Newbie Doing Master Cleanse...

[SweetieDaul]

Hey all...I've not posted before, but I feel like I know some of you from my extended lurkdom! lol...I'm 'new', having been trying to incorporate raw foods but not totally committ for a while. But, I've now come to one of those defining moments. I -know- this is what my body is telling me is best for it. And I -know- I need to take care of myself now before I become even sicker.

All this is mind...I started a master cleanse yesterday (yes, using the Master Cleanser lemon aid I've read about here). I'm feeling surprisingly good today! I thought it would be much harder than it's been, truthfully, and I'm realizing just how much of my eating was emotional rather than a physical hunger. I did add a little too much cayenne for my taste...so I'm having trouble getting enough of the drink in, but...I'm getting there.

Basically...this is post is just me asking for some support and encouragement along my path. I am not committing to any certain time period for the cleanse right off..I've never even fasted before so I don't want to set myself up for failure. I'm feeling pretty good at 1 1/2 days and pleased with myself, and I'd like to go the whole 40, but I don't want to beat myself up if I can't. I have a lot of weight to release, and I'm hoping this will be my jumpstart to healthy living! Okay...I -know- this is!

Thanks for listening to me ramble!

Daul

[IamLoved]

Hi Daul,

Welcome to this board. I am glad that you decided to post after lurking. You will find a lot of love and support here.

I think it is wonderful that you have turned to raw foods. It is a wonderful healthy lifestyle. I love raw foods. I do want to warn you a little bit about the master cleanse. I speak from experience.

I switched to raw foods in spring of '05. I was 100% for 5 months and lost 56 pounds and felt great. Then I fell off the wagon and went back to SAD foods. I struggled for the next year on and off with raw foods. At one point during that struggle I decided that enough was enough, I wanted that extra weight off yesterday and so I was doing the master cleanse (MC). So I did it for 30 days and I lost 23 pounds and felt great. I was very proud of myself for accomplishing it. I still am. 30 days is a long time to go without food, and I learned how much I was eating out of boredom or some other need, or desire.

Here is where my caution comes in. After I went back to eating raw foods, after the fast, I gained all the weight back again, and then got discouraged and gave up again. I don't want that to happen to you! I truly believe thatt he best way to switch to raw is to just eat raw. No fasts, no starvation, no tricks, just raw food. I don't want you to try it, get really hungry and say forget it and not do raw foods at all. When I did the cleanse I had already seen wonderful things happen with raw food only so it wasn't too hard to get back on the wagon so to speak. I am just afraid for you. I want you to succeed on raw foods.


Even Alissa talks about this in her book, how we should just eat raw foods and not fast. Don't get me wrong, I believe in fasting, it is a wonderful cleansing tool and a very good idea, but I think you need to get into the raw food first and really establish yourself before jumping right into an extended fast.

I hope you don't take this post in the wrong light. I really do want to see you suceed in this. Please continue to post here and let us know how you are doing.

[IamLoved]

By the way, there are a lot of other people that have done the MC, and not gained back all their weight so it goes both ways. This is just my experience. There are a lot of posts on the MC if you do a search you should find quite a bit of information.

Good luck

[Dann]

Good luck and hang in there. At some point you may feel like crap and want to quit. Its so worth it not to give up. I just finished my first ever 40 day cleanse with a few bumps in the road but I made it. I started at 235lbs and finished at 198lbs. Once the initial shock and weakness wore off I worked out like a fiend 5-6 days a week. I have since transitioned to raw foods and am still dropping weight not nearly as fast as on the cleanse but I'm still shrinking and feel like I'm 10 years younger. I'm 43.

I'll be ready to do another cleanse after the holidays. Probably not 40 days but certainly more than 10 which according to the book is the minimum.

Push yourself like ya know ya want too! ;)

[SweetieDaul]

Hey girls, thanks for the replies! :)

Loved: Thanks for your inspirational story, and the warning. My issue with starting raw before has been...cravings. For some reason, mentally, it's harder for me to stop myself from falling off the wagon and indulging at the moment if I'm eating..just one piece of bread, junk, whatever and I'm back to eating poorly again. My idea with the Master Cleanse was to readjust my body and my attitude to help me deal with those cravings, even when I have them. After disciplining myself to give away -all- food cravings for however long, I figure afterwards it'll be easier to give away just the bad food cravings and stick to my yummy raw stuff!

So far as the weight..I won't lie and say I don't hope to lose a lot of weight. Thanks for the warning not to anticipate that it'll stay off...I'm kinda trying to prepare myself for that mentally. Rationally, I know that I won't necessarily sustain any weight loss I'll achieve during the fast, and I'm not -really- fasting for the purpose to lose so much as for the reasons above. Now, I also know myself..and there -is- a little part of me that is ecstatic at the weight loss so far and terrified it'll come back. I'm hoping the cleansing benefits and knowledge will help me realize that I'm doing -something-, and if I just ditch it and go back then I've got no chance to go down in weight. That was long-winded, I hope it makes sense..lol.. Really, thanks for sharing your experience. It puts it to the front of my mind to be prepared for whatever my body decides to do.

Dann: Thank you so much for the support. :) Last night was sooo hard, but I made it through. I felt really emotional and lonely and needy and was having a hard time thinking, feeling light headed and airy. I figured that's my body getting rid of detoxing, but man..that was difficult. And I made it through!! If I only do 10 days this time (considering it) maybe I'll join you for a longer try after the holiday! :)

Thanks again girls, the support -really- helps me keep on committing to this.

Daul

[Blazin'Jane]

Dann, what book about MC? Can I get it from Amazon? I take it it was helpful to you? I haven't tried any sort of a fast yet, and want to read dome more about it before I do.....

[RawHeaven]

Thanks for the warning not to anticipate that it'll stay off...I'm kinda trying to prepare myself for that mentally. Rationally, I know that I won't necessarily sustain any weight loss I'll achieve during the fast, and I'm not -really- fasting for the purpose to lose so much as for the reasons above.

Hey Daul, it will stay off if you're eating raw afterwards and gradually ease into eating solid food, break your fast carefully, etc. Like you, I wasn't only fasting for weight loss, I also needed to heal certain areas of my body. But I did lose 45 pounds and I lost 5+ more eating raw foods. It all depends on your unique body, but just wanted to share I kept it off and then some! Everything is possible. :) More power to you and best wishes with cleansing/detoxing.

Peace,
Crystal