3 day military Diet

Please search and read. And then just... don't.

Try that plan and, chances are, you'll lose weight. But it's not because of any kind of fat burning chemical reaction between the foods. Rather it is because you will be eating at a caloric deficit. Here's a breakdown of Day 1 from the military diet website along with calorie counts.

Breakfast
1 cup coffee (2 cal)
1 slice toast (110 cal)
2 T peanut butter (190 cal)
1/2 grapefruit (27 cal)
breakfast subtotal = 329 calories

Lunch
1 cup coffee (2 cal)
1/2 cup tuna (120 cal)
1 slice whole wheat toast (110 cal)
lunch subtotal = 232 calories

Dinner
3 ounces any meat (168 cal)
1 cup green beans (44 cal)
1 small apple (80 cal)
1 cup vanilla ice cream (260 cal)*
1/2 banana (60 cal)
dinner subtotal = 482 calories

Daily total = 1173 calories

1173 calories is a very low calorie plan. There are very few grown adults who need to eat this low in order to lose weight. A much better plan would be to determine your caloric needs (e.g., fill out your MFP profile accurately, log your exercise correctly), determine a reasonable weight loss rate, and then eat according to it. Don't look for a "diet plan" beyond "eating the right amount of food to fuel my body." From a nutrition perspective, absolutely learn how to balance your nutrition on a daily/weekly basis. But don't think that you have to cut out all fun foods or eat a magic fat burning combo of them in order to lose weight. It's unnecessary and doesn't teach you good long term weight management skills.

*edited

SherryTeach wrote: »

What kind of ice cream is 130 for a whole cup?

lol

Might as well water fast for 3 days if your gonna do that...

If you are very short and sedentary, or else have your deficit set to be pretty aggressive, then MFP will recommend 1200 calories. It is doing this based on the info that you have input. By inputting that you want to lose 1 or 2 pounds per week rather than .5 lbs, you will have a larger calorie deficit and lose faster...but you will also have a much tougher time maintaining your deficit, be more prone to bingeing and/or giving up, and you will lose more muscle along with the fat than you would with a modest deficit, thereby lowering your metabolic rate (not by leaps and bounds as those who tout the mythical "starvation mode" would have you believe, but enough to make a difference long-term).

A better idea is to keep a moderate calorie deficit and increase activity, especially heavy weight lifting. You can eat more, and you can keep and even increase your muscle mass so that you protect your metabolism, plus the added muscle will make you look much better than losing weight alone.

Bobbie63 wrote: »

Hmm I'm supposed to eat 1200 so this is just about there...I guess I dont understand the problem, can someone enlighten me?

1200 is not a good goal for everyone.

My personal problem with the diet is that it seems not particularly balanced or nutritious and definitely not tasty--I did around 1200 for a few months and don't see why that diet would be preferable. When I did it I made an effort to get adequate protein and lots of veggies.

I think days 2-3 are lower, also. (As the prior poster says, I recall the diet being calculated out before at 800 or so, but there are often competing versions of these fad diets floating around the internet--another reason why it's silly to do one.)

As for this 1200 calorie version, there are worse diets from a calorie perspective, certainly, especially since this is only 3 days (although that also just makes it silly), but what's obnoxious about it is that it's sold based on ridiculous claims about it's special fat reducing properties (like all fad diets) that are simply dishonest. I mean, since when do saltines, ice cream, and hot dogs have magical powers?

(I mean, I really like ice cream, but please. I guess saltines kind of settle the stomach sometimes, but maybe a diet that doesn't make you sick to your stomach would be even more ideal.)

It's a silly fad diet.

You'll lose weight with it because it's a very low calorie plan, although 3 days of anything isn't going to do much for fat loss. You'll lose mostly water. The food combination idea is bunk and it's completely unnecessary. Also it's not nutritionally balanced. I find it slightly amusing that anyone thinks hotdogs have any kind of special weight loss power.

It irks me personally because they stuck the word "military" on it to give it legitimacy. The real "military" diet is high calorie cafeteria style food and a LOT of physical activity.

vanillaorange2 wrote: »

I'm going to try out the 3 day military diet. Has anyone done it and had any luck with it. Hoping it help's boost my metabolism.

I did it too, and read a ton on posts on here before doing it...but it still didn't deter me from trying it. That said, here's my experience. I lost 5 lbs, but I did gain back a couple right after because I was just so hungry after 3 days. Each of the 3 days, all I could do was look at the clock to see if it was time to eat yet. I was practically obsessed with eating because I was really, really hungry. I also don't feel like it affected my metabolism. I didn't maintain that 1200 calories it said to do the rest of the week. It made me realize I needed to figure out another way to lose weight. I'm definitely much happier now.