Last week I decided to follow a Diet that I have heard so much about on the web: the Military Diet . It is a 3 day diet that I wanted to try to really see what the fuss was about. It’s claims are that you can lose 10 pounds fast, in fact it goes as far as saying that you can lose those 10 pounds in 3 days.
- What Is The Military Diet?
- Video On The 3 Day Military Diet
- How does the military diet work?
- Military Diet Shopping List
- Military Diet Shopping List for 3 Days
- 3 Day Military Diet Menu with Meal Plan (Phase I)
- Military Diet Four Day Off (Phase II)
- Additional Foods Permitted On The Military Diet
What Is The Military Diet?
The Military Diet is a quick diet that promises weight loss of up to 10 pounds in 3 days. It is a
nutritional plan that is ideal for people who need to lose weight fast, before a social event, or any emergency situation.
The military diet was not invented by nutritionists but by American soldiers who had to get back in shape. It promises results for the following reasons …
a). Low in calories, an average woman (not engaged in exercise or a very active job) consumes about 1,800 calories a day. The military diet provides about 1400/1200/1100 calories and burns fat because you eat less than what you burn for three days a week.
b). The military diet is an intermittent diet, which involves an ‘ acceleration of metabolism .
c). This nutritional plan has become fashionable because of its high effectiveness and low levels of commitment . It is ideal for people who do not have a great deal of willpower, and can also be used to kick start weight loss before embarking on a more long term diet plan.
3 Day Military Diet Before And After Results
Below is the before and after results a youtuber Tasmin Dhaliwal experienced after undertaking the diet.
How Does The 3 Day Diet Work?
The military diet is based on a three-day and four-day rest control cycle . This diet will allow you to lose weight quickly, in addition to burning fats fast, recharge your energy and also accelerate your metabolism.
How does this happen? Well the theory is that the caffeine in the military diet plan raises the metabolism slightly, helping the body burn fat and lose weight. Your morning cup of coffee gives your metabolism a boost for up to two hours after drinking it.
Grapefruit kick starts the liver into fat burning mode.
High protein foods like peanut butter, eggs, tuna and other protein require more energy from the body to process, so they burn more fat to digest.
Studies reveal that the more calcium there is stored in fat cells, the more fat the cells will burn. The Military Diet has two main sources of calcium with cottage cheese and ice cream.
Apples are high in pectin, an ingredient that limits the amount of fat your cells can absorb.
As for the other foods in the Military Diet, veggies have very few calories and carbs are kept to a minimum.
It is important to note that during the three days of controlled feeding you must follow the military diet plan exactly to enable you to lose up to 10 pounds in 3 days.
What Makes The Military Diet Cost Effective
Most diets require a higher level of commitment than the military diet, since they tend to last longer (which involves more effort), and other types of diets restrict a lot of food during the time it takes to lose weight.
Let’s face it, it’s expensive to stop consuming the foods you’re accustomed too. Then there’s the supplements that usually accompany other diets, further bumping up the costs.
The military diet, on the other hand, is a simple diet. It’s inexpensive, since the foods consumed are of low cost , and it do not require supplements , nor any great restrictions.
It is not a diet especially low in calories, in fact the caloric intake is average, since very low calorie diets are not easy to carry out for long periods of time. In addition, it has been proven that weight loss on very low calorie diets are not maintained as soon more calories are ingested. For this reason, the military diet in the food control phase (3 days) has a daily caloric intake of between 1300 and 1400 kcal on the first day, 1200 calories on the second and 1100 kcal on the third day.
As you will see below in the military diet dishes are very different, allowing the consumption of a ball of ice cream every day, that’s why it is also known as the ice cream diet .
Military Diet Shopping List
The thumb rule for successful weight loss through the military diet is – follow the diet without cheating. Yes! If you stick to the 3 day diet program without making changes to it, then you’ll surely see the results for yourself.
I’ve been getting a lot of queries asking me to share the military diet grocery list so that it would be easy for them to buy those selected food items from the store.
Having a shopping list handy will make you not forget the important foods that are necessary in your diet.
Military Diet Shopping List for 3 Days
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3 Day Military Diet Menu with Meal Plan (Phase I)
Below is the exact 3 day meal plan you should follow during the first phase of the army diet.
Day 1
This is the day 1 military diet meal plan. It contains around 1,300 calories.
Breakfast:
- 1 slice of Wholegrain toast with 2 tablespoons of peanut butter.
- 1/2 Grapefruit.
- 1 cup of coffee or tea.
Lunch:
- A slice of whole grain toast.
- 1/2 cup of Tuna.
- 1 cup of coffee or tea.
Dinner:
- 3-Oz (85 grams) serving of any meat
- 1 cup of green beans.
- 1 small apple.
- 1/2 banana.
- 1 cup Vanilla ice cream.
Day 2
Here is what you should be eating on the three day military diet day 2 menu. It contains around 1,100 calories.
Breakfast:
- 1 slice of toast (whole grain).
- 1 hard-boiled egg.
- 1/2 banana.
Lunch:
- 1 hard-boiled egg.
- A cup of cottage cheese.
- 5 saltine crackers.
Dinner:
- 2 hot dogs without bun.
- 1/2 cup of carrots and 1/2 cup of broccoli.
- ½ banana.
- 1/2 cup of vanilla ice cream.
Day 3
Here is the breakdown of day 3 menu. It contains around 1,000 calories.
Breakfast:
- 1 slice of cheddar cheese.
- 5 saltine crackers.
- A small apple.
Lunch:
- 1 slice of toast.
- One egg (hard boiled or cooked according to your likes)
Dinner:
- A cup of tuna.
- 1/2 banana.
- 1 cup of vanilla ice cream.
In addition to the military diet plan menu, it is advised to drink as much water as you can (at least 3 to 4 liters per day). If you’re a coffee addict, you can have it as long as you don’t add any sugar, milk or cream, which spikes up your calorie intake and thus spoils your diet.
Military Diet Four Day Off (Phase II)
As mentioned earlier, this is the phase 2 of the Ice cream diet, where you’ll be eating healthy, but limiting your calorie intake to just 1500 calories per day. Women can go up to 1200 calories per day.
You can use the MyFitnessPal app to count the calories from the foods you consume.
The only rule of thumb is to avoid any fast foods and include only healthy foods like vegetables, fruits and protein.
Additional Foods Permitted On The Military Diet
Substitutions are allowed during the 3-day phase for those with dietary restrictions, but portions need to have the same number of calories.
For example, if you have a peanut allergy, you can swap peanut butter for almond butter.
You can also swap 1 cup of tuna for some almonds if you are vegetarian. As long as the calories remain the same.
Proponents of the military diet encourage drinking hot lemon water, but recommend against artificially sweetened beverages. However, there is no scientific reason why this would be a good idea.
Final Thoughts
I did lose weight on this diet, I did not lose 5kg in 3 days or 10 pounds in 3 day (depending on your metrics) but I did lose the stubborn 6 pounds that didn’t want to go before. So, for me it was a win.
Remember, consult a physician if you if you have previous health problems before starting, and this diet should only be done for the recommended three days and should not be prolonged.
If you do like this type of intermittent diet, then I would recommend you checking out this article here for a more sustainable way of eating.
The post How To Lose 10 Pounds In 3 Days: The Military Diet, Does it work? appeared first on Healthy Fit Tips.
