Many people would like to know how to cleanse the body of toxins. One way would be to fast. If you are going to fast in a western context then you would need to allow for your busy life style and the fact that many people from your family to your co-workers may depend on you,   your labor, and even your good attitude. Starving yourself tends to shorten your temper and patience. So, the first trick a modern man or woman should consider when they are thinking of fasting is the notion of breaking your fast. Notice the word breakfast is essentially breaking your fast or if you will, interrupting your "not eating cycle." The implication is we can use the hours when we are sleeping as part of our fast time. The remainder of the fast can be completed between waking up and lunch. Some people skip breakfast anyway, so this is not such a stretch. Oddly enough, if you are going to make this a real fast, you need to make it a stretch. You need to feel the fast. So you should  eat breakfast on weekdays and only fast one day a week. Say Sunday.   In other words, if you are going to consider fasting, do it on a day when you should not be running yourself ragged with errands and work. You should fast for the shortest possible time so that you don't actually badly impact others. Never fast without consulting your doctor.

As for myself, I never liked the effects of fasting so I go for the purge. What is the purge? First, prepare yourself for the purge by introducing more water into your diet and fewer sodas and less coffee. Notice I didn't say "no caffeine. "  Just lessen the amount.   Now I would say make similar remarks about the purge that I did about fast. Try to do it at a time when it will not inconvenience yourself or others. And consult a doctor before you do it to make sure it's ok. Now the way I purge  is to drink 4 straight cups of tea in say a two hour period twice a week on Saturday and Sunday. You could vary the tea to get all the anti-oxidants and beneficial effects of the teas but I am lazy and I put those bad boys all in the same cup and reuse the tea bags until the tea has the consistency of water. On Saturday I mix black tea and green tea. On Sunday I mix black, green and chamomile teas together and drink four cups of that. I put some water in the cup and microwave it. When one cup is consumed I fill the cup with water again and microwave it again. Since I don't change the tea bags each cup is progressively weaker. I don't put anything in tea. Just water. This is part of the detoxification. Later, when I have coffee, I don't put sugar in that either. I can't really suggest that you follow my diet because some of you might consider it too extreme. But it has melted the pounds off me. I eat very little sugar. No deserts. No crackers.   Lots of water, lots of veggies and fruit.  Meat and cheese are still on the menu. I love lasagna. Burgers, pizza and pasta are all still cool. The biggest dieting secret I know is this: don't diet. Rather change the way you eat for life. It's much easier that way. I will never eat another pancake or waffle. I will eat plenty of omelets and sausages though. The omelets and lasagna I eat have lots of veggies in them. Hey what's an omelet without onions any way?

There is a second secret. The second secret is:  it is difficult to hang on to weight if I don't eat sugar. What should make this interesting for some of you is, this means you don't have to be a rocket scientist to loose weight. Just like you could record your daily expenses if you really want to budget your money, you could also record your daily sugar intake if you want to loose weight. Record your starches as well. If you cut down on these, you may find the weight magically fades away. Oh yeah, I exercise at least 25 minutes every day. On a stationary bike while watching television.   On weekends I exercise twice a day for 30 minutes each. 

If you can, give up the sodas. I try to limit myself to one can per day. If you are really serious about loosing weight, then there must be no junk food at your desk at work. Have lots of gum and lots of water. When you first feel hungry between meals chew some gum. The second time you feel hungry drink some water.   The third time you feel hungry you may eat an apple.   After that, the cycle begins again. First you may have a stick of gun. Next you can have some water. If you have already eaten the apple, then you need alternate between the gum and water until lunch time. On Fridays, when that oh so helpful colleague comes by with the donuts, no donuts for you. Eat an apple instead.

As with any change in diet or exercise, consult your physician first. If the doctor gives the green light, then you may try some of things I am doing and see if they work for you.