Day 10

It's day 10 Everyone!

It's day 10 Everybody!

It's day 10 Y'ALL!

I can't believe I made it! I made it. Oh my goodness, no one can tell me anything today! I made it to day 10! Praise Him. Through whom all blessings flow. I couldn't have made it without Him. He is awesome!

Okay so now the big decision. Do I continue? More on that train of thought later . . .

So I started off the morning with the tea, piece of cake. I went back to old faithful today and made the daily mix with lemons instead of limes. Hmmm I believe that I prefer limes. But that's just me. So I make the mix and hit the road.

A few months back I totaled my Honda Accord. Oh she was beautiful you guys. 1997 Special Edition Champagne . . . I miss her. Well, I don't know if anyone has ever had the privilege of having to shop for a car on a budget but it's the pits. I finally decided to pay someone else to do it. I hired a broker. (I know who does that right?) A car broker, I had never heard of such till about two weeks ago. Well today I can say that I am the proud owner of a 2003 Black EX Honda Accord. . . oh I am so happy that I hired someone else to do it. He was able to acquire the vehicle for just 9 thousand . . . that's a 15 thousand dollar car! What! God is awesome. Period!

Well on my way back from the brokers office nearly 4 hours from the time I had originally drank the tea, it went into affect. Oh no! I'm a long ways from home and I'm the girl who hates to use public restrooms. (Yes that's me!) So I stop at a local grocery store to use their restroom which happen to have a bottle of Clorox clean up in every stall! (Yes!) I don't think I have ever cleaned a toilet so fast in my life. They should have put me on payroll.

Now I'm asking myself, why am I having solid bm's on the 10th day? That's not right? Well I have a confession to make. As you may have noticed through previous posts I was not consistent with the SWF. C'mon it's the SWF that is the worst! I mean you have to be part masochist to do that thing everyday. I felt like I was truly one every time I filled that wretched Powerade Option bottle. Oh, I don't think I can ever look at one of those bottles the same ever again I tell ya and I use to love Powerade Option.

Which brings me to the question of should I continue on. Really you guys I began the cleanse for spiritual reasons and I have truly been fulfilled in that area. So I have decided to not continue the fast. I will say that the next time I do this fast I will be better prepared.

• I will buy the lemons and limes in bulk!
• I will also acquire the organic maple syrup online in advance. (So much cheaper than the local health food store.)
• I will invest in a water dispenser! I was buying 2.5 gallons almost every other day!
• I will force myself to be more consistent with the SWF and tea.
• Oh and I will buy Cottonelle and Clorox Clean up wipes (for those days when I just can't get home on time!)

To those individuals who have chosen to use the cleanse for weight loss purposes I can say that I did weigh myself for the first time today. I had made a promise to myself that I would not do so until the last day. Surprisingly I had a total weight loss of 11 lbs. I must admit I was impressed but I tried not to become to attached to that number because I know that I will be gaining at least half of that back sometime in the near future.

Well that's all for today. Looking forward to tomorrow . . .

I can taste that orange juice now! MMmmm-mmmm good!

One more thing I want to give a quick shout out to Ms. Hawa K. Bond and everyone over there at the Yahoo Master Cleanse Group http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/mastercleanse/
For anyone interested in this fast they have, hands down, the best support group on the net. Period!

Day 9

I'm finally caught up! Today is Day 9! One day away from reaching my goal! How awesome is that you guys! I can't believe I made it this far. What a journey. I'm so excited about living a healthier lifestyle.

I've already planned a trip to the Dekalb International Farmers Market in Atlanta. If you are ever in the area and want to see something truly amazing check it out. Its like the walmart of organic foods. They have the best everything! They even have an organic bakery that taste like heaven!

Okay but enough about food. I'm just so amazed about what has been taking place. I'm on my 9th day! Something I never thought I would or could do! This is unbelievable. But I did it.

I woke up earlier than I thought I would @ 6 am. I haven't made the limeade today. I think I might do a lemon lime combination and see how it goes. I will do the tea and swf this morning because I have been slacking and as bad as the swf is, I really do feel better afterwards. This morning I feel pretty darn good. Maybe it's the excitement of me being so close to my goal. Maybe because it's Monday and I basically played hooky from work and I don't have to go in until FRIDAY!!!!! Maybe it's because well just because . . . I don't know but whatever it is, I'm truly grateful.

Day 8

Day 8 was pretty dag on awful as far as the fast goes. Remember that queasy feeling that I was experiencing the day before well it went into full blast on day 8. If I didn't know it to be physically impossible I would actually believe that I was pregnant. The nausea was ridiculous. I had to force myself to drink the limeade. (Yes I'm still making it with limes these days) I was actually feeling pretty weak today.

I didn't get back from seeing my guy until 12 am and I had to be up by 3:30 am to go to work. So I'm pretty sure the little 3 and a half hours of sleep that I received played an important role in how I was feeling that day. I'm not as young as I use to be. I'm feeling it now. God I hate aging. I'm in my twenties I shouldn't feel like this right?

After work I crashed, slept till that evening. Woke up, the headaches were gone and so was the nausea, which was a great relief. My guy called and we talked till 12 am ahh payback is so sweet!

Don't have to go to work tomorrow.

Probably will sleep in till 6am or so.

That pretty much was the day.


Oh one last thing, I had a weird food craving of Captain Crunch with ice cold soy milk! What's that about? I haven't ate Captain Crunch cereal in years!

Day 7

Oh you guys I am so far behind it's ridiculous. I will try and recap the past three days in three separate posts to the best of my ability.

Day 7 was actually a pretty difficult day. I attended my friends memorial service and it was amazing. She was a teacher and a really good friend to many. Her students filled the auditorium and it was just so beautiful to see how many young lives she touched. It was also extremely sad, to witness these young hearts broken, knowing that their reality had just changed. I was able to see a few faces that I had not seen in years. I told them that we were much to young to have impromptu reunions like this, they agreed, promise to keep in touch, hopefully we will.

I left and drove the hour and a half to see my guy. I will save all the details of that in a later post. I actually started on one that was pretty long and lost it. There must be a reason for that. It turned out to be a pretty good reunion for us. I missed him terribly and it was so good to see him again. I was able to break down in front of him a little bit while he just held me. It was an emotional day.

As far as the fast was concerned it's day seven, nothing but headaches, I mean intense throbbing. I wasn't hungry I just wanted the pain to stop. I didn't drink much because I was beginning to feel queasy. Oh and my tongue was sheer white! What's that about? I didn't drink the tea today. Yeah I know I know, not drinking much of the limeade, not drinking the tea, I'm just messing up all the way around! I did crave coffee like a son of a gun the minute I saw that beautiful green Starbucks sign!

But I didn't give in.

I pressed on . . .

that was pretty much my day

Day 6

Awl man I am so sick of the swf! That thing is the worst. I was half way tempted to throw some maple syrup in that 32 ounce bottle. But this is all part of the process right? The drama, the bp, the expelling of 28 years of toxins built up in my body.

I haven't even made the lemonade today. I'm really still in a state of depression I think. Contemplating life. How quick it is. How precious it is. I really wanted to call my guy and was somewhat agitated that I could not. Kinda hating this fast (atleast that portion of it) right now. Yet at the same time wondering if 10 days will even be enough. I feel like I could take this further, honestly I know that I probably should.

~~~~Later that day~~~

I ended up switching the drink to limeade today. It wasn't bad at all. It was actually a welcomed change. I couldn't drink all of it. I only had two glasses. I know that was pitiful. I will try and drink more before I go to sleep tonight.


All in all the actual fast is getting easier and easier. I can see how people could do it for 40 days now. I still can't believe I've gotten past that halfway marker. This is the longest time in my adult life that my body has gone without food. It's amazing and it just goes to show you that the limitations we put on ourselves are so false!

We can do so much more than we initially perceive we can.

Day 5

Today was a bad day.

I wanted to eat today. Vegetable lo mien, spring rolls and whole grain rice from P.F. Chang's. It's one of my favorite restaurants. It was an emotional craving. I've broken that stronghold today. I realize that this is what I do. Today it is over. I claim victory over it, as a Christian I can do that and it will be done. So I have and it has!

I really had to lean on a Higher Power today. I'm beginning to realize what it means to truly lean on God. This battle is so not mine.

I received a call from a sorority sister of mine who informed me that a mutual friend of ours was killed in a car accident. I was shocked. Floored. She was only 27. She was with her children and one is okay but the other is in critical condition. Life is so very precious. Time is the most valuable commodity we have and it is often times the most wasted.

God I ask and pray that you be with her family on this day in their time of need. Be their source of comfort during this time of bereavement. Help them along this very difficult road that mourning often times bring.

She was an amazing young lady. Bold and honest. I loved her honesty. She spoke her mind and lived her life with no apologies, no regrets. She was real! To me, her life was cut painfully short but I guess God had other plans.



For Bridget - You taught me what it meant to be authentic, you were loved, and you will be missed

Day 4

Today was kinda rough, not as bad as day 3 but it definetly was not easy. I woke up this morning feeling rested but I couldn't get out of the bed. I wanted to lay there for awhile you know. I get up at the ridiculous hour of 3:30 in the morning. It is pure insanity on my body. It took me forever to train my body to go to bed before 11 p.m. Since I've been on this fast I've actually had time to rest. The results have been amazing. I feel completly different. I feel more productive and alert. I'm not walking around sluggish throughout the day. Feeling like I'm just exisiting.

There is something about this fast. I wanted to quit today. I was tired of it. Tired of the lemonade, tired of the tea, tired of the swf. But then I thought to myself how long am I going to keep living like this. Making commitments and breaking them. Creating goals never fulfilling them. Living life, utilizing only a fraction of my potential because I'm to lazy, scared, tired, and ultimately a procrastinator. How many more excuses will I make up for not fulfilling my true life's destiny. I started this journey with the goal of accomplishing a major breakthrough in my life. I'm trying to breakthrough some serious strongholds here. I have to finish this fast.

I have to finish this fast
I have to finish this fast
I have to finish this fast
I have to finish this fast

I just have to. I refuse to present myself to be used by God with anything less than the very best of me. Because He has always given me the very best of Him.

For skoolafish - Press On Bruh You've Come To Far To Give Up Now!

Day 3

Day 3, DAY 3, day three.

I had to say it at least three times because today was the worst! There was nothing charmed about day 3. Where do I begin, oh I ran out of syrup! Yeah how about that, didn't get a chance to make the tea because I was running late for work. Oh and I was having the worst cramps of my life.

Ladies, once again I warn you be mindful of the date you begin the cleanse. Do not, I repeat do not begin the cleanse anywhere near that time of the month!

I really tried to be a purist about this whole fast but around 5 p.m. I just had to take some aleve. I was dying!

Oh, and one more thing since I had missed my tea this morning and the swf yesterday I decided to be a rocky and do a swf when I got home from work. That was at 2:30 it's now 6:45 and I am still feeling the effects. I can't believe it has been over 4 hours! This is killing me. I have seven more days . . . Please God give me the strength . . . or at least let this aleve kick in. Preferably both!

I'm skippin' the tea tonight. I think I've had enough flushing for one day!

But outside of all the drama with my body. There is still no hunger pains. I was a little weak today but that was only because I didn't have the right amount of syrup in the mix. Once I got that straight I was golden. I even went out in my yard and picked up pecans for an hour. Surprisingly I have alot energy.

The weirdest thing though, when I do crave foods, it's foods I never ever eat. Today I craved curry chicken, coconut rice and a squash medley! What's up with that?

Something to look forward to I guess. Especially that squash medley mmm-mmm-good!

Well I guess that's it for day 3, on to day 4. Almost halfway there (sigh) yeah!

Day 2

Morning, late night, whatever you want to call it. It was 1 am and I woke up with a headache out of this world. I wasn't hungry, just a pounding headache. Is this what a migraine feel like? I couldn't go back to sleep so I figured I would make my morning tea. Not bad. Read Proverbs 23 and 24 awesome and exactly what I needed. Got tired and figured I had an hour before I had to get up at 3:30 so I went back to sleep. My stomach was my alarm clock. (sigh) I sat there praying that the tea would quickly do whatever it had to do. Locked in the bathroom for 30 minutes, I had to be out of the door by 4:30 . . . this cleanse was not the most timely decision. Oh and great, I have started my period! Ladies if you are reading this, please do yourself a favor and plan the cleanse around this time. You do not want to get caught up like I did. Trust me!

I made the lemonade with less syrup and cayenne this time. It was perfect!

So I made it to work on time. Unfortunately Ms. Senna Tea still needed to take care of some unfinished business and didn't care where I was. I told my co-workers that I had the stomach flu. It was very believable judging by the number of trips I kept taking to the bathroom.

I made it through my full 8 hours and proceeded to take care of my errands. When I was finished I headed off to spin class. After spin, I was ready to crash. This is where the extra syrup could have kicked in. I think that was a poor judgement call on my part. Tomorrow I'm on the ball machine (tennis) for an hour so I think I better stick with the script as far as the recipe goes.

All and all it's 8pm. I have just about finished my lemonade and I am on my way to making this tea. Today I did not get hungry, I had tons of energy (did I mention I completed an entire spin class) and I got a lot accomplished. I'm looking forward to day 3, I heard that it's suppose to be the toughest.

Bring it on, Day 3

Day 1

Or should I say the day of reckoning! So I woke up this morning around 4:30 am. Which is about an hour later than I usually do. I'm excited, I'm actually excited about starting the fast. I have my salt all ready to go. I have a Powerade Option bottle that is exactly 1 quart. So I get to mixing . . . then to drinking . . . hmmm not bad. I finish the ENTIRE thing without a hitch. I imagined it was chicken noodle soup without the chicken like one blogger had posted. Okay it wasn't the best tasting stuff, but it was bearable.

Now I don't know how long it took, to be perfectly honest even though these events took place earlier this morning everything is kind of a blur. I became extremely nauseated. I just knew I was going to lose that salt water flush. Next thing I know I felt the worse cramps of my life. Am I starting my period? Great, I'm telling myself. That's all I need now is to have cramps on top of hunger pangs. So I hear this rumbling and I can't stop laughing because I have never heard my stomach make that sound. It was so comical, almost like something out of a movie. Next thing I know, it was no longer funny. I was on the throne with what seemed to be the worse case of "the runs" I have ever had. Oh my God this took place all morning long. If there ever was a time today when I wanted to say "To heck with this!" it was right then and there! After it was over, I thought to myself I never truly understood the meaning of the word "relief" until this very moment.

I didn't even make the lemonade till around noon time. I made a batch for the whole day using a juicer. I was actually a little skeptical about taking that first sip. I did it without the cayenne at first and was pleasently surprised. It was pretty darn good! Sweet, but good! Hey if you knew that you had to drink something for 10 days you would want it to atleast be somewhat tasty. Now with the cayenne . . . not bad either! I was psyched! I can do this!

It's around 7pm and I have about a third of the day's worth left. I have had plenty of energy throughout the day and I have not been slugish in the least. To me I could do without all of the maple syrup that it calls for. Remember I went without carbs for three months so this drink was extra sweet. The book says that you can adjust the pepper and the syrup according to your goals. Tommorow I will try the ;;mixture with less syrup and pepper and see how it goes.

I have to nix the swf in the morning because there is no way I'm going to be functional at work when I arrive at 5 am. I will drink the tea both tonight and in the morning and hopefully it will do its thing with less fanfare than it's salt water flush counterpart

Day 0

Well Day 0 was essentially yesterday and it comprised of the usual gathering of all the goods needed for the fast. It was a one stop shop at the local health foods store where I live. I guess they had caught on to the craze and now sold the "Master Cleanse Kit" for 29.99
it came with:

• The book by Stanely Burroughs
• Senna tea
• Uniodize organic sea salt
• Organic Cayenne Pepper
• A handy one day supply 2 liter jug
• One jug of Organic Grade B Maple Syrup
• One bottle of organic lemon juice

I thought to myself how commercial.


Kroger happened to be conveniently located next door so I bought my organic lemons from there for a whopping dollar a piece! Yeesh, whoever said that this fast was inexpensive told you a bold faced lie! Next time I'm going to Publix where they sell them by the bag.

That evening you would think I would of had a smorgasbord of food right? Wrong. Well kinda. I did eat some beef ribs, and a lean pocket (Chicken Parm) and some apple pie but really that's all I had for the entire day . . . oh wait I did have that omelet that morning with turkey sausage, but I used egg beaters! Okay, okay, okay so I did kind of over do it a little bit.

Well anyways before I began I wrote down on a postcard size note card everything that I hoped to accomplish from this fast. It was a tall order and truth be told I probably need to add to it but I expect great results because I know that this fast isn't even about me. It's about something greater than me.

So that evening I drank the tea with no problem. I read horror stories and expected such but didn't receive any. I slept through the night just fine and when I woke up I was completely satisfied with my decision to start the fast.

and then I drank the salt water flush . . .
which deserves a whole post in and of itself!

Isn't that an awesome quote!

How it rings true on every level. Thank you M. Ghandi for your lifelong dedication to inspiring the world for generations .

Well I have decided to embark upon a personal journey to wellness and spiritual enlightenment. To be perfectly honest I've been contemplating

(ahem) procrastinating (if you can't be honest on a blog where can you be?)

on this journey for quite sometime. It wasn't until my boyfriend made the suggestion of fasting that everything came full circle.

Awhile ago we were reading from the book a Matthew when a verse or rather a situation caught my attention. Read chapter 17 14-21 KJV for greater detail.

Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting. (Matt 17:21)

It weighed so heavily on me that I had to study on the topic further. There is a very popular fasting method that is going around right now called "The Master Cleanse" or the "Lemonade Diet" created by a man named Stanley Burroughs many years ago. I became very interested in this program so I did the google thing and read up on it. Even read the reviews of Stanley Burroughs book.

I wrestled back and forth with the idea of going without food for ten days (the longest time ever) and then I realized I recently gave up carbs for 3 months! I can do all things. So I prayed on it and the very next day my guy suggested that we go on a fast. A complete fast . . . from each other! Now I won't lie to you I was skeptical. Even though the same thought had been bouncing around in my head for weeks. I just didn't want to give up the contact. It's hard enough that we are 2 hours away from each other. And now he want's to do what?!? I pouted and internally kicked and screamed like a child, but eventually I gave in knowing that it would be for the best.

Truthfully speaking I needed the break, as much as I love him, Lord knows I love the man. We had gone everysingledayforthreemonthsstraightwithnobreaksinbetweenofsomekindofcontact. Which is great preperation for marriage, did I forget to mention that he is my fiance as well. But we both needed the break. I think that we had worn each other out. Plus I knew deep down that I needed to tend to some things spiritually.

Which leads me to Day 0 and 1 of my journey which I think I will put in a seperate post for all those who would rather not know the boring details of my backstory and really just want to know the gruesome details of the fast.