The Military Diet is a 3-day plan that promises weight loss of up to 10lbs! But should you try it? We’ll take you through the pros and cons.
What do you eat on the Military Diet?
This diet is a short term, low-calorie plan - also known as a crash diet.
The foods on this diet are simple and easy to prepare. There’s a focus on protein at every meal, plus caffeine to keep the energy levels up. Each evening finishes with a sweet treat of vanilla ice cream to satisfy your sugar cravings.
Although this diet might seem enticing because it contains foods that are off-limits to many other diets, such as bread and ice cream, It’s not a sustainable diet to maintain long term.
Here’s what would actually be eaten on this plan:
|
Breakfast |
Lunch |
Dinner |
|
|
Day 1 |
1 cup of coffee ½ a grapefruit 1 slice of toast 2 tbsp of peanut butter |
1 cup of coffee ½ cup of tuna 1 slice of toast |
3oz of meat 1 cup of green beans ½ banana 1 small apple 1 cup of vanilla ice cream |
|
Day 2 |
1 cup of coffee 1 egg 1 slice of toast ½ banana |
1 cup of coffee 5 saltine crackers 1 egg 1 cup cottage cheese |
2 hotdog sausages 1 cup broccoli ½ cup of carrots 1 banana ½ cup of vanilla ice cream |
|
Day 3 |
1 cup of coffee 5 saltine crackers 1 slice of cheese 1 small apple |
1 cup of coffee 1 egg 1 slice of toast |
1 cup of tuna ½ banana 1 cup of vanilla ice cream |
Where did The Military Diet come from?
The name of this diet is misleading: although you’ll be expected to have the military-level discipline to follow this plan, it didn’t originate in the military.
A similar diet was actually first published in Letter on Corpulence by William Banting in England in 1869. He advocated for a low carbohydrate diet, and encouraged people to give up bread, potatoes, milk, sugar and beer.
This diet became popular in the 60s when it was picked up by airmen, but it was never actually approved or encouraged by the Air Force.
Other more modern low carb diets you may have heard of are the Atkins diet and the Keto diet.
What results can you expect from the military diet?
This diet is touted to help dieters lose 10lbs in just 3 days. Depending on your starting weight, it’s actually very plausible that you could lose 10lbs on this diet.
However, you wouldn’t be losing 10lbs of fat. More than likely, you’d be losing a combination of water and muscle, with some fat lost too.
The problem with crash diets like this is that they can actually slow your metabolism over time, leading to further weight gain. Depriving yourself so much for 3 days could also lead to a binge on day 4 when you have finished the diet - and we all know that one binge can lead to another, and then another, making it difficult to pick your healthy habits back up.
So should you go on the Military Diet?
This diet is popular with dieters who want to drop weight fast, perhaps for their wedding or another special event.
We recommend finding a diet plan you can stick to, whether it’s counting calories or cutting down on carbs. The diet that will get you the best results is that one you can follow consistently.
Also Read: What is Caffeine Anhydrous
We created a low carb, nutrient-rich shake in 3 delicious dessert flavours to take the complication out of dieting. We also recommend that you supplement daily with PhenQ to improve your weight loss results in 5 different ways.
Couple this with some gentle exercise and you’ll be able to reach your goal weight the healthy way!
