Master Cleanse Journal – Day 1

May 11th, 2009 - filed under: The Food » Food Styles
img_0238

"Sing to me muse, of the rage of Achilles" - Homer

 

Hoo-boy!  And so it begins.  I’ll probably keep this short, because I do NOT feel very well right now.

It’s a shame, too, because last night I was feeling so good.  I had a lovely last meal of a homemade burrito, delicious molasses cookies, and icy IPA.  I read an inspiring book, chatted with friends, and stayed up a little too late just for fun.  I even scrawled the opening line of the Iliad across my bathroom mirror to serve as inspiration on this journey (that’s Tom Waits in the corner, but he always lives there).  And so, I went to bed feeling so positive about this.

And then I woke up.  Almost immediately, I felt cloaked in negative thoughts, so much that I wanted to cry.  Instead, I pulled myself out of bed and prepared my first SWF, all the while trying to figure out where all that sadness was coming from.

One of the most enduring outcomes of my last cleanse was working through all the emotions that came up.  When people talk about releasing toxins, it’s not just the physical they’re referring to.  A lot of deeply buried, unexpected emotional distress can surface in this process.  It’s so healthy to work through that baggage, face it, and let it fall away.  But you sort of have to go through hell in order to get there.

Today I just felt burdened.  I was able to get my stuff done – I exercised for the first time in 10 days (we’ve had a lot of house guests), I walked the dogs and ran some errands and did some writing.  But I’ve been carrying a splitting caffeine headache with me all day, and it pretty much prevented me from getting any actual work done.  I kept napping just trying to escape it.  When the headache subsides, I’ll be free to dig in to this melancholy.  Until then: deep breathing, turning inward, moving forward.

So far today no fuzzy tongue or teeth.  One small BM.  Quite a few thoughts of food, but nothing I’d call a craving and no real hunger at all.  Just the unconscious thought surfacing “I should eat black beans”, and the conscious response “Nope.”

Okay, nappie time again.  Love to you all, and the best of luck!

sign-off

  • Kelly

    Hi there!
    I have thoroughly enjoyed perusing your website and it has been especially interesting since I started The Master Cleanse for the first time ever. I am on Day 6 today. Good luck your second time around! For me, with any fast/clease/detox, the second try is always more difficult. Hang in there.

    Kelly

    PS. I admire your creativity and respect your vegan farming lifestyle! :o)

  • Donika

    Good luck to you Say! I’ll be joining you when I can :)

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com Sayward

    @ Kelly – Aw, thank you! That’s so awesome that you’re at day 6 (7 now I suppose). I hope it’s going good for you – sounds like it is! Hope to see you around the site. =)

    @ Donika – Thanks lady. And when you do, you know I’ll be your personal cheerleader!

  • Amanda

    Reading your cleansing journals has inspired me to start the Master Cleanse. I’m on day 1 today and am having far different results than you’ve recorded here. The human body is a unique and wonderful entity, ah. But thank you for being open and especially for sharing your emotional work. I hope your second cleanse served you well!

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com Sayward

    @ Amanda – Oh, good luck on your cleanse! Let me know if you have any questions or anything. I’m totally here if you need! It’s an amazing experience, and I hope it goes well for you. =)

  • Amanda

    Hi Sayward, I do have question: So, I messed up today…. and I’m afraid I might be bad some more (too many social activities! and no support). Should I continue the diet, doing the best I can and eating every other day or so, or abandon ship and go raw? Also, I’m beginning to wonder how healthy the Cleanse is, but I don’t know if that’s the food demon talking in my ear! :>

  • Amanda

    Oh, also: what are your thoughts on drinking kombucha during a cleanse?

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com Sayward

    @ Amanda – I would definitely *not* recommend eating every other day on the cleanse. This is basically just ‘not eating’ every other day, very different than cleansing and not very healthy at all! =)

    I can’t really advise on deviations from the cleanse, but I would never attempt an every-other-day approach. Burroughs designed this specifically to work in a very precise way. 10 days is best, I’d say at least 3 minimum to get any effect. Kombucha will hit the belly like food, and send the body into ‘eating’ mode. This is not what you want and will make your trial much more difficult, as the body will never go into ‘fasting mode’ if it’s expecting food. As well, the kombucha will just be flushed away, so any benefit of ingesting it will be lost (this is why you don’t take vitamins or probiotics during the cleanse).

    Good luck on your journey! Don’t worry about it too much. Maybe now is not a good time for you. It’s okay – you can always revisit in the future. =)

Subscribe to my RSS feed Follow me on twitter Find me on Facebook Find me on Pinterest