Table of Contents Forward by Mike Olaski! 2 About the Author! 3 Psychological and Emotional! 4 Weight Loss and Physical Effect! 32 Detox and The Salt Water Flush! 59 Support from Family & Friends! 78 The Process & Lemonade Diet! 103 Forward by Mike Olaski This Master Cleanse Journal is by a cleanser Nora Melendez during the Master Cleanse Group Experience at TheMasterCleanse.org. The context has be left in place so sometimes the author is addressing other commenters during the live event. Those comments have been left in place where they provide value to the state of mind of the author, or the group, or perhaps they are informative in nature. If you’re interested in doing a Group Cleanse, you can register here: http://themastercleanse.org/group-cleanse/ Thanks, and Happy Cleansing, Mike Olaski Founder of TheMasterCleanse.org and Author of Zero To Master Cleanser About the Author Author Username: Nora Author Full Name: Nora Melendez Author URL: ... Author Email: ... Author Cleanse Date: 2013.01.13 Author Cleanse Type: Newbie Cleanser Author Cleanse Status: 1st TIme Cleansing Author Cleanse - Purpose: Holistic Healing Comments of Interest Pending Notes Pending Psychological and Emotional "I'm really trying to do my due diligence by reading as much as possible about the experiences of others with the MC. One BIG thing of mine - is information. I'm about a month away from actually starting the group cleanse and reading comments and stories from others is really helping me feel prepared for what is to come...and come out haha. I'm actually making a concerted effort to drink more water, drink healthy herbal tea (Alfalfa) and use Boldo (tea) to start the de-tox process before starting the MC. I started drinking my teas last week and already feel a bit less bloated. This is my first baby step into the cleanse. I figure if I start to prepare my mind and body now - -it's possible the physical shock won't be as great. Although, the idea IS to shock your mind and body while on the cleanse, psychologically; I can tell myself that it's not so bad because I've done some preliminary work on flushing out toxins more gently. I'm doing my best to lay the foundation for success. My real motivation: I'm de-toxing in preparation for pregnancy. I want to make my body a ""Green"" environment, nice and cushy for a healthier baby. I tend to do better for others than myself; this time, a side effect for me will be a healthier body. It's a win-win! One recommendation I have already - pre-prepare....baby steps would be: start drinking more water ( I prefer tea; sans sugar). You will immediately start to feel a difference with even this small but necessary step." Pre-Cleanse. 28 Days till Group Cleanse. From reading the posts from others that have done or are doing the master cleanse, the more I am convinced that this is a psychological cleansing and that this part may be even more important than the physical cleansing. I have fought with myself for over 30 years over my nutritional (or lack thereof) habits. I've convinced myself at times that just by ""thinking"" positive nothing horrible will happen to me. I won't get cancer because I have good genes. While true that genes have a role in who gets sick and who doesn't, in this modern polluted world - the environment is very angry at us humans. So it will kill us off with disease because we have perhaps become a disease on the planet. Gloomy and doomy yes!! Well, it could happen. And so I'm trying to really clean up my act. Even with the small steps I've started to take so far, I already feel quite different. I've been buying more organic foods, eating salad for lunch and dinner, drinking more water. All seemingly simple acts for some -but that for me extraordinary. I have to reset my entire lifestyle and ways of thinking about my health. That is no small undertaking. And my brain has always beat me before -so I know I am my own worst enemy on this challenge. The first thing I know about myself is that I get really excited about trying something new - go at it like a bull (I am a Taurus)--and then wonder why I hit a wall and knock myself out cold. So this time, I am walking slowly towards my goal, being careful of psychological and practical pitfalls. Like figuring out how to replace my morning coffee and McGriddle breakfast habit." Pre-Cleanse. 22 days before Group Cleanse. Today...I have doubts. Maybe it's the caffeine withdrawals. None since Sunday (three days). I stayed home from work Monday and Tuesday. I don't know if that was the lack of caffeine, combined with hormones (pms) but I felt listless. I also have a cough, which doesn't help. I'm seriously thinking about taking at least a week off work next month during the worst part of my de-tox cleanse next month. I'm not sure I want to put the additional strain of work on my psyche. On the other hand, the boredom may get to me sooner at home. I will have to see how I feel the monday after the group cleanse begins. My brain is swimming with self-doubt mostly....and fear. I've failed at making a significant change in my life one too many times and fear backsliding once again. I guess this time needs to be different. Maybe I'm just dehydrated since I didn't drink enough water these last five days. Well, I'll do my best today. I'm back at work with a ready supply of herbal tea and water. I will push on." Pre-Cleanse. 21 Days till Group Cleanse. I am craving chocolate and honey since yesterday. So I had a Hershey bar with almonds. Just had a piece of dark chocolate. I am enjoying it! I don't normally crave sweets but do know that when I tell myself I will be giving up food, my brain goes nuts trying to get ""one last little taste"" of this or that. Jajaajaa. It is what it is. For now, I can give in. The countdown has begun and today I am committed to making this change. Yesterday was a different story, and one that I can no longer change. Today I am enjoying my chocolate, and honey with my teas. I don't really plan to give up either of these things after my de-tox. In fact, my plan is to incorporate more healthy foods in my day to day nutrition. So I want to stop seeing the de-tox as a deprivation period and more like a ""reset"" of past unhealthy habits transitioning into better choices." Pre-Clease 1 Day till Group Cleanse Well I had my fun during the holidays - I ate, drank and was merry. Although I did not restrict any foods, I still tried to stay conscious of what I was eating. The biggest deal was caffein; that seemingly innocent and benign stimulant. By boyfriend and I went on a romantic weekend getaway out in nature. We went to the beach and a for a hike in the state park. It was wonderful! This whole month that I have been preparing for the cleanse, I've had caffeine (via coffee) only a few times. But after we got home I was pooped. I needed about three days to recover from our excursion, not only because I'm so out of shape but because of lack of caffeine. I felt miserable yesterday and had stomach flu like symptoms in the morning. At dinner time, I ate a small amount of lamb koubideh and salad. At the end the waiter brought us some black tea. I drank it and forgot black tea has the most caffeine of any herbal tea--oopsy, but needless to say I felt immediately better and renergized. I knew that the caffeine habit would be hard to kick - and it's taken a whole month really. But I've experienced the wonders of other herbal teas and I think I will have fun replacing coffee. Lately, and with the Cleanse being one day away, I've experienced self-doubt, fear, anxiety, stress, hopelessness, and other feelings that come with making a major life change. I couldn't even bring myself to share any of it as the blank journal pages will testify. But today, I got back on TMC website and refreshed my memory on the kit items I will need to purchase later today. I looked up some juice/veggie smoothie and soup recipes for the Ease-In and reminded my boyfriend that my cleanse starts tomorrow. I feel more comfortable with the Ease-In process because I have given myself some tools for success, namely the recipes and mental preparation. I feel ready to take this on; although I'm still a bit afraid of the whole thing and of changing." Ease-In - Day 1 I'm really glad I went back yesterday to review what I could and couldn't eat during the Ease-In. I was ready to throw in the towel at having to quit all my favorite foods cold turkey. Luckily, I've been doing mental push-ups for a whole month and yesterday I was gratified to find that I could have all my regular food on Ease-In Day 1 (today).