*After The Cleanse*

[Nance]

WooHoo! I am beginning postMC Day 7. I am so grateful for the discipline the MC has produced not to go out and binge. Much of the time looking at BMC (Before Master Cleanse) food is tantalizing at first then, I think how sick it would make me if I indulged now, and how much more satisfying the new way is.

I've found that having 'training wheels' - writing out a menu no matter how simple - has helped tremendously. Afterall, I had a simple menu that Stanley wrote for me on the MC As I transition out of this thread into the Raw Food Challenge, I put my 'recipes' there. Oh, what a helpful BB this is!

I have generally been doing the grapefruit/orange juice combo in the morning, and introduced a tomato based soup in the early eve. Lots a water and dophilus. Oh, my splurge is a few dates for 'dessert'.

Yesterday, I started veggie juice with a carrot, beet, ginger combo. Yum, and very satisfying. I have a job making and installing signs, and yesterday was an outdoor day, in the sun and humidity, on ladders, the most labor like that I have done since the cleanse. Though I was dragging at times, it felt great to make it through. This is one of those experiences that will cause the '3 square meat and potatoes meals a day myth' to bite the dust as I go for the 30 day raw food challenge after the 7th. (Anyone care to join in over on that thread? )

I did drank the rest of my soup from the day before in the afternoon, which was not on my food schedule, but my energy output was triple what it usually is. (Now you can tell I didn't exercise in the MC.) More water and exercise are the next points of accountability!

Another CHEER of encouragement to those of you who have made it through your MC!

[mtmouse]

Yay Nance!

You're doing so great! I was going to post in the 30-day thread, but I'm not really doing 100% raw right now, and since you and some others are going to be, I thought it would be best for me to keep my story somewhere else!

Anyway, much to my dismay I did some serious overeating the past couple of days. We had guests Monday afternoon and overnight. I fed them all raw snacks in the afternoon, but cooked salmon and rice and green beans in addition to a salad and raw dessert. I managed to avoid the rice but did have some of the beans and a little salmon.

Then the next day I had a little omelet in addition to a delicious smoothie. And then that night I had a little cooked lamb. I don't have a real problem with the small amount of cooked stuff; I choose it carefully and keep the quantities down. But during the day I was really feeling the need to eat. Luckily, what I scarfed were raw sugar snap peas, watermelon, nori rolls, and raw crackers. But I didn't like the compulsive feeling much!

Anyway, my weight this morning was up only half a pound, and still down 3 from my final cleanse weight (down 9 from pre-cleanse weight), and today all the desire to overeat seems to have passed, so I'm breathing a cautious sigh of relief and sticking to raw and smaller quantities again.

Eating is definitely much harder than cleansing, LOL!

[Jennfoo]

But, but... I didn't eat 8 pounds worth of food on Sunday! Though I did drink lots of fluids. But, and, uh, uh... stuff's definitely already come out.

Clothes: not fitting so well in the ass/waist. LOTS of bloat/gas.

Wah! What is WRONG with me!

I need some advice or help super bad! I'm 3 weeks off my first MC. It was hard but my boyfriend and I did it. (yay) I have been veggy for 3 years. I came off the MC like I was supposed to. Everything seemed fine for the first week. Then the last two weeks I've been severely bloated after every meal. I mean like lower abdomen distended like I'm pregnant or something. I increased my water in take by double. I've tried trial and error with many different foods. After the cleanse I def. eat more raw and have cut out caffeine completely. I've always been lactose intolerant so dairy has always been next to nill in my diet. I'm a very active person. I run 4 times a week and bike on a track bike everywhere I go. I also do pilates 3 times a week. I'm used to having a flatter stomach and no retention. I have no idea whats going on. It's very discouraging. It's damaging my confidence in my self-image. I know my diet isn't bad but I'm starting to doubt myself. I've tried lots of herbal remedies like apple cider vinegar and various herbs for indigestion etc. Everything else digestion-wise is moving a long fine. My boyfriend is complaining of some bloat as well but not every meal like mine. The only thing I can do to make it go away is not eat.

Another thing that has gone wacky since the cleanse is my libido. I understood that to be normal during the cleanse. But now 3 weeks after it's still missing. I'm 24. It's not supposed to be missing!

I'm super upset about these things. They've kept me from feeling the benefits of the cleanse. I felt great on it but now I feel like I almost felt better before it. I really don't know what to do. I generally don't believe in western med. that much but I'm about to break down and go to a doctor.

Help.

**Update.

I went to a pharmacy and got some pills for gas and bloating. They were ok but not great the first day. Today was the second day.

My food intake included:

Breakfast: Bowl of Musli with soy milk plus soy yogurt with nuts
Lunch/Snack: nuts and water with some chocolate. I was at a water park all day so I didn't eat lunch. I hardly ever skip it.
Dinner- mxd grns salad w/ couscous, home-made humus, some raw sliced veggies, sauteed asparagus, whole wheat organic peta bread. For dessert a couple squares of chocolate with some raw cherries and some wine.

I ended up throwing up all night. I have no idea whats going on.

[Nance]

Eating is definitely much harder than cleansing, LOL!

You are so right! It sounds like you did really well with your splurge, no Snickers bars, or Rocky Road gallon of ice cream!!

It sounds like it came and went . . . how are you feeling?

I went all day with only one small glass of orange juice in the morning, a qt. of veggie juice (spiced for the 4th of July), and a couple bowls of tomato soup with the 'creamed' cashews.

My friend is just coming off his fast. He did 21 days water fast, then 10 days of MC. He actually gained 7 lbs on the MC. He wasn;t trying to loose any weight, so no worries. He made a wonderful drink with kefir and berries and natural ginger beer. I took a little taste and reacted to the kefir, got mucosy, and later constipated.

That is one of the beauties of this cleanse. As we re-introduce foods to our diet, we can more clearly see the ones that we are allergic to.

So MTM keep on keepin' on!

[mtmouse]

It sounds like it came and went . . . how are you feeling?

Not bad at all. The day went well and I stuck to my good foods and much smaller amounts that I am hoping will be my post-cleanse norm. I made Cornbleet's shaved beet salad with a creamy sweet mustard dressing that came (sort of--everyone here knows I never follow a recipe exactly, LOL) with my Vitamix books. I sliced the beet with my spiralizer into thin wafers, The salad was gorgeous and delicious and a nice new treat.

Sounds like you're doing really well too! We'll both keep on keeping on, LOL!

[Nance]

Just a note checking in . . . am hanging in there with juices and soups, only 2 days more. My digestive system has responded so well to the Daily Dophilus, I can highly recommend that to all post MCers.

MT that salad sounds beautiful as well as yummy. I look forward to using the spiralizer, what a concept!

[mtmouse]

Yep, for those on a tight budget, the spiralizer probably makes the cheapest big difference of them all!

[JustPlainME]

Has anyone used Ghee after the cleanse? It is purified butter, yes a dairy product but purified and used extensively in Ayurvedic Medicine/Recipes. Would a tablespoon a day be overly harmful? I know raw vegans use avacado quite a bit for fats as well as nuts, but I am not a nut person, well I am a "NUT" but not fond of eating them only because they are worse than potato chips for me. I was thinking once I get going on food, that if I made lentils on occassion for my cooked meal I would like to use Ghee as a bit of flavoring. Any thoughts on this?

[mtmouse]

JustPlainME,

I think it's your choice. Ghee doesn't really have the "dairy" problem since the lactose has been filtered out for the most part.

It is, however, still an animal product. And it's definitely cooked. So if you wanted to eat vegan or raw it wouldn't be appropriate. But not everyone chooses that route after a cleanse anyway, so it's up to you!

I'd suggest that you wait a few days after the cleanse to introduce it (or any other fatty food, like avocado or nuts), just because you don't want to wake up your digestion and shut it down immediately!

[JustPlainME]

Thank you so much mtmouse, I will do as you suggested and wait until I introduce nuts etc. I dont' know if I'd use ghee, just curious.

I think it's your choice. Ghee doesn't really have the "dairy" problem since the lactose has been filtered out for the most part.

It is, however, still an animal product. And it's definitely cooked. So if you wanted to eat vegan or raw it wouldn't be appropriate. But not everyone chooses that route after a cleanse anyway, so it's up to you!

I'd suggest that you wait a few days after the cleanse to introduce it (or any other fatty food, like avocado or nuts), just because you don't want to wake up your digestion and shut it down immediately! [/quote]