Let the countdown begin!

Starting weight: 183lbs.

OK, so I'm starting "The Master Cleanse Diet" (aka "The Lemonade Diet") today. In short, it lasts 10 days and is used to remove a large chunk of the toxins that build up in your gut over the course of your life. Eating healthier foods would have limited the amount of toxins in your body, while eating less healthy foods would (most likely) have increased them.

Over the past 3 or so years, I've had more illness than almost my entire previous life. Nothing Earth-shattering or near fatal. Just more colds, flus, minor headaches, acne and general aches and pains. Add in the fact that I get minimal exercise and don't eat super healthy and it seems likely that a change of some sort needs to take place.

About the Master Cleanse Diet:

Typically, you start by drinking a quart (32 oz) of salt water each morning. Literal salt water. Mix 1 quart of water and 2 teaspoons of pure sea-salt. And drink it all within 10 minutes. Then you wait an hour. Then you hit the bathroom for 10-20 minutes. Since the salt water has the same specific gravity of blood, your kidneys can't pick up the water and your blood cannot pick up the salt. So it passes through your intestines like an internal bath, washing away the toxins and unhealthy solids.

Then, making sure to wait a full hour after you finished your salt water (and hit the bathroom), you can start drinking the lemonade. Not just any lemonade, but a very specific formula that has some interesting properties. Mix 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon or lime juice (1/2 lemon, organic only), 2 tablespoons of pure maple syrup, 1/10 teaspoon of Cayenne pepper and 8 oz. of cool water. Shake and drink. The only thing that could be better would be to substitute freshly extracted sugar cane juice for the pure maple syrup (but it's very hard to find). FYI, pure maple syrup has a ton of minerals and vitamins naturally contained within it.

Do NOT use honey as the sweetener. Honey is a predigested sugar and raises the body's blood sugar too rapidly, making the pancreas release insulin (which throws the whole purpose of the diet way off). Typically you'd want to drink 6-8 glasses of the lemonade a day, with glasses of water in between as needed (to curb the hunger). Rinse and repeat for 10 days. Do not eat any other food during this time. Do NOT take any supplements or medicine during this time.

Each night, you drink a cup of laxative herb tea. Any type you like. Think of it as "soaking the crusty, greasy dishes before you scrub the gunk off".

After your 10 days (some people go longer, up to 40 days... sound familiar?), you can slowly start working "normal" food back into your diet. On the first day after the diet, drink several glasses of pure orange juice (extra water if necessary). On the second day, continue with the orange juice but add "real" vegetable soup (no meat stock of any kind) during the afternoon. On the third day, start with orange juice for breakfast, more soup for lunch and any mix of fruit, vegetables and salad for dinner (no meat, fish, breads or milk). Starting on the fourth day, you can resume eating any food but attention to your dietary intake would be wise.

Why do it?

Why not. If it does actually "cleanse" the body of unhealthy toxins, who wouldn't want to do it from time-to-time? I'm not a health nut but I don't like the constant little illnesses that are becoming a part of my life.