Reflections on a failed, yet successful cleanse...

So here it is folks, you finally get to hear the real story of why Mickey stopped the cleanse mid-stream. After 6 days of being faithful to cleanse aside from some jelly beans on Day 1, I decided the cleanse just wasn't for me. The first cleanse defiinitely helped see the relationship and emotional connection with food, but this second cleanse was just miserable. I tried desperately to cling to this higher power, but the whole cleanse just seemed idiotic after day 6... let me digress a little. So, during my 6 days of nothing but spicy lemonade, San Francisco, had some of the coldest weather in history. No matter how hard I tried, (cranking the heater up to 80 degrees) I could not stay warm. And the headaches, that Dr. Stanley Burroughs describes as the pain you feel when the toxins are leaving your body, seemed more to be a lack of protein. Beyonce can work the cleanse for every movie role or video she needs to do, but I seriously think its the most unheathly diet to feed yourself nothing but sugar water for 10 days. At least I'm walking away from this a little wiser and with great vegetable soup recipes. Thanks Ms. Laurs!

Reflections: Laurs

Hello faithful readers. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank you for following along with us on our Journey to Cleansed. Now that I've had a bit of time to think about my experience with Cleanse #2, I have some reflections to share.

Overall, this was a very different experience from Cleanse #1. First of all, the novelty of life sans food had worn off. Second, I already knew I could make it 10 days without eating since I had done it before, which weakened my motivation a bit. And for whatever reason, I felt more of a pull to go out this time around, which is difficult for me when I'm in Cleanse mode. As a result, I would stay home and have a low-key night, sometimes growing a little stir crazy.

Another difference was that I had more energy this time around. I was SO tired on the first Cleanse and although I was a little weak this time around, I felt much stronger overall. And my spaciness wasn't as bad either. I wonder if any of this is tied to the fact that the salt water wasn't having as dramatic an effect on me this time. Sometimes it would do it's thing and other days, my bathroom and I kept our distance.

On balance, this Cleanse was about as challenging as my first one since it was physically easier and emotionally more challenging. As much as I love the idea of cleaning out my system and engaging in a "time out," I think 6 months was too soon after my first Cleanse to launch into another one. Mickey, who will add his thoughts soon, came up with the theory that Wintertime might be more difficult since our bodies instinctively want to store weight yet we're forcing them to do the opposite. Could be. Maybe this is why I was craving chicken and meatballs even though I'm normally a vegetarian? At one point, I actually had a vision of myself biting into a chicken leg and ripping off the meat. Damn!

Am I glad I did another Cleanse? Yes. Was returning to the world of food everything I'd dreamed it would be? Hell ya, it was (my first rye cracker tasted as good as a snickers bar!). Will I do the Cleanse again 6 months from now? Probably not but I may do another one the following summer. We'll see...

After my last cleanse, I successfully gave up candy (with the exception of dark chocolate) and regular coffee (still drinking those decaf soy oles--yum!). I also became more conscious to avoid white, processed bread, rice, etc. This time I'm not ready to give up something else, but I am going to try to cook more at home. I'm not sure I need to make any big changes, but it's always nice to be reminded how delicious food can be and how we don't need as much of it as we tend to eat (at least I don't).

With that, I leave you with my final reflection. A Master Cleanse Poem:

Life get busy, pants get tight
Too much wine on weekday nights
Overdue to make amends
Time to rock the Master Cleanse

Finally we pick a day
To launch the Cleanse. It’s on. Hooray!
Shopping never was so easy
And then we start and things get queasy

Lemons, syrup, cayenne pepper
Senna tea? Oh yes you better.
Wake up to a salt water flush
We hit that bathroom in a rush

One day, two day, three day, four
How much longer, how much more?
Dinner invites get declined
Our friends all think we've lost our minds

Spacey brains and early nights
Mickers isn’t as up tight
As Laurs who hardly leaves her home
Restricting friendships to the phone

Five days, six days, seven, eight
We start to notice we've lost weight!
The end is coming, food is near
Dreams of tacos, cake and beer

Nine days, ten days, juice then soup
Back to normal food and p**p
Eating really is da bomb
So long MickMaster Cleanse.com!

Day 10: Laurs

Hooray! It's my last day. As I type this, I'm drinking Ginger Lemon tea in utter defiance. I simply CANNOT drink another cup of mint tea. I just can't.

Since last I wrote, there's been a lot of action in the world of Laurs and Mickers' second Cleanse. First of all, Mickers decided to abort mission. I know, I know. This decision shook my world, too. I'll let him explain himself, but rest assured that he's doing well. In fact, he just stopped by to try my homemade veggie soup, which he said was "restaurant quality." Love that boy... I dare say, the results were indeed smashing.

The other breaking news is that I started my juice fast a day early, on Day 10 rather than Day 11. Not to blame Mickers for my decision, BUT, he just sounded so happy to be back on regular food--it killed me! Plus, I'm meeting up with an old friend in LA this weekend and I REALLY want to be able to go out to dinner and drink some wine with her. This way, I'll have time to ease myself back in by the time we sit down to dinner. At least, that's what I'm telling myself.

OK, that wasn't the whole truth. The honest to God truth, my friends, is that not only did I start my juice fast this morning, but I also had some rye crackers for lunch and a taste of the veggie soup for dinner. Gasp! I know. It was plain wrong, but what can I say? Fresh squeezed orange juice is a slippery slope to the forbidden world of solid food, I guess. Not to worry, I still drank my lemonade for lunch and plan to continue with juice and soup for the next couple of days.

Tomorrow, I plan to write my Cleanse Reflections. I'm still thinking through the experience and will hopefully have something profound to share. Until then, I'll be basking in the splendor of rye crackers, veggie soup and, my favorite, pomegranate blueberry juice.

Day 9: Laurs

Wow--I just read Mickey's post and can't believe he put himself through a late night of dancing at a club while on the Cleanse. There's no way you'll catch me out on the scene during my 10 days on the MC. As you remember from my own Day 5, I was JUST starting to get some energy at that point. The cleanse for me, winds up being a very quiet time, mostly spent at home reading (cook books included) and watching movies. I have this sneaking suspicion I'm going to get the party bug as soon as it's over. Look out SF.

So here I am with ONE MORE DAY to go! Well, if you count today, it's really 2 days. After I parted ways with Mickers yesterday, I spent the afternoon with my friend Wayne and his Canadian visitor. We wound up at this new wine bar, which just about put me over the edge. I don't think I've ever had such a difficult moment on EITHER Cleanse as I did when those Zin flights showed up. Luckily, our waitress knew all about the Cleanse and offered to bring me some mint tea, which I gratefully accepted. God bless San Francisco. In what other city is your cocktail waitress likely to know the ins and outs of the MC?

After my day out, I spent yet another night chillin' with my lemonade at home where I saw a commercial for National Easting Disorders Awareness Week. If ONE more person asks me why I'm not eating, I might just say I'm fasting in solidarity with those who are fighting an eating disorder. That's probably more believable than fasting for Ash Wednesday, which fell smack in the middle of my 10 days.

Anyway, it's almost time to eat again! Since today is a Sunday, I have some time to hit the store and get my ingredients for the Cleanse breaking soup. I'm planning to make the veggie broth from scratch, which I've never done before. And I'm going to use my trusty slow cooker. I'll report back on the results. I just hope it's not too challenging to cook when I'm not allowed to eat. So much for taste testing.

Day 5, Part 2: Mickers, Enough With The Cleanse, Time to Get Dirty!

I must say, I really packed in a lot on Day 5. The cleanse is like liquid crack. I get all this energy and I go with it. After the morning's fun with the salt water and dreaming of restaurants, Laurs and I went to Crossroads Trading Company with my bags of clothes that came from last weekend's Spring cleaning. This is the fun game of seeing how fashionable you really are. When they see something the like, they open it up and examine it: the collar, the stitching and if they want it, it ends with a number being thrown into the calculator.

All my dress shirts were entered into the calculator in a matter of seconds. But when it came to all my favorite T-shirts, they passed on them, all of them. Oh well, I couldn't be that upset, I walked out the door with $60.00 and Laurs found an amazing wool coat while I was doing my trade-ins.

Next, I was off to work, for a solid 4 hours of organizing and client appointments. After work, I swung by Out of the Closet. Its funny how they have it set up at this store. You are giving them things for free for them to put out in the store. But, unlike Good Will, where the drop off is in the front, they make you walk all the way through the store to very back to drop things off. Usually I wouldn't complain, but I had three garbage bags in my hands overstuffed with clothing and that extra 100 yards was agonizing after walking a block with these bags from the car.

After my Out of the Closet excursion, I joined Adam for tea at Cafe Flore and watched him eat a lamb burger(my favorite item on the menu). It was pure torture for few seconds, but I pressed on with my mint tea. We went on to pick up Celeste Marie who surprised me with an amazing Valentine's day gift. A book of postcards called "The Secret Lives of Men and Woman" compiled by Frank Warren. This book is a collection of postcards sent to Frank Warren with peoples deepest secrets... the one I love is "I exchanged sex for a cab fare" and the postcard is a picture of the meter that says $0 blow job.

We picked up CM's friend Erika and were off to see Blood Diamond and I must say that little Leo has grown up and is HOT! It was quite the action-packed gory movie. We learned that during scary parts, Erika covers her eyes, Celeste curls up into the fetal position on her chair, Mickey half covers his eyes, and Adam has stone cold emotions and doesn't flinch. After dropping the ladies off, Adam and I rallied to go out.

After 5 days of the Cleanse, it was time to get DIRTY! Adam, Stephen, Cory and I went to show our faces and get down at DIRTY, my friend Sean's dance club at the Cat Club. It was a blast. I saw people I hadn't seen and while and the music was great. I was doing fine up until someone started talking about a lady with a cart outside that had hot dogs wrapped in bacon. In the words of Elle Woods, OMIGOD!. That is my favorite heart attack pleasure of all time. Deep breathes, Mickey, deep breathes! I lasted about an hour and I was wiped out, arrived home a 1 am and went straight to bed.

What a day!

Day 5: Mickers AND Day 8: Laurs

Its Saturday morning and we are slowly working our way through the morning salt water ritual. In an effort to take away the emotional pain, Laurs and I started looking at menus of restaurants that we would like to visit once the Cleanse is behind us. So far here is our list:

1. Nopa (Mickey has a gift certificate!)

2. Millennium (Lauren has a gift certificate!) Side note: This is a veggie restaurant and I usually turn my nose up at these, cause veggie tends to mean sacrifice, but this menu looks amazing!

3. Cafe Gratitude Side note: This is not only a veggie restaurant, but goes a step further, in the tradition of Maddy and serves only RAW food (all raw fruits and veggies, nothing cooked above 116 degrees). All the items on this menu have ridiculous titles that follow the form "I am____" i.e. " I am satisfied," "I am peaceful." Last time I went with Lauren, the only thing I had to say was "I am God damn still hungry!" Lauren was "ungrateful" for my comment, and asked that I keep it down, for fear that the freaky waiters (that gawk at you while you eat) would hear my cynicism. She loves that place...

4. Salt House - This little gem is the sibling of Town Hall Restaurant, which I love, love, love. Wait did I tell you how much I love this restaurant? Salt House looks to be just as great as their original creation. We are so getting the Shellfish Plateau, which includes fanny bays, buckley bays, and miyagis (both Laurs and I love us some oysters).

Please let this diet pass quickly. I'm now drooling...

Note from Laurs: Good morning! I'm still here at Mickers' place. We just finished our salt water and are about to launch into the day. Just a quick note to say that we're NOT going to overeat at any of these restaurants, so help me God. We weighed ourselves last night and this morning and we're each down 5 pounds!

Day 7: Laurs AND Day 4: Mickers

Here we are--together! This is Laurs and I'm here with Mickers at his house. He rescued me from a sushi restaurant where I was stopping by to say hi to a friend. The sushi looked DELICIOUS and Mickers pulled up not a second too soon, like a starving knight in shining armor.

At the moment, Mickers is zipping around his apartment cleaning and organizing. Apparently, he has all kinds of energy while on the Cleanse and precisely zero tolerance for clutter. As I type this, he's scrubbing his stove top, recounting his day's adventures. I just learned of his horrific experience walking by Subway and Hot Cookie and the bagel shop. "All I could picture, Laurs, was the pesto bagel with veggie cream cheese, some red onions and a tomato, toasted of course." And he didn't BELIEVE me when I wrote about my superhero sense of smell. Touche. Note: I will NOT be walking anywhere NEAR Hot Cookie. That place has Cleanse-breaker written all over it.

Off we go to snuggle up on the couch and watch Sarah Silverman's Jesus is Magic wiith our mint tea. Later in the evening, we'll spice things up and switch over to the chocolate Senna. Racy.

Day 3: Mickers

Ok, so this day was difficult. I started to have the cravings which I mocked everyone else in our extended family of friends that are currently doing the cleanse for having. It started in the morning, I could taste the scrambled eggs with cheddar cheese, onions, and mushrooms mixed in and some chicken apple sausage on the side. The only way to rid my brain of this was to take a big swig of my lemonade and think of work, the gym, anything. Next came the drive past Peet's and thoughts of my soy latte.

Luckily, I was swamped at work and didn't have any more cravings until it came time to go to Legally Blonde with Laurs. Then I called Laurs and told her to come out and meet me at the Falafel place across the street..... Omigod, Fa-la-fel..... Ok, so Laurs gets in the car and starts trying to make plans for the weekend. I can come over on Saturday night and we can order in. Um no Laurs, already have plans on Saturday and neither of us is ordering in. Anyhow, the show was OMIGOD! FUN! ...

Laurs: Day 6

Today was another good day. I woke up feeling OK and even managed to break into a jog on my way to BART when it started pouring. I drank less than 64 ounces of lemonade today (about 58), which is new. For the past 5 days, I've been knocking back at least 70. Glutenous, I know.

At lunch today, I decided it would do me well to take a walk. I originally planned to hit Safeway and buy some cereal for when I'm off the Cleanse but rethought that idea once I envisioned myself cruising by the deli counter and having to wipe away the drool upon feasting my eyes on the sushi section (God, I miss sushi).

So, I went to Boarders instead where I bought 2.....cookbooks! It may sound counterproductive to stare at pictures of yummy recipes when the very thing you're trying to forget about is food, but it's somehow satisfying to read ingredient lists and casserole tips even though you can't eat the results. I guess it's the same concept the porn industry is built on--get as close as you can to the real thing.

At 7:30, Mickers picked me up to go see Legally Blonde, the musical. I had heard it was good, but I didn't expect how much fun it would be! The audience was laughing throughout the show, and your two favorite Cleansers were no exception. Luckily, the theatre was dark so we could safely drink our lemonade.

Sitting comfortably through the show was a milestone for me. Last Cleanse, Mickers and I went to see A Chorus Line (we're both HUGE fans) and I made the social faux pas of hitting the bathroom during Cassie's "The Music and the Mirror" number. We were with a friend of mine from work who had brought his partner (they're both NYC theatre vets). The two of them shook their heads at me in disappointment as I hopped out of my seat. Ok, I get it, it's an "artistically significant" performance but give a sister a break--I had consumed 64 ounces of lemonade that day and I had to pee.

The next day in the office, the word had spread through the gay rumor mill that "Lauren left the theatre during, get this: The Music in the Mirror!" I couldn't so much as walk past the reception desk without getting a tisk tisk. Well, I'm pleased to say that this time I missed neither "Omigod, You Guys" nor "Is He Gay or European?"

Day 2: Mickers

So today went fairly well. Got through the day without any major cravings. The only thing that caught me off guard was when I ran into someone in my office eating a salad. A salad with a lucious yellow pepper and nuts with a vinagrette dressing. Oh my god, I'm such a nut. Anyhow, powered through today. Went and got a deep tissue massage. Oh my god, i love deep tissue massages. then made the dumb mistake of going to meet my friends for dinner at Cote Sud. While sipped on nothing but bottled water, they had a fiest. Carl started with a belini stuffed with salmon and drizzled with a creamy sauce and topped with sour cream and caviar. Gabby had a tomato claufuti, looked amazing and fortunately, I didn't see what her boyfriend Jed ordered. For the main course, Carl had... ok I have to stop. I finally had to leave in the middle of their main course because I could feel my stomach growling. I ran across the street to Cala and picked up some more lemons. Unfortunately, they did not have meyer lemons, so I settled for the only ones they had. Came home and settled in with my Mint Tea and continued my spring cleaning. The one bonus of the cleanse is that I get these amazing spurts of energy all day long. Ok, i'm finally winding down and getting tired. Until tomorrow...

Day 5: Laurs

I'd like to dedicate this post to The Meyer Lemon. It's soft, it's juicier than other lemons and it's the prettiest yellow by far (see above). It also makes my life easier since I don't have to squeeze as many lemons when I use the Meyer variety. Hooray!

Day 5 began with Mickers waking me up at 6:45 am to confirm the salt to water ratio. It was lucky he called since it turned out I needed more time than usual after drinking my own salt water before, ahem, feeling ready to leave the house. As noted in our sidebar Cleanse Tips, we find that it's easier to drink the salt water WARM. Yes, this sounds gross, but somehow cold salt water is even grosser. (Tip came courtesy of fellow Cleanser, Ms. Tamara T).

I'm feeling much better today with a lot more energy. I also noticed that an interesting Cleanse side effect has reared its head--a superhero sense of smell. This is something that a lot of Cleansers have reported experiencing and it also happened to me on my first Cleanse. On one hand, it's a bit difficult since you can smell food that much easier (I'm dreading Valencia St tonight!). On the other hand, it's sort of fun to smell your shampoo and your laundry detergent on a whole new level. In fact, I smelled that Brazil Nut soap BEFORE I even entered the shower this morning--no joke. My theory for why this happens is that our body notices when we give it less calories and does it's best to help us find food. Kind of like how pregnant women get better vision to ward off potential predators. Just a theory...

DaY 1: Mickers

So I thought I was totally committed, but I forgot how hard the first day can be. I had to constantly rethink my day and all the emotional comfort that I place on food and drink. The frustration begun when I started my morning routine. On my way into the office, I usually stop into Peet's coffee for my small soy latte. Oh the pain of realizing I was not going to have the first satisfying sip of my latte, signaling the start of a beautiful day for my brain. I quickly jumped into my cleanse mode, realizing I would have to carefully select all activities for the next 10 days in order to stay true to the cleanse. I thought I had this down and would easily go through all 10 days without any problem, but was sadly mistaken.

I had to go to a conference around lunchtime and was handed a cup of jelly beans while I was chatting on the phone. I totally spaced and went into autopilot. Before, I knew it I had popped 3 jelly belly's into my mouth. Oh well! i stayed true to the cleanse the rest of the day. Even though my business partner did everything in his power to sway me. I even got an invite to a 10 course gourmet chinese dinner at one of the oldest chinese restaurants in the city for a special event this Friday and I resisted.

Feeling great tonight, came home cleaned the apartment and started tackling my pile of personal paperwork that I let sit for the last month. Once again, I feel more energy on the cleanse than what I usually feel in my normal routine. Time to watch Boston Legal. Until tomorrow...

Day 4: Laurs

I woke up with pretty bad headache today, which could have had something to do with last night's intense massage, but I'm due for a Cleanse headache and this may have been it. The headache went away after about 3 or 4 hours, but was oddly replaced with this weird nervous feeling. I've heard that people on the Cleanse have emotional responses like crying or getting angry out of the blue, but that didn't happen to me last time. Luckily, it only lasted 30 minutes or so. Before I knew it, it was time to go home...and I was ready.

On the way home, I picked up some more lemons and I decided it was time for a treat. So I bought some coconut lotion and a fancy bar of Brazil nut soap. I think the purchase was a substitute for Thai food, actually, but a legal one at that. Gearing up for Day 5....

Cleanse Eve: Mickers

So, I started this evening with my lovely Senna Tea and mixed up my first batch of the wonderful potion. Starting the with the salt water and the lemons tomorrow morning. Not feeling terribly excited, but was fun squeezing the lemons and making the drink for tomorrow.

Day 3: Laurs

Day 3 wasn't bad at all. I woke up around 9 (surprisingly late for a Cleanse morning) and hung out on my roof deck for a couple hours reading (it's been hot here!). In the afternoon, I attempted to walk to my massage apt at The Kabuki Springs and Spa but only got about 1/2 way before jumping on the bus. I have enough energy to get through a day, but an hour walk is a bit much when I'm not eating, I guess.

The massage was one of the best I've ever had and my night was shaping up to be a good one...until I got off the bus at 16th and had to walk down Valencia to get home. This may not sound like a big deal, but if you've ever walked between 16th and 21st on this street, you'll know what I mean. The area has been dubbed San Francisco's gourmet ghetto for a good reason: Chinese, Mediterranean, Vietnamese, Mexican, Japanese, Peruvian, Indian and every other kind of delicious restaurant lines the street--you name it, they're all there. And at 7 pm, precisely the time of my walk home, the kitchens were pumping out dish after dish and the street was full of all kinds of inviting smells.

Yet I resisted and returned home where I made myself a big cup of mint tea and got back to my book. Ugh.

Day 2: Laurs

I made it through Day 2 without a hitch. Just like during my first cleanse, I woke up before 8 AM and was immediately wide awake. I forced myself to down the salt water and enjoyed a cup of mint tea before starting in with the lemonade. Around 10:30 am, I met my friend Rob for a one sided breakfast (luckily what he ordered didn't look all that appealing) and we hung out in the park.

When my lemonade ran out, we walked back to my place and picked up some lemons for me along the way. It's incredible how quickly I go through them. After much consideration, I've decided the way to go is to buy lemons with a thin skin-they're easier to cut and produce way more juice than the kind with the thick skin.

Later in the day, my friend Marisa and I walked up to Mickey's house. He was deep into cleaning out his closet and had us make the final call on which shirts to part with. The boy has got one serious wardrobe. Unfortunately, he and his roommate had ordered Chinese food before I arrived. 20 minutes into our visit, the doorbell rang and the heavenly smell of Kung Pow tofu filled the apartment. Mickey apologized as he and Marisa filled their plates with all kinds of spicy goodness.

Speaking of Mickey, our boy is out again tonight. He's planning to start the cleanse either tonight or tomorrow night and I'm hoping for the former. I need him!

Day 1: Laurs

Here I am at the end of my first day. I just got back from a group dinner at Osha Thai which KILLED me since that's one of my favorite restaurants in SF--their pumpkin curry is like crack. Instead, I ordered hot water with lemon and drank lemonade from my Nalgene bottle while my friends each had an appetizer, a full meal and some colorful fancy drinks. Ouch.

So the day went OK. Beginning with a tall glass of salt water (I only drink 16 ounces since that's all I can handle) and then some bathroom visits, things were pretty much as I remember from the last time I did the Cleanse. I was definitly hungry all day, but, if memory serves, that will pass soon. I got really tired around 5 pm, which also happened to me last time on Day 1 (e.g. the infamous situation where I fell asleep during a conference call while holding a felt tipped pen in my hand which drew a long, blue line across my cheek as I peacefully drifted to sleep at boss' desk).

One thing I'm NOT looking forward to is the spaciness that sets in for me when I'm not eating. As a small, blond woman, I need every last one of those brian cells in order to pass as the intellectual equal of those around me and the Cleanse isn't doing me any favors in that department. I can already tell that I'm more easily losing my train of thought and that it takes me longer to recall everyday information like the name of someone's roommate or that phone number I used to know.

Off I go to drink some tea and hit the sac. I really wish Mickers had started with me this morning! Right now, he's knocking back margharitas at some hot new bar. Meanwhile, I'm using my last bit of energy to change into my pj's and pull up the covers.

Mickers Postpones His Start Date

I got a call from Mickers today with some breaking news--he's pushing back his start date until Monday, February 19th. It turns out that some good friends of his will be in town and he doesn't want to miss the chance to party with them--a respectable conundrum. Unfortunately, I can't delay my start date since my first couple days on the Cleanse are rough, and it's a bad idea for me to be at work during that time.

So, tomorrow I will begin on my own, a lone sailor navigating rough seas by her lonesome. The good news is that I'm going out in style after a Meditarean dinner (my favorite hummus combo from Ali Babba's in the Mission) and a night of drinking at Zeitghest. I'll miss those jack and gingers!

Let the Games Begin!

Bought our ingredients at Rainbow Grocery tonight. Our start date is set for Saturday, February 17th. Stay tuned.

Our Story

We first decided to try The Master Cleanse in July of 2006. Both of us had found ourselves with some bad eating habits (Laurs had a serious weakness for candy and Mickers wanted to control his portion sizes and eat healthier). While 10 days of "fasting" seemed daunting, our friend Dayle had just completed the Cleanse and promised us it wasn't as hard as it sounded. Laurs knew that Dayle normally subsisted on a diet consisting of chicken nuggets and cabernet and promised Mickers if Dayle could do it, they could do it. The decision was made.

We got our bad selves pumped for the Cleanse and coordinated calendars to find a 10 day stretch that would work for both of us. Between out of town visitors, mandatory business lunches and upcoming weddings, it wasn't easy to find the time...but we finally managed to nail it down.

We started the Cleanse on a work day which wasn't the best idea. While Mickers felt fine on his first day, Laurs was REALLY tired and had to leave work early (after falling asleep during a conference call in front of her boss). Day 2 was a little easier until we found ourselves extremely irritable that evening with no good explanation. And we had awful headaches! Detox symptoms?

Day 3-5 were easy for Mickey who had tons of energy and continued to work out every morning. In fact, he started to consider extending his Cleanse for an extra week. Laurs felt OK, but had begun to experience inexplicable pain in her lower back. She was also really sleepy at the end of the day. Every night BY 10 pm (an hour or two earlier than her usual bedtime) she would crawl into bed, call Mikers for their nightly check in and drift off to dream land where visions of The Vegitarian Combo at Ali Baba's Cave would dance in her head.

We eventually made it to the half way mark and things were looking up. Both of us were waking up extra early and feeling good. And our clothes were stating to fit better! Day 7, as noted by many veteran Cleansers, is a hard day...and we felt it. We felt as though we had come so FAR, but we still had 4 full days left--ugh. It's not that we were hungry, but the idea of solid food just sounded so appealing. Enter our CRAVINGS.

The cravings hit us like a ton of bricks and Laurs made it worse by sending Mickers daily emails with lists of things she was looking forward to eating post-Cleanse. "Fish tacos...salad with crumbled blue cheese and Annie's Goddess dressing...hummus and avocado sandwiches...Thai green veggie curry. Oh, don't forget those incredible smoothies from Cafe Gratitude. Only 2 days left!"

The last 2 days were easy for Lauren, but this is when Mickey's enthusiasm started to wane a bit. He got a bad headache on Day 9 and put himself to bed at 9 pm. At this point, he decided to end the Cleanse as planned after Day 10. To distract ourselves, we went shopping for our detox soup ingredients in preparation for re-entry to the world of solid food. Celery never looked so appealing. One more day!

On Day 11, we drank some grapefruit juice and cooked up our soup. While we were chopping veggies, we each had a bite of a light rye cracker. Delicious! We then moved on to some tastes of cilantro leaves and a couple small pieces of celery. We knew we were supposed to wait until the following day to eat our soup, but we were READY. Two very small bowls later, we were pleasantly full and feeling good.

The next day we wrapped up our Cleanse. Laurs bought Mickers some beautiful roses and we celebrated with some more soup. We talked about the impact the Cleanse had made on each of us and set personal goals for our post-Cleanse eating habits. Laurs would move right into The South Beach Diet (less processed foods, less white flour, less refined sugar) and Mickey planned to try NutriSystem.

Post-cleanse life felt great. We were more conscious of feeling full which meant no more overeating. Mickey, formerly a meat eater, found himself drawn more to vegetarian meals for the first month or two but eventually incorporated meat back into his diet. Lauren, never a big meat eater, remained vegan for the first month post-Cleanse. She then moved back to her vegetarian diet when she started craving cheese again. It took a while for either of us to start drinking alcohol again (Laurs started with red wine which was allowed by South Beach).

7 months later, we're ready to take on The Cleanse once again. Neither of us has gained back all the weight we lost, but our eating habits have slid a bit and we don't want get back to where we were last summer. Laurs' 3 week trip to Australia where she visited some friends didn't do her body any favors. And Mickers' busy work schedule has made it hard for him to eat the way he wants. With Spring on the way, it's time to get back on track!