Wednesday, August 19, 2009

The Master Cleanse - The After

Ok, so I know this is about 3 million years late, but better late than never right?!

I finished the cleanse on August 1st. On August 2nd, I had some freshly squeezed orange juice first thing. It made my taste buds tingle - not even kidding! My mouth was so excited to have something different to taste. I was also allowed to eat oranges, but honestly I am not a fan - even 10 days of not eating couldn't make me crave an orange. So, I ate about 5 pieces of bacon - don't panic! Each piece was about a square millimetre. Next, I had a few raspberries. Oh my - they were ever so yummy. For lunch I had some vegetable soup broth with SALT. Woah! Flavor city! Not the texture I was craving, but good nonetheless. I had some skinny sticks in the afternoon and they were WONDERFUL! Dinner came around - I was feeling fine so I ventured out and ate a seafood wrap with fresh vegetables and yummy fish for dinner. I ate about half the wrap before I became super stuffed. My stomach had definitely shrank over the 10 days.

As for before and after - there was quite the difference. I lost 10 pounds, and a total of 4.5 inches off my body. I felt great after the cleanse. The first day that I had coffee (a very small cup mind you) I was buzzing around cleaning like a maniac. This it not like me - I generally feel sluggish all the time because of my sleep disorder.

My 'stomach' issues were thought to be cured, as I had NO symptoms after doing the cleanse... until...... this past Saturday I had a pretty bad attack. It was a very stressful and upsetting day so I believe that is what triggered it. It didn't last for very long, but it was VERY painful. My sleep has been a bit better - but not even close to where it should be. I still need work on these areas.

For interest's sake, this is what I purchased/consumed over the 10 days:
-40 lemons. That's right. 40!
-2.5 litres of real maple syrup

Therefore - the cleanse isn't super cheap - especially considering the cost of lemons these days. If you are planning on doing the cleanse at any point, I would recommend buying organic lemons - I found small organic lemons had much more juice. They were also the same price as regular lemons. Buying real maple syrup at the market saved me a TON of money. It's costs twice as much at the supermarket - which was a surprise to me.

So! Overall I enjoyed the results of the cleanse. I would do it again, and next time I think I will do 14 days instead of 10. I feel I could get better results this way. If you are planning on doing this cleanse please ask me questions - I now have so much advice to give since I have done it.

But who's kidding who - it was HARD. :)