I'm Not Hungry (Like The Wolf)

Today is day 6 of the master cleanse and I am feeling great!  I repeated the four capsule senna dose last night and didn't have as much abdominal pain as I did yesterday but still felt some as a result - enough to confirm that the pain I felt is, indeed, a result of the senna.  Unlike yesterday, I did the salt water flush this morning.  The combination of an herbal laxative prior to bed and the salt water flush upon waking is definitely a powerful one!  I think that the truly amazing thing about this master cleanse is that I am not at all 'hungry like the wolf.'  (Song - Duran Duran, Hungry Like The Wolf)  I have been able to cook food and go grocery shopping for the family without being tempted to eat anything.  Yesterday, we went to Trader Joe's to pick up a few things.  After my second serving of lemonade yesterday, I was completely out of maple syrup so I needed to go shopping anyway.  Trader Joe's has two offerings of grade B maple syrup!  Unfortunately they happened to be sold out of one of those offerings...  The one I ended up getting is their Canadian maple syrup in 25 oz. glass bottles.  It is a bit more expensive than the 32 oz. bottle they also offer, but as it is grade B it is still cheaper than what I was buying before.  There is a misconception with maple syrup that grade B is somehow inferior to grade A.  Unlike eggs, meats, and grades on test scores, grade B maple syrup is not inferior.  It is thicker, darker, and has a higher mineral content than grade A.  It does tend to have a slightly different taste, though, that can make it less desirable.
This past Spring, we took a day trip to a local sugar shack that taps maple trees and processes its own maple syrup.  It was a really informative and fun trip!  Had I known then that I would be undertaking the master cleanse, I would have stocked up on grade B maple syrup.  Rick, the owner/operator of the sugar shack explained the difference between the grades (which, by the way, may be revised in the not too distant future) and expressed his preference for grade B.  I tried contacting him prior to buying more syrup at the grocery store, but I haven't gotten a reply yet.  I am just not sure if he has any syrup in stock at this point and I don't feel like driving over there only to come home empty-handed.  I would prefer to buy from him, though.  He is a lot more local - within 20 miles from home - and has better prices than the grocery store.

Today being Wednesday means that I have the house to myself.  The weather is not conducive to working in the garden - unlike previous weeks.  This is fine, though, as I really don't have much else that I can do in the garden for now.  With the newly acquired compost bin in place, there isn't as much need for me to get out there and turn over the compost pile.  I still need to, just not as frequently.  Since adding the compost bin, I took a second frame - the one that had been containing the compost pile - and stacked it on top of the frame that defines my future raised bed for planting.  This will allow me to fill in even more soil and compost as a growing medium for the plants and pretty much negates the poor quality, resident soil that I started with.  Once finished, the bed will have depth of at least 15 inches of quality soil to plant in - no rocks, no clay.  I plan to take the third, remaining frame and cut it apart.  I will use the pieces to hold the stacked frames together.

Not having to spend time on the garden today means that I have more time to do other things.  Of course, the weather also rules out taking Ginger for anything other than a utility walk.  My plan is to put in a couple of sessions of exercise.  I don't really want to do one longer workout, so I will probably do two, half-hour sessions. 

Everybody (or Every Body) Hurts Sometimes

Day 5 began with me feeling the worst that I have since beginning the master cleanse.  The lyrics of R.E.M.'s song, Everybody Hurts, might be a bit over the top compared to how I was feeling this morning, though.  The song talks more of an emotional hurt that brings on thoughts of ending your life but encourages you to 'hold on.'  Besides, it is not The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine).

The pain I felt this morning was centered right in my abdomen.  I can only guess that people on the cleanse that feel this pain might very well consider stopping before the 10 days have lapsed, but it really wasn't bad enough for me to consider it.  Besides, I know exactly what caused it.  While on the master cleanse it is recommended that you use a laxative herbal tea to help get things moving.  The lack of solid food causes the intestines to take a break - peristalsis kind of stalls - because there is not much going on.  Unfortunately, your intestines have grown used to the built up wastes and no longer consider the need to evacuate it.  The master cleanse is designed to do that very thing, though.  Using a laxative of any sort - herbal or otherwise - essentially irritates the intestines.  It causes peristalsis to occur and encourages the built up wastes to move.
Not being a tea drinker, I opted to use a laxative in the form of a capsule.  Senna is one of the most common herbal laxatives on the market.  It is sold as a tea, capsule, and even as a syrup.  Tea is recommended so as to avoid any additional ingredients such as binders (tablet) or cellulose (capsule) but, as long as those are minimal, the alternatives are better than nothing.
I had previously used three capsules of the senna but it didn't really have much of an effect (the brand that I purchased recommended 2-4 capsules, once or twice a day) so I upped the dosage to 4 capsules last night.  This dose was certainly more effective but it accounts for the pain that I was feeling.  The only downside - if it really is a downside - is that I didn't do the salt water flush this morning.  The flush would certainly help clear out the wastes that the laxative-induced peristalsis freed up, but I just didn't think that I would be able to ingest that much water with the pain that I was feeling.  According to Tom Woloshyn's book, The Complete Master Cleanse: A Step-by-Step Guide to Maximizing the Benefits of The Lemonade Diet, the salt water flush need not be done everyday during the cleanse.