Do a goggle on using - "master cleanse" pdf - to find the online book. The MINIMUM recomended is for 10 days. The body doesn't even get into deeper cleansing till around day 8 and is not fully adjusted to fasting till around day 15 and thats when the real healing and cleansing at the cellular level begins to happen. Read the Detox Stages in the FAQs to learn about the cleansing time line. Breaking the fast properly is very important and you'll find that info in the online book.

Going through lows on any detox regimen is perfectly normal and part of detoxing and the system will start releasing accumulated toxins. The wisdom is never to break on a low and to fast through till it passes. The first line of defense is to start drinking lots of lemonade and water to help dilute the toxins and keep them moving out. The SWF is the most efficient way to help the body get rid of toxins.

Don't expect any miracles on a short fast. While you are doing something really good for yourself a 10 day *minimum* will be mostly for a little tune up and have mostly a tonic effect. It might help you somewhat with cravings but I would say the one would really need to go past 15 days before any real and curative effects will take place.

If your posting to this thread then you already know about the MC and weight loss and if you maintain your present eating habits which while they sound reasonable there's a good chance that the weight you loose on the MC will come back albeit not as fast as somebody with a crappy diet but without changing something in your regular routine the likelyhood is that the weight will come back. Fasting is meant to cleanse the system all the methods were never designed as weightloss programs. If all you wanted to loose was 2 or 3 lbs I bet you could easily do that in a week or 2 by changing or adding something to your regular exercise routine.

Many folks hit a plateau in weightloss because they are obsessed with eliminating all or most fats from their diet. What they fail to understand is that there are good fats and bad fats and  one needs to ingest the good fats or Essential Fatty Acids in order for the body to metabolize and get rid of the bad fats. This is one of the most overlooked aspects of a healthy diet. Read up on healthy fats at www.barleans.com or www.udoschoice.com

I betya that if you started incorporating EFAs regularly  into your diet and changing your exercise routine those few little pounds will disapear in no time. A good way to supplement EFAs is with Flax seed oil or a more balanced mix like Udos Choice. I do at least 2 tblsp daily mixed into my daily fresh squeezed veggie juice or since I like the taste of flax seed oil I can just do it straight but basically you can add it to anything. Good qulaity virgin olive oil is also a good source of EFAs. There is also fish oil and from what I read Hemp oil is a really good oil with very well balanced ratios of omega 3 and omega 6. Flax will be the least expensive and Hemp the most expensive.

BTW from everything I've read protein powders on a regular basis can put a burden on the liver so you might consider looking into liver flushes and looking into ways of supplementing proteins in a more natural way.