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Weight Loss Exercise

The Lemonade Diet – Is the Lemonade Diet As Grueling As It Sounds?



Do you think you could consume nothing but lemonade diet for 21 days straight? Many people who have attempted the Lemonade Diet (aka the Master Cleanse) have tried to do just that. While some of these folks are successful in their quest to complete this lofty task, most fall short… way short. This article will help shed some light on this subject.

The Lemonade Diet

One of the first questions people ask before beginning this ambitious undertaking is this: Is the Lemonade Diet actually healthy? I’ve heard this subject debated on more than one occasion, with opponents of the “diet” (which is more accurately described as a liquid fast) claiming that the acids in the lemon can rot your teeth, while others claim that lemons actually have an alkalizing effect on the body, which is always great for energy and weight loss.

Another subject that often arises is the difficulty of this diet. As common sense might suggest, going without food can be unpleasant, to say the least. I know. I’ve tried fasting myself, and by the second day I was absolutely obsessed by the thought of food. I sincerely couldn’t focus on anything else. I broke my fast with a celery stick… then a cup of yogurt… and then some pizza, but that’s neither here nor there!

The Lemonade Diet is tough

The Lemonade Diet Is the Lemonade Diet As Grueling As It Sounds?

Lemonade Diet

The bottom line is that it’s tough. Really tough. I’ve watched YouTube videos of people who have gone on the Lemonade Diet with a 21 day goal in mind, who ended up being very happy with their 14 day run. While they obviously fell a week short of their initial goal, they considered it to be quite an accomplishment nonetheless. Besides, different sources recommend different durations for this process, with 10 days being accepted as the standard in many circles.

So what exactly is this diet? Well, you begin each morning with a saltwater flush which is designed to cleanse your digestive system. This will make you go to the bathroom like nobody’s business, but that’s the point. You want to expel your toxins, which in and of themselves contribute to much of your excess weight and feelings of lethargy (and even depression).

Easy to Make Lemonade Diet

After this, you can drink as much lemonade as you want. Of course, this is a very specific lemonade, consisting of fresh squeezed lemon juice, purified water, grade b maple syrup (or agave syrup), and cayenne pepper. This combination of ingredients is designed to alkalize the blood, hydrate the system, flush toxins from the kidneys and digestive tract, and even assist in cleansing the joints and muscles.

Many people who have stuck to this daily regimen of a morning saltwater flush (using sea salt and purified water), followed by unlimited quantities of lemonade, have experienced weight loss as significant as two pounds per day! So while the Lemonade Diet may be quite challenging to actually adhere to, the The Lemonade Diet benefits and effectiveness are by no means in question.

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Do it Anyway

This poem by Mother Teresa has been on my mind lately…

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self centered;
Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you’ve got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your God;
It was never between you and them anyway.

I read this a few weeks ago and thought it was profound. It’s not directly related to weight loss, but I think we all worry too much about what other people think. We know people who will dissect every word and every action- do them anyway. I love that. Do it anyway. Take care of yourself regardless of what anyone may think. Find your own path.

Yesterday was another good day of food and exercise. I feel good that I’m building a little army of good days behind me. They will stand behind me on the days when I want to eat my weight in pizza. I will say that I’m glad I started this post PMS. It’s not a particularly unstressful time either, it’s just less of a struggle.

I realized this week that the hardest thing about eating less and counting calories is me. I had to get over my stubbornness, my unwillingness to admit that I needed to do this to lose weight. I had to arrive, yet again, to this conclusion on my own.

I’m eating anywhere from 1,200-1,700 calories a day and I’m not hungry- I thought I would be. I’m not deprived. I’m not unsatisfied. I’m not just eating salads and carrots-I’m eating what I truly want to eat. I’m full on less. And I think it’s important for me to remember this. That I can get by on less and I’ll be better for it.

Last night I really wanted to eat out. Even after having lunch out with a friend. I tried to use the excuse of chicken still being frozen. I kept going back and forth mentally and I knew, deep down, that if I ate out again I would go over my calories for the day. It’s so much easier to eat more quality food at home with less calories. When I’m in a restaurant I often find it too hard to stop eating the giant portions put in front of me.

And now on to yesterday’s food:

Quiche again. I ate about half of what you see here. And 6 oz. or so of orange juice. 363 Calories

Lamb burger from Natasha’s here in Floyd. So good! It felt pretty light to me, and was of course, very flavorful. I ate all of the burger and about half of the crisps. 650 calories

Chicken on mixed greens with cucumber, feta, bacon and vinaigrette dressing. About 400 calories.

Not pictured:

1 serving cashews- 160 calories

Glucosamine chews- 70 calories

Total calories: 1,643

Exercise: 45 minutes of Insanity Workout (400-500 calories)

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Dear April

My last entry accidentally got deleted. This has happened maybe twice since I started blogging four years ago and I think it happened when the server updated and it got lost. So I apologize for that, it wasn’t intentional, especially since it took me forever to write and now I have no interest in writing it again.

It’s April! I have so many plans and goals for this month that I’m very excited about. But first, I have some updates:

–No Sugar. It’s been three months without sugar. I loosely say no sugar. I eat sugar in other forms such as fruit, natural sugars (I’ve added honey back in), and I will add sugar to a Vietnamese or Thai dish if it calls for it. It has been hard…some days harder than others. Right now I have cake and cookies in my house. I plan to give them away. It’s nice to not have them haunt me. I have sugar in the house, and I still bake. My treats are in the form of my glucosamine “candies”, Izze drinks, all natural fruit jam on toast/oatmeal/yogurt, and fruit smoothies. I’ve been hesitant to tell people I’m not eating sugar, in fact, if you don’t read this blog you probably don’t know.

I don’t want to be watched and I don’t want “sugar-free” to be confused with carb-free or have people think “oh she says no to ice cream, but yes to pizza! bah!” indeed so. This sugar-free thing is for cakes, cookies, ice cream…obvious sugar. It’s not a dietary guideline, it’s just me trying to get rid of something I have a hard time not overeating. I like rules.

– No TV. I have to admit I’ve gone almost five weeks without my regular rotation of TV watching and will confess I’ve been watching Mad Men on DVD this past week (season four just came out). Not a ton, and not like before when I get obsessed and watch five in one sitting. But, considerably less. I’ve noticed that I don’t miss TV in the mindless sort of way of passing time or procrastinating- I can always find ways to fill my time with work. However- I’ve come to realize that watching an episode of a good show with Josh is a treat for a days worth of work. We both work from home and it’s a nice way to turn off from work and relax together.

– Strength Training. Can I just say that I love strength training? I’ve been doing it off and on for almost five years now and it’s very rewarding. We picked it back up in January and I’m lifting weights that are 10-30 pounds heavier than I was then. We make notes during each session- can we increase the weight or stay the same. On February 3rd I could only do 80lbs. on the pull down machine (for arms, back and shoulders) and said I couldn’t do more.

Today I was able to pull down 120 lbs. That’s a 40 lb. increase in strength, meaning that I’m gaining muscle. This is the same for almost all of the machines I do. Did you know that for every pound of muscle you gain, your body burns 50 extra resting calories? Gaining 10 lbs. of muscle is 500 extra calories burned a day! I love that and I can tell that it is one reason that I’ve not gained any weight since January.

–Insanity. This week marks the 12th week of Insanity! I’ve lost 12-15lbs (it’s goes up and down) so far. I just can’t believe we’ve stuck with it for so long. We are already in our second rotation. I will admit that the past couple of weeks have been harder, we’ve done at least three workouts a week instead of our usual six. So we are getting back on track with six workouts this week.

April plans and goals:

The next two months (and most of summer) are going to be pretty hectic. I really need to step up my organization and will need continued exercise and eating well if I’m going to stay on top of everything. Spring marks the beginning of  of jewelry shows and my freelance design business is growing so I can use all the energy I can get.

I’m stepping up my game this month. I’m dedicated to counting calories and keeping a food journal. My goal it to lose 10-12 pounds this month with continued exercise and food tracking. I have no interest (as usual) in doing this by eating “diet” food, my method is to eat less, control portions, eat from home as much as possible and enjoy the food I’m eating.

Continuing with 5 days of the Insanity Workout with one day of strength. We may add yoga and running back in if the spirits moves us. And speaking of us… Josh is wearing all of his jeans now. All of the jeans that just a month ago would too tight. I am still steadily wearing a size 24/22. I’d love to be in a 20/18 by mid to late summer.

What are your April goals?

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