Help! Help! Help!

[MusicalRawLady]

So, I started the Master Cleanse diet today...basically a juice fast.

It is my first time ever doing it...I want to transition into eating raw, but wanted to do this diet first in order to lose some weight and make a clean slate for my new raw food lifestyle.

Well - I start a few hours ago...and all I want to do is eat! Bad things! Cheese! Eggs! Bread!

OMG the cravings are SO BAD!

What do I do? I'm so horrible...I have no will power...but I know I want to do this master cleanse thing.

Ugh. :(

[Frugal Raw]

Hmmmmmm...I don't know if this will help you, but whenever I fast, I do it in honor of those in this world who have nothing. It's a space continuum sort of thing - hoping that me doing without will somehow put food on someone else's plate who would have otherwise had nothing.

As for the physical side of the cravings, drink water - many times a sense of hunger isn't really hunger at all - it's really thirst.

With any fast, know that the first 3 days are the roughest. Once you get past that, listen to your body - it will tell you when to end the fast. Do not ignore it - doing so often results in binging on things counter-productive to what you've just accomplished. Come off of it easy - move to smoothies, to green smoothies, then to soft raw foods, then to any raw foods.

Best of luck and raw health to you!

[lavendarJ]

This sounds harsh, but you might have to "tough it out"...take a nap, go to bed earlier (I had to in the beginning of my fasting days long ago-go to sleep or put my bed clothes on early to not go out and buy some late night junk)...I have learned to appreciate sacrifice and suffering since then; it is a part of the process in my opinion...

have to pray, have to hold on (tight) and try your best to ride it out (sometimes all the positive thinking in the world, support from friends or whatever will not work..some days it's all on you). See it as an experience, recognize that the cravings are natural and to be expected....don't see it as a "pass or fail" ..

Frugal made excellent points in the last paragraph...typically past days of cleansing or fasting, I no longer have hunger and my mental clarity is booming and I can go on forever....often, the mind is the biggest battlefield

Here's a Hug ...http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/36/36_1_67.gif (http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb001_ZNxmk762MSUS)...You can do it

[MiahTay]

I have struggled with binge eating since my preteen years. I did a twelve day juice fast the end of last year and as soon as I came off it, I ate everything in sight including cooked. As I have read more I have learned that people with any eating disorder must give MUCH thought to any fasting because it can lead us right back to where we don't want to be. So, for me, I am using raw food to loose weight and clean myself out and maybe in the future I will be able to fast but for now, it's not healthy for me to do anything more than a day. So, even though it may be a quicker method to loose a few pounds, really consider if it is right for you at this time. But I do agree the first three days are the hardest and for me after the first three days my hunger disappeared.

Best of luck!

Blessings,
Heather

[MrGreenJeans]

make sure when you break your fast that for the first day you eat stuff that will really make you go to the bathroom like prunes and easy to digest fruit and vegies. DO NOT EAT cooked potatoes or cookies to break the fast! That will bind you up! Some people have died from ending a fast on that stuff.

[Aleesha Sattva]

i fast alot and i did do two back to back juice feasts to come into a raw way of living. that said... yup it's tough. but hey, aren't you tougher? it's just your mind after all... feeding you crap about how it wants to stay addicted to unhealthy garbage... so you have to take the 'healthy' part of your mind and tell it to bugger off!

the biggest challenge for me when i first began fasting was to break my addiction to going to the fridge or pantry and stuffing food into my mouth. once i broke that... it became much easier.

much easier. if you want some added support, come join us in the fasting thread here (http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?t=43263). and perhaps read this thread (http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?t=41394) in it's entirety for inspiration.

picking up some books on fasting always helps as well.

[lavendarJ]

I just wanted to add that -in my opinon - the MC is a cleanse, shouldn't be used for dieting purposes..really have to be in sync with why you wanna do it in the first place....it's also not a requirement or prerequisite for the raw vegan journey...just wanted to add that...I like it because it is an intense cleanse and for someone like me who has a pre-raw history of chronic constipation-it really helps to loosen and flush out built up toxins...

As far as loosing weight goes...I followed Alissa's simple philosophy of "just eating" and ate more fruits, veggies and nuts daily than I probably ever have in my life ... I'm free from measuring, counting calories ....all the things I associate with dieting. I lost the first 40lbs in just over a month and then about 5-10lbs weekly thereafter...the weight came off so fast that I got a little scared (and I know we are all different)...All I did was eat, 6 or 7 times a day and every 3 of 4 hours depending on what i was eating...I could not believe that after all the years of dieting, trying out the latest pills and gimmicks that all I had to do was EAT FRESH FRUIT AND VEGGIES AND NUTS...Some people don't believe me, think I'm holding out, but all I did was to "just eat" like Alissa suggested......Yesterday was my 2 year anniversary of beginning this journey (will probably post something later) and I am grateful for being in the know...

Sorry for all the digressing....Just know that you are blessed and you need to define this journey for yourself and relax...you are stronger than you know..I can't tell you what is best for your transition to raw....as you read the various post on here, you'll see that we all have unique stories and that's the great thing about this,

[JEN]

Sometimes it is easier to just eat raw first and then fast (if you wish) later. I would suggest starting on raw with lots of green smoothies so you dont end up binge eating on cooked foods. After you have been eating raw for a while then try fasting. That has worked best for me. After about 3 months of eating raw the weight came off. I didnt have a lot to lose but it came off easily just eating raw. I fast for deeper cleansing now and spirituall growth. Green smoothies will help get some greens into your body fast and keep you satisfied as far as cravings go. If you really want to fast right now just do 1 day a week and slowly add in a second day and third day as you progress into eating raw. Best of luck to you!!! Enjoy the journey!!

[RawSinger]

Yeah, personally, I would eat raw first....for a while. If you were on the SAD (Standard American Diet) before beginning your fast, it seems like a very extreme transition. Even if you were a vegan before this, it's still pretty extreme (not that it can't be and hasn't been done, but it's very hard). Eat raw first. Don't make things too hard on yourself. Fast when the time is right. Don't worry; you will lose weight and cleanse your body just by eating raw. You don't have to clean out first. Just my humble opinion.

[smoothiegirl]

I concur. I would go raw first and get used to that. Then cleanse if you want to. I found that my first montn of raw left me feeling clean. Now I'm looking into doing some deeper cleanses later. I lost 17 pounds my first month of raw. If you been on a heavy SAD diet w/little fruits and veggies, doing the cleanse could be kind of rough. Let raw take care of it then do your cleansing.:) You also might want to make a slow transition. Do what your body tell you to so it won't rebel.