[jyl]

scott, the Lemonade Diet has different variations.

It was initially proposed by some guy named Burroughs many decades ago in a book about his version of healthy eating and living. I think he was a quack, personally. Since then, different versions have been espoused by different people. I think there is a website, "master cleanse" or something like that, which preaches the full-on version complete w/ all the supposed science behind it. My wife is doing the full-on version, I am not.

Here is the full-on versions and what parts I'm doing.

1. Mix 3/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice, 3/4 grade B maple syrup, and a pinch of cayenne pepper. This is a concentrate, put it in a handy bottle. When you are hungry, mix 1 part concentrate with 5-6 parts water and drink. Also, drink additional water as needed. No other "food" but take mutivitamins if you wish, as there are essentially none in the the concentrate beyond "C". That bottle of concentrate contains appx 600 calories, almost all from the syrup, and almost all of that is carbs and sugar. I seem to be going through 1.5-2 bottles a day, so appx 900-1200 cal/day.
2. Drink salt water (2 tsp dissolved in 2 cups warm water) every morning and evening. This is supposed to flush your body and lead to, ahem, vigorous elimination and cleansing. I'm doing this, but have noticed no effects. I don't actually believe in "colon cleansing" but I think you need salt.
3. Give yourself a salt water enema occasionally, to encourage more elimination. I'm not doing this.
4. Drink laxative tea. I'm not.
5. No caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, etc. I'm ignoring this rule too.

As I said, I think this is basically a very low-calorie diet that gives you energy through sugar/carbs. You do it for a week or two or even three. (Two seems most common). I don't think it hurts the average healthy person - sure, there's not much nutrients but most of us have ample "reserves". Whatever cleansing/detoxifying effects it does or doesn't have, it does seem like a quick way to jumpstart weight loss. 1 pound of fat is 3500 cal so if you are getting 1000 cal/day and "need" 2400 cal/day, you should in theory lose 1 lb every 2-3 days. Plus water weight loss too.

Terry, I'm already irritable! Of course its probably this damn iMac problem.

Rick, I'm not sure this diet works if you're working out hard.