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I’ve had many experience & health benefits after drinking salt mixed in with water and I’d like to share that with you today. There were 2 separate occasions when I had tried this and the results were “spectacular”. I put that into quotes because while you’re going to experience a lot of positive things from doing this, you’re going to want to be near a bathroom and that’s really the only con to this.

But I’d like to help shed light on the many benefits of drinking salt water and the first is that:

It helps with weight loss. The main purpose of this site is to help you with your weight loss goals. Drinking salt water aids in this because it washes away most if not all of the undigested food in your body. This helps “clean out the system” and allows you to function better. Not only that, but…

It improves metabolism. A clean body is a well functioning body. Digestion increases and with that so does metabolism and circulation.

It cleanses the body. One of the 2 times I drank salt water was when I was performing a master cleanse. Part of that regime required that I drink about a liter of it every morning. This ensured my system would be cleaned out thoroughly. 

I have also done a similar cleanse, but one which involved a different approach, but at the same time there was still the element of drinking salt water every morning.

In those 2 experiences, I saw tremendous results. I lost weight. I had healthier skin. My taste buds changed for the better in the sense that I had less cravings for bad unhealthy foods and more. 

Is it safe?

The only time I can see there being an issue is if you’re diabetic or you have some sort of allergy towards salt. In either scenario or if you’re unsure, be sure to check with your doctor to ensure maximum safety. 

Proportions:

Depending on your size/weight, this will determine how much you have to drink. I am 5’11” and weight about 190 pounds. I drank about a liter every morning of this stuff and really did the drink. Use my credentials as a reference for when you try this. If you weight more, drink more of this stuff. If you weight loss, drink less.

Usually the salt/water composition should be about 1 tablespoon for every cup of water. It’s not the tastiest thing to drink, but it works very well. Just make sure to stir the drink very well so all of the salt vanishes. 

What to expect:

About 30 minutes after drinking it, you should expect to have a sudden urge to run into the bathroom. This is completely normal and a sign you did it correctly. The process of cleansing yourself of all this stuff make take a few hours meaning you’ll be in and out of the bathroom several times. 

This means that if you live a busy life, this kind of approach to health improvement may not be very convenient so you’re going to have to choose days when you’re not busy to do this kind of stuff.

As for how many times you should do drink salt water for, it really depends. When I did the master cleanse, it was 10 days. When I did the alternative cleanse, it was 3 weeks. 

If you’re just getting started, aim for anywhere for 3-5 days as a start and see how you feel. Then you can do this in moderation if things are looking good. 

I prefer you use some sort of natural salt, like sea salt. I don’t like the traditional iodized ones because there are absolutely no health benefits to them. Buy the more expensive one as it will help you better in the short and long run.

What about using this in combination with other cleanses?

When I tried this, I used it during a cleanse. Can you drink salt water on your own and forget the cleanses or is it better to do it together? This is another question whose answer is, it depends.

If you’re looking to see major changes in your body and want to experience the full power of a cleanse, I’d recommend doing it fully. The master cleanse is one option. 

If you’re just looking to experiment and see how things go, then you can absolutely just drink the salt water and see where things progress from there. 

Usually with traditional cleanses, you’re looking at things like fasting, being VERY strict with what you can/cannot drink and other things that may make life very difficult for you in the short run. However if you can get through the cleansing period which can be anywhere from 3-10 days, you will experience remarkable effects.

But on it’s own, drinking salt water is still an excellent way to get all of the benefits mentioned above. If you have any questions on this method of weight loss/health improvement, please let me know in the comments section below.

 

Dr. Ian Smith’s Shred, The Revolutionary Diet is a 6 week plan that takes an interesting approach to weight loss. However, the bulk of it will involve eating less and exercising on a daily basis. 

Here’s what you need to know:

The diet lasts for 6 weeks. Each week you’ll go through a different type of eating plan to cause a “dieting confusion” within your body. This is basically a form of changing up your eating routines in a way to speed up metabolism. Another name for this technique is called calorie shifting, although through Shred, it’s utilized a little bit differently and in a way not as effectively as it could be. The main purpose of calorie confusion/calorie shifting is to help prevent weight loss plateau’s from happening.

But besides this point, the overall approach this diet takes is rather simple. For most week’s, you’ll be eating 3-4 meals a day + 3 snacks. Each meal should contain no more than 300 calories while each snack should not contain more than 100 calories. Overall you’re look at about 1,400 calories being consumed on a daily basis. There will also be periods where instead of a meal, you’ll be having “meal replacements” which are basically either shakes, smoothies or soups. 

There is also an exercise plan attached to this diet that will take you anywhere from 30-45 minutes to complete everyday. The workouts aren’t that difficult, at least for those who are in decent shape, but it will add to the results of this diet.

Finally, an important tip is that you can’t eat anything beyond 8:30 pm every night. This is important but at the same time won’t be very simple for a lot of people to stick to.

Basic overview:

There is a lot of repetition within this plan in the sense that you basically repeat the same type of eating format week after week and exercise everyday. For the most part you’ll be eating a lot of fruits, vegetables, whole foods & lean meats. Combined with meal replacements and snacks such as walnuts, you’re looking at a pretty standard diet.

The only thing that will make this plan really stand out is the periods when you do the meal replacement + the fact that you’ll be eating smaller portioned meals more often everyday. Other than that, the diet is pretty simple. I wouldn’t call it a revolutionary approach, but it still works. 

On a side note, Dr. Smith also recently release the Super Shred which is sort of a “Faster version” of this diet. Though for the most part the guidelines are very similar. The only difference is that Super Shred is designed for short term results if people are in a hurry to lose weight.

Pros:

• Utilizes a healthy approach to eating/dieting.
• Everything is laid out for you: Directions/meal plans.
• Overall good results. About 20 pounds in 6 weeks. Overall not bad.

Cons:

• Kind of repetitive from week to week. 
• The basic idea is eating less and exercising, nothing overly new. 
• Doesn’t take dieting confusion to it’s maximum. This one does. 

Shred, The Revolutionary Diet Score: 

3 out of 5 stars. Decent diet. Not “revolutionary”, but you will see results. See #1 rated diet.

Conclusions on Dr. Ian’s diet:

There’s really 2 complaints I have with this plan:

1. It doesn’t take caloric confusion to it’s maximum. In fact it doesn’t really do it as it was meant to be done. In it’s true form, you should be eating as much as you want without having to keep track of what you’re eating, when you’re eating it and most importantly HOW much you’re eating. Calorie confusion (calorie shifting) doesn’t focus on those traditional things. 

Instead it just focuses on eating in mixed caloric values and constantly mixing up your eating routines. And even though it sounds “Chaotic”, ironically it ends up providing faster results than Dr. Smith’s approach to doing it. As I mentioned before, this is the only diet which uses caloric confusion (interval eating they call it) the way it was meant to be used. You’ll find this approach to be much more flexible and faster acting.

2. I always have issues with diets that create a 1 size fit’s all plan where no matter how much you weight, you need to consume the same amount of calories. On one hand this does mean those who weight more will lose more weight, but at the same time, it’s not adjusted to how much people weight meaning it’ll be difficult for those who weight more. Another reason I say the other calorie confusion alternative is better since you eat until you almost feel full. 

But aside from those 2 things, the overall diet isn’t bad, although as much as it’s said to be revolutionary, it’s really not. I’ve seen this type of hype happen before with plans like the Fast Metabolism Diet which promised you could eat as much as you want, then when you read it, you found it was nothing more than limiting caloric intake.

Certainly I will give credit where it’s due. Dr. Smith did touch upon a very important subject matter within his plan and that’s breaking down weight loss plateaus. You’ll certainly be able to do that with this plan, but at the same time, there’s better/faster alternatives like I mentioned before. 

Although it carries a lot of health/weight loss benefits, apple cider vinegar does have certain “dangers” to it which you should know of before you try it. Having personally used it in the past and seen it from both the good & bad ends, I’m going to share with you the right ways to use it.

Firstly the dangers…

There are really 3 conditions under which you should be careful when using apple cider vinegar:

1. You have a sensitive stomach. This is really when apple cider vinegar is NOT recommended. It may give you heartburn or hurt your stomach. This can last for hours or days depending your stomach’s condition. 

2. If you have ANY doubts or health conditions for which vinegar (apple or anything else) may affect, consult with a doctor. It is not worth the risk.

3. Over usage. This is really the #1 danger I notice. A lot of people hearing about the benefits of apple cider vinegar rush to get it and then use in larger than recommended amounts. This is absolutely wrong and can lead to major problems if you’re not careful. Remember that apple cider vinegar is very acidic. If you ever find yourself in a situation where you consumed too much of it, drink plenty of water to help dilute the acidity.

If you have no conditions for which apple cider vinegar can negatively affect you and you’ve never tried it before, you should start from the recommended dosage. Usually bottles of apple cider vinegar (I prefer the ones with pulp as they maintain all of their nutrients) have directions of use, but as a rule of thumb, start with a teaspoon mixed with a cup of water, twice a day, before breakfast and anytime after that. If you drink apple cider vinegar during/after meals, it can help with digestion. 

Now that we’ve gotten the dangers out of the way, let’s analyze how you can positively use this product:

Weight loss:

Since this site is all about losing weight right now, you can certainly get off to a good start from using this product. As I mentioned earlier, drinking the recommended dosage with a cup of water is certainly a great place to start. Here are other ways. 

In general, one of the many benefits of apple cider vinegar is that it greatly helps with digestion as well as providing essential nutrients to help the body improve it’s metabolism, digestion and other related conditions. 

If you are too busy to go on a “traditional diet”, you can actually keep going about life and just add apple cider vinegar into your daily regiment and see a difference. Simply drinking apple cinder vinegar twice a day can help greatly. Although it is recommended to do more than just that, you can gradually see/feel results from just using apple cider vinegar and not doing anything else. 

How much weight you can lose varies on your current weight, size, what you’re currently eating/drinking, but in general results are across the board. Ideally you’d want to try and diet while adding in the product. One thing I’ve personally been doing is drinking apple cider vinegar (with a lot of water…) in combination with a high fat diet and I’ve been loving it. 

Health benefits:

There are many with apple cider vinegar:

• Weight loss benefits.
• Essential vitamins and nutrients. 
• Greater energy/stamina.
• Great for hair.
• Excellent for skin usage (be careful with this one as you need to mix it first).
• Helps detox/cleanse the body.
• Great for digestion.
• Burns fat.

Apple cider vinegar score: 

3.5 stars out of 5. Great product. Many benefits, but follow the safety guidelines. 

My recommendation:

If you have no problems with using apple cider vinegar, I would strongly advise taking the most pure version of it where there is pulp. Generally “Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar” is the best one you can get. It’s fairly cheap and it’ll last you anywhere from 6 months to a year, granted that you’re following it according to directions.

As a substitute you can also use apple cider vinegar in drinks (not alcohol). I personally use with tea. It’s basically a substitute for lemon. Although it sounds disgusting, it actually tastes a lot like lemon and it’s easy to get used to.

For the most part, apple cider vinegar is something that most people shouldn’t have issues with. Again if you have ANY doubts/concerns, always consult with a doctor before trying. Then if you get the green light, start off by using it as directed on the bottle. 

If you’re aiming to get weight loss results from it, also use it as directed (For starters), then as you get used to it, you can increase the dosage, but make sure not to go overboard. Here’s an example:

If you have no issues taking apple cider vinegar twice a day, then you can increase it to 3 times a day. The third time can be added in during a meal, like dinner. Try to keep the amount of times you take apple cider vinegar to be spaced out between the day to avoid the body having to digest too much of it. 

Other than that, if you wish to use it for other aspects such as hair/health, also use it as directed. It carries many benefits, but the biggest danger is really overdoing it so make sure (if you’re certain it’s safe for you) to start with a regular dosage, then slowly increase it. If everything is done right, you should see results in multiple areas: Weight loss/health benefits. 

If you’re going to use apple cider vinegar for just dieting, it will work, but slowly and you will have to add in healthy eating and exercise to get better results. This isn’t a powerful tool for weight loss. It’s better for overall health, but if diet and weight loss is what you want, try these 10 fat burning cheats I’ve developed.

If you have ANY other questions regarding apple cider vinegar, ask away. And once again if the question is regarding, health, I would strongly recommend consulting a doctor just to be on the safe side.

There is so much negative debate about Rachel Frederickson’s weight loss results on the Biggest Loser and I think the main reason is that these results kind of woke people up and made them re-think if losing too much weight is actually the best way to go. But at the same time how can we be surprised? After all the whole point of the show is to lose as much weight as possible and win a lot of money. 

Rachel Frederickson lost 155 pounds throughout her time on the show and after she left before the final weight in. These results are certainly a lot bigger than what we’re used to seeing, not just from the contestants, but from average dieters. So when Rachel showed up, while a lot of people were happy for her, there was still the lingering feeling that something may not be right. 

A number of things Rachel said she did was eat small portioned meals 5 times a day for a total of less than 2,000 calories daily + exercise. But these kinds of results make me wonder if there was something more. 

While Rachel’s will power is without a doubt admirable, I think the whole sense of competing to lose as much weight as possible takes the focus away from the actual weight loss and more on the money. I’ve been seeing a lot of people want the show to change it’s tune to make sure weight loss results are safe from now on. 

But what is safe? Well there’s a lot of people who claim you shouldn’t/can’t lose more than 2 pounds of fat per week, otherwise it may lead to health issues. I have my doubts with that because that claim is really across the board and doesn’t go into detail on how the person is going about losing weight.

There’s a difference between hardcore dieting and smart dieting. Hardcore dieting which is what I’m completely against such as starving yourself, severely restricting caloric intake and working yourself to the point of exhaustion are all ingredients for disaster and too many times people try to implement all 3 of these things together. It’s just wrong! 

What about smart dieting? Well that’s another story. Smart dieting involves understanding your limitations, taking things one step at a time and not going beyond the limit. For example:

If you’re going to workout, you absolutely need proper nutrition before/after a workout to ensure maximum results. Plus you need to consume more calories especially if you’re doing difficult workouts like P90X. 

But a lot of people make the mistake of dieting and working themselves beyond their limits and when they body craves food to restore itself, people don’t oblige thinking it’ll ruin their results when in fact not eating more is going to cause you more harm in the short/long run. 

What about severely restricting calories? Well what happens when someone who is used to eating a lot suddenly goes on one of these types of diets? Their body is NOT used to it and suddenly putting your body through this ordeal may lead to results initially, but eventually there will be a backwards effect and the body will let you know it can’t do it, thus the weight/cravings return and yo-yo dieting begins.

What I’m getting at here is 2 things:

1. There’s always people who claim one thing works above all. This confuses people and leaves them at a crossroad. If anything does work, it’s gradually easing into a lifestyle which involves healthy eating and gradually increasing workout difficulty. The keyword being gradual change.

2. That people see results from people like Rachel and want to get it too and while there are smart ways to do that, dieters want fast results. Fast results doesn’t mean smart results and thus they go through these hardcore ways of dieting and wonder why their health suffers afterwards. 

Not taking anything away from Rachel. We don’t know what she did/didn’t do. All we can do is speculate, but if you’re going to try to mimic what she did, I would strongly recommend you follow the smart approach. It all begins with understanding your body’s limitations and gradually going about your weight loss crusade.

I would recommend starting here as it’ll help give you unusual and SMART ways to begin doing this. There’s certainly options afterwards you can follow which you’ll find out about, but if nothing else, understand that going beyond your limits when dieting is not the smartest move. It is also the quickest way to fail. Diet smart and you’ll see fast/long term results. 

 

 

 

 

The Virgin Diet takes an interesting approach to weight loss: Drop & avoid  7 foods and you can lose 7 pounds in 7 days. Is this really true? Technically yes, but in this review, you’re going to get inside information and find out if this plan is really worth trying for you. 

The Virgin Diet Explained:

JJ Virgin believes the secret to losing weight is simply by avoiding certain foods which cause it in addition to health problems. Basically you eliminate the 7 foods from your diet for 3 weeks and then re-introduce each food back into your eating routines. 

However the key when adding each food back into the diet is to see how you react to it. If one of the 7 foods you started eating again causes you any sort of problems: Indigestion, constipation, heartburn, ect…, then you will have to eliminate that food from your eating routines permanently. However, if one of the 7 foods you started eating again doesn’t cause you any issues, you can continue to eat them. This process of elimination will basically let you know what your body likes/doesn’t like. 

But now let’s take a look at each of these “taboo” foods everyone wants to know about…

The 7 foods you should avoid:

1. Eggs. I can’t say I agree with this. If you don’t have any known allergies and you eat organic eggs, you should be fine with this.

2. Corn. Another questionable food I’m not sure should be on the list, maybe because it’s so often used in combination with oils and fats. 

3. Dairy. Technically she’s right. Most dairy foods this day n age are not healthy, are loaded with artificial ingredients and hormones which don’t exactly help us.

4. Gluten. I absolutely agree with this one. Eliminate gluten. It will help improve digestion and other health factors. A diet called the gluten free diet really gets into the details of why you should avoid this ingredient.

5. Peanuts. While I’m not their biggest fan, I believe JJ Virgin is mostly against these because a lot of peanut products are loaded with salt/sugar and other ingredients which make it very unhealthy for you. If you love peanuts and feel this food doesn’t negatively affect your health, at least try to buy them without any additional ingredients on them. 

6. Artificial sweeteners + sugar. Though it’s not rocket science to know why this is bad for you, it’s still one type of ingredient you should avoid, especially artificial sweeteners. If you can’t live without sugar, consider eating raw organic honey as a substitute. If not that and you NEED sugar, try brown sugar. Way less harmful than white sugar. 

7. Soy. I don’t really eat too many soy products so I can’t make a conclusion on this one. 

Like it was mentioned before, you are going to eliminate all of these foods for 3 weeks then re-introduce each one again and see how they affect you. If they affect you negatively, stop eating them. If not, you can keep eating them.

Other aspects of the Virgin Diet:

JJ Virgin also promotes her own products through the book such as supplements, other diet books and shakes. I don’t really recommend taking these things. They just seem like extra ways to make money from the popularity of the diet, but certainly the choice is yours.

This pretty much summarizes the entire Virgin diet book. 

Pros:

• Some of the ingredients you should avoid do cause weight gain and ruin health.
• Can help with weight loss, though 7 pounds in 7 days may not always happen.

Cons:

• Nothing really more to find in the book other than the information already presented in this review.
• Some of the foods JJ Virgin recommends avoiding may not necessarily be bad if you get them in their raw, organic state.

The Virgin Diet Score:

3 out of 5 stars. Good points, but aside from the 7 foods to avoid, not much else to learn. See #1 rated diet.

Conclusions:

It’s certainly worth trying this diet if you’re not into the traditional approach. With this diet, it basically is all about getting rid of the 7 foods and then testing out which of them are good/bad for you, then following up accordingly. That’s basically it.

Aside from that, there really isn’t much else you’ll learn from this book. JJ Virgin does also advertise her products, but again you know my position on that. My rule of the thumb in this case is this:

• If you plan on doing this diet, get the book to make sure you get it right.
• If you don’t plan on doing this diet, I just told you pretty much the most important parts of it, so there’s no reason to get it.

While I agree with her overall points about getting rid of foods in your current eating routines, I do question some of her choices. In the getting started section of this website where you learn unusual ways to lose weight right away, white sugar in addition to other unhealthy ingredients is highly recommended to be eliminated. Artificial sweeteners too, but the other choices, I can’t say I completely agree with. 

You’ll have to test out each of the foods and see how it works for you. Since everyone is different, how each us reacts to these foods will vary. 

Finally in regards to the weight loss results, they will vary too. I think the 7 pounds in 7 days is really wishful thinking. Yes getting rid of some foods will certainly bring about positive change, but I don’t think this will happen right away since for the first week or two your body will be adjusting to not eating some of the 7 foods you were once used. But you will lose weight. 

If you have a review of the Virgin Diet you’d like to share, please leave a comment below!