The military 3-day diet is currently one of the world’s most popular
weight loss diets. The diet claims to help people lose 10 pounds in a
week. But the diet also goes by other names, the military diet, Navy
diet, Army diet, Mayo Clinic diet, Cleveland Clinic Diet.
It’s also called the ice cream diet.
Yes, there is ice cream included in your 3-day diet menu.
Regardless of the names, they all claim to help you “lose weight fast” up to 10 pounds or 4.5 kg in a week.
As the name suggests, the diet plan involves a 3-day meal plan followed by 4 days off.
And this 7-day weekly cycle gets repeated again and again until you reach your goal weight.
One thing that makes this 3-day diet very popular is its simplicity.
You don’t count calories or plan meals.
You also don’t have to eat foods you don’t like.
All meals are low in calories and consist of carbs, protein, and fats.
The supporters of the plan claim to help you burn fat faster.
All in all, the 3-day military diet plan is very straightforward to follow.
If you’ve been thinking about giving this diet a try, here’s what’s in the “3-day diet plan”.
3 Day Diet Meal Plan
The 3 Day Meal Plan
On day 1, you’ll be eating around 1, 400 calories.
Day 1
Here is the breakdown.
Breakfast
One half of grapefruit
A single slice of toast (preferably whole grain) with two tablespoons of peanut butter
A black cup coffee or tea
Lunch
A half cup of tuna
One slice of toast
One cup coffee or tea
Dinner
4-oz of any meat + one cup of green beans
A half banana
One small apple
1 scoop of vanilla ice cream.
?That was day 1, pretty simple right?
Day 2 Meal Plan
Daily calorie total for day 2 is 1,200.
Here is the menu.
Breakfast
1 hard boiled egg
A slice of whole grain toast
A half banana
Lunch
One cup of cottage cheese
1 hard-boiled egg
5 saltine crackers
One cup of coffee or tea
Day 3 Meal Plan
Here is the day 3 meal plan. Total daily calories for day 3 is 1,100.
Here’s the breakdown.
Breakfast
Five saltine crackers
One slice of cheddar cheese
One small apple
Lunch
One hard-boiled egg
One slice of whole grain toast
One cup of coffee or tea
Dinner
One cup of tuna
One half banana
1 scoop of vanilla ice cream
Day 4-7 of The Three Day Diet
The remainder of the week also involves some dieting.
You may eat what you like for the last 4 days as long as you keep your calories to 1500 a day.
The diet also recommends you to drink plenty of water.
But feel free to drink other beverages such as coffee or tea as long as you don’t add any sugar or cream.
So, Does the 3 Day Military Diet Work?
Yes, the proponents of the 3-day diet claim it works and can help you lose weight very quickly.
In fact, some of the 3-day military diet reviews say following the plan has helped them lose more than 10 pounds.
But the fact is, it’s not so much that the 3-day diet plan that helps them lose weight. But it’s more of the low-calorie diet they are on.
That’s because much of losing weight is about the calories in and calories out.
Anytime there’s more energy or calories living your body than entering it, you’ll lose weight.
This can be regardless of the diet. Whether it’s the 3-day military diet plan or Paleo diet, you’d lose that weight.
What matter is, you are in a calorie deficit.
That’s a fact.
So anything that reduces your calorie intake can help you lose weight.
That fact is, you don’t even need to diet.
Simply by eating healthy and reducing your intake of sugar, you will lose weight naturally.
In other words, anything that helps you reduce appetite and eat fewer calories will help with weight loss.
For many, this military diet is too strict and unbalanced.
Here are other diets that can help you lose weight a healthier way. The Dash Diet and the Mediterranean diet.
These are two of the best diets to lose weight and improve your overall health.
Can You Really Lose 10 Pounds in a Week?
Yes, this rate of weight loss is possible for overweight people who severely restrict their calories intake.
This is not to say, most of the weight loss will be from fat loss.
Much of it will be due to loss of water.
Water weight typically drops much more quickly as the body’s glycogen store declines. And this happens when you restrict carbs and calories.
While this may look good on the weight scale, it’s likely that you’ll regain the weight just as quickly as you lost it.
Once you begin to eat normally again, your weight is expected to go back to the pre-diet state, if not more.