Winter Cleanse, Day 7

Day 7 today. Some gross things to happily report… I’ve been through about 4 days of massive bloating and expelling all kinds of nastiness from my bowels. I find it fascinating that so much can come out of me when I’m eating a mostly liquid diet. I’ve been coughing up chunkies as well. Last Fri night and Sat morning it was as if my colon released bricks and it all plied up in my rectum and got stuck. I had to do an enema. It was so bad it was causing pain in my back from the pressure. As a result I ended up with marble sized hemorrhoids. Ouch. I forgot to list hemorrhoids as one of my major issues coming into this cleanse. I’ve been battling them since last February, when I got the flu and sat on the toilet for hours on end all night. It’s as though the blood vessel walls got so weak now they pool up every time I stand for too long, which I frequently do in the kitchen. They also flare up when I’m stressed. The tricky thing is that enemas irritate them, but I kind of have to do the enemas… so it’s an uncomfortable situation any way you play it. Anyway, my body is releasing stuff. I’ve had some cloudy, smelly urine, indicative of yeast. During the first few days of the cleanse I lose 4 pounds, then gained 3 back with all the bloat. I may extend the cleanse if it doesn’t all work itself out by the end of day 10. Part of the bloating, I’m sure, has to do with PMS and should soon be gone. I was excited when I realized my period would fall during my cleanse, since menses are cleansing as well. It gives my body one more avenue to expel toxins, and that’s always a good thing. I’ve gone through some rough patches over the past few days, but all for a good cause. It’s all just proof that it’s working, and I’m very thankful for that.