Being stuck at home with my kids meant I had gained a great deal of weight.

The last 3 months saw me gain a whopping 35 lbs! I’m not proud of it but being stuck indoors especially the last 6 weeks with nothing to do but bake and eat meant I had piled on the pounds without realizing it.

Looking back it was probably the daily baking I was doing with my kids that had caused it

I decided to step on the scale and I was not impressed, I thought at best I had gained a maximum of 10lbs. I guess living in my PJs meant that I hadn’t even noticed what had happened.

Normally I would go super low carb/keto and see results quickly but this time I just couldn’t find the motivation to do it.

I needed a short sharp hit that would help me get me started quickly.

This is where the water fast comes in. I looked into it and decided I would give it a try. Yes, it would be hard but it could potentially be the boost I was looking for to kickstart my weight loss. I had done intermittent fasting in the past but this was something completely different.

I have never fasted for longer than one day. This was my first experience with water fasting.

WHAT IS WATER FASTING? 

Water fasting is where you eat or drink nothing but water. People may undertake water fasting to lose weight or for religious reasons.

I was allowing myself herbal clear teas as a warm drink as one of the side effects was feeling cold and plain water.

BENEFITS OF WATER FASTING? 

One of the main benefits of water fasting is Autophagy. Autophagy is a natural process of cleaning up bad cell matter that’s built up in your body.

– Supports fat loss and ketosis – Improves body composition – Lowers blood pressure – Decreases blood sugar – Supports healthy collagen in the skin – May slow down the ageing process

DANGERS OF WATER FASTING 

– Nutrient deficiencies – Dehydration – Hypertension – Hyponatremia – Dizziness and fatigue – According to this research, Autophagy could starve off Cancer

HOW LONG CAN YOU WATER FAST FOR? 

Some people do it for 3 days, 5 days, or 7 days. I actually wanted to do it for 5 but I felt so good that I continued for 7.

IS WATER FASTING SAFE?

There are limited human studies on water fasting. This is not a prolonged diet and should be only used for the short term.

MY EXPERIENCE OF WATER FASTING 

If you or any other person has a medical concern, you should consult with your health care provider or seek other professional medical treatment. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something that has been read on this blog or in any linked materials. If you think you may have a medical emergency, call your doctor or emergency services immediately.

I am not a doctor, I am just telling you my experience, please be mindful of overexerting yourself, giving blood, or doing strenuous workouts. People have died from drinking too much water and flushing out electrolytes causing cardiac arrest so please be careful and do your research, Speak with your doctor if you are worried or need advice. 

PREPARE MENTALLY

I prepared myself mentally by doing some of the following:

– I got rid of all junk food and sweet treats in the house – I bought some water bottles to keep an eye on what I was drinking – Prepared some Sole Water for Electrolytes – Got some multivitamins in

HOW TO DO A WATER FAST

– Sounds obvious but don’t eat anything

– Drink water when you feel hungry or thirsty but don?t overdo it – I took electrolytes and a multivitamin as I’m running around after my kids but its an important part of the fast – I drank one cup of clear herbal tea in the morning – If it gets too much then stop. Don’t force yourself to continue if you feel awful

HOW I FELT ON DAY 1-3 

I felt absolutely awful, If you have done Keto then I can only compare it to Keto Flu. It could possibly have been Caffeine withdrawal too as I was drinking at least 6 cups a day to just function.

Days 1-3 were definitely the toughest. I was having migraines and feeling weak but surprisingly from day 2 onwards no hunger.

I drank water when I felt hungry or thirsty. I didn’t overdo it with drinking gallons of water as I was worried about flushing out electrolytes. Instead, I drank to thirst.

I also found I felt very cold. This has always been the case with me even when I am doing intermittent fasting.

DAYS 3-5

I can safely say the migraines had disappeared and so had the tiredness and brain fog. I seemed to be able to get more done for work and I started to take a brisk walk for an hour. I felt amazing, no hunger, and definitely no cravings!

I felt less bloated by day 3 and could see a difference around my waist.

Getting up quickly caused me to be dizzy so I needed to get up slowly. I was, however, still freezing.

DAYS 5-7 

These were by far the best days of the diet. I felt lighter and I could definitely see I had lost weight especially around my midriff and face. I felt great now I was worried about transitioning back to eating normally.

EATING AGAIN 

I decided to transition back slowly. Starting with one meal and then 2 after a few days. I decided to use this as an opportunity to get back onto the Keto diet which has always worked so well for me.

I’m feeling great. Brain fog has lifted and I have a great deal of mental clarity and energy.

HOW MUCH DID I LOSE 

In 7 days I lost 22lbs! Transitioning back to a keto diet meant I gained back another 4lbs but that’s come off plus more.

I would wholeheartedly recommend this 7-day water fast to anyone who wants to kick start weight loss

Water fasting is very simple but NOT easy.

The lemonade diet is a fasting diet that relies on an entirely liquid-based diet.

Also known as the Master Cleanse, the lemonade fast is rumored to have wonderful benefits when it comes to weight loss as it is purported to cleanse toxins (Master Cleanse) and burn fat.

There’s a downside with this diet that most people aren’t prepared for with any juice fast.

Unfortunately, no solids are to be eaten for at least 10 days, which can make you feel very hungry. Any participant in this diet will be getting their nutritional sustenance and caloric intake from a lemon drink you make and sweeten at home.

Although there are claims that this lemonade fast is able to burn fat, making you slimmer.

Throughout this article, I’ll be delving into the evidence for and against this diet to allow potential participants to decide if this diet is right for them.

PREPARING FOR THE MASTER CLEANSE

The biggest hurdle to overcome with this diet is cutting out a lot of things that are bad for you as well as solid food.

Cutting out solid food in its own right is a hard thing to overcome when you consider that most of us have been eating solid food our whole lives. There are 4 days of preparation you’ll need to undertake to help you acclimate to the lemonade cleanse.

DAY 1

On the first day, it’s important to cut out solid foods that are high in carbs like bread, alcohol, caffeine, dairy and anything sugary. You can get away with the odd bit of fruit though.

DAY 2

On the second day, try and accustom yourself to only eating a couple of pieces of fruit and treat yourself to a bowl of soup or broth.

A glass of grapefruit juice at some point in the day if you’re feeling unwell should help to perk you up.

DAY 3

On the third day, do your best to drink nothing but water but if you feel your blood sugar feels low, another glass of grapefruit juice will help.

DAY 4

On the fourth day, do the same as you did on the third but before you go to sleep try and have a cup of laxative tea.

You’ll also need to stock up on lemons, maple syrup (or honey), cayenne peppers and spring or distilled water. All of these items feature in the making of the drink. You also might want to pick up a drink bottle to put the drink in.

MAKING THE DRINK

The instructions for making this drink are surprisingly simple.

The first thing you need to do is squeeze a couple of tablespoons of lemon into a glass or bottle. Then add two tablespoons of maple syrup or honey, 0.2 grams of cayenne pepper and fill with 250-350mls of distilled or purified water, then your golden.

The key to this diet is consuming the drink mentioned above whenever you start to get hungry.

More than 5 of these drinks need to be consumed each day, but there’s not really an upper limit as long as you’re not over-drinking. Your body can’t handle more than a litre of fluid in an hour so you should avoid drinking more than 3-4 an hour.

Stimulating bowel movements during Master Cleanse seems to be a necessary part of the process, so you should drink a cup of laxative tea in the first day or two.

After this, because you’re not consuming much in the way of solids, you should have no problem with bowel movements not passing through.

The recommended duration of this diet is between 10-39 days.

This down to this diet being dangerous in the long term as it doesn’t provide adequate long term nutrition. If after 39 days you don’t start eating properly again, you may develop health concerns including malnutrition.

TRANSITIONING TO A NORMAL DIET AFTER DOING THE MASTER CLEANSE

There will come a time when you feel like you’re ready to get back to a normal diet with solid food.

It wouldn’t be wise after 10-39 days of no food to go back to eating 3 square meals of solid food a day. It’s better to taper the solidity of your food consumption up slowly. There are 3 days of recommended steps to get you back to solid food without any problems.

STEP 1

The first day revolves around introducing different sugars and something other than liquid into your diet.

We do this by drinking fresh fruit juices. Grapefruit juice is always a solid choice as in its own right it has dietary benefits.

STEP 2

The second day brings you back to the closest thing you’ll have had to a real meal in a while.

A bowl of soup or broth is your best friend in this situation. Avoid bread for now though and just have the soup. You’ll likely find the bowl of soup or broth filling enough on its own.

STEP 3

The third day allows you to eat fruit and vegetables.

Bananas are a good choice if you’re feeling shaky thanks to the potassium involved. The good news is that from the fourth day on you can start introducing solid foods back into your diet.

WEIGHT LOSS IMPLICATIONS WHEN DOING THE MASTER CLEANSE DIET

Multiple studies have concluded that the lemonade fast can lead to a short-term weight loss of, on average, about 2.6kg (5.7lbs) after 7 days.

After 2 weeks that will lead to a loss of just over 5kg. As a modified type of fasting, this diet works by consuming a lower amount of calories than the body is able to eliminate. With each drink containing just 110 calories, it’s no surprise that this diet has great short-term effects.

While the short-term success of this diet seems to be backed by studies, the long-term success of this diet is more contested.

The biggest problem with long-term success is that lacking in solid food for so long can cause diet-related malnutrition which can lead to things like anaemia. Removing certain foods from your diet and making small and more manageable changes and sustaining them is more likely to provide long-term, higher level results.

BEYOND THE LEMON DETOX DIET, HOW’S THE CLEANSE?

Claims were made that the Master Cleanse is able to remove toxins through the digestive system.

There isn’t anybody of evidence to support these claims making it difficult to back this fasting diet as an actual cleanse.

Healthier eating choices like eating broccoli (cruciferous) and spices can help with strengthening the liver.

This allows it to do its job better which, considering the liver’s entire job is to metabolise and neutralize toxins, means you needn’t worry about finding ways to exert effort into doing it yourself. To summarise, there’s no evidence at all that this Master Cleanse actually helps reduce the number of toxins in the body.

THE PROS AND CONS OF THE MASTER CLEANSE

THE PROS OF THE LEMON DETOX DIET

Accessible and Easy – Because of how simple this diet is, there’s no need to worry about complex recipes or adhering to multiple elements.

After you’ve prepared for going into the diet by slowly adjusting the solidity of the nutrition you’re consuming, followed the diet for however long after 9 days you need to, and then readjusted to adding more solidity in your diet slowly, there’s nothing else to worry about. It also helps that the recipe for the lemonade drink is nice and easy to make.

Cheap and Cheerful – The lemonade drink is the only thing you need to worry about on your diet.

It also helps that all of the ingredients for the diet can be found in almost any shop and they’re all cheap. To be fair, when you take into account the reduction of normal foods, you might actually save some money in the process.

THE CONS OF THE LEMON DETOX DIET

Dietary Concerns – Consuming nothing but the lemon drink at the centre of the lemonade fast diet isn’t healthy long-term.

The number of essential nutrients provided in this diet like proteins, fibers, minerals, and vitamins are negligible in comparison to a normal diet. The nutrition provided by the drink includes 23 grams of sugar in every drink you make. That’s a lot of sugar, which creates concerns related to mass sugar intake being heavily linked to diabetes. With a recommendation of more than 5 servings of this drink per day, you’ll be talking just shy of 140 grams of supplemental sugar. Although carbohydrates are often viewed as the enemy when you’re trying to lose weight, they actually have nutritional benefits including providing the energy to function while you’re active in day-to-day functions.

It’s Anything but Easy – There’s nothing worse than pining for a nice juicy steak and not being where you need to be.

At that point all you can do is carry on and tell yourself that the steak waiting for you will taste all the sweeter when your weight is where it needs to be.

It’s also hard to go out to a restaurant with friends when you’re just drinking the lemon drink. Without consuming any complex carbs, you might find your energy level drops significantly when you?re a few days in. This is when it’s hardest to stick to the diet. The short-term gains are worth it but long term, stress hormones are increased during this diet which has been known to cause weight to increase in the long term.

Medical Concerns – The Master Cleanse isn’t without medical side effects.

The most common ones are things like headache, becoming dizzy, being tired all the time, feeling irritable and agitated, hair loss, feeling weak a lot and cramping. To top all of this off, there’s also the risk of gall stones. Because of all this, it’s more medically sound to make healthy dietary changes over a more prolonged period, but using this for 2 weeks shouldn’t cause too many side effects provided you?re otherwise completely healthy.

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF DOING THE MASTER CLEANSE

When you first wake up, use roughly 900mls of warm water and add a couple of teaspoons of sea salt to help with moving your bowels.

At multiple times during the day try and fit in more than 5 drinks. Spreading them out will help level nutrition.

Before you sleep, a cup of laxative tea is ideal.

CONCLUSION

The Master Cleanse isn’t for everyone.

If you’re diabetic or have any long-term medical conditions, talk to your doctor before starting any type of fasting diet. It is 9-39 days in length which is a long time to go without solid food, plus the loss in weight is only short-term. For long-term weight loss and keeping it off, making changes to your diet and lifestyle like starting an exercise regimen are going to be the best and healthiest ways to do it.

WHY DO YOU NEED TO DO AN EGG FAST?

For anyone having trouble transitioning into ketosis, a five-day egg fast can help your body to burn fat from food and fat stored in your body, rather than burning glycogen from carbs.

An egg fast can also help kick start weight loss for those who have plateaued in their weight loss journey.

The egg fast can help your body get back to burning fat and back to losing weight.

It can reduce your carb intake significantly and get you back on track.

WHAT IS A KETO EGG FAST?

This is when a dieter almost exclusively eats eggs for the duration of the fast, this is typically 3 or 5 days.

The dieter will not eat any other food apart from the small amount of healthy fats but will predominately stick to eggs for meals and snacks,

On the egg fast you have the freedom to eat and enjoy eggs in whatever way you like Poached, fried, scrambled or even an omelette.

Your goal is to consume 6 eggs a day along with 1oz of cheese with every egg and a teaspoon of healthy fat.

WHY EGGS?

The keto diet focuses of high fat, moderate protein and low carbs.

Nothing fits this brief more then the trusty egg. Not only does it fit in with your macros but eggs are jam packed full of nutrients.

The egg white contains protein, iron, zinc, copper, selenium, vitamin B12, D and B6

The egg yolk is where the fat is found along with vitamin A,D,E, and K.

The best eggs to consume on the keto diet are omega 3, organic and pastured this will ensure that you are eating the most nutritious eggs available.

WHY DOES THE EGG FAST WORK?

The egg fast works by getting your body into the metabolic state of ketosis where your body uses ketones as a source of fuel.

Although an egg fast will help you lose weight there are a number of factors that can affect how much weight you will lose.

This will be based on factors such as your starting weight, gender, height, how close you are to your goal weight and how much food you consume.

For example someone who has a great deal of weight to lose can expect to lose a lot more then someone who doesn’t have much to lose.

Many people report losses of around 5 – 10lbs in 3-5 days.

SOME OF THE BENEFITS OF A 5-DAY KETO EGG FAST INCLUDE:

*Weight loss *Loss of appetite *Flat tummy *Reduction of insulin resistance

POTENTIAL RISKS AND SIDE EFFECTS OF THE KETO EGG FAST

Many people suffer from keto flu, which is when your body adapts to ketones as a source of energy instead of glucose.

It is not a very nice feeling at all and can include increase in appetite, headaches, nausea, sleep disturbances, bad breath and weakness. Taking your electrolytes regularly can help overcome the keto flu.  This is why it is recommended that you are on the keto diet before you try the egg fast.

Constipation is another side effect as this diet contains no fibre, which most of us need to keep regular.

Again, staying on top of your electrolytes and keeping well hydrated should help.

THE KETO EGG FAST IS NOT SUITABLE FOR:

*Diabetics *Those without a gallbladder *Those who have an eating disorder *Pregnant women *Cholesterol hyper responders *Breastfeeding Women

THE KETO EGG FAST RULES

1. Eat at least six eggs per day This is not a calorie-restricted diet so eat to fullness.

2. Buy the best quality eggs you can Free range eggs may contain more omega 3 fats and vitamin D.

3. Eat one tablespoon of butter per egg Coconut oil, olive oiland mayo may also be used.

4. You may add up to one ounce of cheese per egg if desired Make sure your cheese is low carb and full fat

5. Drink as much water as you can: at least 2-4 litres MINIMUM Black or bulletproof coffee, black tea, green tea and herbal tea can be added if required.

6. Add salt and keep taking your electrolytes Consider extra magnesium and potassium to prevent cramps. If you suffer from constipation then flaxseed may help.

7. Exercise daily Even a short walk will help maintain lean muscle mass.

8. Eat three meals a day; if not hungry eat one egg Your appetite will be reduced but keep eating to preserve lean muscle mass.

9. Follow the egg fast for three days; five days may give better results You will be sick of eggs by the third day.

10. Transition back to your normal diet E.g. the day after eat two egg meals and one normal meal (whatever you usually eat), the day after that eat one egg meal and two normal meals.

Consider keeping on eating at least two eggs a day to maintain the effects of the fast.

THE DOS WHEN YOU ARE ON THE KETO EGG FAST

*Within half and hour of waking consume 1 egg

*Eat both the whites and yolks

*Have between 3-5 meals of 2 or more eggs per day.

*Eat every 3-5 hrs even if you don’t feel hungry

*Have an egg at least 3 hours before you go to bed

*Sauces and condiments are allowed but they need to be keto approved and low in carbs.

*Herbs and spices are allowed

*Butter, coconut and olive oil can be used as good fats

*Stay hydrated

*Tea and coffee are permitted on the egg fast

THE DONT’S WHEN YOU ARE ON THE KETO EGG FAST

*No meat is allowed for the duration of the fast

*No fruit is allowed while you are on the diet

*No vegetables are allowed

*No nuts are allowed

*Refrain from artificial sweeteners and diet sodas

*No alcohol

*No heavy whipping cream

IS THE KETO EGG FAST HEALTHY?

Ultimately the goal of an egg fast is to jolt your body into ketosis.

The egg fast is supposed to be a short sharp kick to your metabolism to get things moving in the right direction. It is supposed to be used as part of your normal keto diet to break through a plateau.

If you do decide to continue your egg fast past the recommended 3-5 days you may begin to find that your body is missing out on vital nutrients that aren’t found in eggs such as fibre, something everyone’s body needs to promote healthy digestion.

MY RESULTS ON THE KETO EGG FAST DIET

By the time I tried the egg fast I was well into my keto journey.

I had lost a fair amount of weight but at 5 months in had hit a wall. My scale hadn’t moved in over a week and I really couldn’t workout what was going on.

I must mention that I was getting close to my goal weight so that may have had an impact on the stall and the weight loss slowing down,

I decided to give the egg fast diet a shot as I had plateaued and couldn’t get my weight to budge, even though I was adhering strictly to my recalculated macros.

Initially, I intended to do 3 days but was willing to do 5 if I possibly could.

DAY 1

BREAKFAST

2 boiled eggs mashed with Boursin cheese

Cup of black coffee

LUNCH

2 egg cheese omelettes

Large glass of water

DINNER

Poached eggs with cream cheese

DAY 2

BREAKFAST

Egg mayo and cup of herbal tea

LUNCH

Cream cheese pancakes

DINNER

Cheese omelette

DAY 3

BREAKFAST

Scrambled eggs and smoked salmon with a large cup of black coffee

LUNCH

3 devilled eggs and water

DINNER

Crustless cheese quiche

So by day 3 I’m absolutely sick of eggs but I want to keep going as I can feel my belly feels flatter and my trousers are feeling slightly looser.

DAY 4

BREAKFAST

2 fried eggs with black coffee

LUNCH

Leftover crustless cheese quiche

DINNER

Cheese omelette

DAY 5

BREAKFAST

2 poached eggs with black tea

LUNCH

Egg mayo large glass of water

DINNER

Cheese omelette

Yes, by the end of day 5 I never ever want to see another egg as long as I live

MY RESULTS ON THE KETO EGG FAST

So, after completing the fast I had in fact lost 5 lbs of weight which is amazing!

I’m really glad I kept on going as the results really were fantastic. On day 6 and 7 I added 1 keto meal back in and on days 8 and 9 another and by day 10 I was back to my 3 keto meals. I gained 1 lb back overall but I believe that’s because I slowly added the meals back in.

Overall weight loss was 4 lbs which aren’t bad at all for 5 days.

The egg fast really gave my body the jolt it needed and the weight continued to drop off until I reached my goal.