Master Cleanse Day 9: Huh. That's weird.

I am typing this as TD is eating homemade chow mein with beef, shitake mushrooms, chili, and leafy green vegetables.  I have the strongest urge to shove it all in my face.

But that's why I'm writing.  So I can distract myself.

Today started out so strange.  My stomach has been rumbling pretty loudly the last couple of days.  I had never experienced this kind of tummy activity on previous cleanses.  I woke up to get ready for my daily SWF making activities but I was interrupted by the sudden urge to have a movement.  I went to the bathroom and was surprised  by what ... um...went down.

It was semi-solid!  I was kinda shocked and disturbingly obessed with examining it.  I just looked at it in awe. I have read about passing something called the mucoid plaque in other blogs during the latter phases of a cleanse.  Typically it's described as dark, stringlike, and in one piece.  Mine wasn't too dark but it did kind of come out like a string that got broken in the process.  It didn't look like the stuff I have witnessed on other blogs but there was a good amount of stuff there. I have no idea where it came from!!!  I guess it was the lining?  All I know that it was deeply satisfying to realize that I had purged that from my system.  It was like winning the lottery.

The poop lottery.

My mind had been completely taken over by cravings the last couple of days but post-poop, I lost the urge to eat completely.  No cravings the entire day.  Until dinner started cooking, that is.  Once I got a whiff of that, the crave monster awoke.  And she hasn't been able to go back to sleep ever since.

I just keep chugging away on my special lemonade.  I would love a warm meal right now, though.

Tommorow is Day 10!  YES.

Master Cleanse: Day 8

I almost threw up during my SWF this morning.  I only made it to 16oz before gagging and nausea hit me strong.  I had to pause and lay down for a good 15 minutes to allow the nausea to subside.  TD looked at me sorrowfully and rubbed my feet while I lay down.  I think that helped a lot.

Today my tummy continued to grumble all day.  I don't remember if this happened the last cleanse, but I'm definitely noticing it now.  There's a lot of activity in that region.  Hope it means something good.

I started out this cleanse with no real cravings but they are definitely back!  Today dinner in the apartment is chicken tinola.  It's a filipino dish made up of chicken, green papaya, ginger, and seasoned with fish sauce. It is delicious. And I can smell it from here.  And I want it so badly.

Well only a few more days before I can eat real food!  I'm looking forward to it.

I bought some probiotics today for my ease out period.  I read about it on a blog and thought it would be a good idea.  I took some after I went on a round of antibiotics a few years ago and I remember it making me really regular.  So I stocked up on Culturelle.  I chose that brand because there was a $5 automatic store gift card generated when you bought it.  Hopefully it's a good one.

One good thing is that my tongue seems to be a little bit clearer than it was a few days ago.  It's still in the dragon category, though.  This is the first time during any cleanse that I've noticed any clearing  of the gross nastyness that is my tongue.  It only took 4 cleanses!  Ha!  I wonder if I'll make it to pink by the last day.  Fingers crossed!

Master Cleanse Day 7

Man.  I can't wait to eat.  I don't necessarily think about food all the time but when I get a whiff of something or see a picture of something tasty my mind goes into overdrive and I become obsessed with the thought of food until I catch myself.

This is tough work.  Much more tough mentally than physically.  Craving is truly a strong mental habit that's tough to break.  It takes something major like a cleanse to reset tendencies towards unhealthy eating, at least for me it does.

I finally felt like going on a run today.  It's great to be outside and get my heart pumping.  My energy for the runs are good.  I do easy jogs just to get a little cardio in.  I think that's what pumps up my appetite.

On that note, my stomach has been rumbling all day today and making strange noises.  It's trying to talk to me.  I am giving it the silent treatment but it's not working.

Day 7 is all about craving and desire.  And it's almost finally over!  I can't wait.

As far as weight loss, I can definitely see it in the way my clothes are fitting that I'm dropping the pounds.  A good thing!

Master Cleanse Day 6: Epsom Salt Bath!

Today I was irritable, weepy, and everything in between.  I also had some bouts with nausea and a little dizziness.  All normal for the cleanse.  Unwanted, but normal.

I decided to try to make myself feel better by soaking in a hot epsom salt bath in the evening.  I thought it would help bring the toxins out quicker and thus speed up this "healing event".  It was the first time I've ever tried an epsom salt bath and all I can say is YES. YES. YES.

I read online that a lot of master cleansers do it and the recipe I used went something like:

Fill bath with hottest water you can stand

Add two cups of Epsom Salt 

Add one cup baking soda 

Add few drops lavender oil

Sit in the bath for 15-40 minutes

The epsom salts are supposed to draw toxins out as well as provide the body with magnesium, something that the interwebs says most Americans don't have enough of.  The baking soda alkalizes an acidic body (i.e. unhealthy).  The lavender oil is aromatherapy to lower stress and cortisol levels (which tend to rise during a cleanse).

I ended up adding way more epsom salt then the recipe called for.  I just wanted to make sure I was really drawing out impurities.

After sitting in the bathtub for about 30 minutes, I got up and felt a little lightheaded.  It was amazing though.   Imagine being drunk and exhausted at the same time. My body was completely relaxed. I got dressed, drank a whole bunch of water, and went straight to bed even though it was only 8:30pm.  

Once in bed, I just read.  I could have fallen asleep but I thought it was too early.  Later on though, I awoke from my epsom salt bath stupor and then couldn't sleep until midnight.  I then went into a very deep sleep and woke up completely refreshed at 6am.  Sufficed to say, I will be getting into a bath again sometime soon.

Master Cleanse Day 5: BRRRRRR!!!

I got chills.  They're muliplyin'.

I was super cold today.  There has been a heat wave for the last few days up in the Bay Area but the fog started to roll in today and I was not prepared as far as outfit choices go.  I rocked a short mini dress to go shopping this fine Sunday afternoon and it was most definitely not short-mini-dress-rocking weather.  I felt weak and cold the entire shopping excursion.  On the bright side, I hooked myself up with some sweet sale items.

As far as cleansing related matters go, I only managed 16 oz of the SWF but it did the job right.  I had the usual movements - dark and watery (butt pee).  My dragon breath has also returned and I asked the boyfriend if he noticed.  He was so sweet and answered, "No, I don't notice anything."

Right.

Plus one for the boyfriend.   Another plus he gets is for making a nice smelling dinner with beef, vegetables, and Kraft american cheese.

Yup.

Kraft. American. Cheese.

I know it sounds like a weird dish but he's from a Himalayan region and they eat this cheesy soup dish that is actually pretty good.  No one in America sells the cheese that they use in the Himalayas so he uses Kraft because "it melts good".  I enjoyed the smell of it so much. My cravings have definitely kicked in. I want to chew on something warm.  Right now.

Today was a mediocre day on the cleanse.  Not feeling the best, but not my worst either.

Master Cleanse Day 4: Me So Hungry

I had a dream last night that consisted of me going out with a group of friends and eating a delicious Indian dinner.  For dessert I had a triple layer pink cake with pink frosting.  Towards the end of the dream, I remembered that I was on a cleanse and wasn't supposed to be eating anything and panicked.  Then I woke up.

Shew.  It was just a dream.

But then this evening, I actually ended up going to a Nepali restaurant!  This is what was consumed:

-butter naan

-daal

-palak paneer

-basmati rice

-lamb kheema (it's like a nepali style piroshki with ground lamb)

Interesting coincidence, no?

One of my friends is leaving to go back to the east coast for grad school and we had a farewell dinner for him.  I contemplated not going but I wanted to spend some time with him before he left so I braved it and went.

Day 4 has been my hardest day so far. That dream had me thinking about food all day. That followed by exposure to this amazing dinner totally pushed my buttons.  The different smells seriously got me wanting food SO BADLY.  

During dinner while everyone was eating, I was so obsessed with the smells that I began to concoct recipes of things I would cook after the cleanse.  I was also visualizing all the food I would eat.  Piroshkis and pizza, specifically.  At one point during the dinner though, I actually became aware of my obsessive fixation with the food and the very act of resting in that awareness released me of binding thoughts.  

I guess my meditation practice is good for something.

I also went for a run again today and it felt great!  No exhaustion.  No tiredness.  I am not experiencing any of the "lows" and "highs" on this cleanse.  Emotionally, I feel very stable.  My energy is also very stable.  All good things.  The only thing that really threw me for a loop was this dinner tonight.

Craving is such a powerful mental force.  It seems that so much of my time is attempting to satisfy some sort of craving, whether it's food or anything else.  In actuality, there's not much that one needs to sustain the body.  I will definitely explore these sensations more during the cleanse.

Master Cleanse: Day 3

I came out of the Master Cleanse closet and posted a vid about it on my Instagram account today.  If you don't know what Instagram is, I forgive you because you're still reading this outdated blog.
Anyway check it out:

I exercised for the first time today since the start of my cleanse and it felt oh so good.  I ran a very slow 3 miles.  I always run very slow so that's not surprising.  What was surprising was that I could have kept going. I had a bunch of energy still and wasn't too out of breath. I've definitely had bad run days and I thought today was going to be one of those.  You know, the one where every step is drudgery and not even your kick ass spotify playlist can get your butt into gear.  Today was not one of those days.  It actually felt pretty easy.  Go figure. I am loving this cleanse!

Day 3 has totally been like Day 1 and 2.  Nothing crazy happening up in my bowels or in my head.  I feel fine and my energy levels are up.  I am also sleeping deeper.  I messed up my circadian rhythm a couple of weeks ago and had been waking up at 3am for no reason.  It has completely stopped with this cleanse and I'm grateful for it.

I also had to pick up more lemons and more grade B maple syrup.  I got it at the local organic grocery store and the cashier immediately recognized my products and said, "Master Cleanse?".  She did it last year for 5 days.  The bagger was a teenager and was completely aghast. "You mean you don't eat ANY food?!  Like no food at all?!"

I guess it's kind of a superpower to not eat food and be fine.

No I take that back.  You know what's a REAL superpower?

Being able to smell what is cooking in the kitchen and even know what spices are being used.

My superhuman smell is back.  On my run this morning, I even smelled what some people were cooking in their apartments and homes.  If you're an MC'er you know what I'm talking about.

The funny part is that I don't have the strong craving reaction to these smells that I'm used to having on this cleanse.

I believe that the mind is the root of everything but I am also witnessing firsthand how the body can influence the mind.  Or is it that my mind is controlling how my body reacts.  Or...

Let's see if I'm this deep tommorrow.

Master Cleanse Day 2: Making Peace with SWF

Ok, for real though.  I'm not a fan of the SWF.  It's become my reason for dreading getting up in the morning.  I only drank 16 oz of the recommended 32 oz.  

I. just. couldn't. do. it.

If I had gulped anymore down, I would have thrown up.  It's just the sheer volume of the stuff that gets me. It doesn't taste horrible.  It kind of reminds me of Tibetan butter tea which I have drunken (drunk?  dranken?  someone conjugate this one for me) copious amounts of in Tibet and here at home.  It's just too much to force into my body in too short a time.

So I've decided to let my body win this war against the SWF.  I'm no longer going to try to get 32 full oz.  When my body says "Stop, homegirl." I'm going to stop.  It's too much of a mental battle to deal with in the morning, you know what I'm saying? And making that decision had brought me great peace.  No more war.

Namaste.

The amount of SWF that I managed to get down got the job done.  If your squeamish, don't read the next paragraph because I'm going to get detailed.  

*********************COMMENCE GROSS PART OF BLOG***************************

I know you'd like to think your sh*t don't stank

But lean a little bit closer

See that roses really smell like poo-ooh-ooh

Yeah, roses really smell like poo-ooh-ooh

-Andre 3000 of Outkast from the song "Roses"

If Andre 3000 is right, and I have never personally know him to be wrong, then the results of my SWF were an especially fragrant and different brand of "rose".  It was dark.  Like black.  And it smelled toxic.  And unfamiliar.  In summary, it was straight nasty.  It came out like a black waterfall.  And I'm done talking about this.

Glad that old toxic stuff is outta here.

*******************FIN DE GROSS PART OF BLOG***********************************

As far as the rest of Day 2, I don't know what's going on, but I am not having a difficult time this round of the MC.  I don't have any particular cravings associated with my hunger pangs. I also am not suffering from any "healing events" as in cleanses past.  It could be a combination of things which I will outline for you:

1) I could be in a "good" phase of my meditation practice.  There's truly no good or bad when doing practice but there are phases when I'm in a very stable and peaceful state of mind.  I think I'm up in that bootch right now and it's keeping me copacetic. 

2)I cleansed last year so major healing events happened last time.  That is a total guess which I am pulling from my butt-peeing *ss.

3) I'm not looking up recipes online or watching the Food network this go around.  Big help.  Trust.  Don't do it.

There you have it.  

Day 2 is done.  Good night.

Master Cleanse Day 1: Time for things to go down.

Here I am again.  It's time for another round of the Master Cleanse.

It's been approximately a year and half since my last cleanse.  A lot has happened since then.  I went to India for several months on a long retreat in the town of Bodhgaya.  It was a physically challenging retreat and I ended up losing quite a bit of weight while there.  I have been back in America now for about 8 months and have definitely been more active since my return.  I go running and workout almost everyday.  My diet habits have gone up and done with periods of "clean eating" and periods of ... not-so-clean eating.  All in all though, I've been able to maintain my post India weight (give or take 5 pounds).  I should also explain that when I say "weight" I really have no idea what my weight is most of the time.  I just check to see if I fit in my jeans that week or not.  That being said, I'm not at my goal weight but I'm pleased that I've been able to maintain. I also feel much more energized with my current lifestyle.  

But it's about time for things to go down (both figuratively and literally).  I have about two weeks before I travel to Hawaii to be a bridesmaid in my cousin's wedding.  I'm so looking forward to it.  But first, I must cleanse.

And today is DAY UNO.

Quite honestly, today was pretty easy.  I did my salt water flush a bit early this morning and all the memories came flooding back.  It's pretty much the thing I dread most about the cleanse.  But I did it.  I had enough time to take a nap after everything went... um... down.  During that light nap, I had a dream that I was eating guacamole.  I couldn't believe my cravings kicked in so early in the day already!  I hadn't even made my lemonade at that point.

During my lemonade making, I realized that I had run out of cayenne pepper.  So no spice in my lemonade today.  And honestly, it made it much easier to chug.  I think I'm going to just do cayenne lemonade shots like I did my last cleanse.

I took it super easy today.  I didn't workout and definitely did not exert myself physically.  I think it was smart.  I haven't had any dizzy spells.  I feel a little weaker than usual, but nothing major. I do have some hunger pangs, but they go away with a chug of the lemonade.  What's most surprising is that once I started drinking my lemonade,  I didn't have any cravings. I actually have felt pretty even keel all day.

This is quite different from last year's cleanse where I felt the entire cleanse was dominated by thoughts of everything I would eat afterwards.  It may have something do with my cycle.  I was probably PMS'ing during that time period.  I'm not sure.  All I know is that today was not a bad day.  I'm feeling a little weak and have the occasional hunger pang, but in general, I'm good.  Not craving anything and am quite content with how this cleanse has started.

Until manana then!