My Master Cleanse Experience
I’ve been reading a lot lately about the benefit of juicing and fasting detoxification plans. Things like fresher skin, purifying the cells in your body, improving blood flow. All these things sound good to me so I did a little planning and prepping and we embarked on “The Master Cleanse”.
And yes, I said we. Amazingly, Joe agreed to do it with me. Smart decision!
The plan was to do a nine day cleanse. We started with a 3 day ease in period, followed by 3 days of fasting, drinking only the Master Cleanse drink, and finally three days easing out the same way we started.
So here is what the last nine days looked like for us:
Day 1
First thing, I had a glass of lemon water. About 1/2 hour later I had an apple. It’s recommended to eat fruit on an empty stomach as they digest quickly, clearing ‘things’ out along the way. An hour after that I made green smoothies. During the mid morning, I snacked on some soaked almonds and had a few baby carrots. For lunch I had a big bowl of Vegetable Quinoa Soup. For the rest of day, I snacked on another piece of fruit, a handful of soaked almonds and lots of hot cups of herbal teas, peppermint and chamomile later in the evening.
Day 2
This was our liquid day. We started off the same way with lemon water. Then Green Smoothies for breakfast. This day I drank a ton of tea. Clear, no sweeteners, just tea. I had green tea with lemon, peppermint tea, chammomile, as well as hot water with some fresh lemon juice squeezed in. I kind of felt like I may be coming down with a bit of a cold so I OD’d on vitamin C by drinking two Emergen C’s. All day I sipped hot mugs of my homemade vegetable broth. This was my easiest day of the nine. I really liked the broth. It somehow felt calming and my cold never amounted to anything.
Day 3
Today was OJ all day. Fresh squeezed orange juice with lots of the pulp. We drank the juice of about 12 oranges. This was Joe’s easiest day of the cleanse.
Days 4, 5 & 6
We drank the Master Cleanse drink, which consisted of 8-10 ounces of fresh water, 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice, 2 tablespoons of pure maple syrup, and 1/10 tsp of cayenne pepper. I don’t mind the flavour of the Master Cleanse drink at all. In fact, I enjoy it a bit. I even use a tad more cayenne than the usual. Joe, however, was not a huge fan. To his credit, he stuck through the entire three days. We both drank 6-8 glasses of this on each day. Whenever I wanted something, I drank the Master Cleanse Drink.
I treated us to a high quality maple syrup, from Anise Apothecary, my go-to downtown Burlington spot for a great variety of natural products ranging from the glorious Kusmi Tea to Sappho cosmetics (can’t wait for the makeover event this weekend!)
On day five we both did a salt water flush. This is drinking a litre of water with 2 teaspoons of non-iodized salt. That’s right. It’s meant to really clean out your colon, if you know what I mean. I went first (as we only have one bathroom we thought it best to do it one at a time) and drank down the salt water. It.was.hard. I drink a ton of water and thought this would be easy peasy, but not so. The worst part? Nothing happened. Nada. For Joe, either. We regretted the salt water flush to say the least.
Day 7, 8 & 9
This is when we began to ease our way out by reversing the first three days, moving to the OJ day,
followed by the liquid day and finally a light day of eating with the vegetable quinoa soup.
I ate my last bowl of soup on a rainy Saturday night.
The verdict?
We both feel great. It surprisingly wasn’t as hard as we thought. Joe had a bit of a headache on the second and eigth days and felt light headed once, during the Master Cleanse days. I may have been grumpy once or twice. 😉 Really, I mostly felt bored. I enjoy cooking and of course eating things that I cook and found myself with lots of extra time on my hands.
Oh, and we both lost weight. Joe definitely more than me. Men.
I did it again –>Check out my Ten Day Master Cleanse Experience!
Wow, amazing blog layout! How long have you been blogging for?
you make blogging look easy. The overall look of your site is wonderful, as well as the content!
Well aren’t you the sweetest thing! 🙂 Thanks so much. Compliments are always appreciated. 😉 Have a great weekend, Marisa!
Hi Sharon- Your website is fantastic. I spent yesterday afternoon at the store buying ingredients for your fudgy cocoa oat squares, dill tuna salad & curried chicken to make this weekend as I’m finishing my cleanse Thursday evening with the soup on Friday.
I ‘m doing my cleanse a bit differently- have been absolutely “by the book” since starting last Thursday so earned a full 5 days on the MC with my last SWF this morning. I’m transitioning to Dr.Oz’s liver cleanse that consist of 4 “shakes” per day for the next 3 days. The fresh ingredients look like the perfect combo of nutrients to put back into my newly- cleansed colon and will seem like a veritable feast after 5 days of spicy lemonade! Like you, my next cleanse will be for the full 10 days but this has been a good experience as a first try- the amount of knowledge I’ve gained about healthy eating will be for lifestyle, not just to diet.
I’m happy to say that I weighed 145.0 this morning which is a 6 lb. loss since last Thursday and took 1.5 ” off both waist & gut with .5 ” off the hips. Supposedly the Dr. Oz cleanse will take 5 lbs & 2″ off the waist… I’ll let you know where I end up Friday morning when I’m completely finished.
One thing this has shown me is I have more willpower than I think- it’s been an exercise in resistance when cravings struck ; nice to know I have a suit of armor now thanks to MC 🙂
Sharon, do you have an email list I could be on so I know of upcoming events/news/recipes etc? I’d like to follow your MC experience in March and then join you for the next one as I KNOW it would be motivating to not be alone :). Best of luck & kudos on your site- happy to stumble upon such quality work.
Regards,
Amy
Thanks Amy! I’m so glad you love the site. 🙂 On the right side of the page there are four icons under the ‘Connect’ header. The third one is a option to subscribe to the feed that tells you when the site is updated. There is also the option to follow on ‘Bloglovin’ that will send you an email with updates also. If you are on facebook, you can ‘like’ my page and that is updated when new posts are up as well.
I’m so encouraged by your success on the Master Cleanse and am looking forward to doing the full 10 days. Only a couple of weeks away now! 🙂
Thank you for the encouragement , Sharon- If it wasn’t for the positive comments and support I’ve read around the web I wouldn’t have lasted thru Saturday- it’s neat there’s an online community to bounce ideas off of and hear others experiences ( which have been so similar to my own)!
Sunday morning (Day 3) weighed in @ 144. 4 Huh? Well it kind of goes along with what others have posted about the weight loss but the good news is I’m down an inch & 1/2 off my gut (belly button) which is why I wanted to cleanse in the first place. I’m happy to report that Sunday was MUCH easier than the days prior with no headache and very few cravings/hunger. My daughter commented that I was “surprisingly chipper” for not eating since Thursday which was surprising after I yelled at both kids for fighting & sent them to their rooms- ouch. School is cancelled tomorrow- yup, another snow day so we’ll see how THAT goes, lol!
Ah, snow days! Maybe romp around with the kiddos outside! 😉 I find that daily weigh ins can sometimes be discouraging. I like to wait until the end of a cleanse and be happy with the larger number. But, really it’s all how you feel and how those clothes fit and it sounds like that is working for you. Stay chipper! 🙂
This is my first blog post EVER but I thought I might share my experience as I am on day 3 of MC.
I stumbled upon the cleanse while researching stomach bloat and decided to give it a whirl as I had plateaued on my weight loss with only diet and exercise . I’m 5′ 8 1/2″ and weighed 151 Thursday morning which was the last day I had any solid food (turkey sandwich @ 10:00am). I have been on a very deliberate exercise regimen of 60 min workouts , 5 days/wk with ice skating 1 -2 hours
2-3x/wk which equates to 10,000 steps/day no matter how you slice it. I’ve also been extremely disciplined with my diet, cutting out all processed foods and eating a plant-based diet of 1200 kcal or less since Jan 1 ( wow- March 2 and New Years resolution still exists?! First time for everything!) I started the intensive excessive portion mid-Jan and gave up alcohol February 1 so I felt like I was doing EVERYTHING right. I started at 162 lbs and quickly lost 10 lbs but have been stuck at the 150 mark for the last month. My arms, legs, stomach are much more toned (I know the weight isn’t necessarily a baseline as developing muscle weighs more than shedded fat) but I wasn’t losing inches off my waist, gut & hips either. So without a lot of thought I drove off to Natural Grocers, bought all the ingredients and had my first “lemonade” at 6pm Thursday evening.
Friday morning (Day 1) weighed in at 147.9 after almost 24 hours of fasting (obviously my body is used to small meals every 3 hours!) and was pumped to see the needle finally move- even though it was mostly water weight. I did see a noticeable difference in the gut bloat so I made a decanter of lemonade and settled in to read everything I could about MC. By 1pm my headache was so bad I was researching if Excedrin was considered a cheat but my mother explained that if it’s a caffeine headache then nothing will make it go away, except coffee which defeats the purpose, eh? I went back to Natural Grocers and bought lavender Epsom Salts (Dr. Oz says the magnesium in the ES pulls out toxins while the lavender calms the nerves) because at this point I was willing to try anything. I figured this would be the perfect time for a deep tissue massage as I would be drinking tons of water and sweating in the bath immediately after so I hit the mall for a 30 minute table massage and headed home for the bath. At this point my headache was so bad that I was seriously considering giving up but the lavender smelled so good I got in the bath and after 10 min the headache was COMPLETELY GONE. You could have knocked me over with a feather at how surprised I was! I’ve always been a sceptic at natural & homeopathic remedies, opting for pharmaceuticals whenever necessary so this was the most eye opening experience thus far… I wouldn’t be as impressed as I am had I not had the severity of pain nor the quickness and utter COMPLETENESS of elimination. Trust me day 1-2ers: if you are suffering from the detox headaches almost all posters complain of, try 2 1/2 cups of Epsom Salts with 10 drops of lavender (if you can’t find the combo) in as HOT of bath as you can stand for 30 min – I’d love to hear if you experience the same relief!!
Saturday morning (Day 2) weighed in at 144.2- wow. I took my measurements and lost an inch off my waist , 1/2 inch off my gut and no change from the hips compared to Thursday morning. Did my 1st SWF per Todd’s recommendation and had no problem getting it down and er, out. Drank copious amounts of lemonade and water throughout the day and also 1 tbs of psyllium husks mixed w 8 oz water every 4 hours to help scrub out the colon for tomorrow’s SWF. I ALMOST CAVED around 6pm after making pizza for the kids and really thought I wouldn’t make it through the night without eating. I told myself that if I still felt the same way at 10am Sunday then I would do a final SWF then ease back into normalcy with a kale/blueberry/raspberry/almond/isoflex nutibullet shake since that would be a full 72 hours of fasting- not bad for a first try.
Thanks for sharing your experience, Amy! I especially love that you are now a believer in natural remedies. 🙂 I will be doing the cleanse again myself in a few weeks (first day of spring!) and am encouraged by your success! It’s always harder when the others in your household are eating regular food, so well done sticking to the plan!
Actually, Sharon, I can take or leave sodas, no problem. It’s just something about those movies…hot dog, popcorn (and I have another odd habit…I love jalapenos with my popcorn) and a diet coke. Outside of a movie, I rarely have any of these nasty items. I’m with ya! I’m intrigued by Zevia though…tell me more. Thanks!
BTW, I woke up this morning and am 210 lbs. Considering my huge splurge of two handfuls of popcorn ;-), I don’t think yesterday proved to be such a slide. Pizza today though…mmmmmnnn (just kidding!).
I wake up this morning feeling I can be back in the zone, which is good.
I’ll check in at the end of the day. It’s nice to have such a wonderful blog to journal my experience. I’ve further explored your work and really like it. Really, really great stuff. Good job!
We but Zevia in the organic section of our grocery store. It’s naturally sweetened with stevia and my fella (who was a huuuuge pop drinker) claims they are very close in taste. I’m glad to hear that you just drink the coke as a treat. Sounds like you are back on track and raring to go with the rest of your cleanse. Keep it up! Thanks for the nice words about my blog, by the way. 🙂
Hey Sharon. I got the Ginger Root Beer Zevia — tasted it today (because I decided to come off my cleanse — we’re in the process of packing for a move and I’ve found I have such little energy)…it’s really delicious. Thanks for the recommendation. I’m not going to make Zevia a habit either, but it’s nice to have in the fridge ‘just because’. Off to drink some AMAZING orange juice…tastes soooo good after 6 days of the lemonade.
The Root Beer is the most popular flavour at our house, too! Followed by the ginger ale. I’m so glad you liked it. 🙂 Lasting 6 days is incredible! I did 3 days on my first cleanse and aiming for 10 when I do it in again in a few weeks.
Good luck with those ten days! I’m a little bummed I caved after six…but really needed some calories to pack our house. Next time!
Thanks Todd! If you’re up to it you should join us. Start date – March 20th …
Did you start?
BTW, I tied with a colleague on the weight loss competition…so we split the winnings. My half of the pot (after treating everyone who competed to St. Patrick’s Day adult beverages) was $2,350. Lost 35 pounds total, 23 lbs in the last 21 days (started the cleanse 21 days out…but ended it after a week).
Good luck with yours!
I am on day 5! Check out my most recent post about it here — > https://thehonoursystem.com/2014/03/24/master-cleanse-halfway-update/
Congrats on your big win! That’s nice chunk of change and 35 pounds is incredible. 🙂
Okay, it’s Friday afternoon. Decided to play a little hooky and go to the new Liam Nielsen movie (it was very good, BTW). I’m a SUCKER for popcorn. A sucker for popcorn. Father forgive me, for I have sinned. I caved. I bought a small bag and ate about two handfuls (there was still 7/8 of the bag left to bring home to my daughter…so I didn’t do THAT bad) one at a time, savoring each kernel for about a minute each! It was glorious!!! Twas probably not the best move in the world…but did I share that I’m a SUCKER for popcorn? Aye-yay-yay!
But after that small lapse (which did provide me with a minor stomach ache after), I’m back on the wagon. It’s totally forbidden to do what I did if you’re doing the Master Cleanse hard-core for ten days…but, I’m fallen. We’ll see tomorrow morning if it messes with my progress with weight loss. I doubt it will…but who knows?
Crazy when you feel uber-guilty about 2 handfuls of popcorn with no butter at the movies! Goodness, were it business as usual I would have had them tri-layer a small bag with butter, ordered me a medium diet coke, perhaps had a hot dog and consume it all without second thought.
Off for some mint tea now. Have a great Friday evening.
Just get back on the horse, Todd! Don’t beat yourself up over a couple of handfuls of popcorn. I hope that once your cleanse is over you won’t be interested in the hot dogs & diet cokes anymore either. Especially the diet coke. I have a strong opinion about these soft drinks. Not to get preachy but they are basically poison. Stick with the mint tea! There is also a great brand called Zevia that has helped my fella break his habit (which was pret-ty strong) to the soda pops.
Thanks for the update! Looking forward to tomorrow. 🙂
Hola fellow and fellowita Master Cleansers! My company is in the middle of a weight loss competition that started January 5th. Fifteen of us “bought in” at $200 each and our boss is matching the pot…so it’s a $6,000 competition…whoever loses the greatest percentage of weight by St. Patrick’s Day wins. I started at 230.3 lbs. and at this Monday’s weigh-in I was 218.1 lbs. I was right in the middle of the pack and knew that with 21 days left, I had to have a sprint finish…needed a Hale Mary Pass. So I researched and found Stanley Burroughs’ Master Cleanse. I decided, “I can do anything for 21 days!” I’m in my 4th day…I’ve been EXTREMELY disciplined…have gone ‘by the book’. This morning I weighed in at an amazing (I thought) 211.1 lbs. Yesterday was my hardest day thus far (3rd day) and seeing the scales this morning got me so jazzed that today’s been a breeze! Other than feeling weak yesterday, I’ve had ZERO appetite. That’s what’s most amazing to me. And BTW, I love the taste of the drink. I quadruple the cayenne pepper because I love “hot” anyway. Regarding the salt water flush — I’ve done it every morning. My secret is that I boil water and put about a cup of hot water into my quart container. I then dissolve the 2 teaspoons of sea salt into the water…and then fill up the container with room temp water and drink it down within a few minutes. It’s so much easier when you drink a luke-warm solution. Then, nature takes its course within 30-45 minutes. Dedicate 1-1/2 hours to the “flush” (pun intended). After that, the first lemonade tastes delicious. I have mint tea about 7pm and the laxative tea right before I go to bed. All in all, I feel great and KNOW I can do it! If you don’t mind, I’d like to continue my “diary” here…you all seem like some very nice folks. Cheers!
Wow! Thanks for sharing! 🙂 I love that you are having such a great experience doing the Master Cleanse. Ironically, me and a couple of good friends will be embarking on a spring time cleanse in a few weeks. Your positivity has really inspired me! I’m still on the fence with the salt flush. Laxative tea for sure though! 🙂
Do the salt flush, Sharon. It’s really important. Here’s how I explained it to my 10-year old daughter…”So you know when Jocko (our Schnauzer) gets dirty and we give him a bath? We wash him with shampoo and then what?”
“We rinse him.”
“Precisely. If Daddy just drinks the lemonade it’s like washing Jocko…lots of dirt (toxins) ready to be washed off (out). We’d never wash Jocko and not rinse of the dirt, right? So that’s why Daddy drinks this salt water — it rinses my inside dirt out. Otherwise, I’m really not getting clean, right?”
And truly, it’s not so bad. It’s just discipline. It’s not the most pleasurable part, certainly…but I can’t stand the thought of doing all the other cleansing work and not “washing the dirt off”.
BTW…morning update. Woke up and was excited to lose a few more pounds (since yesterday I lost 5 lbs.). Much to my disappointment, I’m still 211. But 5 lbs. was a lot yesterday…so I rationalize it that it’s a TRUE 5 lbs. and not an anomaly. I imagine tomorrow morning will be different. Am certainly staying the course, though. My wife says she can really “see” the difference…even in just the past 4 days.
In the spirit of full disclosure, I was starting to like my vodka way too much. So I think the single greatest aspect of this “all in” cleanse is that I’m truly “detoxing”. They say it takes 3 full days for an alcohol detox. So I’m in my 5th day and I can tell you, I feel amazingly clear. And oh, to just add one more self-challenge, I decided I would take this cleanse as my opportunity to break my 15-year Ambien habit (to get to sleep). The first night SUCKED! The second a little better…the third a really good night sleep and last night was a rock-solid sleep.
So see…there are LOTS of halo-benefits to this cleanse. To do it in a disciplined manner (all in) simply forces you to break bad habits. Will those habits last after I come off it, who knows? What I do know is that I’m proving to myself that I don’t need…alcohol…Ambien…pizza…5 Guys…etc.
Cheers!
Thanks Todd! How incredible that you’ve been able to get through without drinking or taking the Ambien. Those are very hard things to just stop and you should be so proud of yourself for doing it naturally. It’s so empowering what we can do when we set our minds to it! I will take your word for it and try the salt flush again this time. I will be posting on my experience so stay tuned! 🙂
The Maser Cleanse ought to be completed as Stanley Burroughs prescribed. Begin a few days before by easing-in (which you did on “day one” and “day two” and “day three”), lessening the load on the body and preparing it for the fast. Then, the night before, begin with the laxative tea. On Day One, begin with a Salt Water Flush (which, because of the preparations made by drinking the tea the night before, will work). After about a hour or so, begin drinking the Master Cleanse and only the Master Cleanse. You may add Peppermint Tea in order to combat the bad-breath due to the tongue film. It is important to follow directions, because the body must cease digesting for 3-4 days in order for cleansing to actually begin. This includes all solid foods, such as Apples or Oranges. I’m glad to hear that you had a great experience with the limited-Master Cleanse, and I encourage you to commit to a full 10-day experience. I’m sharing this because your readers may be confused and believe this is how the Master Cleanse operates. Make sure to acquire information before embarking on this magnificent cleanse, such as through Stanley Burrough’s Book, or other Master Cleanse websites.
Great timing on this comment as I have just received the Stanley Burroughs book in the mail! I plan to embark on this cleanse again in the spring and my goal is to go for a 10 day stint. Looking forward to it! 🙂
I think you are a supposed to do the tea AND the salt water together. That’s how I’ve always done it and have been doing periodic master cleanses for 7 years. Also try using warm water with the salt – this makes it kinda taste like soup (reminds me of canned Campbell’s chicken noodle even though I haven’t eaten that in probably 20 years). Good luck!
Thanks! I will keep this in mind when I do the cleanse in the springtime. I’m so glad you stopped by 🙂
Hi Sharon,
I did the Master Cleanse this summer for 10 days (not including the ease in / out days) and felt great! If someone wants to try the salt water flush, it was suggested in one reading that you dilute it into a cup of water and chase it with the balance you need to drink. I did this two days and have to say it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done! Almost like my stomach burned…. I also read that some people ended up throwing it up as it is quite the disgusting drink to down!
The other option is to use a laxative tea which I promptly switched to and had no issues with taking at all. Both worked but the tea is so nice!! The brand I was recommended to use by others is Organic Smooth Move by Traditional Medicinals. They have Senna flavour and Peppermint (both are nice!)
Good luck with it on your next go around! The only other feedback I’d give you is a cleanse should be done in a warm time of the year. Not sure what your spring is like – here it is still freezing! It is less stressful on your body if the outside temperatures are calm.
Hey Valerie! I was so shocked at how awful the salt flush attempt was. I will definitely be using the tea next time 🙂 Springtime here can be fairly warm so I think I’d like to try it again when the seasons change. Thanks so much for the feedback. It’s nice to hear others experiences with the Master Cleanse.
I haven’t tried the Master Cleanse but I was really pleased with the results of my candida cleanse! I really do feel heaps better and my digestion is definitely on track!!! In fact, I look forward to my next cleanse (I’m guessing one will be called for after my return from China)!
It’s amazing how cleaned out you can feel. I’m so excited for you for your incredible trip 🙂 Looking forward to lots of photos and stories!
Great post Sharon! Thank-you for opening up and sharing your experiences with us! I’ve always wanted to try a Master Cleanse,,, maybe next summer,,, I will search out this post when it’s time for me to try it (:
Thanks Julie! I will be doing another one in the springtime. Same routine just longer on the Master Cleanse drink and I will be taking a laxative tea as well 😉
It’s actually funny that you posted this today, because I’ve been feeling ‘off’ over the past week and need to reset and clean out, take a break from food …. so first thing that came to mind is that I need to do a Master Cleanse! I’m going to start one soon but will definitely join you again in the Spring!
I’ve done the cleanse quite a few times over the past 12+ yrs (holy cow time flies!!!) and the longest and most thorough was 10 days on just the drink/herbal tea + the easing in and out, and it was quite the spiritual experience! I agree, the hardest part is the lack of planning and preparing meals and all the interesting thoughts and boredom that come with that. I spent a lot of time doing salt baths (the kind where you get into a tub of salt water rather than drink it LOL!) and showers – water therapy helps!). I’d really love to try a combination of the Master Cleanse and Bikram Hot Yoga! So awesome to hear that Joe did it with you! It takes a lot of extra mental work when you still have someone to prepare meals for.
Ahhhh I love reading others experiences using the Master Cleanse!
Regarding the salt water flush, did you have exact measurements? Meaning did you make sure not to drink more water before or after as a ‘chaser’? Because the flush action is all based on the science of having a specific sea salt to water ratio and anything extra will affect the outcome :S
That being said, the salt water flush isn’t 100% necessary as you can replace it with an herbal laxative tea which will give you some *results* too, lol 😉
Hmmm … you know, I’m not sure if I had more water after. I think I waited about 1 hour or so before I had anything else. And, ironically, we looked at teas today to use the next time. I think I’ll try 10 days on just the Master Cleanse Drink next time, with the 3 day ease-in and ease-out method. I’m thinking Spring! Are you in? It sounds like you have some experience 🙂