Maple Syrup Fast

After falling off the wagon with my training, I needed to start afresh on a clean slate with a detox diet.  The Detox diet I chose was the Master Cleanse or Lemonade diet as some people call it.

This starvation diet basically consists of drinking several glasses of a mixture of lemon juice, cayenne pepper and molasses (I am insulin resistant so maple syrup wouldn't do) as well as some laxatives. You are meant to be on the diet for 10 days to 40 days but I think you would be really killing your body and depriving it of nutrients.

I am obsessed with maintaining muscle mass and not getting flu, so I threw in daily multivitamins, 1000mg Vit C, Omega 3s and BCAAs. I only did 30-40 minutes of medium impact cardio rather than the long running sessions.

Day one was quite alright. I was very busy at work so I didn't have time to twiddle my thumbs and think about food. When I did the saltwater flush (an aggressive laxative of sorts) there was no effect. I just felt very ill after drinking so much salty water.

On Day two, I felt the hunger starting to come in, as well as the headaches and a general bad mood. I must have messed up the saltwater concentrations on the first day because when I did the flush results were very explosive!!! A note for anyone who tries to do this - make sure you do not have to leave the house or make sure you have uninterrupted access to a toilet for three hours. My sister tried the master cleanse and her flush effects would last up to 6 hours so everybody is different.
By the end of the second day, I was doing my workout simply to take my mind off the lack of food and the grumbling in my tummy.


Day three was really tough because I had a catered Sports Club meeting to attend. I drank four bottles of mineral water just to keep my mouth occupied. This was extremely difficult for me since I absolutely love samosas!


Day four to seven were much of a muchness. I gave up on the saltwater flush because the cramps were far too painful for me and I didn't want to get rid of all my natural intestinal flora. Each evening I would do Taebo for 45 minutes and then take a long bubble bath while sipping my 'lemonade'. Throughout these days my hunger was minimal - as long as I avoided cooking situations

I gave up on Day 8 because my acne had become really really bad and I had only lost 1kg for 8 days of starvation. A third reason, and probably most important, I simply missed food and flavour. When I succumbed to a glass of OJ, I was not hungry at all. My mind had simply told my body this was as far as it would go.

Doing a fast of this kind is like running a marathon. It is all mind over matter. If you think you can you can, if you think you can't you can't.

I am proud that I managed to survive 8 days on such an extreme diet. I do think the results would have been better if I had followed the instructions to the letter. I may possibly have had some hormonal issues causing water retention too.

Next time I will definitely take a more flexible approach that I can keep up for longer. My skin didn't clear up and I didn't lose any weight but I did manage to re-focus and start to crave healthy food again.