Goodbye To Food!
That was the feeling of the first day. I actually forgot what its like to go without solid food. It’s definitely a shock of sorts. It’s something I’ve done before for other cleanses or 1 day fasts. Even so, its still quite an adjustment. Millions of thoughts ran through my head. Thoughts of cereal, brownies, muffins, general baked goods, cooked vegetables, spices, sauces. I had thoughts of all of my normal diet constituents as well as the junk that I hardly ever or never eat. This was somewhat unusual, but I have to admit that food is one of my great joys and cooking has become a loved past time over the last few weeks especially. So perhaps this just brought to my attention how often I do think of food in a given day.
Drinking The Lemonade
Overall, the day went well. When I’m not cleansing, I normally drink at least 32 oz of fruit smoothie every morning. That works out to be around 4 servings of the lemonade. In “The Complete Master Cleanse” and also on the instructions on the cleansing lemonade mix that I’m using, 6-8 servings of lemonade per day were suggested. This now seems like far far less than I need. Yesterday I had 11 servings, and I didn’t really do any physical activity. Normally I would be practicing my gung fu forms or training in some other capacity. My own ‘exertion’ yesterday was ‘The 8 Pieces of Brocade’ hei gong that I did in the morning. It is a light round of exercise, very smooth and flowing. Granted I did get a good workout at gung fu class the night before. My theory is two fold. First off, I think my metabolism may be higher than those who require only 6-8 servings of the lemonade. Second, I think that because I made the lemonade in large 32 oz batches in the morning I was much more likely to drink the whole quantity just because it was there. So today I will try smaller batches.
Herbal Laxative Tea
Last night I discovered the upper limit of how much senna tea to drink. On my previous two ‘calibrating’ nights I had 1 cup with 1 bag of tea the first night followed by 1 cup with 2 bags of tea. On the second morning I did feel a little light cramping in the morning, but nothing substantial. So I thought that perhaps I needed to continue increasing the dose. Wrong! Perhaps it was because on those calibrating days I had eaten solid food during the day. Yesterday, being the first day on the cleanse, I had no new solid food. But I had not reflected on these points before tea time at 8:30pm. I drank 2 cups of senna tea. The first made with one bag. The second made with a new bag and the bag from the first cup of tea. So I guess you could say I drank 2 cups with 2.5 bags of senna. Too much. Last night around 2am and 5am I awoke with abdominal cramping. Not fun, but survivable. Tonight I will go back to 1 cup of tea with 1 bag.
Yesterday’s Mood
My emotions yesterday ranged from excited through bored to content and happy into restlessness and impatience. By evening I was feeling irritable. I think this was a combination of factors, one of which being hunger. Now the book does say not to let yourself get too hungry. However, I had already drank 10 glasses of lemonade that day. I felt I should just have my two cups of tea and call it a day. So much for plans. I got so hungry just waiting for the tea to cool. After finishing the first cup I really needed to make another glass of lemonade to tide me over until I could drink the second cup. I immediately felt much better upon drinking the lemonade. My hunger dissipated, and my mood improved slightly.
Totals
- 32 oz salt water flush
- 11 glasses of lemonade
- 1 pint plain water
- 2 cups tea
This seemed to be barely enough to get me through the first day. Today, I will not restrict the number of glasses I drink, especially since I will be exercising extensively tonight.
Tags: cleansing, master cleanse
This is great! What an informative step-by-step description of your day and feelings! This will definitely be helpful for me when I do the cleanse (one day), and for others who are interested in doing it!
As for restricting your lemonade–I’d say definitely do not restrict the amount you drink. Remember in “The Complete Master Cleanse”, he says that a guy who was training for a triathalon drank something like 24 servings a day!! You are a very active guy, and your metabolism I’m sure is higher than the average Joe. Drink enough that you don’t feel hungry
Also, remember that you are allowed to drink herbal tea, too. A cup of chamomile might work well to tide you over between servings of lemonade, just to give you something to drink. Good luck–you’re doing great!!!