The importance of body detox cannot be overemphasized. After eating lots of junk on my birthday three weeks ago, I decided to detox my body to get rid of all the sugar and white carbs I loaded my system with.
It looked like an uphill task especially for a foodie like me. I love food. I am joyful whenever I eat my favorite foods even though I feel guilty sometimes for eating white carbohydrates.
This is because I am not supposed to eat white carbohydrates due to my body type. I am an endomorph and white carbs quickly convert to sugar in my body. For this body type, white carbohydrates are not allowed especially if you want to lose weight.
Endomorphs who want to lose weight should eat foods avocado oil, olive oil, flaxseed, walnuts, fatty fish, and tofu and complex carbs such as beans, vegetables, whole grains and peas. These complex carbohydrates provide the needed vitamins and fiber for a healthy lifestyle.
Last week, I embarked on a five day fruit and vegetable detox to break my weight loss plateau. I have been working out for two years and have lost over 20kg but I still needed to get to my ideal weight of 75kg. I started my weight loss journey at 110kg. I got to 90kg, then to 88kg then to 85kg.
I became careless with my food late last year and gained some weight back. I weighed 93kg in February. I went back to 90kg in March and despite my exercises, I was stuck at 90kg.
I decided to do something different to break the weight loss plateau. I started my body detox last week Wednesday June 10th and ended on Sunday June 14th.
Today, June 15th, I checked my weight and I am 3kg down. My waist went from 37 inches to 35 inches. My hip reduced from 44 inches to 42 inches.
So, here’s what worked for me. Remember, this is my personal experience. It might not be the same for you. You can modify it to suit your body needs. Weight loss is a personal journey.
I have to say that body detox is not a long term thing. It is a short term procedure to jump start your weight loss programme. Don’t do body detox for more than seven days. It is not a healthy option. Your body needs food but it should get the tight kind of foods.
For my five day body detox, here’s what worked for me:
1. I had five bottles of green juices. I consumed them within five days. The green juice contains blended Kale, Parsley, Cucumber, Apple, Lemon, Celery, Spinach, Lime and Ginger.
2. First thing in the morning, I take a cup of warm water with slices of lemon inside. I let it infuse for 5 minutes and drink everything.
There are different ways you can do intermittent fasting and they all involve splitting the day or week into eating and fasting periods. During the fasting periods, you eat healthy foods.
These are the most popular methods:
The 16:8 method involves skipping breakfast and restricting your daily eating period to 8 hours and then, you fast for 16 hours in between. If you had dinner by 8pm, your next meal time is 12 noon the next day. Between 12noon and 8pm, eat healthy foods, drink water, and stay active.
You can also fast for 24 hours, once or twice a week. For example, you don’t dinner one day until dinner the next day.
The 5:2 diet involves consuming 500–600 calories on two non-consecutive days of the week, but eat normally the other 5 days.
The 18:6 method is fasting for 18 hours and eating within a six hour window. If you had dinner by 8pm, you should have your next meal by 2pm the following day.
By reducing your calorie intake, all of these methods should cause weight loss as long as you don’t eat too much during your eating periods. You can drink black coffee and black tea during your fasting period.
I wish you the best.
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