calorie restriction doesn't make a lot of sense

If restricting calories leaves you too weak to exercise and cold all the time, why do it? If the regimen requires more self-discipline than most people can manage it is not a maintainable lifestyle. Why would anyone choose to put themselves in such a situation?

A practice that makes you healthier should make you stronger and more comfortable.

weight loss as a by-product of calorie reduction

We've always described Detox as a traditional tea used by people who understand the benefits of cleansing. Substituting calorie reduction for cleansing in the above phrase is both more descriptive and more widely understood. What are the undisputed benefits of calorie reduction (sometimes referred to as calorie restriction)? Health, longevity, and weight loss.

Cleansing and calorie reduction are reciprocal concepts since:

1. people who cleanse, invariably reduce caloric intake
2. reduction of caloric intake invariably results in cleansing

Inspite of this connection, the literature on calorie reduction seldom mentions cleansing or detoxification as a goal. Instead the writers on calorie reduction focus on the big three: health, longevity, and weight loss. The release of toxins is cited as a caution--a reason to take it slow

Calorie Reduction explains benefits of cleansing

The rationale for calorie restriction (I prefer to call it calorie reduction) is fast becoming the way I explain the benefits of cleansing. In other words, DetoX works simply because it put you in position to drastically reduce calories. The benefits which accrue are attributable to the calorie reduction, not to DetoX itself.
I like the simplicity and easy acceptance of that explanation. People want to reduce calories. They resist admitting they are (or were) full if shit. The notion of calorie reduction is impersonal. It is as if we are not answering the door rather than expelling an invited (but now unwanted) guest.
The implications are profound. Consider the difference between the following two taglines:

1. weight loss is a by-product of cleansing
2. weight loss is a by-product of calorie reduction
   

We've used the first for 17 years. I feel like I've been looking for the second for 17 years.

Buddy's take on Calorie Reduction

A friend sent me to a calorie restriction web site and the simplicity and power of the concept is astounding. Reduce youc caloric intake by 25% and, in addition to the obvious weight loss benefits, you get improved health and longer life. I read 3 books on the subject each expalined the concept simply but went on to get complex. calorie counting, vitamin and mineral requirements, specific meals at specific times emphasizing the need for an incredible amount of self-discipline.

1. Fact of the matter is if your diet is rotten, a 25%reduction is a drop in the bucket. If your diet is great, it will still be great when calories are reduced
2. If you eat 21 meals per week, each meal is approximately 5% of you weekly caloric intake, each day represents 15%. Eliminate 5 meals and you've reduced calories by 25%.
3. Start with a 1-day fast (15%). Add the prior evening (20%) and the following morning (25%) as you get comfortable
   

DetoX and Calorie Restriction

The current calorie restriction movement appears to flow from:

1. an experiment comparing underfed rats to those allowed to eat at will
2. domed scientists forced by necessity to restrict calories for 2 years.
   
3. the Okinawan practice of Hara Hachi Bu (eating until 80% full).

The Okinawans are the longest-lived people on earth. the scientist were uncharacteristically disease-free when they emerged from the dome, and the underfed rats lived longer, healthier lives.

In the belief that calorie restriction provides support for the practices of cleansing/fasting, I am reading every book I can find on the subject