If you have read my first post on the Master Cleanse 1/3, then I must admit, I did not almost kill anyone. However, besides the intense emotional rollercoaster ride and the wild mood swings that the Master Cleanse took me on, there are some really interesting things that I began to realize. This is part 2/3.

1. What is hunger? One of the biggest realizations is the distinction between physical hunger and mental hunger becomes a little clearer the days go by. I felt like 80% of the time, the hunger was due to mental cravings and only 20% of the time was it physical hunger. Makes me wonder if I even need to eat 80% of the time that I am “hungry..” Cutting all the unnecessary calories could make me healthier.

2. The sense of smell heightens 3.2x. How did I come up with that number? Educated guess. But really, I was standing in my cube at work and when the time was approaching for lunch, BAM! I was able to narrow it down to a tee! ::sniff:: “The Habit, seared tuna burger with a side of medium fries and a diet coke”. ::sniff:: “Lean Cuisine, orange glazed chicken with rice and a side of string bean veggies with a sprinkle of pepper!” Everything smelled delicious. Even the plain multi-grain wheat bread smelled amazing. The smell of food has become a new found appreciation in my life.

3. “Fuck you, banana!” Yep, I said it. Sometimes, the most random-est things are said when we’re delirious, which can happen quite often when the intense hunger is actually physical. “Mutherfucker!! Give me some wheat thins!!” I screamed as I attacked and choked Christian. He was a casualty between my war with food when he waved a box of wheat thins in front of my face.

4. Food talk. “So the other day, I took out my sketchpad and pen.. and then I just started writing down everything I wanted to eat!” - Kennard. I realized that all of our conversations (and any moment we spent not working and not asleep) would revolve around food. What sounds delicious, what is the first thing we’re going to eat when we’re finished, what our favorite cakes were, why can’t we eat just a little bit, etc.. and the list goes on and on. Every minute of the day that we didn’t keep our minds busy, our minds wondered in foodland. Food talk fun. Food talk without food, not so much.

5. Relate to the starving children. After I got pass the intense hunger moments, where holding my stomach and curling up was the best medicine, the constant hunger became less distracting with the help of the daily chores of life. I began to understand how being hungry with nothing to eat feels like. Although I’ve been extremely hungry (including moments on this cleanse), I realize that I have never been starving. Starving is another level of hunger that we are fortunate to not have to experience too often. Calorie intake matters.

6. Ideas and visions come plenty. From iPhone apps to business plans to bucket list additions to what ingredients would taste good together. Enriched as well as dumb ideas arise in rapid succession. It was very interesting because ideas that may seem far fetched to the sober eye, would seem extremely rational to someone that hasn’t eaten for 5 days. It was like an innovation light bulb being flicked on and off with an “ichy fingered kid” next to the witch. Positive lesson? Of course! We all know that innovation first always draws a crowd of many doubters.

7. Fearlessness inherited. I was driving down the 405 next to the center divider. Generally people would gravitate away from it, but I wanted to reach out to touch it, so I crept closer and closer. Eventually so close, my elbow could have easily made contact if I had extended it out. This and many, many other eventful moments made me realize that once I had been deprived of the most important thing in your life.. food, I became immune to the other generally fearful things like heights, rejection, boiling water (yes, boiling water can be scary sometimes). This reminded me of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Eliminate the bottom of the pyramid and the higher functions begin to not matter as much.

These moments of realization had definitely changed my perspective of my life and others. Read on for my final thoughts. Joe Nguyen and Part 3/3 of the Master Cleanse Experience.