End Of Blog

And that's about it for this blog. I have completed my mission, there is nothing left to record. It was a great time and I learned a lot and I hope you did too.

Thanks to Rick, Corey, Andrew, and especially Jason for saying the cleanse probably wasn't a good idea and that I should double-think the whole thing (which I did, though I went ahead and did it anyway). Thanks to Noa and Vanessa for telling me about their own experiences with it, or their friends' experiences. Thanks to Zara, Josh, Theresa, Odien, Jones, and Lervik for general encouragement. Thanks to Brian, Justin, Matt, Mom, Dad, the family, and especially Taylor for putting up with me while I was cleansing. Thanks to Tom for being someone to talk to when, in a hunger-induced haze, I began doubting the wisdom in doing it on the first day. And thanks to anyone who left a comment on this blog.

I actually really enjoyed keeping this blog. I've had blogs before and I've been weary of doing another one. I enjoy reading others' blogs but it's not really my thing to do. But I dug keeping this one and I might do it again if I come up with another adventure. But this one is over.
The end.

About To Wrap It All Up

Back from Chicago. The most notable thing in regard to my health is that I drank again, some beers starting on Friday, probably a few too many beers on Saturday, but my tolerance isn't as wrecked as I thought it would be. Granted, it was only beer I was drinking and I never got to harder stuff but I have time later. In the time since I haven't had any other alcohol; I'll drink if I'm in a situation to do so but so far I haven't been around it and really I could live without it if I had to.

Eating in Chicago didn't get as bad as I thought it would be, sure, some deep-dish pizza and Italian sausage sandwiches and festival-food, but I stayed away from the worst, I think. Though there was an incident that Saturday night, after a number of beers at the festival then another few at a bar we were having drinks at, and since we had to order food to keep the table we had, I picked a foo-foo "peanut butter and jelly" sandwich, which also had some kind of fancy-shmancy cheese on it (though overall it really wasn't bad), and it was really rich, rich enough that it messed up my stomach and I kept choking up acid the next morning, which didn't help me sleep, but that was the worst I've gotten post-Master Cleanse and at least I knew what it was that caused it (mostly my own stupidity).

So I'm about as back to my regular diet as I could be. Though now I'm avoiding bad things (salt, processed sugar, fried food) as much as I can, and I'm doing it a lot more easily than I thought I would but I'm not being obsessive about it. I had a bowl of Lucky Charms with "reduced fat" milk at work and it was glorious but it just scratched the itch, not making me crave it more. I find that if I can just avoid putting it on my plate, I can avoid wanting it and feeling bad because I didn't get it to eat. This is more difficult when I'm at home and I pick what I eat but when I'm at work and there are catered meals, sometimes I don't have as much of a choice. But it's been going well and I'm very proud of what I've been doing (and not doing). I'm even at the same second-to-last belt-notch that I was at at the end of the Cleanse.

But let me emphasize again, if I haven't already: the Master Cleanse worked fairly well for me, the best part of which that it broke me of certain bad habits and got me on track for a better diet, but I don't recommend it to everyone. Others might have different results and it might even be harmful to your health. As they say frequently: Consult a doctor before starting any new diet or life-change.

Officially, Officially Done

From last Thursday, the day after officially being done with the Master Cleanse (picture taken by Brian Griesbach):
I don't know what you can get from that picture but there it is, the After picture.

I had two solid, healthy poops today, which makes me think that, with the speed that my body is digesting food, that my colon is in better shape than it was before; I've heard it said that people with healthy digestive systems poop two to four times a day. I took it as a good sign, in any case.

Today was officially my return to a regular diet, without any restrictions from the cleanse. That was a breakfast of Grape-Nuts and indeed they tasted better than ever. I had a dinner of spinach-artichoke dip, half a caesar salad, and half a carne asada pizza from CPK (yeah, I know, but for some reason I was just itching for crappy pizza). Definitely felt bloated after that but that was my splurge to designate that I was officially done with the cleanse. I hope I don't eat like that more often but I think it was good this time.

That having been said, I'm off to Chicago for five days and certainly that will include fast food and junk to eat but I was planning on it anyway. I'm going to try to not go crazy with it but I know how I can be. We'll see. In any case, when I get back I'm back on a better, higher-fiber diet for as far as I can see. We'll see how this cleanse has affected my future habits (which was originally the reason I did it).

Recovery, Catching Up

Sunday went well. I had a banana around noon when I was walking into the convention, and had an organic, multi-grain hot pretzel that tasted like cardboard but that was the first real bread I’d had in almost two weeks. When I was almost done I got a sharp but minor pain near where I think my abdomen is but it went away. Figure it was my body trying to digest something it had forgotten. That evening I had a late lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe, around 6, that was a great veggie-burger and a salad (I had forgotten the joys of honey-mustard dressing). I had some onion rings with that but I didn’t think it was the greatest crime, and I didn’t feel any distress with digesting it all. The fruit smoothie I had was probably more sugar than I should have had but if that was it, I’m probably doing okay.

Later that evening, around 10:30, I had a dinner, at Denny’s, of a veggie-burger as a steak, with lots of ketchup, and vegetable rice (since they didn’t have mashed potatoes, which is the reason I went), corn (which tastes incredibly plain without butter or salt), and a biscuit. Went to sleep a few hours after that so it wasn’t just before bed.

Yesterday was pretty much back to the old diet, but still trying to stay away from meat and dairy. I went to a movie and had some popcorn and it wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be without salt and butter (movie popcorn being such an evil for me I consider it a vice). After that was a lunch at Panda Express and no meat and no fried rice (though white rice isn’t too much better) and spring rolls (which are horribly fried and the crappy hot mustard doesn’t make it too much worth it) and egg flower soup (probably mostly corn syrup). When I got home I had two peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, one of the things I was dying for through the cleanse, and some tortilla chips I’d forgotten I had. (Tortilla chips really aren’t much better for you then Doritos so I’m going to try to curb myself from those, too.)

Today is a banana so far and I don’t have anything else planned so I’ll see how it goes. Tomorrow will be back to meat and dairy and I’m going to start the day with a bowl of cereal, probably Grape-Nuts.

No, I’m not going to detail every thing I eat from this point. I’m just letting you know where I am as I settle back into a life with a more normal diet (though I’m actively trying to make it better than it’s been before).

I also went running today for the first time since before the cleanse and it was a great feeling. The only exercise I’ve had in the last two weeks was walking around the convention center, which was certainly being active, but not enough to make you sweat (depending on who you are and where you are in the convention center). I’m glad to be able to run again, especially now when the weather is really nice.

I'm also home now again so I'll be doing these last few entries and updates on a more regular basis.

Recovery, Days 3 and 4, In Review

We went to Joe's Crab Shack on Friday night and I should have guessed that they wouldn't have vegetable soup. Even worse when your dining companions complain that their dinners -- fried fish and cole slaw and other stuff you can't eat -- aren't very good and you're sitting there with glasses of orange juice. But we went by the store on the way back and I had a bowl of vegetable soup and light rye crackers for dinner, which I wouldn't pick as my last meal but it was glorious, being the first real, solid food I've had in 13 days. Also note that sctrictly-titled "vegatable" soup seems to have pasta in it, which I'm trying to avoid, and "garden vegetable" has just vegetables and I don't understand why they would do something like that.

Last night I had a salad for dinner at some Islands-type place near Seaport Village. It was a nicoise (I know I spelled that wrong) salad, no tuna, just lettuce, green beans, tomatoes, and olives, which I sure have become a fan of, and a vinegarette dressing, tossed. I didn't care for it at first but once I got used to it, it wasn't too bad. Of course I was hungry again half an hour later but for a little while I was full.

Today is my first day back on a regular diet, except for meat and dairy, and I'm going to hold off on drinking a little while longer. Essentially I'm a vegan, so that's cool with veggie-burgers and the like, but I find it odd that they're allowed to have fried things like French fries and onion rings -- which actually works for me but you would think that vegans would be thinner.

Recovery, Day 2

My enthusiasm for drinking something other than the lemon/maple syrup/cayenne pepper mixture went away when it was only orange juice all day long that I had to drink. But it's something, and I knew that would probably be the worst of it. Today is vegetable soup for lunch and dinner, if I can find it when we're out and about. I'm wondering if you're allowed to put salt on it.

Went to Target yesterday to use a scale and it said 198 lbs. for me. It was an electronic scale so we didn't trust it and I later went to a 24-Hour Fitness and used their scale and it said the same thing. Fair enough. I lost about 5 lbs., most of it probably water. And I'll probably put it back on when I'm all done with all this but at least I know my colon will be cleaner.

The "Master Cleanse Done" entry might seem a little of place in time since it's dated from Wednesday night but dated like it was written Thursday night, which it was. Sorry if there was any confusion. (I love Blogspot if for no other reason than you can post entries in the past.)

Jason's E-Mail

I've made mention of the e-mail from Cousin Jason, sent last Monday, my first day on the cleanse. Jason has been a well-known and well-respected respiratory therapist so he has a medical background and he's been a very good friend of mine since high school. I got this e-mail early in the day but didn't check it until the evening. (There were paragraph indents but they didn't come through in this blog format. However, the rest of it is completely unedited):
First of all and I want you to put this up on your site. You are screwing with shit that can kill you. Did you have an EKG, CBC, and a Chem 7 done before starting this? Are you having a Chem 7 done daily while you are on this? Did you have a Doctor do a physical? You are messing with the Chemical Balance in your body and fucking it up and you are doing it on purpose. Mar, this can seriously fuck you up in ways you couldn't even begin to comprehend. Salt draws water out of the body. In essence all that water that you are shitting out is indeed water coming from the inside of your body. It's water being drawn from your Kidney's and Liver to be exact. You are basically dehydrating yourself, what's worse is you are intentially increasing the PH levels in your body, and putting undue stress on your Liver and Kidney's the likes that could make them fail. You are fucking with the electrolytes that make your heart go boom boom. You have a friend here that you can discuss these ideas with and tell you the right way on going about it. You have a daughter to think of now and she needs her Dad. Everytime you put that Salt stuff in your body it draws electrolytes and water from the inside of your body. You are also artifically increasing the salt content of your body. Here is what is happening. You drink the salt mixture. It goes down to your stomach where it mixes with the acid in your stomach. Your stomach doesn't like the salt so it forces it out where it then mixes with the bile. Now your stomach is really upset and shoots the salt/bile/acid mixture down further where the salt binds on the intestinal wall. This draws water out of the blood system but also increases the salt in your blood. Your system then sends this highly saturated Blood/Salt mixture to your Liver and Kidneys where it tries to filter it out. But to do this it has to move more water from the surrounding area to dilute the salt. This dries out the Kidney Cells and Liver Cells thus killing them and forcing them to into an already stressed situation. In your intestinal track the salt has now drawn out enough fluids to keep moving down the road. This highly accidic salt mixture keeps drawing more and more fluid till it finally comes out. When it does it removes a significant portion of the Acid that regulates your body. Now you are in what is called a Metabolic Alkalosis which has significant effects on your Respiratory drive, your Immune system, and even how you think and act. Your immune system won't work right so you are going to begin feeling like shit because your body is being attacked. Your body can't regulate your normal cooling system right so the sweat ducts become clogged and you break out. Your bodies normal steroids get all out of whack and even enhances this. You smell like crap because in essence you are slowly dying. The electrolytes that help your brain communicate to the nervous system begin to missfire because you have artificially increased the salt content of your body while lowering the Chloride and Potassium. Now it's all out of whack and begins to try to balance itself. Your not breathing normal because your Respiratory drive is trying to slow down your breathing so your body can get back to a normal Ph. Dude and there is so much more. Go see a real Doctor. Discuss with him this diet. He'll probably tell you what I am saying above but if you insist then at least you can keep track of what is really going on and if you end up in the ER because you have heart palpatations they know what to do to help fix you. Why didn't you just go buy a gun and 5 bullets and every night put one in, hold up the gun to your head, and squeeze the trigger. It would of been less painful. You have a friend here who knows more about Blood Levels, the Respiratory System, the Hematicrit System, than most Doctors, and you never thought to send him a tell to discuss if this was a good idea? Go see a Doctor and tell him what you are doing before you really fuck up your system. You may just come out OK but there is a good chance you may end up in the ICU with a tube down your throat. As you can tell I'm pretty upset. Knowing that one of my friends maybe killing themselves doesn't sit well with me.
I admit that I didn't check with a doctor before I started this, as they always recommend seeing a doctor before starting any diet. My family has no ailments that I know of, especially any heart conditions. I figured I was okay to do this cleanse but honestly I didn't give it a lot of thought or research before jumping into it.
Jason's main concern seems to be the amount of salt I was taking but it's not like I was drinking the salt-water mixture all day; the amount of salt I was taking in (two or three teaspoons) was less than a pack of ramen or how much I put on my popcorn. I talked to Jason after this and he calmed a bit and we both seemed to understand where the other was coming from. He admitted he came on a bit strong and I admitted I probably should have seen a doctor. But this e-mail from him really freaked me out, especially having gotten it near the end of the first day when I was hungriest and when my body chemistry started getting out of whack. But talking to my doctor friend the next day helped and I've stayed on track and I've gotten through it fine. But I'll say this if you're considering doing this cleanse: See a doctor first.