Living on Lemonade: The Master Cleanse

Hi Pals! Sorry for being MIA. Let me explain myself…

On Monday, January 4, I took the plunge at attempting to detoxify myself from all of my delicious feasting and other not-so-healthy eats from the past year. [Critical Note: It took some tough thinking to decide whether I would divuldge this information to the world on my blog for several reasons: 1) I do not want to promote dieting, fasting, or starvation, 2) I do not want to be known for doing anything unhealthy to my body, 3) I do not want those of you struggling with EDs to follow in my footsteps.] However, the reasons for sharing this with you won: 1) I want my blog to be an honest depiction of my life, through the healthiest and not-so-healthiest of times, 2) I want to be able to look back at this journal of mine in the future and see what limbs I have gone out on in favor of my well-being, 3) This cleanse could be beneficial to some of you.

The cleanse I did is called the Master Cleanse, also known as the “lemonade diet”. I did the cleanse for 2 whole days (the original diet is 10).

For 2 days, all I put into my body was lemonade, decaffeinated green tea, and Smooth Move Tea. I did not follow the cleanse to a T by any means, so if you are interested, please check out the website, or even better, the book(s). I basically drank 32-48 oz. of lemonade every day, 1-2 cups of decaffeinated green tea, and 1 cup of (chocolate) Smooth Move Tea before bed. I chose the Smooth Move Tea as my herbal stimulant laxative of choice, rather than the Salt Water Flush. On Day 3, all I consumed was 8 oz. of pure pomegrantate juice, 2 cups decaffeinated green tea, and 1 mini Green Monster:

1/2 frozen banana, 1/2 cup almond milk, 1 cup fresh spinach

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Lemonade Recipe

8 oz. room temperature water

2 T maple syrup

2 T fresh lemon juice

~1/16 tsp. cayenne pepper

[source]

Results & Insights:

1. I quickly realized (Day 1) that hunger is just as much, or possibly more, of a psychological need as it as a physical need. Eating is a huge part of my day life, so it was a challenge to erase all food/cooking thoughts from my mind.
2. I had a lot of energy! Although my net calories each day was close to none, I felt awake the majority of the day.
3. The number on the scale dropped 5 pounds (my lowest weight in 2 1/2 years).
4. The only ‘side effects’ I encountered were a couple slight headaches.
5. My love of food and writing about it (this blog) shined though even more. I can’t explain how hard it was to refrain myself from not writing a post (except I had nothing nutritional to note), while still reading about all your beautiful, healthy meals and lives.

If I haven’t mentioned before, I am not a competitive person, or an intense person for that matter, so I had no intention of completing the 10-day cleansing process. I simply wanted my body mind to get a taste (no pun intended) of living without food, to connect with the true feeling of hunger, and to hopefully eliminate waste stored in my body. If any of you are intrigued, please do the research on the Master Cleanse yourself; do not mark my word or actions ; )

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I am happy to announce my exercise “log” (I don’t really have one) for 2010 is full. When I am healthy (no cold or injuries), I aim to fit in physical activity every day.

January 1: Run – 40 minutes

January 2: Treadmill – 45 minutes + strength

January 3: Run – 65 minutes

January 4: Treadmill – 30 minutes + strength

January 5: Run – 55 minutes

January 6: DanceFit – 60 minutes

January 7: Run – 45 minutes

January 8: DanceFit – 60 minutes (I plan ahead.)

How are your exercise goals shaping up?

I hope you now understand my unannounced leave of absence. I am looking forward to sharing with you nutritious & delicious eats from here on out…

Best,

~ Hillary