Master of My Domain

Jae and I like to do it at the same time; it helps and it's more fun. Now, we are going head to head, so to speak, to determine how long we can go without indulging. So far, it's been three days and I'm teetering on instability. I've told Jae that I can't wait to watch her go first. Okay, now that I've adequately tantalized you, I'll come clean (no pun intended). Of course, I'm talking about our latest attempt at the Master Cleanse, a 14-day diet of consuming nothing but a liquid concoction of water, lemon juice, maple syrup and cayenne pepper. Go to http://mastercleansesecrets.com/step3.php to read about it and get the recipe. It's designed to rid the body of the toxins and undigested food that store up in most of us due to eating processed foods and consuming proteins and carbs simultaneously, inhibiting digestion. Jae and I are doing it together; it's our second attempt in six years. We both believe we should do it more often than this, maybe even twice a year. There are varying opinions visible on the web. I've been too distracted to make entries on the first two days, but here's what they would have looked like had I done them:

MASTER CLEANSE, DAY ONE

I am not the most eager, but I'm going to see how long I can go. First time, we wound up making it two days before we decided to add a morning protein shake to the regimen. This time, we've decided to go for 10 days. I probably should have psyched myself up more for this, but so far, I've had a little hunger in the first part of the day, but I seem to be doing okay without food. I even had to drink a bunch of the lemonade late at night because I hadn't gone through it during the day.

MASTER CLEANSE, DAY TWO

Today is the first day of adding the morning salt water flush to the routine. Go to

http://www.cleansingorsurgery.com/saltwaterflush.htm

to read about it and get the simple recipe. Basically, you add two teaspoons of coarse sea salt -- not table salt -- to 30 ounces of water, and drink it down. Warm water dissolves the salt better, but do what you want. You will want to stay in or very near a restroom for about an hour. Do this every morning that you're doing the cleanse.

I felt a little nauseous after drinking the salt water, but that's normal. The rest of the day went pretty well, except I felt so weak and lightheaded that it made concentrating on anything difficult. This might not be the most practical thing for someone who really needs to be mentally sharp the whole day (i.e. most of us). But I shall not falter.

MASTER CLEANSE, DAY THREE

Headaches usually fade by day three, and sure enough, the headache that I felt the first two days have dissipated. Today, I'm just hungry. I went shopping today to buy food for Kylie: fish sticks, bananas, macaroni and cheese, blueberries, a bunch of other delicious stuff, but I was okay. And cooking for her and Sammy (medication to curb his recent itching may be giving him diarrhea, so I made him chicken, rice, carrots and fish oil for dinner) wasn't so bad. Biggest problem is the unconscious impulse to pop stuff in my mouth while I'm working with food. Day three, I'd say is going okay, but man, we're not even near the half-way point yet. Too early to be thinking about the finish line. Maybe I should think more about my basic motivation: getting back into the kind of shape that will make Jae (and others) want to...well, that's for another blog.