You’ve probably heard about the military diet and wondered what it is all about. Well, for starters, the military diet is not connected to the military.
It is a type of diet where you restrict the number of calories in your food for three days and then go back to your regular diet for the next four days. With this diet, you can lose as much as 10 pounds a week. This diet is effective for weight loss. When you follow it strictly, just like the name military diet suggests you are likely to be successful in your weight loss journey.
How Effective is the Military Diet?
This diet restricts calorie intake to 1400 on day 1, 1200 on day 2 and 1100 on day 3. There are no restrictions during the other 4 days of the week. During the three days, your diet will mostly contain proteins. It will be low in fat, carbohydrates, and foods high in calories.
Other than losing weight, another principal aim of this diet is to help fire up your metabolism. To gain all the benefits of this diet, you need to stick to it for the long term; otherwise, you’ll gain all the weight you lost. To further optimize your weight loss and keep fats completely off your body, you should be conscious of what you eat during the fours day you are not on the military diet. Do not restrict calories on three days then overindulge on the other four days. It will be counterintuitive.
Who Should try the Military Diet Plan
The military diet is suitable for most people. However, if you have an underlying health condition, it may not be right for you. People who are in an emergency weight loss plan will find that o other diet beats the military diet in weight loss over a short period of time.
The military diet is quite affordable since you don’t have to buy expensive foods or supplements. It’s just eating typical meals in a restricted manner.
How much weight can you Lose on the 3-day Military Diet?
According to the military diet website, you can lose up to 10 pounds a week and up to 30 pounds a month if you strictly follow this diet plan. This is because for the three days you restrict calories, your body gets to control the sugar swings that prevent us lose weight.
During the other four days, your metabolism is fired up. You are burning fats rather than storing them. Compared to other diets that slow your metabolism, the military diet doesn’t. If you are ever in a situation that you want to lose weight fast, say a wedding, surgery, vacation, etc., the military diet will be the best diet plan for such weight loss.
What can I drink on the 3-day military diet?
You may be wondering what is the best beverage to drink during the 3-day military diet, is it coffee or tea? The military diet encourages you to drink coffee for the simple reason that it is better for firing up your metabolism. This should be black coffee with no added sugar or any other sweeteners.
This is mainly on the three days you are on a diet. Sweeteners and creamers dramatically increase the number of calories in 1 cup of coffee. Still, on this coffee or tea debate, remember that coffee has a healthy dose of antioxidants that are beneficial while you are on the military diet. So the next time you wonder if you’ll take coffee or tea, always choose coffee during the three days you are on a diet. During the other four days, you can take any other beverage.
Can you Drink Water on the Military diet?
Yes, you can drink water while on the military diet. Water is critical in your weight loss journey. Drink water but avoid sweetened beverages such as soda and fruit juices. Drink as much water as you can even when you don’t feel thirsty.
Military Diet Plan
Now that we have a good idea of what the military diet is all about, let us now take a look at the three-day diet plan and the shopping list to go with it.
Day 1
Breakfast
- Caffeinated coffee or tea (1 cup)
- one slice of toast
- salt-free and sugar-free peanut butter, 2 tablespoons
- grapefruit (half)
Lunch
- 1 Caffeinated coffee or tea (1 cup)
- one slice of toast
- tuna half a cup
Dinner
- The meat of any kind, 3 ounces
- green beans (1 cup)
- one small apple
- cup of green beans
- banana (half)
- 1 cup of vanilla ice cream
Day 2
Breakfast
- banana (half)
- one egg
- one slice of toast
Lunch
- one egg (boiled)
- cottage cheese (1 cup)
- saltine crackers (five)
Dinner
- two hot dogs without the buns
- 1 cup of broccoli
- carrots, half a cup
- banana (half)
- vanilla ice cream
Day 3
Breakfast
- five saltine crackers
- one small apple
- one slice of cheddar cheese
Lunch
- hard-boiled egg (one)
- toast (1 slice)
Dinner
- tuna 1 cup
- vanilla ice cream 1 cup
- banana (half)
Military Diet Vegetarian Meal Plan
For those people who do not consume animal products such as meats or an egg, a vegetarian military meal plan for you is available.
Day 1
Breakfast
- grapefruit (half)
- toast (1 slice)
- caffeinated coffee or tea
- 2 tbsp. peanut butter
Lunch
- 1 caffeinated coffee or tea
- avocado (half)
- 2 tbsp. hummus
- whole-wheat toast (1 slice)
Dinner
- tofu (up to 300 calories)
- banana (half)
- green beans 1 cup)
- one small apple
- 1 cup of vanilla ice cream (vegans can use dairy-free ice cream)
Day 2
Breakfast
- baked beans (half a cup)
- whole-wheat toast (1 slice)
- banana (half)
Lunch
- 1 tbsp hummus
- unsweetened hemp soy, or almond milk (1 cup)
- avocado (half)
- five saltine crackers
Dinner
- two veggie hot dogs without the buns
- 1 cup of broccoli
- carrots (half a cup)
- banana (half)
- half a cup of vanilla ice cream
Day 3
Breakfast
- cheddar cheese 1 slice or 15 almonds
- five saltine crackers
- one small apple
- couscous or quinoa (half a cup)
Lunch
- 1 tbsp hummus
- avocado (half)
- whole-wheat bread (one slice)
Dinner
- vanilla ice cream 1 cup
- canned chickpeas (half a cup)
- banana (half)
Military Diet Shopping List
Now that we have looked at the diet for the three days both for vegetarians and non-vegetarians let’s take a look at the shopping list. This is pretty straightforward as the items are the ones in the diet plan.
Shopping list
- one grapefruit
- two bananas
- caffeinated coffee or tea
- egg
- three cans of tuna
- a small piece of meat
- small head of broccoli
- carrots
- two apples
- whole-wheat bread
- peanut butter
- hot dogs
- green beans (fresh, frozen, or canned)
- saltine crackers
- cottage cheese
- a small amount of cheddar cheese
- vanilla ice cream
Military Diet Plan the other Four days
Even though you are free to indulge in the next four days you are not on the strict military diet, It is not a wise move to overindulge. This will compromise your attempt at losing weight and negate all the efforts you have put in the three days.
The military diet plan recommends that you don’t consume more than 1500 calories during these days. It would be prudent to keep track of your weight still to avoid derailing your efforts to lose 10 pounds in the week. We do not measure calories during these four days.
Maintaining good eating habits such as eating healthy foods such as eggs, vegetables, fruits, and drinking water has excellent health benefits. Exercises are not mentioned in the military diet but are a healthy habit especially to someone looking at losing weight.
Advantages of the Military Diet Plan
One of the major pros of the military diet is that it is cheap to follow. Some diets are costly and out of reach to the average person, but this diet plan will be an easy one on your pocket
The second pro is that shopping is easy. Since the three-day diet plan is highly structured, your shopping list is fixed. You already know what to buy. All the items on the shopping list are readily available in the grocery store.
The other significant advantage is related to weight loss. The military diet plan, when followed strictly results in quick weight loss. When followed consistently, you are able to lose weight permanently.
Another great advantage is that this diet fires up your metabolism. The foods in the military diet plan are chemically balanced and chosen carefully to get your metabolism on speed. This is what leads to weight loss.
Conclusion
The military diet is a popular diet. There are many people who have tried it and seen its benefits. Some people are still skeptical about it and regard it as a fad diet. However, since it is premised on restricting calories during the three days, it is beneficial to people who want to lose weight. Military diet can also be referred to as the three-day diet.