On the Master Cleanse again!!I I Can't Wait to Do it All Over Again!!!

On the Master Cleanse again -
Just can't wait to get it on the road again.
The life I love is making lemonade with my friends
And I can't wait to get on the Master Cleanse.

Conchi al la Willie Nelson

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Well, yes....here I am again.  What prompted me to enter into this cleanse again?  Well, each day I step on my weight scale, which is called Thinner.  Ha!!!  You could have fooled me.  Well, let me start by giving you a little history.  All my life I've been in the 94-95 lb range.  And, no matter what I ate, I did not deviate from that weight.  In fact, if I didn't eat huge quantities, I lost weight and even went below the 90 lb range.  Plus, I LOVE food.  So, it was great to be able to pack in the food and not worry about weight consequences.  When people saw how much I ate, they would tell me, "you should go to the doctor, you might have a tape worm."  Hell, no.  No doctor.  I love eating.  This is the perfect world.  Everyone called me Mikey Garbage Can.  I would collect my family's leftovers and consume them.  Or, they would say, "pass it down to Mickey."  Well, that world came crashing down on me back in 1994 while I went to a dance weekend.  I don't know what possessed me, but I decided to step on one of their scales and was sure it was broken, since it registered 103.  I had never been over 100 in my life, except for when I was pregnant.  Both those times I maxed out at 120 lbs.  I later learned that that scale was, indeed, correct.  Wha happuned????  The good times were over. 

Well, since then, I've been aware of the fact that I DO NOW gain weight.  Although, lately, I've been gaining a lb a day and wondered when it was going to stop....and it didn't.  at that point, I had no clothing that fit me, and I refused to go up yet another size by buying new, larger clothing.  Well, this continued until the scale hit 122.  Oink, oink.  Where's my waist?  If I lose some weight, will this stretched skin ever go back to place?  I doubt it very much.  It will probably just hang there.  Maybe I'll start wearing a midriff top and real low hip huggers and start a new style.  Or, better yet, perhaps I can get hired to do commercials on the before photo of how to get rid of belly fat.  That could be quite profitable.

So, hence.....THE MASTER CLEANSE (i.e. "MC").  So, I started it.  Incidentally, this is not my first time with the MC.  This is about the fourth time.  Every time I go on it, I get a different reaction.  More on that later.  So, I ran down to Bravo's, got my organic lemons.  Yikes!!!  The price went up.  And, they only had one bottle of the pure grade B maple syrup.  I spoke to Victor, the Manager, and asked if he would order me six more bottles.  I still had some at home from the previous MC.  He said they would come in in five days (Tuesday), which just about allowed me enough of the syrup at home to get me through to Tuesday.  

So, I started it.  Although, I was not able to imbibe the quart of salt water in the mornings.  So, instead, I had the herbal laxative tea (half strength).  Even though, I lost 8 1/2 lbs in one week.  The ugly fat was just melting off.  Then....it came to an abrupt slowdown.  My hope was to do it for 14 days, as I have in the past.  But when the weight loss slowed down so quickly, I thought perhaps I would extend it to a third week.  And, throughout the MC I went to a gig with my choral group, went dancing, and went to a birthday party at a bar (with food).  When the bartender asked if he could get me some food and drink, I told him  that I couldn't; that I was on a fast.  Then he said that he was on a liquor fast and was going to try to keep it for one month.  Then one of the party invitees said that she was on a liquor fast for a month because she was gaining so much weight from all the liquor she drank.  I even went to a zumba class (outdoors on a rooftop).  It was great.  Although, I did get dehydrated during it.  And, lastly, I went to a bluegrass jam where everyone was eating this yummy looking mac n cheese, delicious looking mozzarella and tomato with basil salad and wine. 

So, I'm feeling great.  And, near the end of the second week of the fast I've gone down to 111.5 lbs and it's been holding there for three days.  So, I figure, I'm really not going to lose any more weight at this point.  I'm getting sick and tired of the syrup lemonade drink and I don't think I can tolerate going into a third week.  But then.....Saturday morning (one day past the two-week period) I went down to 109.5 lbs.  YAY!!!!!!  And, I still have two days' worth of the expensive lemons.  I shouldn't let them go to waste.  Maybe I WILL do it a little longer.  Although, I am hosting a bluegrass jam of my own.  And, I will be cooking.  As it is, if I stop the MC on Sunday, I will need the three required days to come out of it before I'm able to eat normally.  We'll see.

My benefits?  Well, my allergies are great!!!!  And my weight loss is sure a great plus, very temporary (it will all come back within 3 days of eating).

My reactions each time I did the MC:

1) Did this one in June in 2010.  I had a co-worker (Joan) doing the cleanse along with me.  It was non-eventful and just proceeded as expected.  I did it for 10 days.  And, afterwards I also did a bentonite cleanse. http://curezone.com/forums/fm.asp?i=120380  I did not have any allergy symptoms for six months.  It was great.  All my allergic friends were suffering and taking all sorts of medications, but I wasn't taking anything.!!

2) February of the following year:  I started it as I had the last time.  This time I was quite food focused.  I spent lots and lots of time perusing the web for recipes and saving my favorites on my computer.  Then I got it in my head that I needed cast iron cookware and started researching that, both online and on Craigslist.  I found the most wonderful cookware and bought it.  See below and drool (for those of you who like to cook):
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000LZ20OS/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00063RWG6/ref=oh_details_o05_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00063RXKQ/ref=oh_details_o05_s00_i02?ie=UTF8&psc=1

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001KZKPNG/ref=oh_details_o06_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0026IZBRQ/ref=oh_details_o06_s00_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

http://www.amazon.com/Lodge-Color-EC6D43-Enameled-6-Quart/dp/B000N501BK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375542913&sr=8-1&keywords=lodge+enamel+cast+iron

http://www.amazon.com/Le-Creuset-Enamel--20-Quart-Stockpot/dp/B000NOVCRS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375543007&sr=8-1&keywords=le+crueset+20+quart+stock+pot

http://www.amazon.com/Lodge-LCC3-Pre-Seasoned-Cooker-10-25-inch/dp/B0009JKG9M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375543047&sr=8-1&keywords=cast+iron+combo+cooker

Am I on an obsessive roll, or what???  Wow, was I in my glory.  What a wonderful collection of cookware to bequeath when I'm gone, due to over eating (or course).  During this cookware fugue, my son "just happened" to blind copy me on an e-mail to him negotiating the ballroom space at Wonderland for a 40th birthday party and a request from the client for a good cook of latin food.  It was for 50 people.  I e-mailed Trevor back.  "Ju talkin to me????"  He said, "yes, indeed.  I think you would be wonderful for this."  "But, Trevor, I'm going to leave the City in the morning for a dance Stardust weekend the very day of the birthday party!  How am I going to do it??"  Of course, I like a challenge, and I didn't like to say no to Trevor, so I did do it.  Oh, my!!  From the preceding Saturday through Friday mornig at 3am, I was up every night until 3:00 a.m. cooking, refrigerating, trying to get at least 3 hours of sleep, and then going to work for a full 8-hour day.  Whew!!  I did it, but I was tired.  And there was an awful lot of food there.    Tried to sleep on the bus on the way up to the dance weekend hotel, but there were dancers on the bus who were chatting continuously. 

I didn't see the beneficial results from the MC as I did the first time (i.e. it didn't seem to lessen my allergies that I get in the winter -- ??).   I did this one for 14 days.

3) I started this MC so impromptu that after I started it, I wanted a filet mignon steak and couldn't have it.  I did stick to the cleanse, but on occasion, I had the need to just suck on a potato chip and get the flavor.  Really pathetic!  I went to dinner parties with this cleanse too,  And I met friends at restaurants.  I even was banned from sitting at the bar at Connolly's (my Tuesday night dance routine) and drinking my lemonade.  Yeah!!  Really!! 

4) During this fourth cleanse I've been pretty good, although totally food focused.  I've been planning the menu for a bluegrass jam that I'm hosting next Thursday, at which I probably will not even be able to eat my own food (even if I go off the cleanse this weekend (i.e. I will still be coming out of the cleanse by Thursday)).  I've also scheduled a Mama's Remembrance Jam on her birthday in September and really have been going overboard with the seafood menu that I know she would love:

Calamare En Su Tinta;
Bacalao a la Vincainza;
Zarzuela de Mariscos Costa Brava;
Seared Tuna with Mirin Sauce
Sides?  I haven't even worked on those.

How many people are coming?  I have no idea!  I just know that I am having a ball researching all these Spanish dishes.

Ha!!!  I just bought some more bentonite to follow up with after the MC.  Well, that's all for now.  I need another swallow of my Master Cleanse Cocktail!