Reprazent

Day 4 and Still Cleansing

Yep.  Day 4 of the Master Cleanse.  I'm still truckin.  It's not as bad as I thought it would be.  There's no grumpyness as long as I keep drinking the lemon-maple mix.  Keep the sugar up and I'm good.  It is still very difficult to see others eating or to smell food.  My smelling senses are extremely heightened.  Thursday night Sarah and I went to see Ben Folds at Providence College and people had popcorn... oh my god!  What I would do for some hot buttery popcorn right now!  Well maybe salty (not buttery) popcorn.  There, that's better.  The concert was great (heard my favorites - "Army" and "Kate"). 

I do, however, feel a bit loopy from time to time.  My mind seems to wander greatly.  I forget things here and there.  Definitely noticing the psychological effect of not having food on the brain.  But on the other hand, it has a certain calming effect to it which is nice. 

Report on Ms. Sarah... she started the cleanse with me but during the night of Day 2/morning of Day 3 she had to stop.  After drinking the Senna Tea earlier that night, she had to get up in the early morning to go to the bathroom.  She made it there but after she left the bathroom she fainted.  And that was it for Sarah.  No more lemon cleanse.  Her body was telling her to stop.  She was pretty disappointed that she couldn't stay on with it but in the meantime she has found a different cleanse (a juice cleanse) to stay on the same cleansing track.  Now she is doing great.  More calories and more choices (she hated the lemon maple mix) and she's been fine.  I still can't believe we have both gone four days without solid food!

The best part of the cleanse has been the realizations that I've been having about food.  Firstly, sometimes food is such an automatic thing.  We eat three times a day (sometimes six times if you do it right) and most of the time we don't think too much about what we put in there.  Coming home tired for work and it's mac n cheese or something quick-to-cook.  Today I was at the bank and the lollipop jar looked more appealing than ever!  It made me realize that I would never usually think twice about putting one of those sugar-on-a-stick candies in my mouth.  Secondly, I've been having some pretty crazy dreams.  Now I know what Jesus was doing in the desert.  I've been trying to do the lucid dreaming deal but no luck so far.  Here's my favorite book on the subject:

 

Lastly, during the cleanse, I have vowed to eat more healthy... too try to eat organic when possible... local and sustainable too... I'm going to start cross checking foods with the pesticide list that my friend Dave Brown (he's running for State Rep in Louisiana!!!  GO DAVE!) has recommended.  If you know anyone in Louisiana, have them vote for Dave Brown.  Vote for Brown, He's Green!  (lovin the slogan!)

That's about it for the cleanse news.  Today we had a yard sale at the house.  I sold my ancient Tascam 4-track recorder and a couple other items.  :)  I'm digital now, baby!  lol.  The weather was great but the people were hot and cold all day.  What is up with the drive-bys???  Can you really see everything that I am offering at amazing prices if you creep by the house in your Jeep Grand Cherokee at a speed of .5 miles per hour?  Apparently these yard sale experts have superman (or wonder woman) vision.  I'm jealous.  Wait a minute.  No I'm not. 

And the Coachella update is coming soon (I promise).  I still have to get those pictures uploaded!  I just woke up from a refreshing nap and it's time to head to a cinco de mayo parties at Meg and Dave's and then Jordohn's house.  No eating or drinking for me but it will be great to see everyone.  :)  Congrats to Evan for passing the NY State Bar (I knew you could do it!) and props as well to Jesse and Forest who both passed the NY and MA State Bar Exams!!!  Hasta luego.

Day 2 of the Cleanse

OK.  So here we are at Day 2.  I already had 4 glasses so I should easily make it to 8 by the end of the day.  Sarah (my master cleanse partner in crime) had a tough time drinking the mixture yesterday (apparently it is too sweet for her taste!).  She has now reverted to eating the components separately.  I don't get it.  I'm lovin the stuff.  :)  Which is weird because we both predicted that I would be the one with headaches and grumpypants.  Hopefully this lasts for 10 days because everything has been fine for me.  No headaches, no problems.  Well, my last trip to the bathroom was interesting but I would rather not discuss.  Let's just say that I have passed the solid stage and entered the "liquid zone".  Yummy. 

Today was very difficult just because of the fact that I had to attend a networking luncheon.  My group meets every Thursday at an amazing chinese restaurant.  Their food is delicious and highly aromatic.  I was dying to take a taste of the hot and sour soup and the veggie fried rice!!!  Oh well... no pain, no gain, right?  Sarah has to get food for her office event today... I'm sure she is in equal pain.  I'm continuously planning my first solid food meals.  :)  Onward to day 3!!!

Disclaimer from my last post:  Apparently Evan is not crazy.  Spirulina is a wonder food! 

UPDATE:  We're going for 10 days of the master cleanse here.  Last night we drank some Senna Leaf tea (a natural organic laxative).  We were supposed to do the saline rinse this morning but we're waiting til we have some time to ourselves at the house again (maybe next morning).  Chugging a quart of saline water is a sure way to flush everything out!!!  Yikes! 

Put the Lime in the Coconut and Drink Em Both Up!!!

Day 1 of the Master Cleanse.

OK... so... how do I start this?  Well.  Firstly... there is this thing called the Master Cleanse.  It is touted as the best way (organic, cheap, effective) to clean out your intestines.  Why?  Well the benefits are numerous and range from increased energy to weight loss.  The most intriguing aspect of the cleanse is that it has crazy healing powers.  Basically, the energy that is normally directed towards converting all of the proteins, carbs and fat from our foods into usable energy is redirected towards getting rid of toxins and healing various parts of the body that may be experiencing pain.  There are countless articles, journals and even video-blogs about this stuff!

How did I find out about this?  Well a friend of mine, Evan, has spoken about the subject a couple times.  I think he was on a detox cleanse the last time we went camping in the Berkshires.  However, Evan was the guy that drank spirulina (blue-green algae) shakes which he carried to 8:30 am classes at law school, so... needless to say... I didn't take much interest in his latest forays into health-food-superstardom.  My latest read "Eating Well for Optimum Health" (Andrew Weil, MD) indicates that the blue-green algae craze is a bunch of bunk.  Don't get me wrong, Evan's a great guy but I thought my lacto-ovo-pesca-vore diet suited me just fine n dandy, thank you very much! 

Enter Bryan's (my roommate) friend from the West Coast, Dave.  A couple months ago, Dave visits Team Raph (my house has a name by the way -- oh, and a myspace page!) and he starts spewing all of this knowledge about the Master Cleanse.  Apparently he did it and the experience was wonderful!  Joint maladies subsided and he felt an amazing energy increase.  My interest was piqued.  Sarah (my lady) and I vowed to try the Master Cleanse... how bad can it really be?  I do love lemons!!! 

So how do you do it?  Well that's pretty easy.  You drink 6 to 12 8-ounce glasses of lemon maple water a day.  Basically 8 oz of water, 2 tablespoons organic fresh squeezed lemon juice, 2 tablespoons of pure organic (Grade B) maple syrup, and a pinch of cayenne pepper (or to taste).  The lemon juice is the acid that removes all of the nasty build-up from the interior of your intestines.  Supposedly you eliminate some alien-looking stuff over the master cleanse 10-day period.  Most people lose 10 pounds!  The maple syrup is there to keep your blood sugar up.  It also contains essential vitamins and minerals.  The cayenne keeps your metabolism and body heat up.  That's it.  A weird lemonade/maple mix for 10 days.  No problem.  :) 

So here we are.  Day 1.  It's about 5 PM and I haven't had anything since the sushi Sarah and I devoured last night.  We ate a bag of chips too just to splurge!!  lol.  I have finished 3 glasses of the wonder brew.  Sarah reports four glasses downed and she's on her way home from work.  She had a mild headache.  I have no problems to report yet.  I'm not even hungry!  I do think about food from time to time (at the normal eating hours of breakfast, lunch) but so far so good!!!  OK... now for trip #3 to the bathroom.  How does that phrase go?  Something about race horses and yellow liquids?  More about this later...