Day 2 - was pretty rosey.  I felt good, I wasn’t hungry but I did get a tinge of a headache near the end of the day.  Nothing worth puking over though.  I also started to notice some side effects:

• being cold - I tend to be a pretty warm blooded person, one of those people who likes the house at 68 degrees in the winter because I don’t get cold easily.  But now, I’m going to bed fully clothed and bundled under blankets and wearing layers during the day (more than usual).

• exhaustion - I am so fraking tired.  I don’t attribute this to lack of food since I am not hungry.  I’m pretty sure that if my body needed something it knew it could get from food right now, it would let me know.   I think it’s because my body is used to being kept alert and awake by artificial means and it is trying to learn to do so without those means.  But then again, maybe the lemonade is brainwashing me to think like a hippie.  Who knows.

Day 3 - HOLY FRAK  it’s hard not to eat on a weekend.  Everything you do revolves around food.  I should spend my weekends covered in my studies, but alas, I have a family and friends that always seem to need my attention (damn kids) so I do spend a lot of my weekends moving about doing things with a number of people.  Saturday morning my boyfriend is over, so I make him breakfast and my kids breakfast.  After tae kwon do for Anna the girls are “starving” so I stop and grab them some lunch on the way to bowling with my friend Heather.  Heather and her kids are, of course, “starving” and order a pizza, nachos and a pitcher of soda at the bowling alley.  I go to visit my mom and dad after bowling thank goodness they aren’t “starving”!!  But, my mom decides its a good time to start cleaning off the DVR - of course the DVR is filled with food network shows…

Then I had to go grocery shopping.  This didn’t bother me too much since I had my list planned and only bought what was on the list - food for my kids and more supplies for my cleanse.  Of course by the time we got thru shopping, it was dinner time for my boyfriend.  I was priviledged enough to sit and drink my herbal tea while they grilled hamburgers and made beef nachos.

By the end of Day 3 I wanted to eat so bad.  I actually had what I was going to eat planned out, not actually to eat it, but planning it made me feel better.  I wasn’t hungry - I wanted TO EAT.  There is a difference, and I think that is one of the major points of the cleanse - to be able to identify the difference between hunger and wanting to eat.

Alas, I did not eat.  Although, I did suck on an almond, one almond, and then proceed to chew it and swallow it.  It was an awesome almond.

Day 4 - I’m still tired.  My body is feeling stronger, my chills are diminishing, I’m still not hungry.  I had a lot to do on this day, staying busy helps as long as you have your drink prepared to go with you.  By about 4pm I got a bit grouchy - after a few deep breaths I felt much better.  5pm began family night, a fun filled evening full of food.  Once again, I armed myself with my herbal tea and watched the food be prepared and consumed.

The surprise: it didn’t bother me one bit.

I finished my tea then went downstairs to finish up my homework to get my kids ready for bed.  I do feel ready to sleep, but the exhaustion is still fading.

Before bed I read thru some chapters of the master cleanse book for a little encouragement.

Today it’s back to the grind of work and school, so I am anticipating an easy day.  When I woke up I felt good, awake and fulfilled.  I had a great yoga session (although it wasn’t long enough) and I’m ready for my day 5.  They say today or tomorrow the cleanse becomes easy… we will see what the definition of “easy” is shortly.