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.