Vitaliy

Dieting information usually has mixed theories. If you ask people anything about weight loss, fat reduction and dieting, a very common suggestion you’ll hear besides eating healthy and exercising is not eating after 7 pm. That’s one rule that a lot of dieters have wondered about and we’re going to examine if it’s true and if obeying it can help you lose weight. 

Where did the 7 pm rule come from?

There’s been a lot of proof on both sides for and against the 7 pm rule. It originated from the idea that most people who live an active, working life generally finish work around 5 or 6, maybe work out at the gym for an hour and then get home around 7 or a bit earlier to eat dinner or supper. 

That is recommended to be their last meal before a few hours after, they are ready to go to bed, around 10 or 11 pm and by that time, they are usually going to be hungry again which may have good effects on fat loss. 

Theories on why it’s not good to eat after 7:

It is said that after a certain time, usually before you go to bed, the body begins to prepare for sleep and works less harder to digest food as well as slows down metabolism. If you have a full meal or anything that is hard to digest right before bed, it makes it harder for the body to burn that food before bed and during sleep which can cause extra calories to not get burned and become fat. When you don’t eat anything, it lets the body focus more on rest and anything it doesn’t have to burn, it’ll take out from fat storages.

Another theory suggests that most people who eat their last meal before 7 are usually those who have already reached their “caloric limit” for the day and anything past that is going to be excess.

Theories on why it’s ok to eat after 7:

If you look at BMR, a theory which says you can eat anything you want as long as you don’t go past the actual BMR set for your age, weight and height, you can generally eat anytime without problems. 

There have been scientific studies which suggest that there is no proof that eating after 7 can impact weight. 

I tested this “diet rule”:

It’s very hard to know if a theory is real or not when you have so many sources telling you different things so I began trying to apply this rule. I actually considered doing it after I asked a few certified experts in fitness about losing fat. Most of them included that 7 pm rule.

My schedule however doesn’t really allow me to apply it like that. Most days during the week, I come home around 8-10 pm and I usually workout before which means when I get home, I am very hungry and need to re-fuel. 

I used to stuff myself with food but when trying this thing out, I decided to cut back, eat about 30%-50% less than I normally would. I also made sure to go to bed a little later, usually around 1 or 2 am. By that time, I was pretty hungry again, but in trying it this way, I could see if anything worked, just in different hours. 

I have been doing this for about 2 weeks and my weight has dropped from almost 184 to around 180. I don’t know if this is due to me going to bed hungry, but it has been the most major change I’ve made in that time. 

Other things I’ve been doing have involved eating a lot of kale, spinach and drinking more water, but that’s during the day. 

Have you tried to follow this?

If you have tried following the rule of not eating after a specific time and have been going to bed hungry, have you noticed a reduction in weight? Have you also noticed anything improvements in health? 

If you do it, you’ll find it’s VERY difficult to go to bed hungry:

Being hungry during the day isn’t as tough as being hungry at night. I don’t think anything related to hunger feels worse than when you’re ready to go to bed, but can’t focus on sleep because your stomach is growling. That’s the feeling I’ve had for many days.

Most of the time, I held on, but when I couldn’t take it anymore, the worst I ever did was eat a few walnuts and drink water. Since my weight didn’t go up, I don’t think walnuts did anything bad. They are low satiety foods and good for you. I think the only real bad foods you can have before bed are anything with carbs.

Not eating at night helps with cleansing:

Cleansing and not eating at night are not the same thing, but if anyone goes through a cleanse, the feeling is opposite of eating during the day and not eating at night. You feel bad during the day, but can’t wait to go to sleep because it helps you get through a lot of hours quickly. 

Diets like the 3 week diet include a 1 day cleanse to help you break into the next level of weight loss but by the time you do the cleanse, it is going to be around bed time. Then by sleeping for 8 hours or so, you really “cheat” the period in which you aren’t eating and you are losing weight during that time too. Basically not eating at night makes cleansing feel shorter.

Should everyone not eat before bed?

I think the rule of not eating before bed is a good rule to follow. I think I sleep better on an empty stomach than I do on a full one and I do believe the 4 pounds I lost was also connected to it. I also don’t think this rule was invented for weight loss but more for being healthier. 

If you have any medical condition that don’t allow you to try this, then do not do it. Talk to a doctor if you have questions about it. 

Mag 07 is said to be a great way to detox the body, but what about weight loss? How much can you lose if you go on it? This is what I set out to try for 7 days. 

Before I did however, I read reviews on Amazon about Mag 07 and most people were saying that the biggest change they notice is how often they run to the bathroom, especially in the morning.

That’s how these things are supposed to work. They stimulate the digestive system to help you get rid of more waste in the body. When you get rid of that, you’ll naturally lose more weight. Also with a cleaner body from the inside, you will also have better metabolism. 

Why I decided to try Mag 07:

What really made me try this cleanse was my mother. She tried it for about 10 days, lost between 5-10 pounds. She is a very active person when it comes to working, but when it comes to exercising, she doesn’t do it much so all of that weight she lost was because of Mag 07. 

My weight and other details:

I am 5’11. I weight anywhere from 182-186 pounds. Usually when I weight myself in the morning, it’ll be around 182-183. 

I live an active lifestyle, do sports and about 50% of my daily diet is eating healthy, while the other 50% is not. For the healthy portion, I eat cucumbers, salads, carrots, eggs, drink a lot of water everyday and generally try to eat something from the sea (fish, kelp).

For my unhealthy side, once a week or so I’ll eat a burger with fries and drink soda. The other days, I’ll eat waffles with syrup and drink tea with honey. Sometimes I’ll make pasta with cheese, eat a lot of potatoes and fry meat. 

Usually foods I stay away from are: Bread, white flour, white salt (I only eat sea salt) and white sugar. 

My Mag 07, 7 day report:

To do a Mag 07 cleanse, you have to take up to 5 pills before bedtime on an empty stomach. The more you take, the more bowel movement you will have. You should do this cleanse for 7-10 days. I did it for 7.

My advice is to start with 2 or 3 if you’ve never done this type of detox before because if you’re not prepared, it’s going to hit you very hard and you’ll be running to the bathroom several times. You should use your first day to see how your body reacts to it. Amazon reviewers also warned about this.

Day 1: Officially the detox starts at night when you take the pills, but the detox starts to happen in the morning. I woke up and went to the bathroom (didn’t run). I weighted myself after and saw I was at 184.2 pounds. I took 4 pills the night before.

Day 2: I took 5 pills the night before, but this time, around 6 a.m woke up to a painful feeling in my stomach. Horrible churning and I ran to the bathroom this time. After, I weight myself and noticed I was at 185! 

Day 3: Took 4 pills again because I was going to be at a gym most of the day and I didn’t want to have an accident! This time, I didn’t have any churning pain and the scale said 184.

Day 4: Took 5 pills again. Weight went down to 183.5.

Day 5: Weight dropped to 182 pounds. No major problems. In fact, I actually didn’t have a big urge to go to the bathroom this time.

Day 6: Went back up to 183 again. Nothing noticeable and it was just like on day 5. I took 5 pills by the way the night before.

Day 7: My last day, I weight in at 182 in the morning. Again, just like with days 5-6, I did not feel a major urge to run to the bathroom. I was disappointed as I though I’d be losing more.

 

I might have lost little weight, but how much will you lose?

So overall, I lost about 2 pounds. Before you think that this is how much weight you’ll lose, you need to understand my body is probably very different than yours. Everyone is actually different.

• I didn’t go on this detox to lose a lot of weight. 
• I have done detoxes before. People who do them every few months generally have more bowel movements everyday and are cleaner from the inside. So when they do a cleanse like this or any other, they usually won’t have noticeable results. So I wasn’t surprised that I only lost 2 pounds.
• I eat pretty healthy generally and work out.

People who have never done a cleanse before or have weight issues are going to be the people who experience the most results. I really want to warn that if you’ve never done a cleanse like this, to start with no more than 3 pills for your first day. 

You can add more pills the next day or reduce them depending on how it felt the first day. If you didn’t see that many results or bowel movements weren’t far from the way they usually are, add more. 

Do not look at this cleanse as a permanent solution. Most people are too lazy about taking control of their health and look to things like Mag 07 as though it were some magic pill, live very unhealthy lives and just use that detox from time to time. That’s not a smart way to do it. You’re just going to be going in cycles and still overall being unhealthy.

If you need to use Mag 07 to lose weight, make sure you’re eating healthy after and taking care of yourself. Don’t expect this detox to help you lose a lot of weight though and if it does, a lot of it will come back. 

If you need to lose major weight…

Follow one or more of the following tips in this free eBook I made where you can lose several pounds every week quite easily. Mag 07 is great for cleansing, but not really weight loss. You should do the detox first, followed by the diet and then from then, slowly begin changing how you eat to something more generally healthy. 

Have you tried Mag 07?

How much weight did you lose and what changes did you notice? 

I tried Seavegg (it is called Sea Veg now) almost a decade ago after I saw an infomercial where a man named Scott Kennedy was talking about it. The way he explained the benefits of seaweed and his product was enough to convince me to order a bottle.

Sea Vegg. What is it?

This is a supplement in a capsule which contains over 10 different blends of seaweed. Seaweed is known to have regenerative components and also grows and feeds of the suns rays and the ocean. These 2 things which make it grow also give it a high potency of vitamins and minerals. 

It is said that one of the major foods in the diets of the healthiest cultures in the world is seaweed as well as other foods which come from the ocean.  

When I took my first capsule, I was about 17 years old (male), but I also told my mother and grandmother about it and they decided to try it with me. Although each bottle contained 90 capsules and you were supposed to take 3 a day (morning, day and night), we decided that if we would see good results, we’d order more. 

How Sea Vegg affected me:

After taking it first for a few days, then re-ordering and taking it for a few months, I didn’t actually experience any major changes. However, I did notice that I got sick much less often and the only thing I could think of that might have been responsible for this was the seavegg. I didn’t lose any weight, being 17 at the time, but I didn’t feel any worse. 

What sea vegg did for my mother:

I was very surprised by how this affected my mother (and grandmother). After just a few days, my mother noted that she felt much more energy and stamina. She did not experience any side effects from this supplement. 

What sea vegg did for my grandmother:  

The same thing happened to her. More energy. More stamina. When we started all taking it, I was living with my grandmother and grandfather at the time, on the third floor of a building without any elevator. 

Taking sea vegg helped raise her energy to a point where she could climb the stairs with much less difficulty than before. She was in her mid 70’s at the time.

I had also given the supplement to both my grandfather and my father, but the results with them were the same as they were with me. Why did sea vegg affect the women in my family more than the men?

Looking at the ingredients on the bottle, seavegg and seaweed in general has organic iodine in it. Both my mother and grandmother have problems with their thyroid which was the reason they had less energy.

Organic iodine is said to help regulate the thyroid. Also Scott Kennedy in his infomercial said that women notice the difference right away.

Sea vegg benefits:

• It helps the skin look clearer because it contains high levels of vitamins that help hair grow better and skin look clearer. 

• I felt an improvement with my immune system after using it.

• You will have more energy. 

• For weight loss, this is not a supplement that you’ll see big changes with. You’re better of dieting, but one that’s fast: The 3 week diet.

Sea vegg side effects:

I have never felt or seen any side effects from this supplement. You should consult with a doctor and show them the bottle especially if you are taking thyroid medication. 

 

J J Smith created the 10 Day Green Smoothie Cleanse after she had to overcome a serious health problem that lasted for 2 months. Over that period, she experienced weight gain, fatigue, health matters caused by dental issues and it wasn’t until she and a number of people tried this cleanse that it became a very popular and best selling book.

The cleanse did help J J overcome her health problems and it did it very quickly (almost 2 weeks). She now shares what she did in her book which I already read. It’s 167 pages long and you will know if this cleanse is perfect for you.

My background on cleansing:

I’ve done multiple cleanses over the years and I know a lot about their health benefits. Although this particular one is different in how it works, a lot of the same fundamentals are still there:

You detox for almost 2 weeks. 

Drink salt water every morning or laxative tea.

You cut out any processed foods, carbs.

It’s difficult to complete, but it offers tremendous health benefits.

My main experience with cleanses has come from one called the Master Cleanse in which for 5 days I didn’t eat anything and drank a special blend of lemon juice. I lost 14 pounds and did feel great benefits, but the weight did come back. The master cleanse wasn’t a plan I’d recommend to everyone, but it did give me respect for cleansing and how great it can be. I’ve done the master cleanse twice and have also done colon cleanses. 

In many ways the 10 Day Green Smoothie works like the master cleanse, except it’s a little bit more flexible because there’s something that you do consume for the 10 days and that’s smoothies, but there’s also an easier version of it provided in the book. 

 

How does the 10 Day Green Smoothie Cleanse work?

For 10 days, you are going to follow either one plan if you’re aiming for the best results or a more modified plan if you can’t really do cleansing.

The optimal plan, called the “full cleanse” is going to have you consuming nothing but smoothies for 10 days. Every smoothie is about 60 oz (3 smoothies) and should be consumed every 3 or 4 hours, or usually when you get hungry. 

You can drink water (8 glasses a day) or laxative tea and for foods, only a few foods are allowed such as unsalted nuts. You can eat fruits and many of them. J J says you can lose up to 15 pounds in 10 days on this plan.

The second version of the cleanse is called the “modified cleanse” where you consume 2 smoothies a day for breakfast and lunch (meal replacement) and for dinner, you can eat 1 meal which can include things like grilled fish. Water and laxative tea is also recommended.

The modified cleanse will not provide the same weight loss results as the full cleanse, but it’s an option for people who aren’t mentally prepared to handle the full cleanse. Cleansing itself is not easy and usually people quit very quickly. 

You are also recommended to do a salt water flush every single morning in which you drink warm water with a tablespoon or two of salt water. You should do this if you don’t have any bowel movements for 24 hours as J J says. 

The purpose of the cleanse is to keep your body flushing out toxins and waste very often everyday. The more it does this, the more you’ll lose weight and feel better (not at first).

Sample foods of the cleanse:

Kale, carrots, apples, peaches, bananas, boy choy, celery, cucumbers, beet, mango, blueberries, pineapple, arugula, parsley, spinach, lettuce, turnips and even flax seeds. 

These are the types of ingredients you’ll be putting into your smoothies. There is a recipe for a different smoothie everyday so you’ll never be drinking the same thing. It’ll change day by day and many smoothies combine both fruits and vegetables. If you need sweeteners, the ingredient stevia is allowed.

Solid foods you can eat that aren’t going to be in the smoothie include: Eggs, unsalted nuts and fish and you can also eat fruits and vegetables as well as make salads. 

Foods and drinks that are not allowed on this cleanse: Alcohol, anything with artificial sugar or white flour, sodas, milk, cheese. Anything that is one the list of allowed stuff is what you should only follow. 

Can this cleanse benefit diabetics? 

J J Smith added a separate section for diabetics and it recommends only getting foods from the list provided in the book that have low sugar, but she also says to speak to a doctor first. Cleanses are NOT easy on the average person and they’re probably going to be even harder for diabetics. Please speak to a doctor.

This cleanse is not a diet and J J really points to this:

Weight loss is really a big part of this cleanse, but diet is really not the right word to use for the 10 Day Green Smoothie Cleanse, because it’s more of a detox and it’s meant for health improvement. Weight loss just goes with this cleanse. 

 

Side effects:

Fatigue, irritability, headaches, nausea, skin rashes, muscle aches, cravings.

Any sort of cleanse or restriction on the body is going to trigger these side effects. Some of them can be more easily managed, while others are almost impossible to deal with. J J points out that many of the side effects are your body going through serious changes and it’s pointing to it getting better, not worse. Drink more water and try to limit how much fruit you eat so they pass. Usually cleanses and their side effects are felt between the first 2-4 days.

Having done cleanses and felt many of the side effects of them, I know that many of them are temporary. It’s the body’s way of crying out that it wants you to keep eating and drinking the bad things that you were used to, but if you don’t let it, it will misbehave, but you will detox it. Your cravings will also change. 

Pros:

• Very good cleanse to help you lose weight and improve health.
• A lot of healthy choices for food and detox provided.
• Can offer great health benefits: more radiant skin, more energy and stamina. This is what cleanses do.
• Resembles the master cleanse in many ways, except it’s more flexible.
• Gets the body to change cravings to more healthy choices.

Cons:

• Cleanses are not an easy way to improve health. 
• Lots of side effects, which you shouldn’t be scared of, they are normal.
• The shopping list in the book includes A LOT of frozen fruits. These things are not as healthy. Buy organic only and make your smoothies while they are fresh.
• I do recommend a different cleanse overall for better results: The Red Tea Detox.

10 Day Green Smoothie Cleanse Score: 

4 stars out of 5. Cleanses can be wonderful ways to improve health and lose weight, but they are never easy to do.

Is the 10 Day Green Smoothie Cleanse for you? 2 more options (more flexible):

The first option is the master cleanse.

The only area where it’s more flexible is the total price so if you’re tight on money and you’re ready to cleanse, this cleanse might be better. 

The second option is the red tea detox.

Now this one is similar to the 10 day green smoothie cleanse, but here’s the specifics you need to know:

It’s a 7 day cleanse where you drink red tea mixed with weight loss and detoxing ingredients. Then there’s an optional 2 week diet that lets you flow back into a regular eating lifestyle, but it also helps you continue to lose weight and come out of the plan eating healthy and living a good lifestyle.

 

 

Regular cleansing works very well to help you lose weight. It also has great health benefits. I’ve done it many times but it’s not a form of dieting that everyone can do. I don’t recommend anyone who has medical problems or has never done it actually try to stop eating for several days. It’s tough, it is mentally heavy and for most people who do it, you’ll still gain all the weight back. But scientists have recently come up with a way to cheat cleanses through a diet known as the “Fast Mimicking Diet”.

What is the Fast Mimicking Diet?

The Fast Mimicking diet is a alternative to fasting where you you still put your body in a state or fasting, but don’t have the same kinds of difficulties in going through it. You somewhat copy or basically mimic what’s it’s like to go through a standard cleanse and still get most of the benefits. 

This plan is still very new and all the evidence that has so far come up has been a study based on only 19 people doing this and the effects have been shown to be good. They say the Fast Mimicking Diet helps reduce to the risk of cancer, reduces anti-aging, improves your immune system and helps you lose weight,  but I have not seen an average amount.

The fast isn’t really a fast, because you are eating, but in very small proportions. The fast lasts for 5 days out of every month and for the remaining time, you can eat anyway you like technically. 

The way you are allowed to eat is broken up into proteins, carbs and fats and for everyday, you can eat basically any foods as long as the proportions are within the limits:

• Day 1, you are eating no more than 1,090 calories, of which 34% are carbs, 56% fat and the rest is protein. 
• Then on days 2-5, no more than 725 calories a day of which 47% are carbs, 44% is fat and the rest is protein again.

As the proportions show, a “big chunk” of what you’re eating is with fat, which you shouldn’t be afraid of. You can lose weight while eating fat. A diet called the 3 week diet proved it and it’s actually beneficial.

If you can come up with foods to make up these proportions, you should be able to do this diet, but the people who were involved with it, mostly ate vegetable soup and kale crackers, a food which sounds like it has a lot of empty carbs. 

The people also did this fast 3 times over a period of 3 months before results were recorded and that’s where they noted the benefits of this diet. There wasn’t much information about the other foods they ate, or at what times the people were eating. 

The people’s height and weight were also not included which could make this diet a problem for most overweight people. Over a 1,000 calories for one day and then 725 for the remaining 4 days is very difficult, but for those who are overweight, it’s going to be even more difficult and I think this diet needs to be adjusted to the individual.

Cleansing is still more effective:

You really can’t copy or mimic the benefits of doing a regular cleanse. I’ve done water cleanses, colon cleanses and a master cleanse. I’ve had great results overall, but if you don’t pay attention to your health afterwards, you’ll just gain everything back so unless you make lifestyle changes after the cleanse, you shouldn’t do cleanses at all.

Water cleanses are the most traditional: You drink nothing but water and don’t eat anything for several days. If you are doing a water cleanse for the first time, obviously consult with a doctor first, but if it’s ok for you to do it, try to drink nothing but water for 1 day out of the week for a month. If you can get used to this, then try it for 2 days out of the month.

Some people take this to weeks and even a month, something that is too extreme for me, but if you can adjust to it and learn to cope with the side effects (feeling hungry and feeling little energy) you can try doing this, but always talk to a doctor first.

Colon cleanses can be done in doctor’s offices usually.

The master cleanse is an interesting one, 3-10 days of just drinking water and lemon mixed with other things. You are not allowed to eat anything, but this cleanse is really an amazing one. I lost 14 pounds in 5 days doing it. Get information and advice on doing the master cleanse if you’re interested.  

What’s going to happen to this new diet?

The Fast Mimicking Diet can end up becoming very popular and useful, but since it’s still early and it hasn’t been adjusted to everyone, I think it’s better to wait and see how things workout, to see what are the side effects and if there’s a more convenient and safe way to do it.

There are people who say cleansing is dangerous and to some it really is. If you’re extremely overweight, can’t control your urges and go on a week long fast, you’re probably going to feel like crap, quit and maybe even have some health problems pop up. Never do cleanses without preparation or consulting with a doctor first. 

Start by doing them for one day to get used to the side effects so that the next time you do it and it happens, you’ll feel more comfortable. Don’t do cleanses as crash diets, expect to live an unhealthy life and never see the weight come back. It’s going to.

What I also don’t like about the Fast Mimicking Diet is how they don’t really talk about eating healthy and the assumption is that you can eat anything, just do this cleanse 5 days out of every month and expect everything to workout well. That’s a wrong way of looking at it. A healthy lifestyle should be the main focus of any dieter.