Master Cleanse??

Now I am reading more and more about the fruits and veggies and life after the cleanse.  I am considering doing the fruit and veggie thing- not a cleanse.  I don't really want to lose bunches of weight only to feel like I am in a fight to keep off those pounds.  I have been going back and forth with this for most of the day.  I thought that writing it in my last post would solidify my decision, however I am still not quite sold...  I do feel like I should maybe just cook healthy.  I am in a dieters paralysis.  I think lots of people go through this-- not sure how they get out of it!  but I think that I will eat and drink healthy and keep track of my progress here.  For better or worse!

Still Fat! Reloaded. Master Cleanse Day 1

Ok, here we go again.  Hopefully this will be the last time I start.  Not that this will be the last time I will BATTLE with my weight-- it will not, but it will be the last time I have to re-start because I can't remember the last time I cared about weight.  When I turn my head away, I get stressed and think about everything and everyone but myself, and I drown in food.  I need to continue to weigh myself, begin to eat healthy again, and start back on the right path without the attitude that this is a temporary fix.  Today is 28 May 2012, and I weighed in at 208.5.  I know-- more than I weighed when I was 8 months pregnant!  My pre-pregnancy weight was 135-145.  I would like to be there again.  I am taking one day at a time.  I started the master cleanse today with the lemonade, etc.  Not the best way to start a healthy lifestyle, but more of a reset button.  The last time I did this cleanse I didn't last for all 10 days, maybe the better part of 7, but I lost weight, and because it changed my eating habits, I lost more weight after the cleanse.  I will begin my healthy journey today, and begin to record my struggles here.

Master Cleanse Day 7 (evening)

5:56 pm  I just got home from getting Biggs from the vet.  I will never understand how a perfectly fine well visit costs $100, but at least he is healthy and happy, and now on thyroid meds for the rest of his life!  Who knew a dog could have a thyroid condition.  But I did manage to pickup the McDougall book for weight loss.  I have already raced through the first chapter over lunch, and i am excited to read the entire book, and I honestly feel it is the answer to how to eat for me personally.  "The McDougall Program for Maximum Weight Loss" is the name of the book, and I am torn between going to yoga and climbing on the treadmill with this book.  Actually, I am not so torn, I think I am going to climb on that treadmill!  The diet is going well today, as I have not thought much about weight at all, and I am looking forward to walking tonight.  I just need to decide when I am actually going to do my hair...  A subject to which MUCH more time will be devoted I am sure.  I still have a coated tongue, although it is noticeably less coated today.  I just wonder when and if it will go away completely, and how do you know if your body has gained true benefit from doing the cleanse.  The last time I did the cleanse, I stopped on day 7-- granted I had experienced 8 lbs of weight loss, and I was feeling terrific.  It was several months before I put that weight back on, and only when I stopped exercising, and not before.  I was very happy with my results, and I am sure I will do the same this time, only better-- I refuse to let anyone or anything come in between me and my health!!

Master Cleanse Day 7

5:25 am:  I just finished drinking the salt water flush.  As the days go by and my stomach isn't super stretched out, the flush seems harder and harder to take in all at once.  Right now my stomach is bloated, overfull, and I really hope it goes through my system fast!  So no cheating since Day 4, and I can finally say that the results of that are starting to show through.  I also up'ed my water in-take.  I think we take it for granted a little too much that all of my hydration on this cleanse comes from the lemonade.  Not really the case.  I also got a GREAT tip from youtube (my current obsession) on how to lessen the effect of the senna tea.  Now that I am letting the bags steep for long enough, I am experiencing those old familiar cramps in the middle of the night again, and I have found that drinking water directly after the senna tea, and then in the morning if I am awakened by the urge to go-- also pushing some water at that point, has been hugely helpful in lessening the amount of cramping, and in removing waste products from my bowel.  Also, last night, I managed to drag myself to the gym where I was pleasantly surprised to find an 8pm yoga class.  I have never been able to attend this because of having Anneke, however I was able to attend, so I ran out and got my trusty mat out of my car, and had a wonderful yoga class! I then was feeling so good I did 1.5 miles on the treadmill.  I was able to run in 1 min spurts.  I hope I can work my way up again, it felt sooo good to be able to run again.  Minimal ankle pain, and I didn't wear a brace.  So when I stepped on the scale this morning, it read 177.0 lbs.  That is a 5.5 lb weight loss in 7 days of the cleanse. I am actually really happy with that number, and if I just go 10 days on the cleanse, I am ok with this as a starting point for me embracing the McDougall diet.  In fact, before I come off of the master cleanse, I will purchase and read the McDougall book so I can be prepared to start making my own meals again.  I can already see where I was going absolutely wrong with my vegan diet in the past, slathering on the oil because I thought that was the healthy thing to do!
One physical change I can note today is that my skin feels exceptionally soft!  My boobs feel much looser, my stomach doesn't feel bloated anymore, and actually looks a LOT flatter.  /Also, you can start to see the little bones in the back of my hand-- well, the tendons anyway.  This is always a good sign!  I am going to continue with the yoga and walking/running because my body really really misses those things.

Master Cleanse Day 6 (pm)

6:15pm So at work today, I felt the fear that I might run out of my juice, so probably because I panicked at started gulping the juice down-- of course I ran out!  I didn't have any thing from about 3:30pm to 6 pm, and I thought I was going to go wolf down some crackers or something.  I did manage to make it home and finally managed to make some juice.  I weighed myself, however, just before I drank any more juice, and it was the same, 178.5 lbs.  I am receiving great benefits from this cleanse, but weight loss doesn't seem to be one of them!  I suppose I am drinking way too much juice, but I refuse to go hungry-- that is not the point of the cleanse.  Maybe it will take a few days for the effects of me cheating to completely get out of my system.  I also might be holding myself to too high of a standard.  They say you can lose upto 2 lbs per day-- I know that is unhealthy and unreasonable, but the last time I was able to do this cleanse, I did it for 7 days and lost 8 pounds!  I have been on this cleanse for 6 days and only lost 3 pounds.  As far as I am concerned, that is probably water weight!  I am going to head to the gym, however, and put in both a weights workout AND cardio.  I am determined to just no longer be fat!!!

Master Cleanse Day 6

It is 6:14 am, and I am just sitting here wondering how many more mins I have before I can unchain myself from the toilet area.  I have followed essentially the same routine at night, senna tea, and in the morning-- salt water flush.  This time I actually microwaved the tea bags, and steeped them a bit longer- well, today I had the old familar cramps!!  More solids (lots of solids) came out this morning, with and without the help of the salt water.  I am still amazed at how many days solids stay in my system.  I think I am going to start this McDougall diet I have been reading about online.  I am going to go get the actual book- not quite sure which one yet.  I am so excited to start eating a low fat, lower protein all-vegan diet.  I just think it is going to be great!  Now I am torn as to whether I should continue on with the master cleanse until I see the scale move past where I want it, and maintain using mcdougall, or to switch after I have completed the minimal cleanse part, which would be 4 more days.
The scale showed 178.5 lbs, so a total weight loss of 4 lbs in 6 days-- not too shabby considering the horrendous cheating sessions I have had!  Also, I feel I have been bulking up from my marathon weightlifting sessions in the gym.  I managed to get outside for a walk yesterday, but that was the first time in ages!  I hope to keep that up every single day this week- some sort of cardio.  I am hoping that will show up on the scale.
I am starting to notice a slight amount of mucous in my stool, which if I remember correctly is a good thing- like the next phase of the cleanse.  I am so happy that I am not completely black and crusty on the inside like I felt previously!!  I am happy that I decided to do this cleanse.

Master Cleanse Day 5 (recap of day 4 and cheating!!)

So I have made it to day 5 of the cleanse!!!!  Well, sort of... you see, I cheated, and when I say cheated, I mean totally went crazy eating popcorn and some graham crackers, which are two of the few foods I actually have in my house.  This was the end of day 3.  I decided to quit, then I decided that if I quit, I would still be fat!!  So I reconsidered, and I just did the tea that night, and in the morning I drank the salt water flush, and of course nothing was coming out.  The thing about the salt water flush for me is that it will just fill me up too much, and not go anywhere if I have eaten any solids.  I did my trick with the enema to get things moving, and then it was a show!  Plenty of stuff came out!  I am glad, however, that I actually went ahead and got back on the fast.  I weighed in on day 4 at 179.0, which (sadly) is a weight I haven't been below in a long long time.  March of 2009 I weighed 161, and then I had some very sad things happen in my life, and I packed on weight.  I can honestly say that I felt so good at 161, and I plan on revisiting that weight!!  So back to the present.  I didn't weigh myself this morning, but I am looking forward to weighing myself on tomorrow morning.  I have been averaging 2 jugs of juice, and I have been switching up the juice, substituting lemons and limes to keep things interesting.  Also, sometimes I drink out of a wine glass, and sometimes I drink out of my new coffee cup travel mug.  I love it!  I find that a secret to staying on this thing and not getting that bored is to fill your life with stuff that has nothing to do with food, and to drink the juice out of lovely cups or glasses, anything you really enjoy.  It is like a celebration or something.  Sometimes I drink it warm, but most of the time on ice.  So my other bout with cheating was a few drinks very late on day 4, however I didn't eat anything, and I can say that I made the decision to be flexible enough to not let minor "cheats" derail my progress.  It is exceptionally hard to go in the grocery store-- I am now so sensitive to the smells and the sights!!  I finally feel like I am gaining a little bit of energy.  I was able to go for a walk today, and my ankle is starting to feel a heck of a lot better.  I was even able to run a little!  That was exciting for me.  I am really looking forward to the running, and I hope to even incorporate a little yoga.  I am really using this time to find myself, and to remember who and what I am.  The last time I did this fast successfully, it was for a total of 7 days.  I am hoping that I can go past 7 days.  My throat is now no longer sore, and I can even say that my tongue is starting to clear up a bit!  Not quite as fuzzy and white/greenish anymore.  I did have a strange red/dry patch of skin pop up on my face, which I can't remember having that often in the past, but i am not sure it is related to the fast.  I honestly do feel like I really really needed to do this fast for my digestion.  I think when I do reintroduce solid food, I will do it slow enough to recognize the things that my body can tolerate, and the things that I was eating that were making me feel super sluggish, etc.  I will make a commitment now to update this blog daily while on the cleanse.  Even if I cheat, or am not feeling good about it or want to quit...  I am so proud of myself for staying on this long!  Maybe I can do this for an extended period- who knows.