On the whole, I’d say I was a relatively healthy person. I’ve been vegetarian for 16 years (although I ate chicken again from ages 17 to 22), so that puts me in good stead for eating well. I love my veg (with the exception of mushrooms), but my biggest downfall is that I eat too much. Although I eat mostly good foods, overeating puts a huge strain on your system and internal organs. And after a recent relationship breakdown, I found myself turning to food for comfort, and often my biggest weakness – cheese.
Recently, I’d been contemplating colonic irrigation to help give my system a good clean out (which I may still do afterwards). Then about two weeks ago, a colleague at work had started the lemon detox diet. I was majorly skeptical, as the main criteria of this detox is that you don’t eat solid food, but drink a concoction of Madal Bal syrup, fresh lemon juice & water. That’s just seems insane, especially to someone who can’t ignore their tummy when it’s begging for food. I received daily updates as to her progress: day 2 seemed to be the worst for her – feeling cold, headaches etc. But by day 3, she couldn’t believe how good she felt. “Jumping out of my skin. Sleeping better than I ever have before. Loads of energy, with heaps of concentration and focus”, is how she described it.
I was intrigued to say the least.
So I did some research and remembered back to something I’d read many years ago about fasting. That the body can survive with not eating for a few days, and that it’s good to give your system a break every now and then (hence the term: breakfast). And despite having reservations that I couldn’t cope with not eating, I decided to give this a go. I ordered the starter kit and waited for it to arrive, and finally on Friday, it did.
So I ate my last meal (yummy Japanese), prepared enough mixture for the next day, drank some senna tea, and went to bed.
Did I think this was going to be a miracle cure? No.
Was I expecting to lose heaps of weight? No.
Did I believe I could actually not eat food for a few days? No.
Did I think this would be a good way to kick start my body, and help me focus on good eating habits again? Yes.
May I point out that many concerned friends have already voiced their opinions as to the ludicrous nature of this detox, and although I value their opinion, and appreciate their concern, I know my body well enough to know exactly how far I can push it, and when enough is enough.
As a worried friend, I wish you had really been skeptical ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skepticism#Scienti... ), and looked at this critically and rationally. If so, you would have:1. Checked to see if the claims of the programme made sense in the first place (they don't) ( http://whitecoatunderground.com/2008/01/20/deto... and http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopi... );2. Required valid evidence that detox and / or colonic is good for you (all medical evidence says a resounding “no”) ( http://members.ift.org/NR/rdonlyres/4C86AB57-C7... );3. Required valid evidence that detox and / or colonic isn't deleterious to your health (all medical evidence says “yes”) ( http://www.quackometer.net/blog/2008/07/alleged... );4. Picked apart the website for and programme for what it is: a transparent scam, playing on common cognitive pitfalls enlisted by marketers and grifters: celebrity endorsements and personal testimonials (our affinity for stories over valid data); psuedoscientific claims; invocation of the terms “natural”, “organic”, “ancient”, unspecified “toxins”; etc. The Guardian has an excellent article on how to spot a quack scam ( http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/jul... ): all of the signs are present on the website of the detox programme you're following ( http://www.lemondetox.com.au/ ) – it's almost a poster child; and5. Instead of following a fad diet, simply eliminated your intake of poor / low nutrition and processed foods, reduced calorific intake (for weight loss), increased water, and done some exercise. The second law of thermodynamics says that energy is in equilibrium in a system. Slightly reduce energy going in and increase energy going out, and you have a net loss – weight loss. It's the *only* way to safely burn fat and maintain it as a lifestyle.Regardless, I hope you come out OK on the other side of this. Read some of the articles so you know what's happening to you from a medical POV. You should start feeling comparatively better / more energetic / euphoric by the third or fourth day. This is your body going into survival mode as a result of starving it. It's kicking into gear to start burning lean muscle, conserving fat stores, and mobilising water stores (which will result in weight loss, but the worst kind – simply water and muscle loss. Drink lots of water, but no more than 200mL at a time or you'll dilute your digestive enzymes), but at least you'll feel good.Good luck!
Thanks for taking the time to comment, Ash! Lots of great links with excellent information. You'll be happy to read my day 3 post
I went on the lemon detox diet followed to the letter after 10 daysI had lost just 1kg and my skin became extremely dry and wrinkly Idont recommend this to anyone just a big hype and a scam.
To be honest, to be not eating for 3 days sounds insane to me. At least I can't. So did it actually work for you?
It did feel rather insane actually. And as I said, the benefits I experienced were discoveries about my diet-related health issues (skin conditions etc.), so it wasn't a complete waste. Having said that, I wouldn't do it again
Yea, I guess it was a little on the 'bad side'. But I guess I'm glad it did work for you.
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Anybody tried water detox?
Many now interests how correctly to eat. The number of the people dissatisfied with the figure or health recently has increased and, as consequence, trying to get rid of excess weight. You should pick up a diet approaching you, and also learn to make correctly balanced diet.
Doesnt that get all of the waste out of your intestines that builds up over the years..I heard it might make you lose some weight as well…I almost talked my mom into getting some pills that can clean your colon out! But they where like over a hundred bucks..
Good post and you hit the issue that deciding to detox is not just about losing weight but also about turning your life around. That said, getting the right outlook towards your health progress is much more important and will keep you on the right track. The important thing is that you know the reason why you're doing it . Not all diets are for the purpose of weight loss only but you can find healthy diets which are genuinely designed to help.
You do know that there are alternate detox diets where you can eat solid foods too right?
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how does it feel to be a vegetarian for 16 years? what i read is that we are animals and we need meat. oh well, it is good to hear you are healthy._________________i need my sex toys