Day 9... The Master Cleanse continues.

The Master Cleanse is the weirdest thing I have ever done, and I think it goes far and beyond what it means to be a vegan. As I am doing it I have many reservations, but I have learned a lot about myself as well. I learned that food is mostly ninety percent psychological (both as a matter of thinking and feeling) and that overeating is largely a problem resulting from bad habits that are a symptom of our thoughts and emotions as well. Try drinking nothing but lemonade for ten days and you will know why.

Food is very powerful. It is more powerful than sex, and often for some of us the urge to eat over rides our sense of maturity and responsibility, and we eat like addicts. We eat because we like the feeling, and we like it so much we eat until it hurts, or at least until our own feelings are numb. I've gone to few functions where food was offered freely, and it had a profound effect on me. I had the opportunity to detach myself from what would otherwise be a chance for me to eat unabated and to excess. I had the opportunity to watch and talk to other people who were also demonstrating some compulsive eating behaviors as well. But the thing I noticed was that deep down in my chest I felt the active disease of addiction at work. I had these feelings one could easily confuse with love, as if I was about to meet a new girlfriend, or as if I was just breaking up with someone. Love pangs, I suppose. My love for food was potentially greater than my love for the people in my life. That scared me. Also, while I am in the midst of my lemonade cleanse of sorts I would fantasize about the kind of foods I am going to eat after this whole ordeal is over. Well, the last time I did the MC I was stuck on eating spiral ham, prosciutto, KFC and nachos -- all the stuff I craved and loved. You know, after the MC I ate those things. This was at least after the end of "The Vegan Experiment" (hence the name Vegan Redux). But now, when I lie awake at night I steer away from those foods and think about all the things I am going to do with Tofu. I feel personally that to eat meat is to die. I am already taking something that is dead, and the spirit of that dead animal must be taking revenge on me in some way. That is why I weighed 400 pounds almost a year ago. A healthy approach to Veganism is why I weighed 325 pounds this morning. If I stay on the Master Cleanse long enough I will weigh below 300 pounds in no time. This is essentially why I am doing all of this, with the hopes that when I reach my goal of what is considered a normal body fat content and optimum physical fitness. It is my goal to formulate an ongoing health regimen of diet and exercise that works best for me. But in the meantime I use the MC as a means of jump starting my health initiative, and to give myself that added boost of weight loss that will help me perform better in the gym and to get me ready for new plan of mostly raw foods for my diet as well. Will this work? Well, Wikipedia has an interesting article about the MC That is worth reading, and I will quote a piece of it here

"The singer/actress Beyoncé did it for 14 days and lost 22 lb (9 kg) for her role in the 2006 movie Dreamgirls. Other celebrities include rapper Trina who did this liquid diet for 13 days and Howard Stern's co host Robin Quivers claims to have lost 73 lb using the Master Cleanse. Similarly, Jared Leto says he lost the weight he gained to play 'Mark David Chapman' (he gained 62 lb) all from the master cleanse. Medical authorities say that those who try the Master Cleanse to lose weight will gain it back in time. Beyoncé denounced using the cleanse as a weight-loss program, stating, "I wouldn't recommend it if someone wasn't doing a movie ... there are other ways to lose weight." The Master Cleanse is not recommended by most mainstream doctors, who don't recommend detox diets, considering them unnecessary and potentially dangerous."

However, in regards to the effectiveness of the MC, Peter Glickman seems to argue otherwise. His raw food website and book "Lose Weight, Have More Energy& Be Happier in 10 Days" suggests that the Master Cleanse is very beneficial to most people, and he explains it as he describes his personal journey through illness to better health.

I am desperate enough to try anything so long as it indicates that it will give me the desired results I need. This is why this meat and cheese loving fool turned vegan. Even vegetarian wasn't good enough for me. I was willing to give it all up for the sake of saving my life. And now I sense there's no turning back. Today it's the MC. Tomorrow it is raw veganism, or veganism at best.