Day 21 - Mastercleanse - 13th December 2004

It's now 11 days since we quit the diet/detox/prayer vigil. How are we different? Julie reports that she has not been so hungry since we finished. I agree with this. I think your stomach gets used to being less full and therefore you feel more complete with less food. At the same time you are perhaps more cleansed and able to digest more efficiently. Therefore you would not require so much food to obtain the same energy.

This sounds like a good idea but is probably rubbish.

My digestion is certainly different and I am suffering with some constipation most probably because we used laxatives for so long the body has adjusted to this level of elimination. I must drink more.

Talking of drinking; I had gone for 15 days without a drop of alchohol. Then we had a lunch time engagement with some friends at a local restaurant. Julie and our friends got there first and Julie ordered a beer for me! Can't believe she did that. Perhaps what is worse is that I drank it! That of course was the start again. Since then I have actually gone out and bought some wine and beer. Only, of course, because my Mum was coming over. But I certainly don't crave a beer like I used to. I can take it or leave it. I have developed a taste for orange juice and cloudy apple juice.

I have put back about half of the weight I lost (16 pounds). Julie had done the same but she only lost about 12 pounds during the diet.

All round, we would both say that we have developed a greater understanding of our relationship with food. It is no longer something we consume without thought. I believe that the whole process was very nourishing to us both (if I can use that word?). It was something that we did together and there are actually very few things we do together. It was something that we supported each other in and encouraged each other. And it was something we were both pleased to have completed.

I don't think we would have maintained it for the 10 days if we had not been using it as an opportunity to pray. Diverting the feeling of hunger and the longing for food in this manner (not manna) not only made the sensations bareable but gave the whole excercise a purpose. For without this I am not sure we could not have dreamed up a good reason to do it. That we may have benefitted in the long run is simply a bonus.

If you want the book go here: Mastercleanse Book. I haven't got it and never read it so I can't comment. Other than a friend who said it should be taken with a pinch of salt (not literally though).