Article by Wendy McCance
After four full days, I have finally had my fill of the Master Cleanse. I know this is disappointing news. I’m sure it would be so much more inspiring if I wrote that the cleanse was easy, I look and feel terrific, I could drink the master cleanse concoction all day long and I wish to continue forever living this way.
I have to say, I’m sure every now and then I might do the cleanse for a weekend. The first few days were eye-opening. I felt really good and had a lot of energy. The problem was that after a few days, even though I was eating some fruits and veggies, the first half of each day was easy, but by dinner time, I was famished. I had to eat some real food. Yesterday was the worst. I tried so hard to chug that drink whenever I felt hungry, but I was miserable by dinner time. I decided to go big or go home and really ate a meal. I had pot roast, mashed potatoes and gravy and peas. Thankfully I didn’t feel ill afterwards. I did feel full and content though.
Overall, I’m glad I attempted the cleanse. I learned a lot. I’ve never tried a diet or a cleanse and the process opened my eyes to the intense willpower people who succeed must go through. I’m impressed, envious and in awe of the power some people have over their bodies.
The best thing that came out of the cleanse was that I did look and feel better. It made me aware of how I had been eating and what I’d like to change. I want to continue to concentrate on eating more fruit and vegetables. I also want to limit the amount of sugar and carbs I put into my system.
I can honestly say there were two factors in my downfall. The first was that I really did need to be near a bathroom and after a while, I felt I couldn’t get through a typical day very efficiently. I felt this was just too disruptive to the schedule I juggle each day. The second issue was the hunger. It didn’t feel good. The first half of each day seemed to be such a piece of cake (excuse the terminology here). By 4 pm, I was ravenous. It didn’t matter how much I drank or what fruit or vegetables I ate. I was horribly hungry and I just couldn’t get past it. I was simply miserable.
I wish I had some profound words of wisdom or at least a better story to tell. I hope that if you are working on your health that you have substantially more success than me.
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Wendy McCance
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Health is not achieved through contrived diets. It’s achieved through common sense.
I think what is most valuable in all of this is that you really wanted to do something healthy for your body. In my opinion, that is not done with one stop shopping. We often have to try many different things to find what works for our body. You learned what you liked and didn’t like- that makes it successful in my book;)
Vicky
Vicky, I love the way you look at it. Thanks so much. The encouraging words are wonderful.
I’m really interested… I’d been wondering if I could do it because of all the sugar in the maple syrup… I find sugar is the worst for my arthritis…
I know the 4pm energy dip… an Ayurvedic healer I went to was emphatic that we should have some carbohydrate at that time of the day as the body needs it for energy… so I do! Just a biscuit and cup of tea!!!
That’s so interesting that what I experienced is a common phenomenon. I do have to say, this morning I woke up feeling worse than I have in a few weeks. Stiff, sore and not much energy. This of course was after eating all the things I felt I had deprived myself of yesterday. Talk about eye opening. So, now I’m aware that I definitely need to tweak my diet a bit to feel my best.
Well at least you attempted it which is more then I can say. as I said I have never wanted to try a cleanse
That is true. I did learn a lot, so I feel like it was overall a good experience to have.
Wendy, you should feel proud of yourself for attempting the Master Cleanse and for the days you did stay on it. We are so hard on ourselves. Pat yourself on the back and maybe the right diet will come along that will keep you healthy and stop the cravings. I know I could not give up food all together.
Thanks so much. I do beleive that I need to focus more on raw foods and get away from the sugar and processed junk where I can.
You made it exceedingly further than I ever could. In fact, reading about this made me quite hungry. You’re stronger than you think! You’ll make it all the way through on your next try!
Thanks so much for the kind words.
Your body was simply telling you that it wasn’t right for you. Good for you for listening … and sharing. We are proud of you.
Thanks Amanda.
I totally agree! What we all need (myself included) is a ‘Live-it” (not a Die-It) program to follow.
I live quite near one of the five “blue zones” in the world where people are the healthiest and live the longest.: Loma Linda CA, specifically the Seventh Day Adventist community here. They are vegetarians, and there is a real focus on raw foods as well.
I’ve been thinking about you, Wendy, and your fibromyalgia. It must be really disheartening to feel so much better initially and have more energy, and then feel so weak and famished.
I’m thinking a personal nutritionist (preferably one with knowledge of foods and their relationship to fibromyalgia could be a great resource for you.
You are an incredible person : wife, mother, realtor, writer, and you accomplish so much even with your illness, Give yourself a BIG pat on the back for that!
I wish you WELL.
Thanks so much. I really appreciate your thoughts on the subject. Like I mentioned to another person, I realized I was on the right track when I woke up stiff and sore this morning. I ate the foods I felt I had deprived myself of yesterday. I’m more aware now that I was on to something when I got rid of the sugar and starches.
I’m glad you shared your experience with the master cleanse, I have tried a water fast a couple of times and run into the same thing you do, I get so hungry and light headed I find myself grabbing anything quick and easy to eat. I have done a couple of weeks of raw eating and feel so much better when I do, the problem is that no one else around her eats that way and it starts to bother me, I want what they are having. You may want to give raw foods a try for a few days and see how that makes you feel, even the people around me notice that I am not as stiff moving when I can stick to it even after only a couple of days.
Yeah, raw foods does sound more my speed. I swear, now I understand why diets don’t work. I just want to eat everything. Especially chocolate and grains. As long as I am not hungry, at least I am controlling the urge to eat a lot and eat bad foods.
Chocolate and grains, my downfalls too. I love pasta, rice….but those things really aren’t all that good for me and I feel the effects afterwards. I do find a piece of fresh fruit will work wonders when I want chocolate.
I wish fruit did it for me. Maybe if I just have a small square of chocolate….
I did the master cleanse for about five days, and it was pretty okay for me. I was in massage school at the time, and it was a bit hard at the end to feel like I was giving as good of a massage as I would with some real protein in my body. One of my problems with it was that I felt like I was on a constant sugar high from the syrup.
Glad you got something out of the cleanse!
One thing I tell people sometimes when they talk about doing a cleanse is that it’s good to talk to someone who practices Chinese Medicine or Ayurveda beforehand. Everyone’s constitution is different. For some people, a raw food diet feels great. Usually those people are more pitta. For someone who has an out of whack kapha, the raw food cleanse can make it worse because those things can be dampening. It’s good to talk to a professional to find the right type of cleanse for your body type, that way you know that you aren’t just putting something that’s out of balance under even more stress. That’s my opinion, anyway
Jennifer, thanks for your comment. It would be fascinating to hear from someone practicing Chinese Medicine to see what would work best for my body.
You just never know about something until you give it a try. I applaud you for staying with for as long as you did.
You just never know how it will go unless you try. I applaud you so staying with it for as long as you did.
Thanks.
Oops - to clarify - it was 4 weeks total - 2 weeks raw & 2 weeks MC.
I am very familiar with the Master Cleanse. It has its place and one has to really be in the right mindset to accomplish it. Longest I have gone was 14 days. I did one week of raw foods then the MC then ended with one week of raw foods. I felt wonderful. The hardest days are days 3 & 4 that is when the cravings are the worst. If you can get over that hump, then the cravings go away and the next time you “crave” solid food will be for simple, earthy, raw foods. That is a good sign that the body is finished and it’s time to get healthy solid food back into your diet.
Huh, if I had only made it one more day. But even so, I hadn’t done the cleanse properly from the beginning. It’s great that you were able to accomplish such an extraordinary feat.
You can do it. Sometimes it takes a few attempts to make it over that hump on day 4. But I kid you not, all food cravings stop by day five. I find it harder to do when I am dealing with any stress because the body requires more protien when we are under stress. The MC gets a bad rap, but again, it has it’s place. I’m glad you gave it a go!
Thanks so much.