Do detox diets work?

​I bet you also really want to lose those extra pounds that are making it very hard to fit into your favorite outfit. 
I bet you want results fast. 
I bet you want them now! Right? 

Well before you hop of the “detox” diet your best friend told you about let me explain why a “detox” diet DOES NOT WORK and is potentially counterproductive to losing bodyfat!



First what exactly is a detox diet?

There are a few that seem to be trending these days 

1. The juice cleanse 
2. Clean food detox 

1. The Juice Cleanse The juice cleanse diet is basically a juice or liquid only diet for a few days or even weeks. The idea is that because the calories are coming from liquid you will drop weight. While this idea might sound solid in theory the real life application of just consuming juice leads to two very negative results. 

The first being a significant loss of muscle mass. You see your muscles NEED protein to maintain their size and recover from hard workouts. Drinking only juices completely removes any protein source from your diet and when restricting calories a diet that is low in protein will almost always result in muscle loss. Why is that a bad thing you might ask? Well muscle is the MOST important thing you can have working for you when your goal is to lose body fat. The less muscle you have the less your body will burn fat. Simple as that.... still want to go on a juice diet? 

Well if that didn’t convince you here’s the other reason. 

Slower metabolism. Generally a juice diet is VERY low in calories. Sure you will “feel” like your dieting hard but when you severely cut calories and nutrients from your diet your body will fight back, hard! It will purposely burn less calories in order to maintain its weight. Think about it, your body is very smart. If you were starving on an island your body’s job is to survive by burning less energy. It’s smarter than you think. I promise no matter how “smart” you think you are your body is one step ahead! 

2. The “clean food detox” 
The clean food detox has been abused much more and if your reading this I bet you’ve given it a try yourself. The idea is that you cut out all “junk” food and now foods become “good” or “bad.” While on the surface this doesn’t seem like a bad idea it’s actually setting you up for failure. Let me explain by giving an example. 

Would an apple and banana be considered “clean” food or “junk” food. You probably said clean right?

Ok 

What about a bagel? 
Clean or junk? 

Hmmm while maybe there’s worse choices, compared to an apple or banana the bagel has to be the “junk” food right?
So if your eating clean the better option must be the apple and banana right?

Wrong! 
The Apple and banana is about 50g of carbohydrates and the bagel? Well yeah you bet it’s about 50g of carbohydrates. 

While I’m not going to lecture you in which food choice is the better option, the both contain approximately the same amount of calories and the same amount of energy. Therefore when the goal is weight loss, either option would result in similar amounts of fat loss (considering the rest of the diet is as well) 

So forget clean and junk food comparisons. It’s all about understanding one thing. 

If you want to lose weight you must consume less calories than your body burns off. You can do this with any lifestyle modification and food choices you want. It doesn’t have to be black and white like foods are good and bad for fat loss. It doesn’t have to be extreme like a juice only diet. In fact the more simple the approach the more flexible the more long term and yes the more results you will see! 

It’s 2020 I think it’s time to give up on detoxes and start doing the things that really work....exercise and eat right!  There is no shortcut to success...just hard work done over time! If you need help getting started sign up for your Free Success Session Phone call here --------> www.abfitnesstrainer.com 

Your Trainers,
Anthony, Pete and Laura

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