What Is The Military Diet?
The military diet has quickly risen to the top of the weight loss industry as one of the most popular diets out there. It focuses on helping individuals lose weight rapidly. Specifically, the military diet focuses on helping those who follow it lose up to ten pounds in less than a week. It was designed to provide immediate results. The military diet claims individuals can lose weight within three days to help them feel more confident. It appears to be the perfect diet for anyone needing to lose weight quickly, but it requires lifestyle changes to ensure the weight stays off.
The Military Diet Basics
The military diet, otherwise known as the 3-day diet, focuses on consuming foods that will combine to boost the individual's metabolism. It uses the idea of intermittent fasting and combines it with more moderate approaches to eating. It has also been called the Navy diet and even the army diet. This diet can help users shed up to ten pounds in a week by using restricted calorie intake for three days followed by four days with more moderate food consumption. The claim is individuals can repeat the cycle until they lose weight and reach their goal.
The creators claim the diet was created by combining the knowledge of nutrition with the United States military strategies designed to help soldiers get fit quickly. The diet has two phases spread throughout the week. For the first phase, participants follow a strict low-calorie plan, consuming only 1,400 calories each day. The other four days are focused on eating healthy while still keeping the caloric intake low.
Food Eaten While Following the Diet
The food eaten while following the military diet is fairly moderate compared to other diets. Breakfast throughout the first three restricted days includes grapefruit, whole wheat toast, peanut butter, eggs, bananas, cheddar cheese, and saltines. These foods provide vital nutrients, including vitamins A and C, helping the immune system while also boosting the individual's metabolism with plenty of fiber. Lunches are the lightest meal in the military diet plan that focuses on boosting the individual's metabolism with few calories by providing carbohydrates and proteins. Lunch typically includes tuna sandwiches, cottage cheese, and hard-boiled eggs, and toast with eggs. Dinner provides dieters with a feast they can enjoy. Individuals can eat chicken, apples, green beans, ice cream, broccoli, carrots, and tuna.
Claims And Benefits Of The Diet
The military diet claims individuals can lose up to ten pounds in a week. It is more effective for some individuals depending on how much they already weigh and what their current diet includes. If individuals looking to try this diet currently drink high-calorie drinks filled with sugar like energy drinks and sodas, they can expect to see significant results.
Men are also able to lose more weight on the military diet because of their body composition. Aside from the obvious ten pounds lost in the course of the military diet, the benefits claimed include providing key nutrients that are important for protein metabolism while also helping the body form new red blood cells with the consumption of vitamin B6. The potassium in the bananas consumed also help the body balance fluids. The fat in ice cream helps the body keep high energy while also absorbing key minerals and vitamins.
Safety Of The Diet
Reports indicate the military diet is safe to use over the short term as this does not put the body in starvation mode. Starvation mode kicks in when the body slows down its metabolism when individuals consume too few calories. The safety of the military diet lies in the fact it prevents starvation mode from activating by including a variety of protein such as tuna, eggs, cottage cheese, peanut butter, and a variety of meats.
Many studies support the strategy by claiming individuals can maintain muscle strength and a high metabolism even when they diet by consuming enough protein. Since the diet only lasts a week, the body can typically accept the reduction in caloric intake. The muscles and metabolism will not suffer because of the reduction in calories. However, it is important to note it is not healthy for the average person to lose ten pounds in a week or three days, and losing weight that quickly is not sustainable. Individuals looking for long-term solutions healthily should look for an alternative.
The Final Verdict On The Military Diet
If individuals want to lose the weight quickly for an event and only plan on doing it for a week, the military diet works incredibly well. However, individuals looking for long term weight loss and who need or want to lose more than ten pounds are advised to choose another diet plan. The military diet is ultimately considered an unhealthy fad diet. Though individuals following it might lose ten pounds in a week, there are other ways to lose the weight to get to their goal body. The promise of the military diet to boost the individual's metabolism by combining certain foods have not been verified. The military diet's recommendation to use low-caloric intake to lose weight could lead to yo-yo dieting and even eating disorders. Long term success is not viable with this diet.