From having done the lemon detox diet and other cleanses several times over the past decade, here are some basic tips I’ve gathered that you can use to increase the benefit you get from your periods of cleansing:
- Allow Yourself to Rest
- Combine the Detox with Other Types of Non-Food Fasts
- Stay Away from Temptation
- When Things Get Tough, Drink Lemonade
- Have a Fasting Buddy
- Keep Your Fast To Yourself
- Pray
It’s easy to try to maintain your usual schedule while you’re on the lemon detox diet. The lemonade is so refreshing and energizing that you really can maintain your normal schedule if you absolutely need to. However, use the period of cleansing to give you body a chance to recuperate.
As much as you can, rest.
Consider pairing your period on the master cleanse with a different type of fast.
You can fast from using computers, fast from reading news, fast from driving, fast from negative thinking…the sky’s the limit. But while you’re doing your physical cleanse, you’re in a great place to do other types of fasting as well.
When I first started doing the lemon detox diet, I worked in an organic health food store. Fasting while being surrounded by all kinds of delicious, healthy foods was rough! Don’t do that to yourself–while you’re on your fast, stay away from grocery stores, restaurants and dinners where people are eating.
Why torture yourself?
If you’re doing the master cleanse and you’re feeling hungry, tired, irritable or depressed, it’s time to drink a little lemonade.
Don’t be a hero.
The lemonade cleanse is designed to be gentle. If you wanted to go into the depths and suffer like crazy, you’d be doing a straight water fast. Embrace the logic and kindness of the lemon detox diet and go to your lemonade when things get particularly tough.
It can be very, very fun to do a cleanse with a partner. Of course, if either of you are susceptible to peer pressure, this strategy can backfire on you. Make sure whoever you partner up with on your cleanse is as committed as you are. Then, give each other support to make it through the hard times, and celebrate together when the cleanse is over.
How’s this for going in the opposite direction of the previous tip?
Fasting freaks people out. Don’t talk about it while you’re doing it.
There’s a reason the Bible portrays religious figures fasting in isolation–first off, there’s less temptation, but even more importantly, there aren’t a bunch of people around calling them crazy and trying to get them to eat.
When you’re on your fast, you become very sensitive to the things and people around you. Be careful who you interact with on your fast, and most importantly, keep your fast a secret unless you really, really trust the person to support what you’re doing even if they don’t understand it.
This is the most vital tip on this entire page–trust me, I’ve had to learn this one the hard way!
Fasting has been utilized by spiritual practitioners since time immemorial. And there’s a good reason for that–fasting opens you up to whatever you consider to be the source of life. When you approach death’s door through fasting, you have a chance to deepen and rejuvenate your relationship with the source of your life.
Prayer is a great thing to do while fasting. You don’t have to pray in any particular way, either. Whether you use words or simply commune in the silence, the more time you can pray while you’re on your fast, the better you’ll feel and the deeper your cleansing will become.