Good morning, dear friends 
Ah, during this part of the year when we have so many festivals and holiday feasting – Winter Solstice Festival, Christmas, New Year parties – there is a thought that is bound to be on most people’s mind ===> that “we have certainly indulged ourselves with all the yummy food and may need to go on diet soon!”
Some would go on crash diets for days and weeks after their partying is over! However, this will not be very good as this method will actually backfire later on and the pounds shed will come back on again. 
Some will be very hardworking – they will actually exercise more to burn off those extra weight that they have put on during the holidays, which is the right way to go and will be very effective when they also eat lighter, healthier meals at the same time.
Thus, it is all a matter of juggling and balancing our food intake and exercises. It helps if we know that 3,500 calories makes up 1 pound and 2.2 pounds equals 1 kilogramme.
I would like to share with you this article on the Lemon Juice Diet that came out in my newspapers a few weeks ago, and thought that it really made a lot of sense in helping us to lose weight. This is not the same thing as the Lemon Juice Cleanse or Master Cleanser (that was introduced by Stanley Burroughs) which requires a fast of lemon juice and saline liquids for 2 weeks (I won’t be able to fast on liquids like this!)
Read on and see for yourself how this works….
The Lemon Juice Diet by Louise Atkinson, The Star Newspaper, 18 December, 2007
DRINK lemon juice with warm water every morning to stimulate your digestive system.
Hoping to lose a few pounds before Christmas and New Year but gloomy about your chances of success with conventional diets? Then lemons could be the answer!
In a new book, The Lemon Juice Diet, leading health writer Therese Cheung suggests that the reason why so many of us battle with our weight is because our digestive systems are not working properly – and that the conventional dieting tends to excarbate that.
However, including lemons in your diet – both JUICE and PEEL – will boost your digestion and if you also eat healthily and exercise, can help you lose weight.
“Research seems to show that if your digestive system is not working correctly, healthy weight-loss is almost impossible,” saus Cheung. “The problem is that poor digestion can stop your body getting the nutrients it needs to burn fats. It can also cause a buildup of toxins in your body, leaving you feeling sluggish and depressed.
“This, in turn, slows down your metabolism, making any weight-loss goals unattainable.”
Furthermore, she says, if your body isn’t absorbing the right nutrients, then no matter how overweight you are, it thinks it is malnourished and constantly craves nutrients, telling you that you are hungry when you are not!
The solution is LEMONS. “When it comes to boostings the body’s digestive and detox systems, lemon is a natural powerhouse, ” says Cheung.
Lemons are rich in citric acid (at 7 to 8 %, they have the highest concentration of all the fruits), which, she explains, “combines in a complex interaction with other acids and enzymes to ensure healthy and problem-free digestion by stimulating stomach juices.”
“Thanks to its acidity, even a little lemon juice can improve your digestion and lower the impact of any meal on your blood sugar,” she adds.
The pectin in lemon – found in the peel – is a great source of fibre that helps weight loss by turning into a sticky gel when you digest it, preventing your stomach from absorbing sugar too quickly.
A study published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition found pectin can eliminate the urge to eat for up to four hours , because after eating it you tend to feel satisfied for longer.
Lemon juice is also one of the most food sources of Vitamin C. Not only is this great for warding off colds, but a recent research at Arizona State University suggests that people who eat fruit and vegetables high in vitamin C have more efficient digestive systems and are more likely to lose weight that those who don’t.
In addition, lemon juices increases the acidity of the digestive system. This helps the body absorb calcium, which is then stored in fat cells. Research has shown that the more calcium there is in a fat cell, the more fat the cell burns.
It seems the humble lemon could be a powerful aid to digestion, and a useful diet booster.
But it’s not a case of eating only lemons: the good news is that you can eat perfectly normal foods on this diet, including cheese and other proteins, You can even have chocolate ice-cream!
You can also eat as much as you like of the right sort of foods: there is no calorie caounting involved. All you have to do is make sure that at least one meal a day includes lemon ===> either a squirt of juice or some peel.
The Lemon Juice Diet advocates a simple healthy-eating plan based on 7 principles, If you combine these 7 principles with an exercise regime involving 20 minutes of aerobic activity five or six days a week, within just a week you should start feeling healthier and your clothes will be looser.
By week two, you will be dropping pounds…
The 7 Principles
1) Drink lemon juice with warm water every morning. Starting the day with the juice of a lemon in a glass of warm water will stimulate your digestive system.
2) Eat at least 5 portions of fruits and vegetables a day. All vegetables and most fruits are low-calorie nutritional powerhouses, rich in vitamins, minerals, fibre and nutrients that can boost immunity, balance hormones, calm the nervous system, aid digestion, and help weight loss.
3) Balance your blood sugar levels. Irritability, poor concentration, fatique and headaches are all symptoms of fluctuating blood sugar levels; which can make you crave sweet and fattening foods. When the blood sugar levels swing too high, so does insulin. This hormone helps shuttle blood sugar (Glucose) into your cells to be uses as energy. In other words, it promotes fat storage.
Sprinkling lemon juice over your meal can be enough to lower the blood sugar impact by as much as 30 % – use it in all your cooking.
Eat protein with each meal, as it steadies your blood sugar by delaying the absorption of carbohydrates and fats. Eating 5 or 5 times a day will combat food cravings.
4) Cut down on sugar-rich foods. This will give you a brief high, followed by a big slump and leave you feeling edgy and tired. Refined foods – such as white bread, white rice, instant potatoes and corn flakes – can act like sugar in your system, and end up being stored as fat. Instead, stick to whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and protein.
5) Forget low fat – your body needs some fat to lose weight. Unsaturated fats can help with weight loss by delaying the passage of carbohydrates into your bloodstream, keeping blood sugar levels stable and insulin down.
Increase your consumption of Omega-3 and Omega-6 essential fatty acids, found in nuts, seeds and oily fish, and unsaturated fat found in extra virgin olive oil.
6) Eat lots of fresh whole foods. Switch from processed to whole foods to boost your intake of the nutrients your body needs for weight loss. Whole foods such as beans, pulses and lentils also contain fibre, which stimulates the digestive system and can slow down the conversion of carbohydrates into glucose.
Best of all, whole food are free of hidden sugar and chemicals that overload your liver, making it hard for your body to digest food and burn fat. Choose brown pasta, wholegrain bread and cereals, vegetables, fruit, fresh soups, smoothies and juices (not from concentrate), and eat a salad with every meal.
7) Slow things down. Eat slowly and chew properly. Chewing relaxes the lower stomach muscle and triggers nerve messages that activates the digestive process. If food is not properly chewed, nutrients remain locked in and undigested.
Your stomach and intestines are sensitive to stress. When you feel anxious, digestion will shut down, leaving food partially digested. So, finding ways to manage stress is not only important to your emotional health, but your digestive health, too.
Note -If you suffer from heartburn, kidney or gall-bladder problems, or have a citric allergy, consult your GP before going on this diet.
Happy Dieting!
Here is a picture of my Lemon Juice Drink that I had made for myself yesterday. See the little bits of lemon peel floating at the top? I decided to chop the lemon peel up so that as I drink my lemon juice, I can also eat the peel. I had also added a tablespoon of honey to make this drink tastier. Be sure to put cold water into your glass of lemon juice, then only top up with a little hot water to make a warm lemon juice drink! Hot water will destroy the Vitamin C in the lemon juice as well as the nutrients in the honey! 
This morning, I made myself another glass of warm lemon juice but without the honey added and wow, did it perk me up! 
Have a wonderful weekend!
