With the goal to hit the ground running, I started the new year with the master cleanse to detox my system. The ten days without food were mainly motivated to make room for a healthy fresh start but there was also more to it than that.

The master cleanse is a is a ten day liquid-only fast consisting of three things: a lemonade-like beverage, salt-water drink, and a herbal laxative tea. With all the vitamins and minerals your body needs, the lemonade feeds you the essentials while the salt water flush and the laxative tea clean out your intestines from waste and toxins.

Although many people see this as a quick fix diet to lose weight fast it’s much more than that. For me personally, losing a couple of pounds in the process is great but the master cleanse is not about losing weight at all. In my experience it’s a natural way to detox your system that allows your body to heal itself while it teaches you about you. 

This was my third time or maybe I should say attempt because I never completed ten days before. The difference this time was that I read more about it to do consciously and did it more purposefully. My mom died of stomach cancer. A disease that is hereditary and not really preventable which is why an endoscopy is recommended every two years. By doing this detox I hope to keep my body clean and the ulcers away the natural way.

The master cleanse is not easy. As I mentioned, I did it before. The very first time was back when I lived in Amsterdam and a friend of ours started us on it. I joined, just for the hack of it to try it and see if I could do it and what the effect would be. I clearly remember bouncing with energy on the third day and loved how I felt but by day eight, I thought it was enough and started eating again.  

Other times I just stopped at day five because I didn’t see the need or have the will power to complete it because ten days without food is hard.

I had rough days. Two days when I was in a bad, bad mood. There were times I was hungry. There were times that I didn’t drink enough of the lemonade because I was just sick of the maple syrup which made me feel light headed. There was also a time when I felt a little burning in my stomach because I added too much cayenne pepper and lemon to the drink.

As hard as it is, I feel that the benefits of this detox outweigh the rough spots.

You do feel your body heal. Your skin clears up and gets tighter, your energy level rises, your senses get heightened, little pains and aches disappear, not to mention you learn about yourself and how you process food. Literally and mentally.

Needless to say, I feel good! With a personal record of ten days of detoxing, a clean body, great energy and a clear mind, I am ready to give it my all and bring you the best in 2016.

Here is what you can expect from Going Natural in 2016 for the bigger picture and take a look to see what’s on our calendar already. Please join and share so we can hit the ground running together.

If you are interested you can read more about this cleanse at the Master Cleanse or Download a copy of the original book at http://www.nowloss.com/master-cleanse-diet.pdf.