Now you’re probably a few pounds heavier after the Christmas festivities and summer is just a few short months away.....you need to take action and suddenly....THERE IT IS!!
A picture of a happy, slim and vibrant couple, gazing excitedly into each others eyes as they drink the elixir of life itself....the juice detox.....its just what you need, the secret to the new you....and what’s more its only £300!!
You don’t know it but you’ve just fallen for one of the BIGGEST CONS in the diet industry, and I’m going to tell you why that is.
Detox diets seem to have reared their heads again and I've seen many people who have recently dived into a rapid "detox" prior to a holiday or special occasion....the problem is, they just don't work!
Now don’t get me wrong, I'm not saying that you can't lose weight on a detox diet, you can. But then you can also lose weight eating two apples a day and a pizza! (for a limited time only...)
So yes, you can lose weight but here's the real kicker....THEY DON"T ACTUALLY DETOX THE BODY!
They don’t “cleanse”, they don’t “detox”, they don’t provide this magic elixir of life. What you’re really paying for is a total placebo.
What most people don't realise is that the vast amount of toxins in the body are stored in our fat cells, they're locked and sealed in there until such time the fat gets used, then they can be processed by the liver and expelled from the body.
So lets say you follow a four week detox plan, lots of veggies, fruit, fish, bit of meat thrown in, etc....and not forgetting that magic one a day pill or shake with the secret fat melting ingredient. In short you've just gone on a pretty standard exclusion diet, and its the diet that’s doing the work, not the secret ingredient/pill/shake. Now remember what you were sold..this is supposed to be a "detox"!
Week one goes by and you've lost maybe 7 or 8 pounds.....awesome! You feel great, energised, the special shake/juice must be working!
In a way it is but this is only the first week on a low calorie diet.....your weight loss is primarily water because of the drop in overall calories and carbohydrates. There's also a drop in muscle tissue and after all that you've maybe lost a pound of fat, but hey, thats still progress right?!
The next three weeks continue the same way albeit at a slower rate.
By the end of the four weeks you may have lost as much as 18 or 20 pounds but only 25% of that loss is likely to be bodyfat.
Now 4 or 5 pounds of fat lost is most definitely progress but it represents a small drop if you've got a bodyfat percentage north of 30%.
The clever marketing around the detox diets centres on the process only taking 4 to 6 weeks, then you’re told back to eating “normally”. This is no accident because the creators know that once you hit the 6 week mark your results will die a death because the body can’t sustain such a large drop in calories with slowing energy expenditure and weight loss results.
So you come off the programme as instructed and go back to “normal” which is probably questionable in the first place.
What you don’t realise is that this is the danger point for the body. The time period hasn’t been long enough for permanent change to take place so now the body is primed to put that weight back on....and with interest.
Suddenly all that “weight” you lost returns with a vengeance and you’re back to feeling fat and tired...BUT ITS OK! You know the solution, it must be those magic shakes/pills/juice blends you were taking on the detox....so you go back on the detox diet and the cycle continues.
In short.....the weight goes back on, or at least some of it...and with that fat gain, toxic levels back go up to where you started from, only this time your wallet is a bit lighter than before.
So what’s the solution?
Well I’m feeling generous so here’s your FREE detox plan which works every time...
Ditch the processed food, sweets, cake, beer, wine, etc.
Eat at least a palm sized portion of meat or fish at every meal
Eat lots and lots of veggies and a moderate amount of fruit.
If you’re eating bread, pasta, rice or potatoes, make those portions very small
Drink lots of water
Get plenty of sleep
Exercise every day
Do this for the next 8 weeks and I guarantee you’ll feel and look awesome.
Right! That’s all from me for now....I’m off to juice an apple!!