Military Diet: 3 Day Military Diet Beginner's Guide Meal Plan
If you are motivated and ready to receive all the good dietary practices that will help you succeed with your military diet.
You won't need any dietary supplements, no subscription to any slimming program and no expensive ingredients.
This slimming diet is totally free and easy to implement. But does it really work, and is it something you should try?
What is the military diet?
The military diet, also known as the 3-day military diet, is a dietary program designed to lose weight quickly. It can help you lose up to 5 kg in a week.The military nutrition method includes a 3-day meal plan followed by 4 days off.
This weekly cycle is repeated until you reach your ideal weight, also called Body Mass Index (BMI).
Proponents of this diet claim that it was developed by U.S. Army nutritionists to quickly get the armed forces into top shape.
In reality, this diet is not affiliated with any military or government institution.
The military diet also goes by several other names, including the navy diet, the army diet, and even the ice cream diet.
This method of losing weight quickly is called the low-calorie diet. It is said to promote significant weight loss in as little as a week.
how does the military diet work
The "3-day military diet" is actually divided into 2 phases over a period of 7 days.In the first 3 days of the diet, you will have fixed nutrition with calorie restriction. You must adopt a low-calorie diet for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. No snacks are provided between meals.
For the remaining 4 days, you are advised to limit your calorie intake and adopt a "balanced diet".
In other words, this diet invites you to "eat healthy" while continuing to keep your calorie intake to a minimum. After the third day, snacks are allowed.
During the 7 days of the diet, the daily calorie intake is approximately 1,100 to 1,400 calories, which is less than that of an adult, so we advise you to check your own calorie requirements with your nutritionist before embarking on such a diet.
The meal plan
Day One
The meal plan for the first day is about 1,400 calories.
Breakfast:
- One slice of toast with 2 tablespoons of peanut butter.
- Half a grapefruit.
- One cup of coffee or tea (optional).
Lunch :
- One slice of toast.
- Half a cup of tuna.
- One cup of coffee or tea (optional).
Dinner:
- 3 oz (85 grams) serving of meat with a cup of green beans.
- One small apple.
- Half a banana.
- One cup of vanilla ice cream.
Day 2
The meal plan for the second day is about 1200 calories.
Breakfast:
- One slice of toast.
- One hard-boiled egg.
- Half a banana.
- One cup of coffee or tea (optional).
Lunch:
- One hard-boiled egg.
- One cup of cottage cheese.
- 5 salty crackers.
- One cup of coffee or tea (optional).
Dinner:
- Two hot dogs, no bread.
- Half a cup of carrots and half a cup of broccoli.
- Half a banana.
- Half a cup of vanilla ice cream.
Day Three
The meal plan for the third day is about 1,100 calories.
Breakfast:
- One ounce slice of month-old cheddar cheese.
- 5 salty crackers.
- One apple.
- A cup of coffee or tea (optional).
Lunch:
- One slice of toast.
- One egg, cooked as you like.
- A cup of coffee or tea (optional).
Dinner:
- One cup of tuna.
- Half a banana.
- 1 cup of vanilla ice cream.
- Feel free to drink as much tea as you like, as long as you don't add calories from sugar or cream. Also, drink plenty of water.
The remaining 4 days
After this first period of 3 days, the diet week continues with the second phase of 4 days.
Snacks are allowed and there are no restrictions on food groups.
However, the diet advises you to limit the amount of food you eat and to keep your total calorie intake below 1,500 calories per day.
There are no other rules for the remaining 4 days of the diet.
Permitted dietary supplement
If you have dietary restrictions, for the first 3 days you can substitute foods of equal calories.For example, if you have a peanut allergy, you can replace peanut butter with almond butter.
You can also exchange 1 cup of tuna for almonds if you are a vegetarian or vegan.
The most important thing is that the calories stay the same. If you change the diet in any way, you need to calculate the calories.
In addition, hot lemon water should be encouraged, but artificially sweetened drinks are not recommended.
Is the military diet evidence-based?
If the caloric intake that feeds your fat tissue decreases, then you will be better able to burn fat and regain a flat stomach.
Proponents of the military diet claim that this slimming program has significant weight loss benefits because of these "food combinations".
These combinations are said to speed up the metabolism and thus burn fat more easily, but once again no serious studies have been done to confirm these claims to date.
While coffee and green tea contain compounds that may slightly increase metabolism, there is no known combination of foods that can do this.
And, on closer inspection, the combination of foods included in the military diet meal plan doesn't really coincide with a fat-burning diet.
Protein-rich foods stimulate metabolism more than other nutrients. But most of the meals in the military diet are low in protein and high in carbohydrates, which is a poor combination for weight loss.
The military diet can help you lose weight because it is very low in calories. However, it does not seem to have any particular advantage over other low-calorie diets.
Is the military diet safe and sustainable?
The military diet is probably safe for healthy people, but it should not be followed for a long period of time.Indeed, if you follow this diet for several weeks, the caloric restriction could expose you to nutrient deficiencies.
This is especially true if you do not regularly eat vegetables and other foods of sufficient quality on unrestricted days.
Also, eating hot dogs, crackers and ice cream every week can cause metabolic problems. Junk food" should not be part of your diet.
Although this diet is fairly easy to follow, it does not provide a lasting change in bad eating habits. In fact, the results you'll get are unlikely to result in longer-term weight loss.
Can you really lose 10 pounds in a week?
This diet has become popular because it claims that you can lose 4.5 kg in one week.Theoretically, by severely limiting calories, this dramatic weight reduction is possible, especially for people who are overweight or obese.
However, the majority of the loss of these kilos will be due not to a reduction in fat, but to a decrease in the amount of water in the body.
This is because the weight of water decreases rapidly as the body's glycogen stores are depleted: this is what happens when you limit carbohydrates and calories.
On the scale it looks "OK", but in reality, it's more complicated than that.
While it's possible to lose 4.5 kg in a week, most of that weight represents the amount of water you've lost and will be regained when you start eating normally again.
In conclusion:
The military diet may work, but not for long
If you want to lose a few pounds quickly, the military diet can help you do so, but chances are you'll regain all the weight you've lost so quickly: it's the famous "yo-yo effect"!The military diet is therefore not a diet to be recommended for slimming down and losing weight in a sustainable way.
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Food Diet