Like training Muay Thai, people detox for different reasons: spiritual, physical and mental. For many, detoxing brings about mental clarity and its a spiritual challenge. However, detoxing specifically for weight loss is highly controversial. Are people actually ridding their intestines of years of built up plaque? Are people actually losing fat or is it muscle mass or is it just water weight when they detox?
I don't know too much about the science behind it all. What I do know is this: last year, when I weighed 107 kilograms (235 pounds)I needed something to jump start me out of my sloth-like sedentary ways. I was overweight, I was lazy and I needed a kick in the butt, or a tube (see colema) in it. For that reason, I chose to detox at Atsumi's Detox Center in Phuket.
Atsumi is located in southern Phuket, near many beaches, shopping areas and Muay Thai gyms. Despite its accessible location, it is isolated as well, which is advantageous for detoxers. The last thing you want while you are starving yourself is the aroma of delicious Thai food in the air or the temptation of cheap beer.
I detoxed on an all water diet for five days and had two colemas each day. Like my calorie intake at the time, my 5 days were nothing. My friend detoxed for two weeks only on water, his reasons being strictly spiritual.
Surprisingly, not eating is lot easier than we think, especially in the heat. Humans have faced famines throughout our long history and our bodies have evolved to not eating, days and weeks at a time.
Again, I don't know much about cleansing plaque out of the digestive system, but I do know that I lost about 5 kilograms (11 pounds) in five days. Most of that was water weight in my opinion. However, westerners have a very salty diet and the excess salt in our bodies causes us to retain excess water, which is extra weight anyways. For me, a detox is like flushing a toilet: its mostly water going down the drain, but with some unnecessary shit from the body.
Many people questioned my choice to detox. And many of those people didn't lose as much weight as I did in the same amount of time. Other variables aside (motivation, exercise routine, diet), I feel I did much better than my counterparts who didn't detox, and I wouldn't have lost so much weight without restarting my engine with a detox. Lastly, I attribute my current aversion towards fast food to the detox.
So for me, the answer is To Detox.
Disclaimer: That is for people who want to follow my program: detoxing for a week, followed by 9-11 weeks of Muay Thai training. If you are only here for a week to a month and your primary purpose is weight loss, I would alter the program.
Hi, am going to camp later this month and checked out your blog. I think I have some answers here from a person who went through a scientific study on weightloss.
ReplyDeleteWhat he did had nothing to do with "detoxification" and that part is more or less pseudoscience. What he did was lessen his intake of calories and get a better bloodsugar balance.
First: If you only drink, not eat, you will feel less hunger. If you eat, even small amounts, you will feel hunger on another level. So to loose weight, its easier to just drink smoothies or proteinshakes or whatever.
Second: If get your drinks at regular intervals you will avoid ups and downs of bloodsugar levels. That means less cravings for sugar and less tiredness.
Third: It is less calories. Less calories means loosing weight.
I do this right now to loose weight. As you say, in the beginning you loose water and just empty your stomach. That means maybe 5-6 kilos (for large people more) first week. Weeks after are pure loss and typically goes to 3 kilos a week, even with no training! So think of it as 3 kilos a week of fat loss.
Yes, you will loose muscles - if you don't train them at the same time and even then if you do it for longer time (9 weeks for my friend). Also, your body will adapt so its most effective for the first three weeks.
Myself? I do this three weeks before going to Thailand so I can enjoy the food. I don't use smoothies. I buy the powder for weightloss drinks which works just as well. Around 600 calories a day, of course that means weightloss if I usually burn around 2400 a day. Also, because of no dips in bloodsugar, I feel fresher and sleep 1-2 hours less every night.
All parts about "purging body of poison" has no basis in science.
I totally agree with your comment regarding aversion to fast food post the detox.
ReplyDeleteI did a similar detox myself in UK (the maple syrup diet) - infact done it about 4 times over two years.
Prior to the detox I had a huge sweeth tooth and eating junk food. however, after the detox the cravings had reduced significanly.