Ask KKZ [Losing Weight Fast - To Detox or Not to Detox]

I have a big party this weekend, and my jeans dont fit!!! I bought them a month ago, and they were a little snug, but now I cant even get them done up, lol. I was considering doing one of those detox or juice diets, and I was wondering what one you’d recommend, because I cant return the jeans, and I really want to wear them! Submitted by ML.

If you’re considering a detox or fast as strictly a means to lose weight, there is absolutely no difference between it and a crash diet. I don’t want to begin to refute the holistic claims detoxes have to re-charge, refresh, or cleanse your body, because I believe it’s all a pile o’ bunk, but to each his own.

But hey, crash diets have a bad rap. If you are willing to drink nothing but juice for a day so you drop 2 pounds to fit into your jeans, then you should. But know that your going to gain those two pounds back, probably before the week is out. Also, fasting, even on the short term is bad for your body when you do it regularly — you shouldn’t trust this method every time you need to fit into a cute outfit. When you fast for long periods of time (5+ days) or regularly,  your body converts it’s protein to glucose, causing you to lose muscle mass. It also slows down your metabolic rate, which would eventually cause less weight loss each time, and can eventually cause you to gain weight when you get back to your regular eating pattern.

There are also a few bad side effects to fasting. Some people report headaches, mental cloudiness, moodiness, and bad breath.

Because the weekend is fast approaching, there aren’t really many options other than to crash diet. But that doesn’t mean you have to completely fast. There is a basic equation to weight loss, which many people look at too confusingly; If your input is less than your output; you’ll lose weight.

A healthy goal is to lose no more than 2 pounds in 7 days, which just might be enough to do up that zipper. I would recommend getting a lot of cardio exercise over the next few days, maybe get your but to a pool if the weather is nice, and especially — watch what you eat.

I would avoid excessive amounts of starches like pasta, potatoes, breads – but if you do eat them, only eat whole grains, and be sure to eat the correct serving size. White bread is converted to sugar in your body, whereas whole grains are full of fiber, and move through your system smoothly.

Eat lots of veggies – the greener the better. Spinach salads, celery sticks, cucumber slices, asparagus, broccoli, etc. Avoid fruits and vegetables high in sugar,  just for the next few days.

Some other tips are to avoid creamy sauces and dips.  NO alcohol. Stick to drinking water and avoiding calorie-filled beverages. Avoid cheese, don’t eat things from cans or ready-to-go meals as they are packed full of sodium, which makes you retain water. If you plan on eating out, order the lunch portion. AND – be sure to pop a multi-vitamin!

I would recommend creating an account with Calorie Count, or My Daily Plate and tracking everything you consume. You can set your daily goal for your weight and activity level so you lose weight while still in-taking the right amount of calories so your body doesn’t go into starvation mode.

Then, once you’ve gotten into those jeans, if you’d like to maintain your weight, or continue to loose weight – you can safely do so by continuing to log your food on one of the above calorie tracking websites. They’re both free, and they give you the ability to choose what level of weight loss you want – they even allow you to set it to just maintain your current weight so those jeans continue to fit once you get into them again.

On a lighter note, here is an article on some of the craziest fad diets from Cracked.com.

Good Luck!

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