Coming off of The Master Cleanse (Part 3)


If you haven’t read My Journey into The Master Cleanse (Day 1 of 10) I suggest you read it, as this is a followup entry. It will give background info on what I am doing.

Day 13:

The Complete Return to Food

All things that have a beginning have an end. Today this series officially comes to a close. In my eyes though, this experience has been a new beginning: a beginning of greater awareness of my own health, of food, and of food’s effect on my body. Today I had some more of the soup at lunchtime, and for dinner I made some delectable Sicilian Lentil Pasta Sauce which I used with some whole grain spaghetti noodles. While the sauce may seem slightly unusual (to non-Sicilians, at least) because of its use of lentils, I thoroughly enjoyed coming off the Master Cleanse with this meal.

The Cleanse wasn’t always easy, and there is nothing particularly fun about it. Any fulfillment one gets while partaking of the cleanse is due to having more time on hand and the knowledge that they’re making a positive change in their health. (And regarding time, if one isn’t skilled in focusing their time doing the tasks they need to do, obviously this cleanse will not help your life be any more enjoyable.)

Having a Wealth of Time

In this way, the cleanse is rather like being wealthy. The difference being that your wealth is time instead of purchasing power. When one is wealthy with time, they express more of themselves and can effectively be “more of themselves.” This is similar to how money can allow a person to express oneself in greater capacity. Now that I have come off the Master Cleanse, I’ve realized that, although being able to handle having “more of yourself” is a quality that takes some time to get used to, it’s completely worth it.

If I could send a message to myself to the past to August 10th, I would definitely encourage myself to do this cleanse because of what I have learned about myself, my body, and good food. I recommend the Master Cleanse if you want to detoxify your body in a time-tested way that just works. Just realize that it takes discipline and will power to do the Master Cleanse correctly, so if you decide to do it, be serious about it. As long as you don’t cheat, you’ll get results. If you don’t think you’re capable of following the rules, then perhaps it’s best if you build your own will power first, and then try the Master Cleanse.

The Next Step

Now that you’ve read my entire 13 article series of my Master Cleanse journey, you may be wondering how where you can get the best deal and which brands will work best for the cleanse. Well, look no further than the “Master Cleanse Supplies” section of the Byteful Shop. There, I’ve added everything (except for fresh lemons) that you’ll need for your own cleanse; so it’s absurdly easy to buy everything you’ll need for your Master Cleanse (including the original book) because I’ve put it all in one place, just for Byteful Travel readers like you. And by using the shop, you support Byteful Travel which allows me to continue to provide everything on this website to you completely free of charge.

UPDATE: After about 6 years, Amazon has since discontinued the Astore feature.

I hope you enjoyed this 13 article series on my experience with the Master Cleanse. If you have any questions, let me know in the comments. Thanks for reading. 🙂


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Below is a guide to all articles within this series:



11 bits on Coming off of The Master Cleanse (Part 3)

  1. Congratulations! You made it. That’s great!

    I like what you said about time, and having found more of it. Too bad you can’t bottle that up, since most people complain about not having enough time.

    What I’ve observed, is that some people “choose” to use their time in what could be described as “unproductive” ways, and then complain they don’t have enough time. But, yet it’s ironic that when something they want to do comes up, they “make the time”. Hmmmmmmm

    I guess you could say, it’s about the choices we make. And as we teach our children, all actions have consequences, good or bad.

  2. Thank you, Barbara. I’m glad to have had the opportunity to share this experience with the greater community.

    Time is most definitely our greatest resource and is weighted on priorities, as you allude to. Priorities are persistent choices that arise from habits, but I will stay on the point:

    One doesn’t have to bottle up extra time. One only has to find the extra time and utilize this. Anyone can find more time if they only clarify what they wish to accomplish first, because time is a mental projection of an illusion.

    Does time exist outside of our minds?

  3. Congratulations!
    I did the master cleanse for two weeks and I have to say it wasn’t easy, although I also combined it with the Acai berry fruit ( Just for show. I eat it all the time as it’s native to my hometown in Lindhares). I really liked what you said about the cleanse concerning desire for food. Most pro-cleanse promoters make it sound as if one completely loses interest in food and that’s not true, even if it does look less appealing.
    Love your sense of humor too… you made it look so easy.

  4. Letizia,
    I’m so glad you enjoyed the Master Cleanse blog series! As I look back on it more than a year later, I see it was the beginning of an important shift in my awareness of how food effects me. It wasn’t easy, but you know what they say, the hardest thing to do is to make it look easy.

    It’s an honor to be able to share this experience with so many others.

  5. thanks for the encouragement. i am almost done with my 2nd of 10 days on the cleanse. i almost gave in this afternoon. i appreciate your honesty about how tough it is and how it does require quite a lot of self discipline. the hardest part for me is that i have 3 little kids that i continue to cook and feed but i’m holding out… this too shall pass. i look forward to trying your orange puree!!!

  6. Kendra, I’m glad you’re finding my Master Cleanse journal helpful. 🙂

    Sounds like you have extra temptation seeing as you’re preparing food for others. So this is an excellent opportunity to grow your own self-discipline! If you find yourself struggling with will power, ask yourself why you’re even doing the Master Cleanse. If you don’t have a good enough reason, it’s easy to give up. But if you want it bad enough, you can do it. I was driven partly by strong curiosity, partly by a desire to test my mettle.

    It’s completely up to you. Focusing on the positive aspects of doing the cleanse, such as having more energy and having more time overall really helped me press on. If I hadn’t had extra energy or a clearer head, I’m not sure I would have finished the 10 days.

    Focus on why you are doing this and the positive aspects of it. If you keep your head clear and stay focused, I know you’ll make it.

    But if you don’t, you can try again next time. 🙂

    And please, let me know how it goes!

  7. Yeah that’s really great you have found this Master Cleanse very helpful.

  8. I’ve been thinking about trying the master cleanse myself. It’s a good idea to clear out all the junk once in a while.

  9. Brahim,

    You’re most welcome. I’m glad you’re finding my journal series useful.

    As I stated in the first article in this series, the Master Cleanse is not designed to help you lose weight. Indeed, I’ve read firsthand accounts that people who try to lose weight on the cleanse gain back all of their weight (and often more) after the cleanse. Far from a weight loss program, the Master Cleanse is designed to give your body the opportunity to shed itself of toxins that have built up in the body system over time.

    To answer your first question, the Cleanse is 10 days long because that’s the optimal time it takes to flush out these toxins. Some toxins are shed in less than 10 days, but that’s not the optimal length.

    If you’re on the Cleanse to lose weight, you’re on it for the wrong reason, and I recommend you gradually shift back to solid food.

    If you are truly serious about losing weight, I suggest you take a hard look at the foods you’re putting in your body. And, just as importantly, I highly recommend you find a way to burn calories in a way that you enjoy. Even something like dancing a few times a week can make a tremendous difference over time.

    Just remember, losing weight isn’t easy, and it’s going to take longer than any cleanse will. It’s going to take commitment, but if you want it enough (and you create an environment to support your decision) nothing can stand in your way.

  10. Thank you so much for sharing your experience.

    I just finished my day 5 and initially i wanted to do just 5 days, now i am thinking to do 7 days.
    Could you please tell me what are more benefits that i will get on 7 days more than 5, i really need some food.

    The main reason for my master cleanse as well is to loose weight.I fell however much lighter but i do not see that i lost anything.

    please reply before i start eating or i don’t know what to do.

  11. well, well, well

    I got your point. however last year i use to run 5 times a week 10km each time and I was in a good shape. this year I changed my job and I work crazy hours, day and night and I have no time to run, so I gained a lot of weight. what I want to achieve other than toxins is to loose some weight so that I feel lighter and than watch my food and make sure that I exercise enough to burn what I eat.