Day 6

It's over. We ended it today because we are weak and tired and simply couldn't take it anymore. I have so much respect for people who do this for 20 or 30 days. I don't know how they do it. The same drink 6 times a day EVERY DAY. We were not strong enough to even do it a week! Oh well. It was a great experience for us. It showed us a lot about ourselves and how much we love food (in an unhealthy way). It's amazing how much food plays a role in our life. We went to a movie at the theater but left unsatisfied because we couldn't drink pop or eat nachos. We couldn't even fully enjoy a night in because we couldn't make a nice dinner. Our life without food seemed really lacking and it showed us just how much we cherish and adore food (too much). I think we will take away from this not only healthier bodies but a deeper knowledge as to how much value we place on taste and silly stuff that we pay good money for, consume in 15 minutes and poop out the next day. It's silly how important we make it to our life. From now on we will try to eat to live and not live to eat as we've realized we do much of the time. Let's hope we really learn our lesson. If we do we'll be healthier, fitter, and overall better people. Ok, that is it for this blog. Thanks to those that have been reading it.

Signing off,
-Kevin

Day 5

The taste of the lemon drink has been really getting to us. So much so that it grosses us out to drink it. Michelle has dry heaved a few times while trying to drink it down the last couple days. From the get-go she was going to do the cleanse for 7 days and I was going to do it for 10. I don't think I can last that long anymore as today I could only bring myself to drink two of the drinks. I might do 7 days along with Michelle now. On top of that we have both felt weak and rotten today. As a result I've down-graded my detox from the version I was doing to another version we read about where you can drink vegetarian vegtable broth for dinner in place of the lemon drink. I had some of that broth for dinner. Michelle is determined to stay with the version we've been doing but since it grosses her out so much today she simply drank one drink and she didn't even have the pepper in it. Tomorrow I'm going to try really hard to get her to switch to broth for dinner or lunch. She can't just not drink the drinks. It's not healthy and will let her blood sugar level go way down again. All day today my mouth tasted like death. It was seriously the worst taste I've ever tasted. They say that when your tongue gets really coated on the detox you get really bad breath. Boy were they right. The bad thing is no gum or mints or anything are allowed on the cleanse so there wasn't much I could do about it. My tongue is totally coated white as a result of the detox and I've been brushing it like mad when I brush my teeth but it doesn't help. That is one of the reasons I decided to do the broth for dinner. It's nice to finally have a different taste in my mouth. Anyway, today was rough and led me to change my cleanse and led Michelle to not really take in anything but water. Things here at the Stinehart camp are not going well. We'll update tomorrow. As always, thanks for reading.

-Kevin

Day 4

Today was a bad one. This morning Michelle fainted while getting ready for work. She passed out in the hallway which made a big sound as her head hit the floor. Upon hearing it I jumped awake, flew out of bed and ran to her side. I patted her face to wake her up and she was confused as to how she got on the floor. Yesterday she only drank one of her six drinks because the taste was getting to her and it made her blood sugar drop a ton. I made her call in sick from work just in case it wasn't over. I don't need my wife passing out at the wheel or at work on the cement floor (fortunately our hall way here is carpeted). All day she's felt tired and dizzy when she walks. I made her drink four of her drinks today and gave her extra maple syrup to increase her blood sugar level. It was a very scary morning for me. I've never seen anyone faint and to have it be my wife and to wake up from the sound of her head hitting the floor was not an experience I'd like to repeat. She's starting to question whether she should continue on the cleanse. I told her I support her quitting after this morning's incident but she wants to wait until tomorrow to see how she feels. For me today was pretty good. I'm feeling a lot more energized and have less hunger or cravings. Michelle has lost 7 pounds now and I have lost 11. We'll see what tomorrow brings. For now Michelle is lying in bed and I am about to join her so we can watch The Shawshank Redemption on my iPod. Goodnight friends.

-Kevin

Day 3

Today was very tiring. Both Michelle and I felt really weak all day today. Michelle was so weak she barely made it through her whole work day. I did a little better but when we got home we both crashed and slept for an hour or two. They say the first 3 days are the hardest so it looks like we made it through the rough waters! I thought you might be interested in the science of the first few days we are just getting over now. So here is a bit:

On the first day of fasting, the blood sugar level drops below 70 mg/dl. To restore the blood to the normal glucose level, liver glycogen is converted to glucose and released into the blood. This reserve is enough for half a day. The body then reduces the basal metabolic rate (BMR). The rate of internal chemical activity in resting tissue is lowered to conserve energy. The heart slows and blood pressure is reduced. Glycogen is pulled from the muscle causing some weakness. The first wave of cleansing is usually the worst. Headaches, dizziness, nausea, bad breath, glazed eyes and a heavily coated tongue are signs of the first stage of cleansing. Hunger can be the most intense in this period.

All day I was gazed-eyed and my tongue is super white and coated. They say the more coated your tongue the more toxic your body is. Michelle's is just now turning white so I think my body is more toxic than hers. I guess that would make sense since she's a vegetarian and I eat junk all the time. I'm so excited to rid my body of all that toxic garbage accumulated after 23 years of eating junk! I'm glad it's working so well so far. A lot of people have been asking me what all the ingredients in the drink do. So for those wondering I thought I'd post what each do.

1. The Maple Syrup
The maple syrup has a large variety of minerals and vitamins. Vitamin A, B1, B2, B6, and C, nicotinic acid and pantothenic acid are present in the syrup. It also delivers the calcium, potassium, copper and zinc that an over-worked system needs to help heal.

2. The Lemon
Rich in antioxidants, bioflavonoids and enzymes, which improve immune function, lemons flush out waste and neutralize fat-storing toxins.
Its 49% potassium strengthens and energizes the heart, stimulates and builds the kidneys and adrenal glands.
Its oxygen builds vitality.
Its calcium strengthens and builds the lungs.
Its phosphorus knits the bones, stimulates and builds the brain for clearer thinking.
Its chlorine cleanses the blood plasma.
Its silicon aids the thyroid for deeper breathing.
It truly is a perfect fruit for cleansing, eliminating, healing, and building.

3. The Cayenne Pepper
Cayenne pepper boosts your ability to burn fat by at least 10% as well as breaking up mucus and increasing warmth by building the blood. It also adds many of the B and C vitamins.

By the way did I mention Michelle lost 6 pounds?!! She was so excited. She is getting much closer to her goal weight. I've now lost 8 pounds which is super-exciting too! Ok, I am off to bed. Bring on Day 4!

-Kevin

Day 2

It is day 2 at 7:00AM and I am wide awake. By the end of yesterday I was feeling severely hungry and a bit weak but this morning I feel completely better and energized. I NEVER get up this early unless I have to but I just feel really good. I stepped on the scale this morning and have already lost five pounds! That is A TON of weight to lose in one day! Last night my wife was informing me of how much skinnier I was looking already. I thought I looked skinnier too but we played it off as our imagination since we both knew I was going to be losing weight over the next 10 days. But, I guess it wasn't our mind playing tricks on us! Five pounds! How exciting to have lost five pounds and feel great (not weak or tired from not eating). So today is day two and I am thrilled at how this is going. Last night was really bad though. I had severe cravings. To make it worse a girl at work had an extra order of fries from Rays (best local fries hands down) so she tried to give them to me. I resisted though and did the cleanse 100% right. I had 3 lemonades, 4 bottles of water and 1 cup of herbal tea (no sugar or sweetener added of course). The hard work of yesterday paid off and I am on my way! I decided my last day of detox will be the 20th. That will give me a full 10 days on the detox cleanse. We also leave for Hawaii the next day and will be on a cruise for the next week so I want to be able to enjoy the food on vacation of course. The day we fly out will be my first day back on real food so I'll have to take it easy. Maybe some juice for breakfast, a few crackers for lunch then soup for dinner. After that day of taking it slow by the first day of our cruise I should be pretty much back to solid foods. I also forgot to mention that my wife is doing the detox with me. She's not as committed as I am but I'm really hoping she does the full 10 days. She said if she doesn't lose weight after today she will quit. Let's hope she loses weight. It makes it a lot easier for me having her do it with me. Ok, off to day 2!

-Kevin

Day 1

After 23 years of eating unhealthy, processed, fatty, greasy, sugary foods I've decided to cleanse my system. I'm starting a major detox cleanse diet and to keep me accountable I'm keeping this blog so I can't just quit it at any time. You the reader must keep me accountable (and will just by reading this). The detox I'm doing is based on "The Master Cleanse" created by Stanley Burroughs. Here's the skinny:

2 Tablespoons (1 fluid ounce) fresh-squeezed lemon juice (approx. ½ lemon),

1 Tablespoon (1 fluid ounce) organic Grade B maple syrup, not maple-flavored sugar syrup or syrup from companies that use formaldehyde to harvest their syrup,

1/10 Teaspoon or more cayenne pepper (hot red pepper), and

1 Cup (8 fluid ounces) purified or spring water, NOT fluoridated water.

Drink 3 to 12 glasses of this lemonade mixture daily for 10 to 15 days. No food is eaten nor any vitamin supplements taken during the cleanse.

So today is day 1 and it is going well. It is still early in the day though. I will try to update this once a day (probably as a substitute to food during craving moments). Wish me luck!
-Kevin

You can read up on this cleanse at this site and
this site.