The Master Cleanse Recap: A Great Reset

I ended up completing 9 days of the Master Cleanse

The Master Cleanse Recipe (again):

Per glass...

-2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice

-2 Tablespoons Grade B Maple Syrup

-a pinch of Cayenne 

to 8 oz. filtered water

Per Gallon (start with 60 oz water)

-3/4 cup Lemon Juice

-3/4 cup Grade B sizzyrup

-1/8 Teaspoon of Cayenne

For your morning Salt Water Flush: 

-1 quart of filtered water

-2 teaspoons of himalayan or non iodized salt

Other suggested ingredients, teas that I used to compliment my cleanse:

-Spirulina powder:

I would do a few shots of this a day with about an oz of the Lemonade.  It contains protein.

-Burdock root & Ginger root for Tea:

Herbal teas are allowed on the Master Cleanse.  This both a great detoxifying tea as well as a way to warm up.  I struggled with being REALLY cold during the cleanse.

-Senna/Smooth Move Tea:

This is to be had every night before bed

-Oranges to Juice for your ease-out (buy these around Day 9)

-Probiotics for the week following the cleanse, I prefer at least 12 billion living organisms

Yes, I made it.  All and all, I have good things to say about the Master Cleanse.  It was a great reset for me and a great reminder that I have a good handle on this whole food thing.  Over the past 10 years I have developed a pretty solid system of caring for myself and others via nutrition- and boy, nothing can quite make you appreciate this the way a fast does. I found myself plotting out meals... and interestingly enough, meals that were all centered around whole grains and veggies entirely.  This is what my body missed the most.

I eased into the cleanse over the course of 2-3 days eating mostly soups and lighter foods on these days, as well as some juice from my juice extractor.  The last solid thing I ate was a kale/daikon/carrot salad.  It is suggested to transition on to the cleanse with LIVING, raw foods.

The first few days of the cleanse were ABSOLUTELY intense, in that your body is not used to getting calories from LEMONADE only.  There are passing moments of Euphoria, as well slight headaches.  I highly recommend keeping your activity level light... but I participated in some Yin and Restorative yoga classes that I think really helped the detox aspect of the cleanse.  I found Day 5-8 to be really enjoyable, with access to bountiful energy. I was practicing massage throughout the entire cleanse.  I hit a wall at the end of Day 8 and got super cranky.  My skin seemed really dry and I was overtired from doing massage and maintaining a pretty active lifestyle (I did not follow my own advice here...)

This is the first thing I had after 9 days of cleansing.
I had to take a picture of it.  It was joyful.

So I decided on the end of Day 8 that I would begin to ease out on Day 9.  Halfway through Day 9, I juiced oranges (which is the suggested first day ease-out method in the traditional master cleanse) and threw a cucumber into the juice as well.  WOW IS CUCUMBER ORANGE JUICE GOOD.  No joke.  Best thing ever.  That evening I ate an orange.  I can't stress enough the importance of making your first food back from the cleanse a soft fruit.  Start with soft fruits!!  Veggies are too hard.  I ate a carrot and felt like my stomach was going to explode.  Not fun.  But after a few oranges, I was ready for soup the next day, and by the end of that day, I was ready for solid food! IT was EPIC!!!

One of my meals following up the Master Cleanse:
Steamed greens with red onion and shiitake mushrooms
Roasted Carrots
Baked Salmon with Scallions

So my sweet lovely readers,  if you have anymore questions, definitely ask away.  Post Cleanse the greatest aspect of doing this cleanse has been the efficiency of my digestive system.  This is absolutely a  great reset and over-all colon cleanser.  It also provided me with an extreme amount of mental clarity about the things I choose to put into my body on a regular basis.  This has been extremely valuable.

Why every Aquarius you know is a genius, Why all things are a GO in the skies above, and notes on a potentially insane Detox

HELLO!!  My imminent return is upon us.  Needless to say that keeping up with a blog is hard work! Props to those avid every day bloggers who no doubt lose innumerable amounts of shut-eye/sleep-in/eating time.  So here we are, Sun in Aquarius, the time that produces some of the zaneyest whack jobs and creatively BRILLIANT innovators to grace this planet.  Google it if you have your doubts, or look no further than the birthdate on Facebook of that friend who just dances to their own tune and doesn't give a WHAT.  I mean who ELSE could make green overalls or tie dye look AMAZING.  Let's be honest.

This is URANUS the ruling planet of Aquarius.   Uranus is associated with change,  upheaval, reversals and NUTJOBS. Just kidding.  Sort of.

This energy is so bloody SPONTANEOUS and ABSTRACT just trying to write about it is slightly exhausting.  It is all about INVENTION and it's various processes... The thought, the dream, the goal, the CONNECTION and COLLABORATION that make all kinds of KIZMET things go down.  Like revolutions, masterpieces and ELECTRICITY- no really- Thomas Edison was an Aquarius.

Look at this dude.  He's clearly on some OTHER ish.

So, BAM!  What's your deal this month?  What work of Genius have you been cultivating?  In what way have you been collaborating with others to make your BIGGEST dreams go down in the most beneficial way possible for all parties involved?  WHAT ARE YOU CREATING AND HOW ARE YOU COMMUNICATING ABOUT IT WITH THE WORLD AROUND YOU?  I threw in that communication bit because Mercury the messenger has been hanging out with the Sun for awhile in Aquarius as well.  So this is all important stuff and honestly if you've got any ideas this is a great time to launch them, up until the last week on the month.  AFTER THAT,  on February 23rd, when that tricky little messenger Mercury goes backward in the sky- consider it a CHILL OUT period when it comes to major decisions. I will detail this more in a couple weeks when you are freaking out because your phone/computer/travel plans are experiencing technical difficulties.  Or just having second thoughts about something you thought was game-on.

HOWEVER, from the 30th of January until February 18th we have a beautiful window of time in which all planets are moving forward (Saturn stalls on the 18th and Mercury on the 23rd).  This is pretty nice and was brought about on the 30th when JUPITER, everybody's best friend... you know that friend at the party that brings you amazing gifts and keeps you smiling all night but is hard to kick out at the end of the night because they want to keep going.... moved forward in the sky.
TRANSLATION:
I wouldn't be surprised if just after the Leo full moon last weekend, something in your life finally started POPPING OFF after a period of waiting.  Hey, I didn't say it had to be good.  But chances are it is.  And if you haven't felt Jupiter yet (which I doubt) you've got awhile to receive the ABUNDANT blessings he will shower down on you.  Just keep in mind sometimes, TOO MUCH of a good thing is, just that.  Too much.

NOW- INSIDE THE CLEANSE OF A MADWOMAN....

WELL in case you were wondering- my personal form of Aquarian INSANITY this month seems to be popping up as the WHACKY idea to do the Master Cleanse.  Have you heard of it?  It's that insane cleanse where you drink lemon-stuff for ten days.  That's what I'm doing.  The recipe is super easy:

-60 oz of filtered water
-12 Tablespoons of Grade B Maple Syrup
-12 Tablespoons of Lemon juice (fresh squeezed)
-1/2 Tsp. of Cayenne Pepper
-100% pure, raw, CRAY

Also there is a salt water flush included that is necessary for reasons that I'm too much of a lady to discuss...  But you get it, right?  This cleanse is all about eliminating toxic BUILD up.  I eased into it with some delicious soups, salads and fresh juices like the one below.

Kale, Celery, Cucumber and Lemon

Now you know EVERYTHING.  I'm getting hungry and that either means I'm going to go fetch my lemonade and plan out my meals for the next month after my cleanse is over, OR I'm going to hit the hay.

 I think the list will go something like SUSHI, TACOS, SUSHI...

Goodnight, GOOD LIFE!! Blessings.