The Detox Diet

A few weeks back I was watching an episode of L.A Ink; Kat Von D and Kim, or was it Hannah? Either way, they started this detox/fast diet that's supposed to last for 10 days and all you drink is this homemade "lemonade" drink. I've always wanted to do a cleansing and rid my body of all the pollution that I take in everyday from food, dust, smoke, alcohol, and the hormones in the chicken I eat. I thought this would be a great way to get my body back into a healthy state. Not only does this diet release all the bad toxins you've accumulated over the years, but it also cleanses you out. Cleans out your kidneys, your intestines, your colon, etc.

The purpose of this diet is to:
To dissolve and eliminate toxins and congestion that has formed in any part of the body.
To cleanse the kidneys and the digestive system.
To purify the glands and cells throughout the entire body.
To eliminate all unusable waste and hardened material in the joints and muscles.
To relieve pressure and irritation in the nerves, arteries, and blood vessels.
To build a healthy blood stream.
The Lemonade diet has also been referred to as the Beyonce diet. Beyonce and the cast of Dream Girls were on Oprah when Dream Girls was being released and Beyonce told everyone in order to prepare for this part, she went on this diet and lost 20 pounds. This diet is supposed to be a detoxing of your organs, but shoot, losing 20 pounds on top of that, is a plus.

I plan on doing the detox for 10 days, maybe even 14. But you can go from 10 days to 40 days if need be. The 40 days are for very extreme cases.

This is what I have to drink every day.... all day.... nothing else. Well, you can have water. But that's it!

· 2 Tbsp lemon or lime juice (approx. 1/2 lemon)
· 2 Tbsp genuine maple syrup (not maple flavored sugar syrup) (I got mine at Trader Joes, it should be Grade B)
· 1/10 Tsp cayenne pepper (red pepper) or to taste
· Water, medium hot (spring or purified water)
Combine the juice, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper in a 10 oz. glass and fill with medium hot water.
(Cold water may be used if preferred.) Use fresh lemons or limes only, never canned lemon or limejuice nor frozen lemonade or frozen juice. Use organic lemons when possible.

If you want to make more than one glass at a time, do this:

(This is what I did) This is the equivalent of taking an empty gallon water jug and filling it with:
The juice of 5 lemons
1 1/4 cup of organic Grade B maple syrup (I'm going to use less syrup now though, it was too much for me)
1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
10 cups of water
Shake it all up and you got your days’ serving! Make sure to not drink it all in the morning or all at night. Spread it out throughout the day.

Salt Water Flush: Upon rising, drink a mixture of this - it says not to leave your house for an hour to an hour and a half after you do this because you will regret it. Lol. I guess it does what it says it FLUSHES you out.
· 2 level teaspoons of unionized sea salt to a…
· quart of lukewarm water

Each evening drink an herbal laxative tea to help with elimination - preferably right before bed. (I found it at Albertsons) it's the same one that comes with the kit if you were to buy the lemonade diet online. It should start working 8-12 hours
That’s it! Do that for at least ten days for a complete intestinal cleanse.
Here's the link to the website if you want to look for yourself. I looked in the FAQ section, which helped me understand the whole thing better. Like you can drink a lot of water throughout the day. And you don't need to take daily vitamins, etc. Also, make sure to read when you come off the diet. You can't just eat normal food right away; you have to come off the diet slowly.

http://www.thelemonadediet.com/

Ok, now that you know a little about the detox diet, let me tell you about my day yesterday!

Day before the diet started:
I ran around town like a crazy woman, trying to buy the tea, the sea salt, the lemons, the Organic syrup, the water, and Cayenne pepper. I went to 4 different places to find a juicer, but do you think I found one? Noooo! Target wanted $10 for a juicer... seriously?!? Um, how about no, I'm not paying that. Especially after I spent $6 on tea and $6 for syrup. Geez! So, that night, my boyfriend helped me squeeze all the lemons to make fresh lemon juice. I made the concoction and let it sit in the fridge overnight to get cold.

Day 1 - the diet starts:
I decided to start the diet on a day we were having a potluck at work. I know, stupid right? But in my defense, I thought if I could get through the day even with all the temptation of yummy goodness around me with all the food, than I could get through the next 10 days. Sure enough, I was able to get through the first day. In the morning, I was craving my usual cup of coffee, but alas I got through that and actually wasn't even hungry. When the potluck started, there was a part of me that wanted to throw in the towel, but I kept chugging away at my juice, and to my amazement, I wasn't even hungry.

I was extremely proud of myself, I was able to resist the temptation and stick to the diet. I continued drinking the juice without skipping a beat. It wasn't until I was on my way home from work that I started thinking about Fettuccini Alfredo, and chicken nuggets, and soup. Oh how I wanted some ice cream. After work everyday, I always think about what's for dinner. And I'll go home and start cooking, but today was going to be different, what was I going to do now? I got home and did the dishes... and it only took 5 minutes. Now what am I supposed to do with the rest of my night? I decided to jump into bed and watch a movie. That should take my mind off food right? WRONG!!! I was still thinking about alfredo..with that creamy Parmesan sauce. Mmmm! Again, I wanted to throw in the towel and race over to Olive Garden! But I toughened up and drank more of my juice.

It was time to drink the laxative tea. Eeek! I'm not a big tea drinker, and this is gonna have to make me rush to the bathroom, something I'm definitely not looking forward to. Oh I forgot to mention, see I live with my boyfriend and I told him that I don't poop. I tell him that I'm the only girl in history who doesn't need to poop. Although he knows better, I think he even started believing me at one point. HA HA! I know it's human nature and all that, but ewwww! So, now I'm trying to figure out, how am I going to be able to use the restroom without him knowing!? Oh well, I'll figure that out when the time comes, right now, I just have to figure out how to drink this tea. To my amazement, the tea isn't bad at all. It tastes like warm water with a hint of licorice. I downed it. I was happy to be drinking something other than lemonade. My boyfriend was smiling from ear to ear at me drinking my tea, because he knew sooner or later I was going to have to use the bathroom and go number 2 and he would be there. He said, "I'm going to sit in front of the door, Indian style, reading you a book.".. Muahhh. That was hilarious. Thank goodness I didn't have to go that night. The tea said it would take 8-12 hours to start working.

My boyfriend left to go get some food... he came back with Carl’s Jr. The bastard! He did eat it in the living room while I was in the bedroom, but I so wanted to run out there and beat his ass and take his fries. I gave up beef and pork a week and a half ago, so I couldn't eat his burger even if I wasn't on this diet, but I was, so no fries either. I did lean down and kiss his lips after he popped a french fry in it. I could taste the salt and oil. Mmmmm! The night was almost up and I had survived my first day. Way to go me!!!!! Pat on my back!

Day 2:

I awoke at 5am so that I could do the salt-water flush. I couldn't believe I actually woke up. I stumbled to the kitchen half asleep trying to not wake my boyfriend. I found the salt and the directions. Ok, so I need 2 teaspoons of sea salt to a quart of water. Damn it, how many cups in a quart? I suck at math. Ugh. My sidekick has all that crap on it, but I didn't want to tip toe back into the room to try and find it, or wake my man up. So I decided to guess... BIG MISTAKE!!! I did about a cup and a half of water with the 2 teaspoons of sea salt. I now know, that wasn't enough water. 1 quart is equivalent to 4 cups of water. So, I was drinking pure salt pretty much with a little bit of water. The first drink wasn't too bad. I think I was still half asleep. But the second sip and the third and fourth was horrible. I started gagging. Lets just say I didn't finish the salt-water flush. I figured I would do it tomorrow morning when I knew exactly how many cups it a quart. lol. I crawled back to bed and my brain started hurting. Lol. I think I was starting to get dehydrated with all the damn salt I consumed, so I had to tip toe back and drink a large glass of water. Nothing happened to me this morning, I didn't get "flushed" out like the directions told me I would, but that's probably because I didn't drink the salt-water flush the correct way. I'll do that tomorrow morning.

I got to work and drank my lemonade for breakfast and I keep sipping it to get me through the day. So far, so good, I'm a little hungry, but maybe that's because I need to drink more lemonade. The diet says if I can make it past the third day, I'm in the clear.. I'll be able to do the whole thing. So, it's day 2.... I just need to make it one more day.

I'll check back with you kids later! ...

Ok, it's 3:45 and I feel like dying! My head won't stop pounding because of the no caffeine for two days. I want a damn meal! Why did one of my co-workers bring in donut holes. Mmm, I like donut holes. Oh and I had to judge a Halloween costume contest for the people that work upstairs from my company. They rewarded the judges with a gift card to Starbucks and Cold Stone Creamery. Two of my favorite places ever! I need some encouragement. I really want to throw in the towel.

I just keep telling myself if I can make it to day 4, I'll be ok. I just have to get through tonight and tomorrow.