The Military Diet is a diet that has recently begun gaining some popularity and momentum online. Its appeal lies in the apparent speed at which it works. This diet involves nine simple meals that you eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner over the course of three days. Of course these meals are very low in calories but unlike some of the more ‘extreme’ diets, it still ensures you’re getting enough calories to get by and it provides you with all of the main food groups and plenty of nutrition. Specifically, you eat 1,400 calories on day one and then 100 fewer calories each of the subsequent days (so that you end with 1,100 calories).
The big claim behind this diet is that in just three days, the average person can lose as much as 10 pounds. Of course this is very appealing for many people looking to lose a lot of weight quickly but the question is whether or not it actually works… So does it?
First, let’s break down the diet and see what it involves over the course of the three days.
Day 1
Breakfast
• ½ a pink grapefruit
• 1 slice of toast with 2 tablespoons of peanut butter
• 1 cup of black coffee or tea
Lunch
• ½ a cup of plain tuna
• 1 slice of toast
• 1 cup of black coffee or tea
Dinner
• 3 ounces of any kind of meat (preferably lean)
• ½ a banana
• 1 small apple
• 1 cup of vanilla ice cream
Day 2
Breakfast
• 1 egg
• 1 slice of toast
• ½ a banana
Lunch
• 1 cup of cottage cheese
• 1 hard boiled egg
• 5 saltine crackers
Dinner
• 2 hot dogs (no bung)
• 1 cup of broccoli
• ½ cup of carrots
• ½ a banana
• ½ cup of vanilla ice cream
Day 3
Breakfast
• 5 saltine crackers
• 1 slice of cheddar cheese
• 1 small apple
Lunch
• 1 hard boiled egg
• 1 slice of toast
Dinner
• 1 cup of tuna
• ½ a banana
• 1 cup of vanilla ice cream
And there you have it! As you can see, you won’t exactly be dining like a king but you should also find that as extreme diets go, this one is remarkably bearable. It also helps if you spread some aspects of the meal out – for instance, if you eat dinner early, you can save the ice cream as a bed-time treat. Likewise, you can hold off on a piece of fruit and keep it as a snack for brunch.
Does it Work?
So the golden question is: does it work?
Well, actually this one is not bad. If you set your sights on ten pounds then likely you will be disappointed but people I know have actually managed to lose as much as 5-7 pounds in just three days.
A caveat though is that you shouldn’t use this diet too often. A couple of times a month should be the maximum. It’s not a highly sustainable diet either and that means that you’re likely to find that the weight comes back pretty quickly when you resume a normal diet if you aren’t careful. A lot of this weight loss is likely to be water weight in fact – as we get a lot of hydration from our food.
Still though, as a way to ‘jump start’ a new diet, or as a way to get in shape ready for an important big event like a wedding or a holiday, it can be useful.
And seeing as the diet is quite healthy, quite well-balanced and more than likely to speed up your metabolism – this one gets a pass!