A 3 day detox diet can work wonders for your body by eliminating the bad carbs from your body and giving it a fresh start.
The first and foremost thing you need for losing weight is to take care of carbohydrates, ask anyone. Carbohydrates are things which are essential for a healthy life. But, when consumed in excess it ends up causing us trouble.
Why Carbs are essential?
Our body converts carbs into glycogen which is used for energy. Energy must be good, right?
Energy is good as long as it is in balance with your body’s needs.
But the problem is many people consume more carbs than required, thereby producing more glycogen than their body can burn. This is where carbs cause us trouble.
When your body has an excess amount of glycogen than required, it converts them into fat for long-term storage.
Yep, Fat!
That’s why you see some people who can eat anything but still not gain any weight, and you eat a burger and put on 5 lbs.
This is why a carb detox can be a very good thing. It helps to give your body a much-needed break from some of the heavier and processed foods and give you a fresh start on things.
What Is a Detox?
Detox or detoxification is simply the process of abstaining and ridding the body of toxic or unhealthy substances resulting in a better health and energy.
Now it’s not possible to completely detox your body and we don’t want a complete detox. The idea behind this detox is to flush out a good amount of bad stuff from your body to give it a fresh start.
Besides helping you eliminate the wrong foods that can contribute to weight gain, detox can improve the functioning of the detoxification system within our body and reduce the factors that contribute to weight gain.
Failure of Many Detox Diet Plans
People know the value of doing a detox but that does not mean it works for them. All detox diet plans are different and most of these detox diet plans fail simply because they are too complex.
What’s the main reason behind doing a detox?
You want to feel better both mentally and physically, right. But, if a detox plan is forcing you to something complex and crazy then that’s not helping you mentally.
Detox diet plans should be simple and still produce great results. This is the main motto behind this 3-day detox diet plan: results and simplicity.
The Works
This detox diet plan is based on eliminating all the ‘bad carbs’ from the body. So, no bad carbs will be eaten during this 3-day process. It’s easier said than done as old habits are hard to break.
The reason behind cutting out these bad carbohydrates is that you are probably already filled up with glycogen and it’s time your body should stop producing more. This also leads to an increase in leptin and a drop in insulin levels.
So, you want to make sure that you plan this out and are prepared for the detox diet. You can’t just read the post and start detoxing right away. If you don’t have the supplies handy to counter all of your old carbohydrate habits then you will find yourself in a world of trouble.
Results You Can Expect from Doing a Carb Detox
Results from this diet plan will vary from person to person but don’t be surprised if you drop 3-4 pounds in weight during this 3-day detox diet plan.
Most of this weight you shed will be excess water weight. It’s time to release this water which is held by carbs in our body.
Most of us depend on carbohydrates for energy and this diet will train your body to no longer rely on carbs. When you can train your body to no longer rely on carbs you will find that you feel a lot more refreshed.
But, some people may also face headaches and a bit of weakness for the first few days after diet. Because changing diet from carbs to no carbs puts your body in a shock and it will take some time to adjust to the new diet.
If you can fight through this, your body will change for the better. The carb hungry body will no longer crave bad carbs and will start to better absorb the awesome nutrients that you are providing it. This will have an overall improvement in energy.
Sounds amazing, doesn’t it?
So, let’s get started with the plan.
3 Day Detox Diet Plan
Just 3 days and you will have a better body.
Day 1: A 24 hour Fast
“The best of all medicines are resting and fasting” — Benjamin Franklin
Fasting is a practice that dates back centuries and has been practiced for thousands of years. Fasts are good for your health if you don’t go crazy with them by fasting for a ridiculously long period of time (more than 2 days).
In this plan, you are just going to do a 24 hour intermittent fast. So if you eat at 10 am today, then you don’t eat again until 10 am tomorrow.
The main thing when it comes to eating is you get the right amount of right nutrients in your body. So, eating 3 meals a day is not better than eating 1 or 10 as long as you are providing the body with nutrients it needs.
The act of fasting has a number of positive health benefits, backed by science. These include:
- Lowers Blood Pressure
- Lowers Cholesterol levels
- Boosts brain function and focus
- Weight loss
- Boosts metabolism
- Decrease levels on inflammation
Tip: If you are new to fasting, and you are experiencing some of the symptoms of low blood sugar, try a teaspoon of salt in a tall glass of water, and drink up! Your pseudo symptoms of low blood sugar will likely disappear.
Now, fasting doesn’t mean that you should deprive your body of everything. Instead of eating you are going to focus on drinking. The 4 drinks you can consume in the next 24 hours are:
- Lemon Water
- Matcha Green Tea
- Apple Cider Vinegar (with water)
- Black coffee (only if compulsorily needed)
These drinks will help suppress your appetite. Make sure not to add sugar in these drinks.
Day 2: Time to Eat
Once 24 hours are over, it’s time to eat. What should you eat?
Vegetables!
Yes, day 2 is dedicated to eating vegetables as it’s time to replenish all the nutrients and vitamins. Now, which veggies should you eat?
All your meals for the day should be of low carb vegetables. You should eat from the vegetables in the list below.
- Broccoli Rabe
- Beets
- Celery
- Spinach
- Asparagus
- Squash
- Zucchini
- Mushrooms
- Tomatoes
- Bell Pepper
- Cauliflower
- Cucumber
- Brussels Sprouts
- Kale
- Onions
You can cook these vegetables any way you want to be it steamed, microwaved, raw or grilled. If you need a bit flavor, don’t hesitate to add seasonings. No deep frying, but you are free to stir fry the veggies in coconut oil or extra virgin olive oil.
You are free to decide when you want to consume the veggies. If you wish to break them up into 3-4 meals throughout the day then go for it.
It may sound like a drag, but remember you are working on creating a better and happier body.
Thirsty? You are free to drink from the same set of drinks approved on Day 1.
Day 3: The Final Phase – Adding Protein
It’s time to kick in the protein, high-quality protein. The goal is to consume 60g of protein today, divided into 2 meals of 30g each.
So, Day 3 is for eating both low carb veggies and high-quality protein.
So what constitutes as high-quality protein?
- Whey Protein
- Eggs
- Lean Chicken Breast
- Salmon
- Turkey
- Tofu
- Low-Fat Cottage Cheese
- Nuts
- Beans
Except for deep frying, you can cook them in any way you want. If you want to have 4 meals a day, then meal 1 and 3 can have 30g of protein.
It’s your choice, you just need to get recommended 30g of protein in your body in two meals. There are various apps that can help you make sure you are getting the protein that you need.
Completion
That’s it. See how simple this diet plan is. Just make sure you are prepared and have your proteins and vegetables ready. So you can get started right away or wait another day or two to mentally prepare for this journey.
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