How To Lose Weight: The Military Diet And 5 Things To Know About The Strict 3-Day Regimen

Want to lose weight fast and believe you have the discipline of a solider? Try the three-day Military Diet that promises a 10-pound weight loss if it’s followed carefully. But you can’t follow it more than three days and you can’t stray from the regimen, which is why dieters must exhibit a high level of self-restraint in order to survive the 72 hours.

The Military Diet plan features a step-by-step food and fluid guide that provides between roughly 860 to 1,150 calories each day. It’s all based on how many calories the body needs to gain one pound of fat – 3,500 calories a day. By eating less than you burn for three days a week, the body will target fat first, making it a form of fasting.

But the diet is not for just anyone to try. Aside from the high criticism from medical experts that the diet won’t lead to healthy or sustainable weight loss, those who are pregnant, nursing, elderly or anyone with chronic medical condition cannot try to follow the program. So, what are the pros and cons of the low-calorie diet?

5 Risks and Benefits:

1. With a very strict, set of dieting rules that calculates the amount exact type of food you should eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner to achieve weight loss, dieters must plan their meals ahead and steer clear of temptation. No snacks or exceptions allowed.

2. No added condiments or varied cooking techniques allowed, except for nonstick cooking spray, salt, pepper, mustard, lemon juice, herbs, spices, and a calorie-free sweetener. While you will have the freedom to spice up your meals throughout the diet, it makes it difficult to eat the elected foods the way you want. For example, your tuna fish will have to be eaten without mayo.

3. The only fluids you’re allowed to drink are water, black coffee, and tea. That means no alcohol or any sugary drinks, which can be extremely beneficial and cut a lot of hidden calories out of your diet. By doing so, dieters may learn where their calories lurk and know how to limit them in the future. Aside from water, soda is the most consumed beverages in the United States, increasing the risk for heart attack, type 2 diabetes, and obesity.

4. Fasting diets that cut 25 percent of your daily calories, such as the Military Diet, provide unexpected benefits. According to a recent study published in the JAMA Internal Medicine, by just cutting a quarter of your calories out, dieters can experience boosts in mood, improvements in sleep, and enhancements in sex life.

Fasting also provides other benefits, like healthy aging and boosts in immune system. Read more here.

5. The diet plan is missing superfoods that are packed with vital nutrients, like salmon, almonds, quinoa, and avocado. Without a healthy dose of omega-3 fatty acids, which is a fancy way of saying brain food, cognitive processing becomes more difficult.

How To Follow The 3-Day Diet:

Day One:

Breakfast:1/2 grapefruit1 slice toast2 tablespoons peanut butter1 cup coffee or tea (with caffeine)

Lunch: 1/2 cup tuna, 1 slice toast, 1 cup coffee or tea (with caffeine)

Dinner: 3 ounces any type of meat, 1 cup green beans, 1/2 banana, 1 small apple, 1 cup vanilla ice cream

Day Two:

Breakfast: 1 egg, 1 slice toast, 1/2 banana

Lunch: 1 cup cottage cheese, 1 hard-boiled egg, 5 saltine crackers

Dinner: 2 hot dogs (without bun), 1 cup broccoli, 1/2 cup carrots, 1/2 banana, 1/2 cup vanilla ice cream

Day Three:

Breakfast: 5 saltine crackers, 1 slice (1 ounce) cheddar cheese, 1 small apple

Lunch: 1 hard-boiled egg (or cooked however you like), 1 slice toast

Dinner: 1 cup tuna, 1/2 banana, 1 cup vanilla ice cream