do around the house. My family was away since yesterday because they went to a Christianing and Children Birthday party. I didn't go because I didn't want to attend events focused around food, and worrying about where I can keep my lemonade so prevent from spoiling. So I rather stay home and commit to this diet program. So today, I played around with my hair and makeup, gave myself a pedicure and colored my nails, I played on my wii for some time, and worked out on my treadmill. I thought the treadmill was going to make me dizzy, but with water at hand, i felt fine. I also did some yoga by stretching my body because I haven't done that in a while. I think all my muscles are not turned into fat, so that's something i have to work on. I did notice a bruise on my leg that only began to hurt when I noticed it. Maybe because I kept poking at it trying to figure out how a small bruise appeared on my leg. I hope that its not a sign to stop the diet. Other than the bruise and waking up really late today, I felt fine. I thought about food a lot, I even read a cookbook just to get some ideas of healthy cooking for after the dieting. Day 3 was a good day, and I hope the next 7 days are as well. Take care!

Day 2

So Day 2 went well. I'm starting to mentally get the hang of things. I did better today with the swf because I brush my teeth and mouthwash before i drunk the sea salt water, so the taste did not bother me at all. I took a 5 minute break in between and finished the rest. That method seems to work for me. I also enjoyed cooking pancakes for my boyfriend this morning. It was kind of weird to cook and smell food, and not eat it. But I accomplished it. I was hungry a lot today, and wanted to eat, but I stayed true to my detox. I came across an old cookbook and was excited to find good recipes for the future. I intend to keep my carbs low, eat more veggies, and cook more beans and fish after my detox. I haven't been feeling any negative symptoms, such as headaches and pain. I feel great, especially after drinking my lemonade. I think the cayenne pepper is soooo spicy and wakes me up after each drink. My energy level was high: I washed and twisted my hair, played wii games, went grocery shopping, and entertained my company. We stayed up to 12am just talking and watching tv and I wasn't tired at all, which is surprising. I almost forgot about my laxative, but i'm not sure how effective it is. The salt water flush seems to work better, so I will be drinking it more often after i finish my 10 days. I almost felt like giving up because I didn't realize how much money i was putting into these ingredients. I'm close to running out of lemon juice and syrup, and its only 2 days. So i went to purchase more and I hope it last me close to 10 days. I spent close to $70 altogether, but I think i will need more lemons. We'll see! Well im off to bed, and look forward to day 3. Ciao!

Day 1 of Master Cleanse

Today is my first day of the master cleanse diet. I am excited to try something new, but yet I am emotional when I think about food that I cannot have. This is going to be hard, but I am motivated and determined to push myself to the end.

I had the laxative tea last nite, and it wasn't so bad. I was puzzled if it was okay to add the maple syrup to make it taste better, but I did anyway. The tea didn't have a taste, so I'm starting to think that syrup is not needed. I heard my stomach rumbling a few times, but no urge to go. Eventually I fell asleep and woke up hungry at 8am. I tried the sea salt water flush and couldn't bear to drink all the water at once. The taste wasn't bad at all, it taste like the ocean, and I'm the type of person who likes going to the beach. I tried to swallow the 1 liter of salt water in 1 gulp, but that was impossible. Next time I will need to stop for 5 minutes, and then finish the rest. I didn't have a bowel movement until 2 hours later. People think that you will be on the toilet for 2 hours, but it didn't last no more than 10 minutes. I was ready to drink my 1st cup of lemonade. HOOOOOOOT..... Its spicy!!! Another bowel movement 2 hours later. I laughed at myself because I thought I needed to pass gas, but then remembered that it might be a wet one LOL. I'm quite surprised that i'm not hungry, even though I am thinking about food. My body is not hungry, I just want it. Other than that, I feel okay. No headaches, no pain, and i'm not tired. So for the rest of the day, I will be hanging out at home doing a little cleaning and watching movies on Netflix. I think my 1st day will be A GREAT START!

The Ease in and Ease Out Phase of Master Cleanse Diet

The ease in phase prepares my body to start the Master Cleanse. During the cleansing, I cannot eat any food for 10-14 days. This is very hard considering that I love food, and I love to eat. It makes me depress just thinking about giving up food. I bought my ingredients, but kept postponing when I will start the diet. I realize that I was trying to avoid giving up food, and it caused me to over eat more. I began craving all of my favorite meals from pizza, chinese food, snowcrab legs, fish, circus peanuts, onion rings chips, candy, rice, fried chicken, and etc. Whenever I craved something, I went to go get it. It was becoming a problem because I was not having any bowel movements while enduring all of my favorite meals. I finally told myself to start the diet tomorrow because I needed to break my psychological need to eat and I needed to have a bowel movement. Therefore, I did not participate in the Ease in phase of this diet. However, I did have a laxative tea before I went to bed, as suggested to do before starting the diet.

The Ease In Phase:

If you want to ease in correctly, you have to slowly eliminate processed and solid food out of your diet, and then eventually began the lemonade diet. Its like preparing your body for this liquid diet because as i mentioned before, no solid food for the next 10-14 days.
The Ease in phase normally takes 3 days. The 1st consists of eating a lot of fruits and veggies. The 2nd day consist of using a juicer to make a variety of juice drinks, or you can just eat soup and broth for the day. The 3rd day consists of drinking squeezed orange juice. Afterwards, you will be ready to ease into the lemonade diet.

The Ease Out Phase:

The easing out phase is simply the opposite of the ease in phase. Once you have successfully eased out, you should adopt a healthy eating lifestyle and exercise on a regular bases to keep the pounds off. Some people go back to their old habits and gain all the weight back. Easing out transitions you to eating solid foods again, so choose wisely.

Day 1-

Salt Water Flush and Laxative Tea

So, I purchased sea salt and herbal laxative tea to complement the Master Cleanse diet. After doing research on various sites, I've learned that the lemonade diet will only loosen the matter inside of us, but we will need something to release it, which will make us have bowel movements. There salt water flush and laxative tea are 2 methods to induce our bowel movements.

Salt Water Flush (SWF)

The sea salt water is optional. The sea salt water flush (SWF) consist of 2 teaspoons of sea salt(not ionized) and 1 liter of water. I barely can guzzle a 20 ounce juice drink, let alone 1 liter. So its very hard to accomplish, but reachable. The hardest part is the amount of salt water, not the taste of it. The salt water acts as a laxative because it will induce a bowel movement. From my research, I've learned that sea salt w ater is not digestible, so it will eventually run through your body within 30-60 minutes. Since this method is optional, I won't do it everyday, but mostly in the mornings. I figure that I will need to wake up 2 hours early to drink the mixture, so that I am not late to work.

Herbal Laxative Tea

This herbal tea is necessary to have at night. Some drink it at night and in the morning(if not using SWF method). Since this is my first time trying this diet, I tend to research and read a lot of directions to get an idea of what i'm getting myself into. The suggested use of my laxative tea indicates that 1 cup of tea before bedtime is needed for morning relief. However, we cannot exceed 1 cup in 24 hours, so I don't think its a good idea to have tea in the morning and at night. I will only use it at night before I go to bed.

The Master Cleanse Ingredients and Recipe

So, I was able to do a lot of research on this diet to learn that the simple ingredients are organic lemons, grade B maple syrup, cayenne pepper, and pure water. I went to Whole Foods to purchase the maple syrup because grade B is hard to come across because most supermarkets only have grade A syrup. At the store, the workers were very helpful and knowledgeable of the Lemonade Diet, and were able to help me find the items I needed. I went ahead and bought herbal laxatives and sea salt to complement, even though sea salt is optional. Measurements spoons are also needed to ensure that you are using the proper portions. I spent about $35 on my ingredients. I thought I was saving money because the store also had premixed lemonade for $45. After making my 1st pitcher of lemonade, I realize my lemon juice and syrup will only get me as far as 3 days. So in the future, I will try the pre-mix Master Cleanse lemonade.

So here's the recipe for one serving:

• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons grade b maple syrup
• 1/10 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 10 ounces of pure water at room temperature

You will need 6-8 servings of lemonade, in addition to pure water through out the day. However, you can make a 60 ounce pitcher of lemonade and store in the fridge, but do know that it will remain fresh for only 8 hours. Therefore, 6 servings will need:

• 12 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice
• 12 tablespoons grade b maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 60 ounces or 2 quarts of purified water

Why am I trying the The Master Cleanse "Lemondade diet"?

So I've decided to try the Master Cleanse for 10-14 days to detox my body and lose weight. After a week of stomach pains, bloating, and constipation, my doctor prescribed stool softeners and a sweet mixture to make me "release". However, it didn't work. I told my doctor that I always "release" once or twice a week, which she was concerned because a normal person "releases" everyday or every other day. I eat plenty of fiber, fruits, and veggies, but never have the urges to go as a normal person. For example, 2 days ago, I ate two bowls of Raisin Bran(which is my favorite cereal) and I still haven't "released". My body is backed up, and I need to get rid of these toxins that's preventing me from having a healthy life. So detoxing my body is my main outlook of this diet.

However, I would like to lose weight because I've recently gained almost 20 lbs in 2 months. I've struggled with my weight growing up because I was always thin, but then I hit puberty and put on 30 lbs when I lived with my father(we ate out 6 days out of the week). I didn't realize that I was "thick" in all the right places until I was 19 and became happy with my 5'2 140lbs (size9 in jeans and Medium shirt) body figure. 6 years later, my daughter was born and I weighed 215 lbs. That was a depressing moment to have gained so much, but then I was able to lose some of it to 170 lbs. So when my doctor told me I was 187, I knew it was time to give up on the food that's causing me constipation and weight-gain.

With that said, my current measurements are:
Weight: 187 lbs.
Neck Size: 14 in
Chest size: 33 in
Waist size: 34 in
Hip size: 45 in
Thigh size:28 in
Arm size: 13 in
Calf Size 18 in

By the end of my cleanse, I will post the results. Let the Journey began!