2018 Jan/Feb Master Cleanse: Lets Get Freaking Clean

animalstyle

animalstyle

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If you were anything like me, the end of 2017 wasn't the healthiest time to be alive... fun was had, crappy food was eaten, and damage was done to the body (worth it).

It's time to get clean.

Why this thread?
In the middle of last year, after a depressive bout, I did my first successful master cleanse. For 5 days (half the 'standard' 10 day cleanse) it was nothing but the special lemonade. By the end, I physically and mentally felt like a new person.

This process cleared my head and helped me maintain a positive attitude and execute like a boss on my work during the weeks following the cleanse. It also brought my attention to what I put in my body and helped me shift into a healthier lifestyle. I realized:

The master cleanse is ideal for optimizing our human performance as internet marketers!

I wanted to share my experience and create an opportunity join together and work on our health.

The goal:
  • Introduce the Master Cleanse.
  • Provide a schedule, format for intros and bring a group together to help each other through their cleanses.
  • Get clean and start off 2018 on the right foot.
  • Bring awareness to improving our health as a community.
What is the Master Cleanse?

The Master Cleanse consists of dropping solid food for a period of time and consuming only lemonade for the duration. You then ease back into solid, healthy food. The lemonade is made of:
  • Fresh Squeezed Organic Lemon Juice
  • Real Maple Syrup (Grade B is ideal)
  • Cayenne Pepper
  • Water
Each night you'll drink a laxative tea at night, followed by a salt water flush in the morning. The resulting bowel movements work to flush your system which remove toxins from your body. It's not pretty stuff, but it works.

The cleanse is ideal when you have access to a kitchen and private bathroom - which many of us work-from-homers have in spades.

There is a bunch of info out on the net, as well as many similar cleanses. The original Master Cleanse info is held within this PDF. If you're new to the idea, I'd suggest starting here:
http://www.nowloss.com/master-cleanse-diet.pdf

Shopping List

Here is a starter shopping list for the cleanse. (I found most my ingredients locally so I could go back and stock up if I ran out):
  • Organic Lemons (you'll use half a lemon per juice and drink anywhere from 6-12 juices a day)
  • Grade B Maple Syrup (I believe I used roughly 64oz for a 5 day cleanse)
  • Cayenne Pepper (One standard jar should be fine)
  • Laxative Tea (Smooth Move Tea)
  • Sea Salt
  • Mason Jar w/ Lid (Perfect because you can measure, mix, and store the lemonade)
  • Lemon Juicer (Doesn't have to be anything super fancy, but its nice not to have to squeeze by hand)
Schedule

My first thought was to get everyone on the same schedule and try to host the cleanse day-by-day. I know that will be hard, so instead we can use this thread to host anyone who does the cleanse during Jan/Feb.

I'd encourage you to post your intro thread as far in advance as possible, so others can sync up for solidarity.

Intro Post Template
If you're joining in, let us know and answer these questions in your intro thread:
  • Explain why you're doing the cleanse.
  • Have you ever done the master cleanse, or other cleanse(s) before?
  • How long will you be cleansing for?
  • When will you start?
  • Are you setting any consequences for yourself if you fail?
  • Any other comments?
The Journal Aspect
The idea is to post your daily progress through the end of your cleanse + any followup after the fact you'd like to share. I'd encourage day-to-day updates if you can - from my experience, each day is a journey in itself.

(Looping in @Tiberian, @Aezio, @eliquid)
 
Intro

Explain why you're doing the cleanse.
I've been remodeling a house for the last month, breathing in nasty crap all day and eating crummy. The new year is always a strong reset point for me, so I wanted to use the cleanse to help facilitate that. The last cleanse I did left me feeling SO MUCH better. I'd like to improve my eating habits in 2018, so bringing awareness to what I put in my body is a great start.

Have you ever done the master cleanse, or other cleanse(s) before?
I've done the master cleanse twice. The first time was several years ago and I only made it 3 days. The last round was a 5 day cleanse (M-F).

How long will you be cleansing for?
I am going for a 5-day cleanse again.

When will you start?
I'll be starting on Monday, January 22nd and cleansing until Friday with Sat/Sunday as the ease back period.

Are you setting any consequences for yourself if you fail?
The public humiliation of starting this thread and then quitting is enough of a consequence for me.

Any other comments?
Last time I hand squeezed the lemon juice - it was a pain in the ass! I'll be buying a juicer to make this process easier this time around.
 
Intro Post Template

Explain why you're doing the cleanse.

I must say something.

I already knew about the master cleanse and the water fast. I just never did them. But now is the time.


Have you ever done the master cleanse, or other cleanse(s) before?

No.


How long will you be cleansing for?

I’ll do the water fast. I have always had low BMI and a relatively good diet so I feel 3 days is enough to test the waters.


When will you start?

Already started. From today (2018-01-05) to 2018-01-07. I’ll start eating again on Monday.


Are you setting any consequences for yourself if you fail?

No.


Any other comments?

From personal experience in the past when I stop eating from my regular time window (sometimes) I got a headache. Yesterday I got a little headache (unrelated to food) and today I still got it. I hope this doesn’t get worse.

I also was going to say that I was going to start later because I have a lot of leftover food on the refrigerator but fuck it. Already moved a lot to the freezer.

Here-we-go.
 
Last edited:
In a few hours it will be 2 days since the last time I had food and I'll stop.

I feel like I’m going nowhere with this.

This was a fun experiment but I’m hungry and want to eat.

Notes from the water fast:

Day 1
  • Much less hunger than expected.
  • I only drank water and a pinch of salt the whole day.
  • 1st day in my life without food.

Day 2
  • A lot more hunger.
  • I feel "alert".
  • Light headache.

What I’ve learned:
Now I can’t bitch about collapsing or something because I haven’t eaten in the whole day.
 
Aezio said:
In a few hours it will be 2 days since the last time I had food and I'll stop.
Click to expand...

That's better than I've ever done. I one time and one time only did water only for 24 hours. Towards the end all I could think about was food, but I could think about it really clearly. My mind was so clear.

Seems like a good way to drop a pound of body fat. I'm not interested in doing it, but I'm wondering how frequently we could skip a day of food. Once a week? At what point are we destroying our metabolisms?
 
Future State said:
I'm wondering how frequently we could skip a day of food. Once a week? At what point are we destroying our metabolisms?
Click to expand...

Yes, I've read of people doing it once a week and as I understand it you can't "destroy" your metabolism this way, your body just adapts.

A good video on the subject:
 
I moved things up a week myself. Starting the cleanse tomorrow.

I caught a nasty head cold this past week and am just about over it. My body finally gave up after all the shit I’ve been putting it through the past month.

Looking forward to the next week and seeing what the cleanse does for me.
 
Day 1:

Started with the tea on Sunday night and then into the lemonade on Monday for day 1.

It was a fairly easy day overall and I felt great. Drank 7 or 8 batches of lemonade over the course of the day. I am sure this will increase during the week.

Energy levels were very even and my head was super clear. All day I had to fight minor food cravings, just the mind jumping to wanting to eat something tasty every so often. Nothing too bad and very manageable. Feels good to exercise the mind.

Went to a yoga class with the wife and sweated my ass off. Felt damn good.

Waking up today at the start of day two, I’m about to have the first salt water drink.

Overall it was a solid first day - looking forward to the week!
 
Day 2:

Very similar to day one except the cleansing has started. Energy levels are awesome. More yoga which has me pretty damn sore today.

Food cravings were a bit more intense. From what I remember, day 3 was the worst... we will see.

Slept a lot more last night. Ready to tackle day 3.
 
Day 3:

Super easy day. Almost no food cravings to speak of. High, almost unlimited energy during waking hours.

Heading into day 4 I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t looking forward to the sushi dinner planned for Saturday night!
 
Ok, so I'm doing this shit kind of backwards, so God forgive me. I'm also modifying parts of it just to fit my own schedule. I am planning on competing in a powerlifting competition in several months so I can't be doing this for as long as I might want.

Why I'm Doing The Cleanse
At first, I just wanted to do a fast/cleanse for some quick weight loss. However, I recently made a trip to El Paso (8 hour drive) and I had McDonald's there -and- on the way back. Diarrhea of peace.

Have you ever done the master cleanse, or other cleanse(s) before?
No

How long will you be cleansing for?
3 Days

When will you start?
I started on Tuesday (hence me doing this backwards, lol)

Are you setting any consequences for yourself if you fail?
Honestly, I'm not setting any consequences because I would beat myself up over it anyway and make myself re-do it.

Any other comments?
This has been one of the more experimental things I've done with my life.
My methodology for this 72 hour fast comes from several different sources.
The first is using the Snake Diet (which to be fair is incredibly similar to what the OP suggested). But for most purposes, just follow what OP said.
The second is using principles from Wim Hof method including doing meditation in the morning and pushups. I decided at the beginning that I will not be going to the gym for the fast. I am also doing conscious breathing exercises the whole time.

Day 1:
Nothing really too crazy. I have some tea in the morning. I’m making sure to keep up on everything.
I meditate in the morning and then do 2 sets of 30 pushups.
It’s super icy out in the morning, and there’s barely anyone on the road.
Overall, not too bad. I feel fine.

Day 2:
Here’s where things start to get interesting.
I meditate in the morning. I do 3 sets of planks at 1 minute 10 seconds. I then do 2 sets of 30 pushups.
I still feel pretty good. Later in the day, I start to feel like I’m heating up.

One thing I notice is that internally, I “think” that I should be tired, have no energy, etc. This could not be further from the truth. I think that without food, my mind just turns to what really matters. I don’t procrastinate on anything today, which is a pretty big deal for me.

There are a couple moments during the day in which I daydream about food. Someone from the office brings in beef jerky, but it doesn’t look very good, so that’s a win for me. There are some moments where I feel a little weird, but it's nbd

Also, have you ever noticed how often that people are eating in movies, tv shows, or just in general? Holy crap man, it really gets to you.

Day 3:
I woke up feeling very calm. Surprisingly, I’m not really hungry at all. Also, I remember my dreams quite vividly.
I meditate and do 2 sets of 30 pushups.
I decide to watch a film called Andrei Rubylev by Tarkovsky. It's about an Orthodox Russian painter of icons in the medieval era of Russia (the 1400s). If you are into film, highly recommended. Also, I've been getting a lot done work-wise. I think that the lack of calories means that you don't have as much brain activity to prevent you from putting off things.
 
animalstyle said:
Nice stuff @Tiberian!

Super stoked to hear the cleanse translated into more work output, well done!
Click to expand...

Thanks @animalstyle ! I was reading through your log and I noticed you had the same - increased amounts of energy on day 3. I don't think that is purely coincidence. Appreciate you putting this together. It definitely got me off my ass.
I am almost wishing that I could do a day 4. Or if I do, it will be a light workout. I'll keep the blog updated.
 
Day 4:

Not much to report. Very similar to day 3. No real food cravings to think of. Overall I feel much more in-tune with my body and mind. If I need rest, I know it’s because my body needs it and not because I just slammed a philly cheese steak flavored sleeping pill.

Heading into day 5 I am feeling good and ready to tackle the day.
 
Day 5:

Felt good on the final day. Another hard yoga class... it was a fully intense week physically. 3 days of yoga, a 3 hour business meeting one night, and a 3 hour art class the other. All on top of full time work and working around the house. By the end of Friday I was ready to eat some real food, but just because my body needed it. Finished out the cleanse feeling really nice overall though!

Day 6 (Post Cleanse):

Started the day with orange juice, then salad, then soup, then sushi. It actually wasn't that rewarding to go back onto solid food. I felt fine and normal eating good - by the end of the night I did have some crap (alcohol and a milk shake) which completely killed my week long clarity high.

Ultimately the takeaway is that junk is simply junk. Feeding your body and mind high quality, clean food is the way to go.

That wraps it up for me!
 
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