Meatless in Miami: A Master Cleanse Diary, Part Two

Click here to read part one of the Master Cleanse diary.

Lemonade Day 6

I skipped the tea/saltwater today because I stayed up too late and had early meetings to attend.  I’m going to free yoga at Bayfront Park later which will be interesting because usually after a hot, sweaty yoga class I want to eat everything in the whole wide world.

More than anything I feel like the cleanse is affecting my social life.  Each time I’ve been invited out to eat, I’ve either said “I’ll meet up with you later” or just skipped it.  I’m definitely excited to be able to have lunches and dinners and and drinks with people again.

[Later]

It rained so I didn’t go to yoga (it’s outdoors) and instead did some stretches and exercises at home.  I still have plenty of energy despite not having eaten solid food for the longest period since I was an infant…

Lemonade Day 7

The saltwater wasn’t even a thing today. Amazing how easy it is to get used to something new.  Transitioning into veganism last year was way easier than I anticipated and this cleanse is proving less of a challenge than I expected, too.  I truly thought I’d be in a fetal position, hallucinating cupcakes and hating life, but instead I’m just cruising along with my bottles of liquid ammo.

I’m a light social drinker and already don’t do meat, dairy or cigarettes.  If I did indulge a bit more, I would’ve absolutely spent the recommended couple days (or weeks) leading up to the cleanse phasing those things out instead of jumping right in.  To go into this cold turkey from a variety of vices would definitely be harsh.

Lemonade Day 8

Yesterday I didn’t drink enough lemonade, so today I plan to be more

diligent about that.  There are only two days left after today, and I am

really excited to have a “clean slate” to start with. I’ve been trying

to eat as much of a whole foods diet as possible.  I love spicy food

and happily haven’t missed it because of the cayenne, but I will still

be very excited to go buckwild on a bowl of guacamole and some tofu

scramble once this is all done.  Needless to say, I haven’t been reading

much Short Order or my veggie blogs this week, it doesn’t make me hungry

so much as “homesick” for the comfort of it.

Lemonade Day 9

Still didn’t “juice” enough yesterday as I was busy as all get-out. 

Makes me wonder how I had the time to purchase, prepare, and eat food,then do

the dishes — and still get all my other work done.  I’ve also noticed

that the garbage bin in my kitchen hasn’t needed to be emptied in a

while; it’s just about a third full of lemon halves and tea wrappers.

Lemonade Day 10

So I did end up going out to a bar again last night (Kill Your Idol on

Espanola, awesome place), and I woke up today with what I can only

describe as a “noise hangover” since I didn’t partake in any libations. Today’s the last day and I’m so excited.  I don’t drink that much to

begin with but I’ve been craving a glass of red wine, and I’m already

planning my first meal… If I hadn’t

anticipated the end of this so much, I probably would’ve kept going to

day 14.

Ease-Out/Final Observations

Here it is, I’m done, I frickin’ did it!  And now, it is OJ time.  I

have passionately loved orange juice my entire Floridian life,but still

have never, ever been as excited to sip some.  You can

also ease out with veggie soup, so I just made a huge pot with a ton of

organic carrots, onions, cabbage, turnips, garlic, potatoes and more.  You

can even dip rye crackers in it – joy!  For the next few days, I’m

supposed to take it easy, transitioning back into my usual diet over a

few days, but I plan on jumping the gun just a little bit.

All in all, over the last 10 days I felt fine, dropped 11 lbs, my head

cold disappeared, and I could function at my usual high level the

majority of the time.  I probably should’ve taken it a little easier

work-wise, but I didn’t really have a choice so I scaled back where I

could and just made sure I was prepared for the rest.  Taking naps here

and there definitely helped.  

I had way less to “get out” than I anticipated, which made me happy

because that means I’m getting enough fiber and veggies in my diet; I’m not storing anything I don’t need.  My belly is flatter than

it’s ever been and all my clothes are practically a size big on me at

the moment.  I’m sure a little of the weight will come back but that’s

fine.

The funniest part of this was people’s reactions – everything from “I

could NEVER EVER EVER do that” (which I had said previously myself) to

“that’s completely insane” to “I’ve been dying to try but am too much of

a wimp.”  Either way, more and more information has been coming out on

calorie restriction being good for your health, and I found it an

overall positive experience.  It makes sense – digestion takes a huge

amount of your body’s energy so why not give it a break once in a

while?  I will definitely be doing this on a yearly basis from here on

now that I’ve mastered the cleanse.