2010: What day are you on and how are you doing?

[Evrae]

Pink tongue means you're done, you can end the cleanse. Rejoice! Not everyone gets pink tongue. Sometimes it's your body saying, "enough for now." If you still have stored fat, guaranteed you will also have stored toxins...if you stay on the cleanse longer you will go through another detox phase cycle...and that second cycle is every bit as difficult as when you begin the cleanse from the start.
I only had 2 batches of lemonade yesterday too...I wonder if some "I'm too distracted to be hungry" vibe was in the air. The weather here changed dramatically from yesterday - it's raining now.
Weight fluctuates throughout the day. You weigh more in the middle of a workout than you do when you have been at rest. Plus, don't discount the weight of the clothes and shoes you may have been wearing. What matters isn't the actual weight, but the amount lost as reported by the same measuring device. So use one scale consistently and even though it may not be accurate, you will still know the number of lbs. you lost.
Zumba is a fusion of Latin dance and aerobics - it's fun...and exhausting!
I am the one that put out that 51 day figure. It is NOT gospel. Neither Burroughs nor Glickman give any definitive date. My calculation was: Burroughs says to do the cleanse once per season. 365/4 = 91 days per season. Burroughs says you can safely do the cleanse 40 days and BEYOND. 91 - 40 = 51 days between cleanses. That is an approximation. Since it IS an approximation, you can probably just round it off to 50. I usually have about 60 days between cleanses, but I have done as little as 2 weeks. The "every three months" guideline is inclusive - meaning that the cleanse is done WITHIN that three months, not that you count 3 months after the cleanse is finished.
Too funny! I sympathize with you, thinking about running for 4.5 miles needing so badly to complete your flush!!
No, it's not sad that you're looking forward to the food at your wedding! We humans celebrate with food and food has huge emotional ties for us - that's not always a BAD thing!! A lot of people serve their favorite foods at weddings and other big occasions and look forward to those special meals! BUT...you really do want to be careful that the rich celebration meal is not too soon after the cleanse. You really want a good 5 days at least of eating simple, pure foods to get your digestive system back on track. The LAST thing you want on your wedding night is to be running to the toilet every 20 minutes with diarrhea and stomach cramps!!
If the senna tea gives you cramps, steep it for a shorter period of time. I only steep mine for 30-45 seconds and it still works!
I want to make sure you understand that peppermint tea is NOT a substitute for senna tea. The senna tea is to be taken every night. It is a laxative tea that, overnight, loosens all the toxins clinging to the walls of your digestive tract so that you can flush them out the next morning. Peppermint tea is a "treat" that can only be taken occasionally. It is NOT a laxative. It is a digestive aid. It helps if your stomach is upset. It also helps with your bad breath.
Welcome to all 3 of you!
I sure wish I had the magic formula for staying on track. I think it's so much harder than the cleanse itself! With the cleanse you DO have a very simple formula - all you have to do is stick with it. The only thing I can say for sure is that the longer I stretch out my transition, the better I do with eating well for the whole time between cleanses. If my 3rd or 4th day back includes any meal at a restaurant, then it's a very slippery slope downhill. Good luck, Lynda! As always, it's been great cleansing with you!

----

Day 10. Two days left and they are optional. I'm 99% sure I'll so at least one more. That guy still hasn't asked me out, but he did email me last night, so that's a good sign. (Just to add more than BM and food craving reports to the soap opera that is the Master Cleanse). Am feeling happier and less stressed today.

Happy juicin', y'all!

thank you for the info lahontani, but i am not using the peppermint as a replacement, just something different to ease my cramps. i will try steeping the tea for less time tonight and see if it helps

im on day 9 now and still moving forward. i weight about 156.5 today, which is the lightest i have weighed in a very long time. im trying to set my goal this time for 150/152ish, even though i was planning on stopping after day 10, i think i might just continue until my lemons run out, which would be another 2 days or so.

im still dreaming of food, looking up new recipes and preparing for the ease out.

i have been looking into the "brown rice diet" for after my cleanse, has anyone here tried it??

have a great day everyone!

[dollfacegreene]

hi lemonheads
After a month of stalking this thread & several failed attempts @ doing this cleanse.I decided it was time to join this great community.I'm going to start my cleanse tomorow & could really use all the support possible,seeing as my fam is very unsuportive.any tips are welcome!!!!

Welcome Phoenix and Congratulations on making a great decision for your total well being. How many days are you planning to go for? I am on day 15 of 40 so I will keep an eye out for you, since I will be here for a while. What would you say was the main reason you were not able to continue in previous attempts? What would you say is your main motivation for doing it this time? So glad you are here.

[dollfacegreene]

ah, the lemons arrived! just as I stopped feeling hungry.

GOOD NEWS!!!! Keep on trucking my fellow lemonhead.

[dollfacegreene]

MC11 Day 15 of 40. I know I am having some detox symptoms, it is "written all over my face". I can't believe the Red Lobster commercials are not making me crazy yet. Although last night the smells of my husband's dinner made my mouth salivate. My face always breaks out in rashes and dry patches, but this time I got huge sags under my eyes, like I was in a fight. Never saw that before and it lasted a couple days. Anyone else with that problem? I did 45 minutes of stretching at the gym last night along with my usual workout and I really believe that is helping with muscle aches. Epsom salt baths are fantastic also. GOOD NEWS: We were comped a room at Green Valley Ranch Casino next week and I am so excited. Going to miss out on the beautiful restaurants there, but I am not complaining. I love being a Vegas local.

Well, everyone have a blessed day and stay focused on your goals. Time goes by so fast, before you know it you have achieved what you thought was out of your range. MAKE YOURSELF PROUD TODAY!!!!

Welcome to all the newbies. Those who are finishing, GOOD FOR YOU and now on to phase 2 of the process...develop and maintain healthy eating habits and choices.

HAVE A BLESSED DAY!!

[dollfacegreene]

thank you for the info lahontani, but i am not using the peppermint as a replacement, just something different to ease my cramps. i will try steeping the tea for less time tonight and see if it helps

im on day 9 now and still moving forward. i weight about 156.5 today, which is the lightest i have weighed in a very long time. im trying to set my goal this time for 150/152ish, even though i was planning on stopping after day 10, i think i might just continue until my lemons run out, which would be another 2 days or so.

im still dreaming of food, looking up new recipes and preparing for the ease out.

i have been looking into the "brown rice diet" for after my cleanse, has anyone here tried it??

have a great day everyone!

Good for you Evrae for pushing forward. Those 2 extra days could very well be the breaking point for reaching your goal. Congratulations also on your results so far. I have never tried the brown rice diet before, but I have heard of it. Glad to see you have a plan lined up; it adds to greater success when you have a plan to work when you are finished. It is way to easy to go back to old habits.

[Lahontani]

So does this mean that I should stop now?? I don't understand the second cycle you said I would go on. How many cycles are there to the cleanse? I need to know whether I should be stopping or not.

Whether you stop or not is entirely up to you. Personally, I would stop because it is a very clear signal from your body that you have done enough. However, if you feel you still have a ways to go to achieve better health, and if you feel emotionally that you could go on easily, then it is ok to keep going. When making this decision do NOT consider weight. The MC is not a quick weight loss plan, it is a CLEANSE that also happens to help you lose unwanted fat.
How many "cycles" there are depends on your body,not on the cleanse itself. It's like this: when you first go on the cleanse, your body knows which toxins are the most immediate problem and which need to be eliminated first. The lemonade attacks the things it comes in contact with - so toxins in your digestive tract. But the extra energy you have from not having to digest things all day, that energy get directed toward cleansing other organs. Again, your body knows what areas are in most need of help. So, instead of working a little bit on your liver, kidneys, lungs, skin, gall bladder, etc. all at the same time, where each one is only slightly cleansed, your body will work on one specific area that is very toxic: let's say your kidneys, if you were forming kidney stones. When that area is cleared, or at least cleared of the major threat, then your body stops and says "Whew! that was hard work. I'm going to take a day off before I start the next job." Those are the high energy days, when you suddenly start cleaning out your cupboards or the entire garage, etc. Then your body picks the next most toxic area to start working on. That's what I mean by cycles. When you get a pink tongue it CAN mean that your body is completely cleaned out. It might also mean that your body just finished with the big immediate problem it was working on and hasn't started on its new project yet. Only you can know how close you are to achieving total health. If you are basically at your ideal weight and very healthy, then by all means, end the cleanse - you're done! If you KNOW you have a lot more to do, then decide whether you want this marker to be the end of your cleanse, or if you want to stick it out through the next detox phase/cycle/project.

The recipe I use for the lavender ice-cream calls for 2 tbsp's of fresh lavender finely minced. I have a few other recipes that I can use it in and they all give the amount to use. ... I order my lavender flowers from an organic farm in ca. Costs me an arm and a leg but I chop them up and freeze them. ..Lucky you that you have them there! Do you have an actual recipe specifying the amount? Mince the flower buds up very fine.

Thanks Lynda. The recipe I have is for scones, and that gives an amount. But it says, "cooking lavender," and I didn't know if that was refined in some way, or if it was just specific parts of the plant, or the buds only, or seeds, or what. I take it we should not use the stems...I didn't think so, but I was unsure and couldn't find the answer on line. For the ice cream, I was just going to make vanilla ice cream and substitute lavender for vanilla.
It doesn't grow near me, I'm afraid. Where I live, very little grows except pine trees, sagebrush, and mule-ears! Oh, we have aspen trees, too. My daughter lives in Oregon and there is lavender growing everywhere there, so I just take some when I find a place that I know is not using pesticides, etc. I am planning a trip up there in the next few days - one of the reasons I am coming off my cleanse so soon. I'll look for some lavender, and if I get a whole bunch, I can mail you some. LOL. This is so funny...planning on going to dollfacegreene's for a gym workout and pie, picking wild lavender in Oregon and mailing it to you. What's next? Should we all just show up in Hawaii for Ahuahu's wedding? bearing lemonade? wedding gifts will be lemonade pitchers and a juicer!

[Betty09]

Hi everyone! I'm on day 2 of my second cleanse. I've been attempting this second one for a while and I think I'll be able to stick this one out. Since my last try (April) I've quit smoking, cut out wheat products and processed sugars/starches, and added mostly raw foods to my diet. And, I've had a series of colonics. The slower route helped me for sure. So yay for cleansing and cheers!

P.s./ swf like a champ this am

[Honey]

[QUOTE=Lahontani;82936]Whether you stop or not is entirely up to you. Personally, I would stop because it is a very clear signal from your body that you have done enough. However, if you feel you still have a ways to go to achieve better health, and if you feel emotionally that you could go on easily, then it is ok to keep going. When making this decision do NOT consider weight. The MC is not a quick weight loss plan, it is a CLEANSE that also happens to help you lose unwanted fat.
How many "cycles" there are depends on your body,not on the cleanse itself. It's like this: when you first go on the cleanse, your body knows which toxins are the most immediate problem and which need to be eliminated first. The lemonade attacks the things it comes in contact with - so toxins in your digestive tract. But the extra energy you have from not having to digest things all day, that energy get directed toward cleansing other organs. Again, your body knows what areas are in most need of help. So, instead of working a little bit on your liver, kidneys, lungs, skin, gall bladder, etc. all at the same time, where each one is only slightly cleansed, your body will work on one specific area that is very toxic: let's say your kidneys, if you were forming kidney stones. When that area is cleared, or at least cleared of the major threat, then your body stops and says "Whew! that was hard work. I'm going to take a day off before I start the next job." Those are the high energy days, when you suddenly start cleaning out your cupboards or the entire garage, etc. Then your body picks the next most toxic area to start working on. That's what I mean by cycles. When you get a pink tongue it CAN mean that your body is completely cleaned out. It might also mean that your body just finished with the big immediate problem it was working on and hasn't started on its new project yet. Only you can know how close you are to achieving total health. If you are basically at your ideal weight and very healthy, then by all means, end the cleanse - you're done! If you KNOW you have a lot more to do, then decide whether you want this marker to be the end of your cleanse, or if you want to stick it out through the next detox phase/cycle/project.

Thanks for your advice on this. Well, my husband just called and his dad passed away in his sleep this morning. The Lord told us it would be gentle and with everyone's prayers it was. He and his sister were there to hear his last breath. This is a confirmation for me to stop the MC as I will be going out to Mass. on Sat. I started this morning with lemonade, but I think I will also have some orange juice to start my first day off the cleanse. Is this kosher??? I would think it is because it is all juice. Then I can have soup tomorrow and then when I travel I can have a salad and soup. Any advice on this?? Thanks for all your help here.

--- Honey

MASTER CLEANSE HISTORY:
10 days 9/06
20 days 10/06
11 days 5/07
10 days 10/07
11 days 2/08
12 days 3/08
14 days 8/08
11 days 1/09
19 days 6/09

"It's always too early to quit!" -- Norman Vincent Peale

[Lahontani]

I can't believe the Red Lobster commercials are not making me crazy yet.... My face always breaks out in rashes and dry patches, but this time I got huge sags under my eyes, like I was in a fight. Never saw that before and it lasted a couple days. Anyone else with that problem?

The Red Lobster commercials are driving ME crazy for you! And we don't even HAVE a Red Lobster around here. Not even in Reno - there used to be one, but it closed! I hate it when we get commercials for things that aren't even here! The Olive Garden never ending pasta bowl commercials are doing me in, too.
I have noticed for the past 3 cleanses, including this one, that I get dark circles under my eyes for 2 - 3 days. Not sagging, but definitely dark circles. They went away yesterday. Don't know why they come or why they go - but clearly part of the cleanse.

. I started this morning with lemonade, but I think I will also have some orange juice to start my first day off the cleanse. Is this kosher??? I would think it is because it is all juice. Then I can have soup tomorrow and then when I travel I can have a salad and soup. Any advice on this?? Thanks for all your help here.

No, it's not really kosher. But it won't kill you. I would recommend finishing the day out with lemonade, making Friday your juice day, and then having soup on Saturday. Veggie soup is fairly easy to find, although finding something more "pure" than, say, Campbell's can be tricky. If you think that will just be too difficult with the traveling and relatives and all, go ahead with your plan of half lemonade, half oj today. Be sure to still do the tea and SWF tonight and tomorrow, too. I'm sorry for your loss - do what you need to do to help yourself and your family through this tough time.

-----

Today is Day 11. How did that happen so soon?
This morning I determined to go outside, sit in the sun, and fix my good scale.
Here is the saga of the scales: About 5 years ago, I used to have a really good doctor's scale. Not the big tall ones, but just like it, only about hip level. I had had it for 15 years and it was wonderful. Then one day my then teen-aged son, pushed it over in a fit of rage and broke it. (He still owes me the money for that! ). I kept it for a few years, thinking that I would try to repair it, and I would try from time to time, but I was clue-less. I bought a $20 bathroom scale in the meantime, which registered just a few lbs. difference from the old scale, but it had been a couple of weeks since the old one broke, so I considered that accurate. A few months ago I decided I wanted a new doctor's quality scale, but couldn't find one anywhere in this area. On line, new ones were something like $300, plus maybe $50 shipping (I had paid maybe $125 for my old one.) So I went on e-bay and found one for $80 plus shipping ($20, $30? don't remember). When it got here, it didn't work. It weighed things, but it said I was about 50 lbs. less than I should be. So I started going through all the hassle of getting my money back, but it took so long and was so much red tape that the time limit expired and I was stuck with a broken scale. I put it aside, thinking maybe I could try to fix it. Well, sometime in August, someone or something (probably my cat) knocked a glass quart juice jar from the counter onto my cheap-o bathroom scale - it fell right on the weight-reading window and broke the scale. I went to the drug store to buy a replacement cheap-o scale, but they all gave me different weights, so I didn't trust them to be accurate and didn't buy any of them.
So...this morning I spent about 45 minutes dismantling the e-bay doctor's scale. I FIXED IT !! (I think?). It seems that in shipping, one of the levers had come off its fulcrum. The matching lever was still on ITS fulcrum, so the scale was "working" but just not accurately. I used some free weights from the bench press to test and calibrate it's accuracy, and it's right on the money - at least for things under 100 lbs.
Then I went to the gym to see how my scale compared to the gym's scale. My gym has a good doctor's scale in the main weight room, and then some $30 scales in the women's and men's locker rooms. These scales at the gym do NOT match each other - so I didn't feel I could trust either of them. The doctor's scale was PROBABLY right, but I HATE weighing myself in public!!! It's also right near the water fountain where anyone can come by and see how much you weigh! ugh!
My newly-fixed doctor's scale was 3 lbs. less than the gym's doctor's scale.
So, now I have a scale...but I have no idea how accurate it is. It says I weigh 9 lbs. more than I did at the end of my last cleanse - even though my clothes and measurements say I should weigh within 2 lbs. of my last weight. The scales in the drug store said I weigh 5 lbs. less than my last cleanse weight. The scale at the gym says I weigh 13 lbs. more than my last cleanse weight.

SCALES SUCK
Well, I'm going to go by this scale now. It's not so much the number that counts, as just being able to see how much you go down by.
I think this is probably more accurate than the $20 scale I had been using....which means that I started off weighing about 10 lbs. more at my top weight than I had ever realized I was. Well, wait...I can't even count that because I am used to weighing myself first thing in the morning without any clothes, and today I have weighed myself in the middle of the day, with clothes and shoes, and after walking around and lifting things (the scale and the free weights). I will have to weigh myself in the morning. It seems most likely that this scales registers only 5-6 lbs. more than my old bathroom scale. That's easier to live with.
My son just got on the scale and it says he weighs 15 lbs. LESS than he usually does!!

But now that I know how to fix scales, I wish I hadn't thrown that 1st doctor's scale out....I could probably fix it now, and then we'd have 2 to compare.
Oh BROTHER !!! I think I'm just going to have to go by how my clothes fit...and they're fitting JUST fine!!! I can button up my short short jeans if I lie down on the bed.... And I'm only about an inch away from being able to button them up standing up, lol!!

More from "As the lemon turns...." tomorrow.

[kaiakai]

Day 10! I keep going back and forth between wanting to stop and wanting to continue. I went grocery shopping today and loaded up on goodies that I could start eating in a couple days, but I think I will just take it by ear tomorrow. I also started some sprouts the other day that will be ready just in time, too. I figure I will go until my lemons run out, too (which won't be long, probably wouldn't even make it another whole day).

It's such a strange feeling.. how do you decide the *moment* you take that first sip of OJ? Heehee. Thinking about it makes me sort of giddy and yet anticlimactic all at once.

I managed to slip on something and fall this afternoon, hurt my foot pretty badly. It was the same foot that I hurt several years ago, interestingly enough.