Day 6 End of fast

I felt great all day today. I thought I was feeling the benefits of a cleansing, and maybe so. But I am a thin person. I don't need to lose weight.

One of my co-workers at the bar-lounge explained what I vaguely remember from anatomy class in high school that the body goes into starvation mode and the reason why people gain weight after fasting is because the body starts storing whatever food comes in. I can understand that if a person eats a lot of food after a fast, but the recommendation always is to ease back into eating foods.

Anyway, at 10:30pm last night, I started to feel weakness in my legs and lightheaded. I drank the rest of my lemonade, which was the 5th and 6th serving and waited a minute to see if i would regain stamina. Didn't happen with just juice. A manager came by and told me to take over a new section of the lounge at which point I thought, either i have to lie down, work and pass out, or eat and work. At 10:39pm I was in the kitchen and ended my fast with a sandwich made with white bread and chopped lamb brisket. It was delicious. Within 20 minutes, I started feeling stronger. Against advice, I continued to eat throughout the night, going to the kitchen taking a few bites of leftover dumplings, rice balls and curry puffs. By midnight, my energy was restored.

Day 7
Funny thing about fasts, diets and eating habits: everyone is different. I'm definitely too thin to fast 10 days. Of course, I could be Gandhi and risk my life, but I'm not a political leader lobbying for change. For me, it's probably better that I eat fresh fruits and vegetables, drink lemonade and make sure i get enough fiber to keep the movement through the bowels flowing. And I think I'll be alright. I'm sure I won't resist a White Castle burger now and then, but I haven't had one in years, so I'm not even going to be concerned about it.

This morning, I woke up with tremendous energy. I didn't need my cup of coffee which I relied on for 19 years (minus an 8 month unproductive break). I'm drinking a cup of ginger green tea and it is refreshing and substantial for the start of a day. In a minute, I'll leave the apartment and go to the store for a yogurt (what better way to restore all that mucuous I shat?) and some fresh fruit for breakfast.

I don't regret the experience at all. In fact, it probably did benefit me healthwise. In a few days, I'll get my blood taken for some tests. Oh yeah, a year ago my cholesterol was 279. Even though I worked on my diet to bring it down, lately I've been eating cholesterol rich foods, so it probably went back up again. So, I'll get it checked again, and if it's below borderline (200) I might credit the fast to its level...

Day 6

I've been reading about a lot of different fasts, feedback and advice. On one site I read about how the body starts to break down muscle for energy after 7 days. I doubt that's true for everyone, especially since the lemonade diet uses sugars. But I was considering that I have a lot to do this week and next requiring a lot of energy and muscle strength. I usually do things that require strength, so choosing the right time to fast was not easy. I think I'm going to cut the fast down from 10 days to 8. The ninth day is a Friday, the one before Labor day and I would be drinking juices and soup broth that day. Then on Saturday I would work on solid foods, then enjoy Sunday and Monday since it is a holiday and my boyfriend is planning a dinner.

Anyway, today is the sixth day. I have about 8 more hours left in the "day" (It's 5:30pm). Earlier I had an interesting bowel movement. What came out was not a lot, but it was covered in slimy mucous. I don't expect much more to come out, since I used an herbal colon cleanse product a few months ago, and i'm quite healthy.

I also felt phlegm loosen up in my lungs. Reminded me of having bronchitis after 9-11. Overall, my mind is much clearer than the last weekend, the second day, and I had more energy today than the previous 5 days.

We'll see how this evening goes. I'm supposed to work at the cocktail lounge, but it's raining, so maybe i'll get off.

End of Day 5

I can't wait to eat. I love to eat. Contrary to what Stanley Burroughs recommends I'm going to pig out on pizza and pasta and steak. MMM. Love a good T-bone medium rare.

Anyway, while researching different laxative teas, I came across this from ehow.com: "Herbal laxatives deplete your body's energy and therefore should not be overused."
Could this be why I'm dizzy? Actually, the dizziness has subsided, probably because I drank more than 6 servings of the lemonade. I wonder what happens physiologically when laxatives "deplete you body's energy"? Or is it chemical? I like how Mr. Burroughs explains things, because he helps you understand the whys and doesn't just state an alleged fact. A statement is just a statement and isn't necessarily true. But a statement with proven facts is something that can be trusted.

It's late and time to go to bed. Here goes my late night cup of laxative...

Day 5 Afternoon

I feel pretty good considering I haven't eaten anything solid aside from lemon pulp for the last 4 and a half days. It's almost 4pm and I'm on my 5th 10oz. serving of lemonade.

I should mention that I live in New York City. On a typical day, I leave my home in Brooklyn for the city and spend the entire day going from place to place in Manhattan. So, I've been carrying around 2 one-liter bottles full of the lemonade. Today I finished the first bottle around 2pm. I have to make a conscious effort to drink more, because being busy, it's easy to forget to drink. This is common with food day to day. Yes, I forget to eat until my stomach makes awkward twists sending out signals of hunger pangs. Unlike most people, I don't sit in an office from 9 to 5.

I didn't drink the Senna Leaf tea this morning because my bowels had that awful diarrhea feeling. I moved them twice before noon. I think I'm going to look for a gentler laxative tea. The book says drink it before going to bed and first thing in the morning. I think tomorrow morning I should try the sea salt bath (internal bath). I'm a little weirded out by it, because it's supposed to wash the entire digestive system and come out the anus like it went in the mouth-- liquid. I hope I have enough time in the morning to do it.

My head is still bit dizzy. Could it be because I've had no food? I've made it this far. Five more days to go.

Read the book!

I've rescinded my decision to quit the fast. I re-read the book by Stanley Burroughs, The Master Cleanser. Very important to read this.

The reason why my mind has been unclear could be because of the toxins the lemonade has loosened. I realize I need to drink more water. Also, I'm already skinny and don't need to lose weight, so I'm going to add another tablespoon of maple syrup to my lemonade. Last night I prepared 4 servings of the lemonade and this morning another 3. Hopefully I'll have time to make another bottle. The more lemonade the better I think.

Day 4

I managed to make and drink 6 servings of the lemonade as directed by The Master Cleanser, by Stanley Burroughs.

Felt a little weak today, though. Took a long nap in the afternoon. In the evening, felt better, but not as strong as I normally am.

In retrospect of the first 4 days of this fast, I realize that my mind has not been sharp. I wonder if it's because I didn't have at least 6 servings of the lemonade on the first 3 days. Since my job as a cocktail waitress requires me to carry heavy trays, i'm wondering if i should abort this fast and try again another time when I don't have to do strenuous activities, and when I have time to make sure all my lemonade is made for the day.

Whatever food I'd eaten the days before starting the fast must be out of my system by now. Whatever has been coming out these last couple days seems to be lemon pulp. My bowels now have lemon pulp journeying through. I hope tomorrow something gross comes out. And if I'm not feeling strong in 2 days, i'll have to stop and eat so that I can perform at my job.

I just noticed that my gums are not sore. They had been for a few weeks, probably from plaque between my teeth in spite of flossing. But tonight they don't hurt at all.

Day 3

Day 3 was really busy. Got called to work at night, but the job was 2 hours away, so had to rearrange another event and only was able to make 4 servings of the lemonade. Felt pretty tired the next morning.

Cleansing Day 2

Boy, did that Senna Leaf tea make stuff come out. I only drank half a cup and my stool came out like water. Had an ache on my left abdomen, the kind that tells you to find a toilet quick. I drank the tea at 2am, went to bed, and felt the gassy pressure at about 11am. Orange came out, then black stuff. Ew. Black, like pitch. Didn't think that would happen so soon.

After sitting on the toilet, I made more limeade and drank the rest of my senna leaf tea. I packed a couple bottles of limeade and left home to work at about 12:30pm. At work, I had to use the bathroom at 3pm. Everything came out orange and diarrhea-like. Maybe I need to lay off the senna leaf. Well, I drank another cup at night anyway. We'll see what happens tomorrow.

Whenever I felt hungry, I drank from my bottle and was relieved. After work, I went to the store and bought big lemons. When I got home I made lemonade. I like mixing lime juice with it. Tastes yummy. The big lemons are nice because you only need one to make 3 or 4 drinks. I use a spoon to squeeze the juice out, kind of like when you eat a grapefruit with a spoon and scrape the pulp. Lots of juice comes out. Tonight I found 2 lemon seeds with little trees coming out. I put them in soil. Hope they grow.

Colon cleanse Day 1

I'm a little late starting this blog about my lemonade fast, or the Master Cleanser of Stanley Burroughs. I'm actually at the end of day 2, but I'm going to back up and recall day 1.

In spite of waking up with a hangover yesterday morning, I decided not to eat anything. I did drink a glass of grape juice, because my head hurt too much to squeeze limes. Yesterday I didn't have lemons to make the cayenne pepper-lemon juice-maple syrup concoction. So I used limes instead. By noon I was drinking water and getting over the sick feeling of a late night out, and I squeezed 2 tablespoons of lime juice out of a lime, mixed it with the maple syrup and cayenne pepper and water. I drank as much of it as I could handle and went back to bed.

A couple hours later I got up, made more limeade and drank. I was feeling much better at this point. I think the mix helped. Normally I would have a cup of coffee after waking up, but with the hangover feeling I had, I didn't want one. I guess it helped caffeine withdrawal for the following day. No headache on day 2. I ended up drinking about 4 servings of the citrus mix and had a half cup of senna leaf tea before going to bed.

I suppose I should mention that I went to work at 6pm, coctail waitressing until 2am. Around 8pm I was feeling weak and went to find my juice, and someone had thrown away my bottle! I think it was a girl who the day before was slandering the lemonade diet, saying things she really knew nothing about. "It makes your metabolism change and you gain weight," she said. I thought, "so does aging," and just walked away. At 9pm on my first night I managed to get out of work, go to my friend's house and make another limeade cup before finishing the night. I had plenty of energy after that breaktime drink.