Healing Events

As my body detoxified throughout the cleanse, I had some symptoms that I felt I should share... I have learned these are called Healing Events. Essentially the symptoms are a sign of a change within your body. I figure you'd mostly have to GUESS at what the detox is doing that could be causing the symptom, but for most people it wouldn't be that hard to narrow down to a few choices.

1) I was midly headachey the first two days. I've heard that's the caffeine detox. I typically only have one cup every morning, with the exception on days when I work. On those days I MIGHT have a second cup either right before my shift, or in the afternoon. And never because "I need it". I'm a pretty high-energy person naturally...ask anyone who knows me. I don't have a caffeine addiction, I drink it because it's a nice ritual in the morning. It goes hand in hand with washing my face and brushing my teeth... Which is probably why my headache was so mild. I've heard some people say they had pretty strong headaches in the first two days - and it's probably because of all the caffeine they consume!

2) On the third (or was it fourth?) day, I had two canker sores in my mouth. I have had maybe 3 or 4 canker sores my entire life, so this was pretty shocking. I use a natural toothpaste that's SLS free (Sodium Laureth Sulfate - a chemical detergent that's on the EPA's list of "probable carcinogens, the same crap that's in cheap [and expensive] shampoos, and has been linked to canker sores). IDK what could have caused the canker sores. But I had 'em.

3) Bruise-like pain and very mild swelling in my right underarm. This was on my lymph nodes, I could feel the little bumps of them swollen up. My friend told me this was likely my blood cleansing, and that I should increase my water intake. I increased my water dramatically and massaged and dry-brushed the area. The swelling disappeared within a day, and the pain was gone in two.

4) Very mild swelling on my throat... the type of pain you feel before you catch a cold, on Day 7. It only lasted a couple of hours. I drank loads of liquids, and slowly started weaning myself off the lemonade - this was when I was feeling very weak. So I don't know if my body was on the verge of purging something big (which made my tired, weak, and cranky) when I quit the cleanse... but it is worth noting that I felt like I was developing a cold on my 7th day.

5) Extreme Brain Fog. This started around Day 4. It got to the point where I couldn't immediately recall yesterday's events. I'd actually have to really think, and really focus to remember what I wore yesterday, what time certain things happened, what Emery ate, if I ran certain errands, etc. It finally started to clear up yesterday a little, on my first day out. Today is my 2nd day out and I hope that it's gone. Luke's brain fog was so bad yesterday that he went to the mall to run some errands, and then he forgot where he parked the car. Yikes.

6) I broke out on my cheeks... worse on the left side than the right. To the point that I'm wearing foundation today to go to work. Yes, I'm a make-up artist...but I'm not the biggest fan of wearing foundation. Anyway, with all the water I'm drinking, my skin should be sparkling. Now that I'm slowly eating solids again, I'm loading up on probiotic rich foods and fruits, organic home-made broth... and yet my skin isn't glowing! My back and chest were spared, but probably because I took almost daily 20-minute soaks in epsom salts and baking soda. I shoulda splashed it on my face in the tub too.

All in all, the cleanse was very much worth the trouble. I am going to try for a proper TEN day cleanse in the fall. And we'll plan it to ensure there are no special days near the cleanse, so that nothing can interrupt it. Yesterday I said that I was craving meat, but I realized I'm not. I'm not really having cravings for any particular food at all. This morning I thought about having a coffee, only because I miss the taste, but I'm not really DRIVEN to go get one. I'd rather have a peppermint tea.

Another great aspect about this cleanse has been that I get to control the reintroduction of good bacteria to my gut. I have been very proactive about this, introducing three different types. I am using Bio-K+, unsweetened Kombucha tea (with the green stuff [chlorophyl?!?] added), and unpasteurized sauerkraut. I am spreading them out throughout the day to ensure my tummy is getting the probiotics all day long. I figure I am going to stick to the probiotics for 14 days

My weight has been steady at 110 lbs for the past two days. The lowest it ever went throughout the cleanse was 109(point)something. My friend Helena said that the Salt Water Flush causes you to retain a good 2 or 3 lbs of water, but this is weight you'll likely gain back. So I guess I'm due for another pound or two, which means that I lost a good pound of crap out of my colon. On one hand I'm disappointed I didn't lose more crap out of my gut, but on the other hand I know I eat a pretty healthy diet so I'm kind of not suprised that there wasn't more to lose. I've also heard that it usually takes a few Master Cleanses, and a really long one, to get the really deeply buried waste out.

Anyway, I'm rambling. So there you have it. A list of my healing events and my plans for the next little bit!

ALL DONE!!! First day out...

Okay technically, I kinda threw in the towel late yesterday afternoon, making it a 6.5 day cleanse. It just got to the point where my body couldn't do it anymore... even drinking the lemonade was making me gag. I don't know what caused it, if it was just because I was moody and grumpy, but I just couldn't do it anymore.

I only drank a cup or so of the lemonade, a peppermint tea, and loads of water. By noon or so, I felt so weak I couldn't even get me and Emery dressed. The thought of walking to The Big Carrot (about a km each way) and then back was enough to make me want to faint. I was feeling very weak...

So Luke stopped by the Carrot to grab my grocery list. As soon as he came home I started making vegetable broth...and when it was done I just had to have some. It was the yummiest thing I have ever eaten, I kid you not. It felt SO good to feel the nutrition going into me. I pretty much immediately had a bowel movement...and there was nothing solid in the soup. I had strained it all out, it was just broth. Weird, huh?

That strange bruised-feeling in my underarm has subsided, but it's very faintly still there. It's down to about 20% of the pain that I felt yesterday. I did massage it yesterday and made sure to drybrush it before my shower too.

I also drank some fresh squeezed organic juice, 16 oz of it. It was Orange/Carrot/Apple/Beet and it tasted so good! I drank it with lots of water maybe 1.5 parts water to every 1 of the juice.

I felt so much better going into the evening last night after a couple of cups of the broth, the juice, and all that water. Oh yeah, I also had a container of Bio-K+ the non-dairy one. There's 50Billion live bacterial cultures in it...

This morning I had another container of the Bio-K+ and I blended a drink of Orange Juice, 1/3 banana, 1/3 apple, and a frozen pouch of organic acai berry, which I then strained to get the extra fiber out. I'll also have an Epsom Salt & Baking Soda bath to help further detoxify my skin and head out to pick up some Kombucha (another awesome source of probiotics).

All-in-all this has been a pretty good experience. I can't believe I didn't eat anything for 7 days! You REALLY have to want it... I think the mental block is what prevents people from either doing the cleanse, or from succeeding at it. The first 4 days were so easy. Day 5 was a little tough because I felt some cravings, but day 6 & 7 were definitely the hardest. Maybe if I wasn't in such a foul mood yesterday I might have been able to muscle my way through the day, but I was just too weak to fight it.

I still can't believe all the junk that was continuing to come out of my body all the way through the cleanse. If the medical community wants you to believe that things CAN'T get stuck inside your body, how do they explain that I was still having bowel movements SEVEN DAYS after I stopped eating?

People have reported that they have no cravings for meats after the cleanse. Although I am not craving it RIGHT NOW, I have craved it, and I probably will eat it again in the fairly near future. I just can't imagine my life without it. I figure I'll just do another cleanse in the fall to detox my body. I go for Organic groceries as often as possible (about 80% of the time), but with the exception of eating out, it will be 100% after this.

Luke's on Day 4 today and he's already dropped almost 10 lbs! You can see a visible difference along his waistline and he's very happy about it. Today will be his last day; he's far too busy with work right now and he just doesn't have the energy to get through the day on the Master Cleanse. His work is very exertive, and on top of that he gets a powerful brain fog that interferes with his paperwork. Crazy, isn't it?

So back to me.. :o) Today will be loads of water, broth, fruit and juices. I'll probably make vegetable soup...if my tummy feels up to it, I will probably have it for dinner (lots of broth, very little veggies). When I grab the Kombucha, I'll pick up some melons to nosh on too... Mmmmm if only I could wrap my melons in prosciutto.... mmmmmm......

:o)

Day 7

Ugh...this is getting SO redundant. I can't believe I'm on the seventh day of not eating. I've been reading other people's blogs about how they don't even crave meat anymore, but I'm craving it just as much as ever.

My eyeballs had an orgasm last night watching that new Wendy's Bacon Blue commercial. OhMyLawsie... Yeah...I'm ready for food. But the worst part is knowing that it'll still be a few more days AFTER my cleanse before I can eat.

Anyway, I fully woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. I am grumpy, I am irritable, I feel short-tempered. Plus I have pain in my right underarm and it feels the tiniest bit swollen... but it actually feels like it's BRUISED.

So I'm massaging it lightly and increasing my H2O intake...

Also, I'm not doing the SWF this morning. I just don't feel like it. I just feel so... "meh". I'll just have a cup of extra strong Senna Tea... Besides (TMI WARNING) I had a BM all by myself this morning. lol. There's hardly anything there - but shockingly - there's still something there! CRAZY! I haven't eaten in over 6 days...WHERE is this junk coming from?

Oh, and my weight went back up to 110.0. Weird, right? I drank extra water yesterday and I'm STILL retaining it...

So... I'm outta here... hopefully I can shake this crappy mood and get on with my day.

DAY 6 updates...

At one point around 2pm I got a WICKED headache. Sharp shooting pains behind my eyes... it only lasted a few minutes. It went away by itself, but I made sure to drink some more water to help eliminate watever toxin was causing that.

I've got a few good sized pimples on my face. Only on my cheeks and jaw line. I'm thinking they're cleanse related too...

I got quite a bit of excercise today as Emery and I walked about the underground PATH downtown to the Eaton Centre, but I haven't really felt hungry! I've only drank about 5 cups of my lemonade. I've had 1 cup of peppermint tea, and 3 or 4 cups of water. I'm thinking I'm not as hungry because I am taking in more water. I figured the water in my lemonade was enough, but my friend Helena told me that I need more water - the purpose of it being to actually help remove the waste from my body. Well DUH, this applies every day, why wouldn't it apply now? Obviously I'm not thinking.

I still have a little bit of lemonade left (out of my 5 cup bottle) and I feel like it's probably going to be enough to get me through the rest of the day. I'll drink another cup or two of water, and later tonight as I'm watching The Bachelor (final episode - woohoo! who will he pick?!?) I'll have my senna tea.

I can't believe I made it through today. I was sooooo ready to throw in the towel last night, but I feel myself going pretty strong.

I even cooked up dinner for Emery - I made him some Vanilla Coconut Rice pudding. A perfect vegan rice pudding! I omitted regular milk for Coconut Milk. Yes, it's higher in fat, but it's sooooo tasty. There's extra for his breakfast tomorrow too so it's one less thing I have to cook! :o) I also made him Baked French Fries. They're still in the oven, and the house smells heavenly... Another beautiful vegan option. I covered them in SnP, Garlic Powder, Chili Powder, and other spices, doused them in olive oil, then coated them in flour before putting them in the oven. There's enough in the oven to feed a small army....I might have to give some to my neighbours! LOL... I feel I can withhold the temptation, but I worry about Luke! ;o)

Anyway, I guess I will post tomorrow! Today was a pretty good day all-in-all, except that headache.

Azadeh OUT :o)

Day 5 recap - Day 6 HERE I COME!

Yesterday was really hard. I really really wanted to quit. Preparing my son's lunch was no walk in the park...but his dinner is what killed me. It smelled like... HEAVEN.

Plus Luke started his Master Cleanse yesterday and pretty much immediately got a wicked good headache. And he was going on for most of the day about food. And about cheating a little (I replied with a firm "NO!"). Which of course got ME thinking about food. And about how much I missed it. And how amazing my son's dinner smelled.

Maybe it would have been easier if Luke wasn't egging the food conversation on, but nevertheless... it was hard. It took an army of friends to convince me to not quit. My rationale was "But I've already cleansed for FIVE days, plus it'll be another 3 days of coming out". But no... they weren't having ANY of that. lol.

My SWF came out clear yesterday. There were no floaties, nothing solid in it. So I thought... WOW, is this it? Am I clean? (which of course fueled my rationale that I can quit - after all, my colon was clean).

How wrong I was. After last night's Senna Tea, my insides were doing their mandatory night-long gurgling sounds and this morning before I drank my SWF I had a little Bowel Movement. I was shocked!!! How can I be having a BM when I haven't eaten anything in FIVE DAYS?!?!?!?

I just finished my SWF about 30 minutes ago, so I'm still waiting for it to make its way through... and I'm assuming that it will NOT be clear. I also weighed myself this morning... I'm at 109.2. I only dropped half a pound from yesterday.

I gotta head down to work for a quick 30 minute meeting this morning. I'm going to take Emmy with me, and hopefully he'll be a good little boy. After yesterday's tough go at it, I think I'll swing by the mall with him later too - I deserve a little bit of shopping! :o)

Day 5. Wow... Day 5!!!

I just finished my SWF a few minutes ago and I'm waiting for it to make it's way through.

Yesterday was a good day. I was a little bit tired, so I napped with Emery for over 2 hours! It felt good to get that downtime though. I only drank 7 cups of my maple syrup and lemonade concoction, 1 large cup of peppermint tea and a large extra-strong cup of senna tea. Oh, I also had another 2 or 3 cups of water...

I did have some food cravings, but they were pretty mild. I was only craving what was in front of me (Emmy's lunch - by dinner time the cravings were mostly gone).

My weight is down to 109.6, but that's not surprising considering there is STILL somewhat-solid waste coming out of me. The senna tea woke me up at 1:30 am to go to the bathroom AGAIN. Then I used the bathroom again this morning before my SWF.

I had some brain fog yesterday. I forgot stuff... Actually I forgot lots of stuff. Which is fairly unusual for me. This is obviously a detox side effect because this is not the normal me.

I'm breaking out a little bit on my face... it's hard to say if this is a detox side effect because I've been switching up some of my skin care.

So on top of detoxing my insides, I have also been adding baking soda and epsom salts to my bath water and soaking for 20 minutes. I have also been dry brushing to encourage circulation and movement of lymphatic fluid.

Luke started the cleanse today too. We worked him in with an all vegetarian, mostly raw diet for the past day. He had a nice big peppermint tea with me last night, and started his lemonade this morning. He'll only do it for five days, with a two day exit so we can both go out for Lauren's birthday and eat solid food without problems.

I've already picked up Pro-Biotics to help get my intestinal flora going... I just don't know at what point of my 3 day exit to start adding it... Day 1 with the OJ? Day 2 with the light fruits and veggies? Or Day 3 with the vegetarian soup?!?

Looks like i've got some researching to do...

Day 4 end of day update...

So I'm about to climb into bed... but I wanted to give a quick update. I drank a double strong cup of my Laxative Tea (I'm using "Flora" brand's Laxative Tea, which is Senna based) and before I even finished it I felt the urge to go!

When I bought my new box the homeopath at the store told me that if it didn't give me enough of an urge to go, I should steep it for a really long time. I told her that I always steep it for about 30 minutes to get the most out of the herbs. She told me that I could safely use 2 teabags at a time. So I thought "Ah, what the heck" and decided to try the two tea bags tonight.

I can't believe that it actually made me go! I always thought the purpose of the laxative tea was to help prepare the bowels for the Salt Water Flush and to help move the salt water out.... how wrong I was!

And I still can't believe it... I haven't eaten solid food in FOUR DAYS and stuff is still coming out.

crazy

Day 4 mid-day update

I'm kinda tired of drinking this drink... I want to EAT. SOMETHING. ANYTHING. But especially pasta. Pasta with home made meat sauce. That is drizzled with melted cheese. Yeah...

Oh that's what my son is supposed to be eating. It's what I made for him, and is sitting on the dining room table untouched because he refuses to eat it (those stubborn 2 year olds, I tell ya). And it's taunting me. It's teasing me. It looks so good. And it smells even better.

But I shall prevail... I shall sip on my lemonade... I will drink some water... I will ignore the blissful scent that is hanging in the air...

I laid down with Emery for his nap and I crashed HARD. I guess my body just needed the extra rest. The good news? We both slept for over 2 hours. The bad news? We missed a friend's daughter's birthday party! :o(

Well, we're gonna get dressed now to head out to the Big Carrot. We're running low on lemons and maple syrup... and Luke is going to join me starting tomorrow!!! WOW!

Day 4!

Because I did the SWF first thing in the morning yesterday, I figured I might as well continue to do it first thing in the morning. I was going to change it back to night time SWFs but this morning (like all night 2 nights ago) I could feel the gurgling and movement in my intestines and colon... it felt like my body was definitely ready to release, who am I to force it to hold on?

Drinking the 1L of Salt Water was the easiest yet this morning... I seasoned it with the juice of half a lemon, warmed it up, and chugged it through a straw. The last cup was still definitely the toughest, but I got it down.

I'm still waiting for it to make its grand exit. haha... but I only finished drinking it about 15 minutes ago. Before I even got all the Salt Water down, my body had an extreme urge to go... I thought "Wow, 5 minutes, this is a new record". But it wasn't the SWF at all... and you wouldn't believe what came out of me. How is this possible? I haven't eaten in over 3 days, I've done 2 SWFs... how is it possible that SOLID waste is still coming out of me? And so much volume!

It's amazing how the medical community tells you that food does not get stuck in your colon. That waste always makes its way out. But how is it possible that I had an evacuation like that today? I'm sure there are more to come...

So I'm thinking of cutting my cleanse short because my best friend's birthday falls on my first day out after the 10 days. At first I thought we weren't going to do anything for her birthday until the next week, but we haven't seen them since BEFORE we went to mexico and I miss her terribly. So I'm going to cut it short to 8 days, so I can have a proper 2.5 -3 day exit from the cleanse.

Yesterday was another fine day... I worked from 12-6, then we went to Luke's parents' place to pick up Emery. Luke's mom didn't know I was cleansing and made me her famous chicken salad sandwich. It was the only thing that I had looked at/smelled in three days that truly made me want to bite in!!! But I held off... sadly. It was the ONLY time I was sad I was on the cleanse.

I can't believe how easy it has been for me to say no to food!!! We had a little event at my store yesterday where we had a punch bowl out, chocolate covered peanuts, gumballs, and nachos... The girls perpetually smelled of nachos - lol. But I was easily able to resist! It's shocking to me that I've been able to resist...I LOVE food. I'm the first one to get over to the snack table to grab some munchies... but it's been really easy for me to say no.

I've had a friend report that Day 5 was really hard for her. Another friend said days 6 AND 7 were full of killer food cravings... So I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop!

On another note, I weighed myself, and I was UP to 112.2. Weird, eh? How can I have gained weight from the day before? haha...

So I drank my SWF about 30 minutes ago now... I'm going to go make my lemonade drink now. I think I want it extra spicy today! A little extra cayenne for me! Ay Carumba!

Today is Day 3 - UPDATES...

Yesterday was a breeze... I worked from 10-6, and maybe that kept my mind occupied. My goal was to drink one less cup of the lemonade mix. I made 8 cups to take with me to work, and I figured I'd make another 2 when I got home.

Well we ended up going to see Avatar in IMAX 3D...tickets had been IMPOSSIBLE to score and we finally managed. So I decided to have a very large mid-day mint tea which helped keep my tummy full. I only had the 8 cups of lemonade and I wanted to save about 1.5 or 2 cups of it to get me through the movie.

How wrong I was.

Maybe I had crappy 3D glasses... or maybe I'm just sensitive to the 3D, but I got a wicked headache behind my eyes and I felt super queasy (to the point of salivating, you know that thin saliva you get in your mouth right before you throw up?). I was so worried about throwing up on the people in the movie theatre that I stopped drinking my lemonade. Not that I felt hungry... I was just feeling soooo sick from the movie.

It was an awesome movie, btw, and I think I want to see it in regular movie format again - I don't think I'll ever go to a 3D movie again... not even to see you, my dear Johnny Depp, in Alice in Wonderland.

Anyway, we left the theatre and I couldn't even talk... we came straight home, where I passed out on the couch, fully dressed, with (gasp!) my make up still on.

So I decided to do my SWF this morning. I got up at 6:30 am, made my 1L of salt water, added some fresh lime juice to it, and guzzled it up. I still haven't evacuated the salt water...and it's been about 30 minutes! It came right out last time! WEIRD. Hopefully I got all the measurements right and it's on its way! lol

I weighed myself this morning and I've lost 2.5 pounds in 2 days... I started at 113.8 and this morning I was 111.3

I haven't really had any food cravings so far. I helped a couple of customers yesterday who had lunch or dinner with them, and it smelled heavenly... but I just gotta keep reminding myself that it's only 10 days and I'll be eating again very very soon.

So far so good... I'll keep updating! Happy Friday everyone!

AAAAND...I survived the Salt Water Flush

I dreaded the Salt Water Flush all day long.

I didn't really have any food cravings today and the lemonade really does taste great. I enjoy the heat from the cayenne pepper, the maple syrup had a rich deep flavour, so the lemons didn't taste so...lemony.

But all day long, the SWF was nagging in the back of my mind.

The last time I tried the SWF (last January) I quit the cleanse on my first day. It was unbearable.

Today was still very difficult. But I had a little bit of guidance that helped me through it. I heated up 1L of water on the stove then added ONE LEVEL TABLESPOON of natural, non-iodized, sea salt. I stirred until all traces of salt were dissolved. I added the juice of one freshly squeezed lime to it, and guzzled. It took 11 minutes. It was hard. I used a straw. At one point I thought I was going to throw up, so I went to the bathroom... the feeling subsided a little, so I thought "Ah, what the hell" and guzzled what was left of the salt water (less than a cup).

I laid on the cold bathroom floor on my right side (I read somewhere that laying on your right side, helps to release the fluids from your stomach faster) and within a minute or two I could hear my stomach making gurgling sounds.

Within about 10 minutes, my body started the elimination process which lasted about 45 minutes (off an on). The first few runs of evacuations had visible mucous in them. Amazing!

The SWF is so very tough... tomorrow I will double up on my senna tea and skip the SWF. I'll do it again on Day 3. Unless I have no eliminations, even with the help of the senna tea - then I'll do the SWF.

Today, I got to stay home with my little guy. Tomorrow is going to be a hectic day as I work from 10-6, but I have to drive my son (in rush hour traffic) to his grandmother's house, then come back into the city to go to work... it's going to be hectic tomorrow and I hope I can keep everything under control, and keep myself relaxed.

Anyway, we're just watching the Russia-Canada game and I drank 1 cup of herbal Tea (Celestial Seasonings' SleepyTime - I love this stuff! It's not organic, but I didn't want to dig through my unorganized tea stash!).

So far, so good... I can't believe I made it through Day 1 unscathed!

DAY ONE! Here we go!

Okay... so here I am... halfway through Day 1. I've already consumed over 7 cups of my lemonade. I switched things up a little bit this time by using a different Maple Syrup. My local health food store (The Big Carrot, to you locals) stocks a fresh, local Maple Syrup that needs to remain refridgerated at all times - so you won't find it in the aisle with cereals and the other maple syrups. This stuff is darker, less sweet, but the flavour is soooo much more intense. It makes the lemonade a beautiful experience! And licking the spoon is so much more fun! :o)

I haven't had any real food cravings yet today. Although at one point when my son was eating his cheddar cheese goldfish, the smell was intoxicating. LOL!

I know that night times are the hardest for me when it comes to snacking... even after I've maintained a healthy diet all day long, the urge to snack overtakes me in the evenings. Which is probably the reason you'll never see my abs again. LOL! They're hiding under a layer of snack-fat. ha. If only I could conquer the late evening snacking impulses.

So yeah, I feel as though tonight I will truly have to face my demons, being unable to snack. And the salt water flush. I'm a bit nervous about it, because it's what made me quit last time. My friend Helena said she did 1 tablespoon in 1L of water and it worked like a charm. I dont' remember exactly, but I feel like I used way more salt than that last time! Yikes.

Anyway, so things are going swimmingly today. Later tonight, it might be a different story! Send positive vibes my way, because I know I will need them!

Update #2 Pre-Cleanse

So on Sunday night I ended up at the movies with Luke. And after all that healthy eating (!!!) I had some popcorn and coke. Sigh... Yesterday I ate pretty healthy. I did have a coffee in the morning, lots of fruits and a salad. Dinner was a little bit unhealthy, mostly because I hadn't had time to buy this week's groceries! Yikes...

So today I ran out to pick up some groceries - mostly organic fruits and veggies, as well as some foodstuffs for Emery. He obviously won't be doing TMC with us as he's only 2! lol... The hardest part about this cleanse will probably be the food preparation that I'll have to do for him.

So today I picked up a whole lotta organic lemons and local maple syrup. This stuff is so fresh it has to stay refridgerated! Cool, huh? I've never bought maple syrup that needed to stay refridgerated - not even for our last go at the cleanse. The store was sold out of organic cayenne, but I'll have to double-check the pantry; I feel like there's some here!

The cleanse starts tomorrow... Luke will join me a couple of days in - he's sick right now and can't handle the additional stress of the cleanse. He hasn't been sick in AGES so it's a pretty big deal for him. Poor baby.

I will eat nothing but raw fruits and veggies for the rest of the day. I may close the day off with freshly squeezed juice from the organic juice joint down the street, but I haven't decided if I want to head out into the cold again...

I'm going to do my Salt Water Flush at the end of the day. I remember reading somewhere that it's okay to do the SWF at the end of the day if you don't have the time to do it in the morning...

Wish me luck, y'all!

Leading into The Master Cleanse. Attempt #2

Wow...has it been a year since my ill-fated attempt at The Master Cleanse? Well I'm going to do it again. This time I'm going to muscle my way through the Salt Water Flush (SWF) and do it for 10 days, as that is the minimum number of days the book recommends.

I am preparing my body and I am preparing mentally. Today is Day #1 of my pre-cleanse. I don't have an exact start date for the Master Cleanse, but I know it will take a few days of preparation before I cut out food entirely.

I ate like I normally would yesterday...though I did have more junk than usual last night. I had made up my mind to start the pre-cleanse today so I think I figured I might as well have one last hurrah! LOL.

I had 2 cups of coffee this morning, and Luke brought me a greasy-spoon breakfast. I only ate half of it (1 egg, 2 sausages, half a slice of bread). I've since had 1 glass of water, but I'm on my way out to stock up on a few essentials for the next few days.

I read about a detox program called The Apple Detox where you literally eat nothing but organic apples (everything but the stem) for 2 or 3 days. Chewing on the seeds feels gross so I'm swallowing those whole! I won't be eating just apples leading into the cleanse, but I'll eat lots of apples... probably at least 3 or 4 a day. So I'm on my first apple right now, as I type...

Before my shower this morning I also did my first ever Whole Body Dry Brushing, using a wooden brush with natural bristles. It took a while, about 10-15 minutes, then I washed with my organic liquid soap (I LOVE Dr. Bronner's line of organic, fair trade, liquid soaps). I turned my water from warm to cold three times to get my lymphatic fluid going, and moisturized head to toe with my natural body cream (Verbena Custom Blends on Etsy.com makes the BEST all-natural, from-scratch body creams) and added a tiny bit of Castor Oil to help my skin detox. I rubbed my thighs with my home-made cellulite oil (which I hope to soon be selling on etsy).

I haven't worn anti-perspirant in well over a year. I use one of those all-natural "crystals" which is made of Alum or something like that... I sweat, but I don't smell. I feel anti-perspirant is dangerous..but that's a whole 'nother blog! Anyway, it's one less chemical/toxin to remove via my internal/external cleanse.

I'm going to stock up on Epsom Salts, Baking Soda, and Raw Organic Apple Cider Vinegar today. I'll be using all three (at different times) in nightly baths to help my skin detox. This is going to be a part of my pre-cleanse, and a daily part of my Master Cleanse. If I'm cleaning my body from the inside-out, then I should be cleaning the outside too, right?

My friend Helena just successfully completed a 14-day Master Cleanse. Another friend Kristen is in the midst of one now (Day 6, I think?). You two are my inspiration. I know my body needs a good thorough cleansing. I am a little bit afraid of the salt water flush. It was sooo hard the first time for me, and it was very difficult for Luke too. Though I must admit, I think I waaaaayyyyy overdid it on the salt. Helena says 1 level teaspoon to 1L of water. I think I may have done 2 TABLESPOONS of salt to the litre of water. Yikes...that's like 4 times too much salt.

I am hoping that my pre-cleanse will encourage Lucas to do the Master Cleanse with me. I am in need of strength to make it through the pre-cleanse and to start and finish 10 days of the Master Cleanse. Please send me your strength vibes and positivity and support... I need everything that I can get to get me through this because I know it'll be a difficult task to accomplish.

5 RULES FOR HELPING IRANIANS ON TWITTER

1. Change your name and location to Tehran and change your time setting to GMT+3:30. This will provide cover for the Tweeters in Tehran.

2. If you have proxy IP numbers to contribute, keep them private. DM them to @stopAhmadi or @iran09

3. Use only #iranelection or #gr88

4. Use your common sense to sniff a tweet for Iranian government misinformation - try and find corroboration before you retweet. Here is a list of FAKE IRAN TWEETERS http://twitspam.org/?p=1403

5. Never name a source. Simply relay the information from an Iranian source using F/Iran at the beginning.

Can't do it....

... I can't finish the cleanse.

I'm a little disappointed in myself, but that Salt Water Flush killed me. I thought I could handle it, but I was so wrong. I was so prepared, I read a lot, I had everything in my house that I would need for the cleanse...

But I just wasn't prepared for it.

And on top of that, Emery usually gets to bed at about 7:30 - 8:00 pm, so for us to start the flush at 8:00 pm and spend the next 2 hours intermittently running to the toilet is too much for me to bear!

Luke says he will tough it out. I made his concoction this morning in a big 1.5L bottle and sent him out with another 1.5L bottle of water. We both drank the Laxative Tea this morning before he went out.

I still haven't had a bowel movement today. It blows my mind because yesterday the only bowel movement(s) I had were with the Salt Water Flush. Luke had three throughout the day before the Salt Water Flush. Does that mean there's more junk in his bowels than in mine? Or does it just mean his colon is reacting better to the Laxative Tea than mine is? Or is it some other random reason? I have no clue...

I had a shot of 2 tbspn lemon juice, 1 tbspn maple syrup, and 1/2 tspn of cayenne this morning. About 30 minutes ago I had an apple. I have a 1.5L bottle of water (6 cups) that I'm determined to go through today. I will still have the Laxative Tea for the next couple of days as I slowly re-introduce foods.

I'll head out later to pick up some organic veggies to make my own veggie broth, and some extra fruits, veggies and salad ingredients for coming off the cleanse.

Helena said the salt water flush gets easier. I can't imagine that it does. I can't imagine wiping out while surfing and swallowing all that water. It was so disgusting. ((((shudders))))

I guess we'll see. Luke is carrying on, and will do the salt water flush again tonight.

Salt Water Flush - OMG!!!

Oh.
My.
God.

I think ONE DAY is all I can handle of The Master Cleanse.

The Salt Water Flush was disgusting. Drinking it was awful. It made me gag. It made me feel sick all over. I was literally shuddering. I drank it through a straw, trying to hold my breath and take gulps through the straw...

It was awful.

And before I could finish my FOUR CUPS of Salt Water, I suddenly felt the urge to go.

Helena gave me a few words of wisdom: "If at any time you feel the need to fart, DON'T!!!! Run to the toilet". And boy was she ever right. It felt like gas coming on, but once the evacuation started - it was like peeing out of my bum. Pee. Bum. Yeah. I said it.

And just after you were done. Wiped, flushed, washed your hands. Head out the bathroom. Sit down on the couch. Then run back to the toilet to do it all over again. Except this time I'd hang out for a few more minutes. And just when I thought I was done, I would wipe, flush, wash my hands, and go into the living room.

Only to repeat the process. I've lost count. But it's been a good 10 times now. It's been over an hour since I first started!!! When's this gonna end?

And I'm sooo thirsty. I've downed three cups of water already.

I'm seriously thinking about quitting.

My head aches. My butt's sore. And I'm STILL thirsty.

Day 1, Part 2

We just came back from taking a stroll through the Eaton Centre. It's pretty much the only place that's open today and we just wanted to get out for a little stroll without freezing our asses off.

Luke lost the parking chip, so we had to pay the maximum amount for parking. $30. Yeah. $30. I feel violated!!! We were only there for like 2 hours.

Anyway, back to the cleanse.

We're surprised we've made it this far through the day okay. I think it's mostly because we're trying to NOT think about food. We are sporatically hungry, but it's usually sated with a couple gulps of the spicy lemonade. But then you get hungry again a little bit later... it's a vicious cycle.

And it doesn't help that I have a baby who is, obviously, not cleansing with us! :o) I have to prepare his meals, pack his snacks, and feed him.

At about 3 pm I got a killer craving for Goldfish. Yeah. The cheesy crackers. In general I am craving Carbs - like wheaty, baked goodness carbs. Crackers, Bread, you know what I mean...

Sigh... And we're not even through Day 1 yet.

And I STILL have the Salt Water Flush to look forward to! Yikes.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

So today we start the cleanse! ACK! Nerve-wracking!!! :o)

But first let me tell you a little more about what happened yesterday. We stopped by The Big Carrot and picked up the Organic Peppermint Tea and Laxative Tea. They also have a juice bar so we picked up an organic detoxifying juice. There was Carrot, Apple, Cucumber, Ginger and Lemon in it. Wow, it sure had a zing to it!

The amazing thing with juicing is that because there's no fibre holding it back, it gets absorbed immediately into your bloodstream and you feel AMAZING. It takes away your hunger, it gives you energy and vitality. Who's that juice guy in TV again? The really old guy who totally belives in juicing... anyway, he's not lying!

Yesterday I ate a ton of roughage... a TONNE OF IT! Lots of veggies and some fruits. Lots of salad with home made dressing - the dressing was great, I'll have to post the recipe. We decided to "go out with a bang" by having some organic popcorn dressed with a light spraying of organic sunflower oil and Celtic Sea Salt. It was so good!

So here we are. January 1st, 2009. The first day of our cleanse.

This morning we woke up. Luke's been hacking up a lung as we're both still fighting a cold (Emery has it now too). I was amazed to discover 2 things. 1) I only needed to juice 5 lemons to get the 2 tbspns per glass (We both have 1.5L bottles - that's 4 cups) - therefore I needed 24 tbspns of lemon juice. 2) 12 tbspns is half a cup!

I filled up our 1.5 L bottles with 1/2 cup of freshly squeezed organic lemon juice, 1/2 cup of Grade B Canadian Maple Syrup, and 1/2 tspn of Cayenne Pepper.

Right now we're sipping on our laxative tea that we'll have every morning. Then we'll have our drink throughout the day. And after that, we'll have to do the salt water flush. That's the part that scares me a little... I'm afraid of peeing out of my bum! ha! I said it.

Okay, well I wish everyone a happy and healthy and prosperous New Year. Can you believe it's 2009?!?

Last day of pre-cleanse

So today is our last day of "pre-cleanse". After doing our research, we learned that "going out with a bang" is not the way to start a cleanse. Yesterday we were entirely vegetarian (it would have been vegan, had I not made a honey-mustard sauce to go with our steamed potatoes) and the potatoes were our only cooked meal.

But at about 8 pm last night, I faltered. And I had a Bounty bar. It was so good. SO good. I felt a little guilty about it, just a little. But it's okay I figured. It's only the pre-cleanse and a chocolate bar won't kill me.

Today we are entirely vegetarian and raw. I'm running out for some errands so I'll stop at the organic juice bar up the street and I'll grab us a couple bottles of various squeezed juices to get us through the evening. It'll be our "champagne" for midnight! :o)

We're not doing anything at all for NYE. Just hanging out at home, curled up on the couch, watching a movie. That's about it!

I'm currently sipping on my last coffee for the next 2 weeks. I made a nice double espresso, added some maple syrup for sweetness and topped it with fresh boiling water for a nice Americano. I can't believe how good it tastes without milk or cream!

I still have to pick up some senna tea as our "laxative" tea. I don't think we're supposed to take capsules of Cascara Sagrada while we're on the actual cleanse.

It looks like we're going to do our first salt water flush tonight. I'm excited and really nervous. Do I sip it or do I gulp it? It seems if you gulp it, it may make you vomit. Maybe I'll fast-sip-it through a straw? IDK. I haven't decided, but I'll surely write about it! :o)