MC, Day 5

Day 5, a.k.a. The Day I Fell Off the Wagon.

Sigh. Where to begin with Day 5 (Saturday, yesterday)?

My dear friend that moved up to San Francisco earlier this year told me that she was flying down for an impromptu weekend in L.A. I'm pretty sure that she was just sick of the foggy weather and wanted some of our 80-degree sunshine, but I'll take any excuse I can get to see her.

I didn't go to sleep until past 3:00 a.m. because I was seriously not tired (I watched "Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay," which was funnier than expected- it helps that I love Neil Patrick Harris). I thought I was going to wake up just before my friend landed and jump in my car to go get her, but I woke up at 7:30 without prompting, and couldn't go back to sleep. I wasn't tired, I didn't have trouble getting out of bed, I was just awake.

The friend landed at 10:00, I picked her up and brought her back to my house, explaining the Master Cleanse to her. We sat on the couch and caught up for a while and left the house around 12:30 to go to Disneyland (we're both Disneyland freaks).

We got into the park around 1:30. The park was insanely crowded and it was about 90 degrees outside. After the first couple rides, having walked around a quarter of the park, I started feeling dizzy. Never in my mind have I ever felt like I was going to faint ... until yesterday, standing in the hot, hot sun, my stomach full of nothing but water.

If you've never been to Disneyland, you will not know the campy joyfulness that is the Tiki Lounge, full of singing animatronic birds, flowers, and tikis. Seriously, it's amazing. The best part about it is that there is a little stand outside that sells Dole pineapple spears, juice, and whip (like frozen yogurt).

My friend wanted a Dole whip float, which we always get every time we go to Disneyland. I figured that since Dole juice is 100% pineapples, it would give my blood sugar the boost that it needed. Cleanse begone, I would rather not faint at Disneyland!

About ten minutes after I had the juice, I perked right up. It was like magic. My dizziness abated, my nausea disappeared, and I stopped breaking out into cold sweats. It was the best decision I've made on this cleanse, even if I was cheating.

After the juice, I knew that I would crash again, and I would need something else in the evening, depending on how long we stayed at Disneyland. Sure enough, after going from Disneyland to California Adventure, then going back to Disneyland, then going back to California Adventure (we're insane), I felt myself start to grow faint again.

It was dinnertime by that point, and my friend, plus my sister and her boyfriend, were all famished. We stayed in California Adventure near the "San Francisco" area so the sister could have clam chowder in a Boudin breadbowl. I milled around- my choices were pretty limited. I decided on edamame from Lucky Fortune, which is the closest that I would get to any sort of pure food.

Well, the edamame was a good idea. Got me back in business. The chunk of sourdough Boudin bread ... so delicious, not such a good idea. Luckily, I didn't have enough to form a heavy lump of dough in my confused stomach, so I felt fine.

I felt like I ate so much yesterday, but it was really just pineapple juice, edamame, and the equivalent of a small slice of sourdough bread. That's just a snack to most people! I decided not to feel guilty about it, because I didn't go overboard and I didn't eat something insanely processed or full of artificial flavors or chemicals. (I actually felt good this morning, albeit sore from all the trekking through Disneyland and California Adventure yesterday.)

So, I'm on Day 6 and it's going well as of right now (4:15 p.m.). Two things:

1. Skin
William asked if the cleanse would make my skin better. Days 1 and 2, no. My skin was worse. My mother claims this is because all the toxins need to leave my body before the benefits can be seen, so I suffered through. And wow, she's right! My skin is better, clearer and softer. Hopefully this continues!

2. Weight
My scale at home is broken. I would probably be maniacal about weighing myself every day, so that might actually be a good thing. Because of the broken scale problem, I only get to weigh myself once a week, at my parents' house. Weighed myself this morning ... I have lost 15 pounds. In five days. Holy. Crap. Even if it is water weight and mostly whatever was lingering in my digestive system, that's a lot.

I'll report back tomorrow, of course. The weight loss has really made me feel much better about the lack of food (well, except yesterday!) and is a great motivator.

In the meantime, off to see the friend for a little while longer before I take her to the airport so she can go home to fog and rain!