If I recall properly, the books said that days six or seven were the other day where people had a hard time on the cleanse. Once again, it’s just sort of easy and not difficult for me.

I think a lot of people’s experiences on the cleanse are based on what they hoped would happen. Many say the latter half of the cleanse was when they started to gain a spiritual element to things, when quieting their patterns of eating and focusing on food gave them insight into something more powerful. Sounds nice, but I’m just drinking lemonade.

Went to Rainbow Grocery today and got enough supplies to finish up the cleanse. I’m sort of at the point that I reach when I’m 60 percent into a movie I’m not really getting much out of. I want to leave, but I want to see it through. Plus, I want to say I did the recommended 10 days if I’m going to say it’s kind of a waste of time and not risk anyone saying I didn’t give it enough time to do its work.

That said, it was important to zero things out for me. Recently, I have been a bit of a kid in the candy store. If I run an errand, I tend to buy a snack. If I go for groceries, I get a little something extra, too, whether it’s a baked good, chocolate, or somesuch. It’s a bit silly. I used to have rules that the only time I would have a snack or dessert is if I was dining out and not alone, but at some point going to buy stuff at Rainbow meant a truffle or a savory pie, etc.

I’m looking forward to getting off this fast and changing the way I cook. I want to cook more often and more variety. Starting next week, I’m also going to begin my weight training. When I read a book on the flight back home from the holidays on the east coast, there was an actor who was out of work for a while who said he lived at the gym since he was unemployed and his gym membership was paid up. I’m in the same boat, yet it’s never become more than a 45-minute checklist item.

So, it’s a weird Catch 22 of using this cleanse as a time to think, yet not really getting much out of the cleanse itself as far as the detox, etc. Of course, it’s hard to tell what would constitute a sign of detox anyway, which is the genius of this thing. If you feel good, it’s your body reaping the benefit of the cleanse. Feel bad? Your body is purging old toxins. There’s an answer in every direction, all praising the cleanse.

But, I think I’m just going to do good old-fashioned McDougall Program from here on out.

It really is the best thing I’ve found, and it is refreshing to see something backed by scientific study and verifiable results. Although I’ll have very few recipes there that are going to call for maple syrup, in case I have any left…