Oprah Winfrey's weight struggles are legendary. Her fans and followers know that she has made repeated efforts to shed excess pounds only to pack the lost pounds back on in a relatively short time. In 2008, her well publicized dieting efforts took a new turn with the 21-Day Detox Diet for which she voluntarily set up a blog to keep fans abreast of her progress. Although Oprah did not invent this diet, her persona and fame quickly made many people call it the Oprah 21-Day Diet. Consider this diet's requirements and discuss it with your physician before you try it.
The 21-Day Diet Origin
This diet's creator is Kathy Freston, a former model. She outlines the diet principles in her book "Quantum Wellness: A Practical and Spiritual Guide to Health and Happiness," which was published in 2008. The diet recommends gradual lifestyle changes to accomplish a healthier life. The author's book also promotes the objective of quantum wellness, a higher spiritual state of consciousness.
Diet Principles
The diet addresses eight lifestyle and growth areas as part of an initial wellness assessment. Using the guidelines from Ms. Freston's book, you rate your current state of wellness. The goal is to identify and prioritize the areas that need your attention in order for you to develop the mental and emotional foundation for wellness. The next step is to make incremental changes in conscious eating, exercise, fun activities, meditation, self-work, service, spiritual practice and visualization. This program promises to relieve joint and muscle pain, increase your energy level, and improve your digestion.
Food Restrictions
Conscious eating is one of the foundations for this diet. Food restrictions that help you detoxify your body are the main feature of the eating plan for the 21-Day Diet. This vegan diet contains no meat or animal products, no sugar, caffeine or gluten. The diet also forbids consumption of alcohol. Freston recommends that you repeat the detox regime one or two times every year.
Considerations
Although Freston recommends exercising for 30 minutes at least three days a week, the diet is not a weight-loss program. After the detox phase, you choose whether to remain on a vegan diet for life or return to your normal diet. Freston does not provide advice for returning to a diet that includes every food group. Every Diet notes that the program promotes eating a variety of healthy foods, but also features processed soy products as protein sources. "New York" magazine quotes Beth Israel's Dr. David Robbins as saying that no data supports the belief that detox diets improve your health.
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