I thought I had posted on this thread.  If you only drink water it's a fast.  If you drink calories it's a cleanse.  It takes about three days for your system to wind down, so if you do a fast or cleanse the first three days have the potential to be the hardest.  After that hunger goes away and you can cleanse for as long as you want.  I usually cleanse for 11 days with 3 more days at the end to transition out, for a total of two weeks.

I just do the Master Cleanse. 

I did this.  It made my hair fall out (still hasn't filled in fully like it used to be) and slowed down my metabolism such that, even though I was training, eating healthy, and running at least 5 miles a day, I gained about 30 pounds in a few months.  I count it among the biggest mistakes I have made for myself.  I wish I could rewind to the point when I decided to do it and think again.  Just the other side of the coin.  It fucked my body/mind up permanently. 

some three ~ four yrs back i used to do the fasting, but not for such extended periods, and not mainly for cleansing the body but to become more aware of the immediate surroundings, it was on an appointed day of the week, everyweek and it worked wonders. sometimes when one is used to being full all the times they tend to overlook certain details or miss-out on certain details. and a conscious fast helps to bring one to feel their surroundings and know themself better!

when you fast, forget about the food, try bringing good thoughts to mind, or look arround and hear what people say at 12 in the noon (after fasting since morning) you'll see you tend to understand something kind of different than in ur usual state :)

Food too is a drug :-)! and abscence of it makes a difference!

I recommend reading "Fasting and Eating For Health" by Dr. Joel Furhman.  It's very informative, yet easy to read.  I did a water fast for four and a half days this past summer.  My goals were spiritual and physical cleansing.  It was a really good experience for me, and I plan to do another one this summer (I'm a teacher, so no work in the summer).  The first night and following day were pretty hard, but after that, it wasn't bad.  I meditated, slept, read, and watched some tv.  I don't recommend watching much tv though...all the commercials made me want food.  On day 3, I was craving pepperoni pizza, which I found incredibly weird.  But seriously, read that book.

Wow, HH. That's awesome. Can you recommend any books on that type of cleanse? I have a feeling that once holidays are over, I am going to need something like this! I will also be getting myself a Vitamix for Christmas, so I'm thinking smoothie cleanse??? Did I make that up?

I just do the Master Cleanse.  Hypothically it's not supposed to be a calorie reduction, but I can't seem to drink enough of it so it turns out that way.

60 ounces of filtered water
3/4 cup grade B maple syrup
3/4 cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper powder

I don't get too excited about measuring.  What I did was fill two 32 ounce Nalgene bottles halfway with water, add equal proportions of maple syrup and lemon juice (about 1/3 cup of each) and a pinch of cayenne pepper in one bottle, fill the bottles up the rest of the way and shake 'em.  I don't eat a lot of spicy foods so I find that I won't drink more than a couple of sips during the day if I only have cayenne.

Honestly, after three days you really don't get hungry.  At the end I'm not hungry, but I miss chewing food.  When you come out of the cleanse the first day I add Imagine "cream" of tomato or broccoli soup, and second day I add more thick liquids, and on the third transition out day I eat solid food that requires chewing.  Just starting to eat again will make you feel sick.  Maybe not after three days, but definitely after eleven days.

I buy the 64 ounce container of grade B maple syrup.  It used to cost $30.  I saw recently it's $45.  It's still a good deal if you do the Master Cleanse.  It will get you through multiple cleanses and you can use any leftovers in baking.

Oh okay. I have done this cleanse a couple of times. I have not had the horrible reaction that kmk has, but I also wasn't super into it. I was thinking about doing it again, but I thought maybe I'd mix it up a bit with some other kind of cleanse. I need to do some more research... I will look into that book, lotus. Thanks. I read Eat to Live by Joel Furhman and it is actually what made me decide to become vegan!

P.S. How is your fast/cleanse going veganhippie??