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  If you don't know what Instagram is, I forgive you because you're still reading this outdated blog.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!

Breaking the fast: Day 4

Brekkie: half a mango
Snack: a piece of my hazelnut chocolate and some a cheezy kale chip
Lunch: half of a Caesar salad, 1.5 slices of the Amatriciana pizza from Osteria Coppa in San Mateo.  It has: Guanciale, Tomato, Red Onion, Chilies, and Pecorino.
Snack: 1.5 nutella filled churrito that I baked, and half a vegan cookie from Trader Joe's
Dinner: half a mango and half a cup of oragnic peach yogurt


HA.  Day Four.  I wouldn't really consider this a part of the easing out period since I believe that I am out of the woods now and can eat my old variety of foods now.  And I went on a splurge today!  I had pizza and chocolate!  All in one day.  Hurray!  I did make a mistake though.   Although I was splurging today, I made a commitment to try and stay vegetarian for as long as possible.  My sister and I ordered an "Amatriciana" pizza which didn't appear to have anything from the meat department.  


Oops.  


Should've asked our server.   Apparently "Guanciale" is bacon.  Straight up bacon.  HA.  My sister ate the bacon but I pulled it off and left it on my plate.  No matter.  It was delicious.  Truly.  I also made some nutella filled churritos.  I HAD to make them.  I found the recipe during the latter portion of my fast and I knew I needed to have them in my mouth.  I made about 24 but I only ended up eating 1 and half.  It was delicious but thanks to the fast, I beleive I have broken (at least temporarily) my habit of scarfing down all and everything chocolate in sight.  I was really mindful of what I was tasting and it gave me a sense so satisfaction.  So much so, that I didn't feel the need  to eat any more.  Here's a picture of them:

Day Four.  I think I'm good now.  Let the (healthy) eating of real food commence!

Breaking the fast: Day 1-3

Ok. So here I am on the third day of easing out of my Master Cleanse.

Here's a synopsis of my ease out so far: Day 1:
Orange juice all day baby. The first sip of that glorious orange juice tasted like nectar ambrosia. I truly enjoyed savoring each particular nuance of flavor it had to offer of me. Compared to the lemonade, this was rich in levels of flavor and texture. Sweet and tangy, cold and refreshing. I sipped on it all day but all I could think about was getting the day over with so that I could finally eat something warm!! But I Finished Day 2 with no problems.

Day 2:
Brekkie - 1 nectarine (eaten over 5 hours)
Lunch - 1 peach
Snack - a few bites of nectarine and a few bites of a raw food cone from the Raw Daddy stand at the Saturday Berkeley Farmers Market.
Dinner - half a mango. The very act of chewing and swallowing is paradise.

Day 2 was great. The fruits were so delicious. I particularly savored the mango. I love love love mango. I picked that up on a shopping excursion to Ranch 99. I doubt that it's organic but I knew I had to have the damn thing. And it was good. TD works at the Farmers Market and the booth next to him is a raw food vendor. He picked up a raw food cone for me. The cone consists of seeds and it was filled with shredded cabbage, mangoes, cashews and a vinaigrette. I only had a few bites but I enjoyed it. I ate everything slowly, only taking a few bites every half hour or so. I just read a website that said that the goal is to eat many many small meals and gradually work one's way to larger meals that are more spaced out. I've been craving something warm and I hope to make an Ayurvedic dish called kitchari in the near future. It is a cleansing food as as well composed of mung beans and basmati rice, flavored with spices.

Day 3:
Brekkie - half a glorious mango Not sure what else I'm going to eat today but I'd like to try something warm. I haven't had a bowel movement yet so I'm waiting for that, too.

 3:42 A lot has happened since this morning.

Ok, well, maybe not a lot but some major things went down (from my perspective).

I had a bowel movement.

Yes!

I think it was the mango. Thank you, mister mango. Thank you so much.

I also went to the Berkeley Temescal Farmers Market and visited TD's booth. I hadn't eaten anything since my half a mango this morning so I felt some hunger pangs. He offered me some of his food and I did it. I went for real food. I had: Basmati rice and vegetable curry (two celery slices, two cauliflower stalks, 2 slices of tofu) all in a coconut curry sauce. It was indescribable. I could taste every single spice and the warmth of it in my mouth spread throughout my whole body. That is what paradise must be like. I asked TD to only give me tiny tiny scoops of the rice and curry. He didn't put it on their regular plates but instead scooped it into a small container (think the red and white paper things they sticks hot dogs in at BBQ's). I only ate the veggies at first, being careful to chew each bite thoroughly. It took me about fifteen minutes to eat a portion I could have easily eaten in two bites. Then I thought I would walk around the farmers market for a bit. The thing about the Temescal farmers market is that it's like an organic gourmet version of Costco at lunchtime. Everyone offers free samples. I was already feeling satiated but I just had to try some of the stuff being offered.

So please add this to the food diary today:
 - tiny bite of falafel
- small pita chip dipped in yogurt and chives
- a Balgoni (I think that's what it was called).

Honestly, I can't remember the name but it's some sort of pastry stuffed with spinach that is very tin. It was topped with yogurt and jalapeño jam. Only a small bite. THEN I returned to Tenzin's booth and finished off the basmati curried rice. Everything was delicious. I'm feeling full now. I think it was the rice. I'm not uncomfortably full but I definitely have a feeling that there is stuff in my belly. It's an odd sensation.

I haven't felt this way in a long time and I have lost that light feeling. I may have overdid it but I don't have any regrets. I don't have any cramping or anything of that sort at all. I just feel full-ish.

But wait, there's more.

I went and bought some ingredients for a vegan cutlet I'm going to attempt to make at Trader Joe's and the local natural foods store here. Besides my necessary items, I also bought cheesy kale chips (vegan) and a hazelnut chocolate bar. As soon as I got home, I had one leaf of the cheesy kale chip and it was pretty good. But the highlight of my day was the little piece of hazelnut chocolate that I ate, like, five minutes ago. Creamy with a light crunch from the toasted hazelnut. That was damn good.

Master Cleanse: Day 10 YAYUH

Holy.

This is my last day.  And it couldn't have come fast enough!  Ay yay yay!  I don't know how I was able to go 23 days the last time.  This time around my cravings have been crazy strong.

It's Day 10 and I'm feeling fine.  I'm back from my healing crisis yesterday and my skin is glowing again.  Yes!  This morning I psyched myself out with the SWF.  I knew it was my last day and for some reason I think that prevented me from drinking my usual 20oz.  I only made it to 16oz.  I was gagging and I definitely would have thrown up what I had already chugged.  Didn't make a difference though.  Everything went through the tubes like usual.

I have plans to try to go totally vegan for one week. I don't know if I'll manage it but I'm down to give it a go. I have asked my vegan friends for recipes and have been looking them up on my own.

I'm so excited to start eating real food again.  My first planned "real" meal is to get something at Que SeRaw SeRaw, my local raw food joint.  That will be Day 3 of the Ease out.

I don't know if "proud" is the word to describe how I feel this tenth day.  I was proud of myself the first time I went on the cleanse.  I'm more relieved, I guess.  I'm stoked that I did the cleanse.  I would like to do it again for sure.  It's such an amazing experience for the body and mind.  I am definitely happy and feeling good and really recharged.

But I'm also very happy that it's the last day.  :)

WOOT.

Master Cleanse: Day 9 Ruh-roh

This morning I woke up feeling exhausted.  I also had a really oily face.  I did not feel well at all.  I chalk this up to some major cleansing going on internally.  The glow of Days 7 and 8 are but memories.  Ah well.  Part of the process.

It's Day 9 and I'm so happy I'm almost done!  

My stomach has been especially gurgly today.  Some things are going on down there for sure.  To try to get some relief from all my symptoms, I dry brushed my skin (to get my lymph moving) and took a really nice hot shower.

To keep myself distracted, I went to my local farmer's market where I bought white peaches and nectarines for my post fast easing out.  I broke my fast with nectarines the last time and everything turned out well.  I am not craving fruits at all, though.  There was a dude selling piroshki and I thought, THAT is what I want to eat.  I immediately googled vegetarian piroshki recipes and found a potato one that I think I'm going to try.

An interesting thing I'm finding out about this cleanse is that old emotions are coming out just as much as old toxins are.  It's refreshing and surprising to be thinking about things that have happened years ago and still feel the same emotions that I felt then.  Both good and bad.  Catharsis.  That said, I found two new white hairs today.  Impermanence.

I've also really solidified a desire to go on a long solitary meditation retreat.  I almost feel like I need to go.  Definitely a life goal.

Day 9 is a detox day for sure.  I feel better than when I did this morning but I'm feeling a little tired.  It's 2:16 pm right now.  I hope  tommorrow is more bliss filled!  But I accept today and am not at all dissatisfied.