Master Cleanse: Day 0

So I am starting the Master Cleanse diet tomorrow, Monday, July 14.

I'm always interested in feeling better and taking care of my body. Granted, I often don't put this into practice and I don't eat as well as I should and I don't exercise as much as I ought to but it's always something I consider doing when I can fit it into my life. I've never been hard-core about dieting, though there have been times when I've gotten good about exercising -- getting up early before work to run, running every day, bicycling instead of driving, walking in the evening. Diets never seem worth-while to me because it seems like once you lose the weight you want and you're done with the diet, you go back to your old habits and you gain all the weight back. If I'm going to change my dieting or exercising, I want it to be a change that will be a part of my life and my habits and, thereby, a lot easier to stick to.

I try to eat well, when I can. I try to limit the sugar and fat in my diet, though anyone who knows me or who has dined with me knows I'm not religious about that. I admit that I could always do better but I usually just don't see the point. I don't get so much pleasure out of the taste of food so usually it's just convenience that I'm after in what I eat, something I can make quickly and easily, and something that's cheap and will fill me up so I don't have to eat again for a while. Every meal I eat at home is in front of my computer and usually I put off eating until I'm starving and by that time I eat so much that I don't feel like having to eat again for quite a while. I enjoy dining with friends but when I'm eating by myself it's generally cheap, easy, and fast. For the last few years I've concentrated on getting more fiber into my diet, usually 1 gram of fiber in foods for every 100 calories (though usually not paying much attention to sodium and fat). Exercising usually comes on the weekends, if that. On any of these diets I'm not concerned about losing weight (though I could do to lose about 20 or 30 pounds to get to the weight that my BMI says is average for my height) but I'm concerned about feeling better and having the most energy I can have so I can get things done.

I've never made a firm commitment to changing my eating habits. Last summer I got a colonic (well, two; one the day after the first, just to do it) and I don't know if that did so much for me since I realize that that's something you have to do regularly over six weeks and change habits in your life and all that, and I dipped my toe in and that's it. I got done with work last week (July 3) and I might have the summer off so I thought about making some changes, at least for a little while, just to see what I could do, and every little bit helps anyway so why not? I decided on extending my high-fiber diet and getting much more serious about it, really only eating high-fiber cereal (Grape-Nuts, Special K Protein, Raisin Bran, Cheerios) with fat-free milk, lentil bean soup, Morning Star veggie "chik'n" patties on wheat bread, chili (which has a lot more fiber in it than the rest of this stuff), and as many bananas, apples, and celery and carrots as I could put down, as well as adding a Benefiber supplement to my drinking water. By process of elimination, that meant that I was cutting out meat, most diary (notably cheese), and extra salt. And of course drinking more water, which is the the cornerstone of nearly any diet, but, man, I drink a lot of water, I really do. It would actually be difficult for me to drink more. The first few days of the more-fiber diet went well, and I stayed full and ate when I was hungry and, most importantly, had a lot of energy through the day (though that could also have been due to the excitement of having the time off work and the encouragement of getting things done in my life and getting a full night's sleep). The extra energy wore off by Thursday but I know these things go in waves and I'm fine with that. I realized, though, that a lot of this food I was eating had a lot of sodium in it, though I wasn't adding salt to anything I ate like I often do, and maybe more fat, but basically maybe this stuff wasn't so great for me but I know I was doing something positive, at least, and eating better than I usually do. At least I hoped so.

My break from my diet came on Wednesday when I had lunch with the lovely and talented Amy. It had been a while since I had seen her and she had suggested eating at an Indian place near where I live. I had actually made plans with her before I realized that I would have to break my diet but I realized that there was no sense in being militant about it so I had the lamb vandaloo and there was cheese on the nan. But that was the only break I took and I didn't feel bad about it. Most notably, from part of our lunch conversation Amy told me about how she had gone on the Master Cleanse diet and that it went pretty well and she had some friends that went on it that said it was great. I had heard about the diet and had considered it but, obviously, hadn't made the leap. But I had the time now and, well, how bad could it be? When would it be a better time for me to do it? So Amy sent me the recipe, which detailed the diet as such:

LEMONADE DIET
The Lemonade Diet: 2 Tbsp Lemon or Lime juice (approx, 1/2 lemon),
2 Tbsp genuine maple syrup (not maple flavored sugar syrup)
1/10 Tsp cayenne pepper (red pepper) or to taste
Water, medium hot (spring or purified water)
Combine the juice, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper in a 10 oz, glass and fill with medium hot water. (Cold water may be used if preferred). Use fresh lemons or limes only. Take from six to twelve glasses of the lemonade daily during the waking period. As you get hungry, have another glass of lemonade. NO OTHER FOOD SHOULD BE TAKEN DURING THE FULL PERIOD OF THE DIET. Mint tea may be used occasionally during the diet as a pleasant change and to assist further in the cleaning.

INTERNAL SALT WATER BATHING
Prepare a full quart of Luke-warm water and add two level (rounded for the Canadian quart) teaspoons of un-iodized sea salt. Do not use ordinary iodized salt. Drink the entire quart of salt and water first thing in the morning. This must be taken on an empty stomach. The salt and water will no separate but will stay intact and quickly and thoroughly wash the entire tract in about one hour. Several eliminations will likely occur. This may be taken as often as needed for proper washing of the entire digestive system.

Once I started telling people about it, and once I mentioned it on the Status Update on my Facebook profile, and especially since I got a friend asking what the Master Cleanse diet was, I knew I was locked and I had to go through with it. Amy said I had to get the maple syrup at Trader Joe's so on the way out of town for the weekend I stopped by to get some. The bottle, which was 32 ounces, was $17 (apparently the maple syrup crop was enemic this year) but that's the price to pay for it, oh well. I asked the stock-person if they had cayenne pepper but he said that's something I have to get at Vons. However, a lady passing by overheard us and asked me if I was going on the Master Cleanse diet. She said she goes on it frequently and we got to talking about it. She seemed like an attractive, healthy person, so that was encouraging. She gave me a few tips, including:
* No, you're not allowed to drink alcohol while on the diet.
* Yes, do the salt-water part of it.
* Get the Smooth Move drink mix at Whole Foods to take at night.
* Once you get done with the diet, you may never even want to even go back to your old diet.
* Apparently, with all the toxins coming out out of the body through the skin, your body and breath will stink and your skin may break out.
* It's possible to be completely out of energy and not feel well at some point through it but once you get done with it you'll feel better than ever.
* You may start acting a little differently, with the toxins coming out through your brain.
* Make sure you're mentally and emotionally ready to do it.
"Emotionally ready?" Well, uh, I think so. I hope so. I can't imagine a better time to do it than now. But that makes it sound like something that is going to detox me to my very soul, not just my colon. But hey, whatever works.

My body and mind may go through some real changes and I'm interested in how those changes will affect me and my mental health. So I've decided to write a blog that will detail everything I do and how I feel, going into my customary obsessive detail. So if you want to know how it's going... well, here it is. I will update this as much as possible, as I will not be encouraged to leave home (and my toilet) and I may not want to be around people (as I will stink) and I may be too cranky to even be around people (as I am normally, but maybe now moreso (if that's possible)). As is also my custom, I won't censor myself and I won't go back and change old entries. I'll just keep adding to what I have and that will be it. I appreciate any comments, especially thoughts about the diet, and any bit of encouragement can help. Your positive vibes will be my sustenance. Along with maple syrup, lemon juice, cayenne pepper, salt, and lots and lot and lots of water.