Hey Rubyvroom,

how is that fast progressing now? I was just browsing the net trying to find out when to expect gall bladder stones after doing the Hulda Liver Flush, when I stumbled on this post. What caught my attention was the fact that you started out on a juice fast and switched to the master cleanse fast. I had to grin when I read that, because I did precisely the same thing! Let me guess, not enough time/convenience with work and all to properly carry out a juice fast? That's what it was for me anyway. It was ok, but the anciend Juiceman Jr juicer that I got from my brother really was about to blow up on me, it rattled like it was posessed, and doing so at 7am every day of the week in a dorm room got to a point where I didn't want to put everyone through this. Additionally, at work there is not running water, so washing out the juicer took a good 40 minutes and even then it never got totally clean! So on day 10, I switched to the master cleanser.

I would agree, that you should not really skimp on the amount of juice you drink so long as you are not drinking so much that your callorie intake is higher than would be necessary to still lose weight. Last year I did a juice fast, and juiced fresh juice every once in a while, supplementing this with organic juices from the supermarket. At day 10 last year, I felt absolutely great, had lost considerable weight (ok, so I didn't really have more than about 10 lbs to lose), and I was thrilled that for the first time in my life, my tongue was a pretty pink color!

This year I thought I'd go one better and only consume fresh made juice from only organic products. However in doing so, my juice intake was limited to (3) 8-10oz glasses of juice a day. In retrospect I don't think that was enough. You really do want to keep up a certain level of calorie intake, or the body will go into starvation mode and when it does so the first thing you're going to lose is your muscle, not fat. I think I was teetering on the verge of going into that mode this time around. Then when I switched to the master cleanse diet, I must have misunderstood it because I understood to only drink one portion of the juice a day, so I was really starving then. I didn't feel too weak at my office job, but I noticed it as soon as I walked up the two flights of stairs or suchlike. And this time around, my tonue never cleared up, so here again I'm wondering if I took in enough nutrients for my body to effectively cleanse. Oh, and another thing. This time around I thought I'd try only taking Psyllium husks and senna tea to clean out my colon. It didn't work for me. I had absolutely not bowl movement, even with several glasses of tea a day. Finally I bought a really cheap water bottle/enema kit at Walmart, and used that. Immediately I felt much better, though that is when I truly began to feel hungry.

So I decided it was time to quite this fast and maybe start another one later, or just keep my food intake on mostly raw organic fruits and vegetables and yoghurt type things for a while. I'd never done a Liver flush, so I did that last night. I'm not too picky in my pallette of tastes, so apple juice with epsom salts is not that bad. I don't drink gin and tonic, but it seems I tried tonic water once, and it's not really any more bitter than that. As for the half cup of olive oil, the recipe I used said to use fresh squeezed grapefruit juice (0.5 - 0.75 cup) and shake them together in a jar to form an even emulsion. This worked great, and I can't say that it tasted bad at all. Maybe I just had superior quality olive oil (Newman's Organic Extra Virgin that I picked up on sale at the supermarket), but I can't say that it tasted bad really, and I just drank the whole thing down in one draft, rinsing my mouth out with a little water afterward. I can't say I loathe olive oil at all at the moment....certainly I wouldn't get queasy from it. In fact, I have a desire for a nice Chicken Caesar salad with lots of olive oil and balsamic vinegar about now.....

I had diarrhea last night (right before taking the oil), and this morning, but so far no signs of stones. So I'm wondering when they'll show up. I suppose I've been somewhat of an anomaly anyway. I've never had any kind of "healing crisis" or anything like that, so I wouldn't be surprised if I can't produce even a single stone. I try to live fairly healthy and get fresh fruits and vegetables (though this can be more of a challenge here in Fairbanks Alaska in the winter than most other places), and I love my cereals and such, but I've had my share of icecream, processed sausages and ham, and suchlike. I don't do TV dinners, and I don't drink soda pop. Growing up, I ate lot's of margarine and that is probably the single most unhealthy food-choice of my life. Dunno.

Well, I should, perhaps have made my own posting and titled it as my retrospective musings on my fasts.....but I really had just wanted to jot down a 'quick' reply.

If anything I wrote is of any help to you, then I'm glad I had the opportunity to share my experiences.

Best of success on your fast!