{"id":43947,"date":"2017-01-28T09:15:26","date_gmt":"2017-01-28T14:15:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/?p=43947"},"modified":"2021-11-18T09:05:30","modified_gmt":"2021-11-18T14:05:30","slug":"3-day-military-diet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/health\/3-day-military-diet\/","title":{"rendered":"The 3-Day Military Diet: Is It Legit?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The
Photo: Twenty20<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What if someone told you that you could lose 10 pounds a week\u2026while eating ice cream<\/a>? Sounds too good to be true, right? That\u2019s the alluring sell behind the Military Diet<\/a>, a strict eating regimen that\u2019s been sweeping the Internet over the past few months. The rules: Follow a rigid meal plan for three days, then do four days of maintenance and watch as the pounds \u201cmelt away\u201d by the end of the week.<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong>\u00a0How to Know If the Ketogenic Diet Is Right for You<\/a><\/p>\n

Pinners, bloggers<\/a> and YouTube vlogs<\/a> are driving this trend forward with viral before-and-after pictures showcasing impressive (and often hard to believe) changes. Devotees of the diet consume 1,100 to 1,400 calories a day in the form of so-called \u201cfat-burning\u201d food<\/a> combinations like hot dogs and bananas<\/a>, and tuna and toast. (Yes, we said hot dogs.) It\u2019s a one-size-fits-all plan, so athletic men and women are going to dine on the same grub as their more sedentary peers. But is this really a healthy way to lose weight<\/a>? We got to the bottom of this much-talked-about plan.<\/p>\n

What the Military Diet Is All About <\/strong><\/h3>\n

No shocker here: It turns out that the Military Diet isn\u2019t quite<\/em> the unique weight loss solution it\u2019s made out to be. \u201cThis [diet concept] has been dressed up differently and brought out to dance before,\u201d says Kimberly Gomer, R.D., director of nutrition at Pritikin Longevity Center. In other words, a restrictive three-day plan is nothing new in the health industry.<\/p>\n

Plus, the diet\u2019s affiliation with the actual <\/em>U.S. Army seems to be just a gimmick. (Fun fact: The Cleveland Clinic Diet<\/a>, British Heart Foundation Diet<\/a>, Mayo Clinic Diet<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Navy Diet aren\u2019t linked to those institutions, either.) So don\u2019t judge a book \u2014 or a diet \u2014 by its cover.<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> Can the Paleo Diet Improve Your Health?<\/a><\/p>\n

According to websites<\/a> dedicated to the meal plan, the three-day Military Diet prescribes the following meal plan.<\/p>\n

Military Diet: Day One<\/h3>\n

To get started, you’ll prep a half grapefruit, slice of toast, scoop\u00a0of peanut butter and some coffee for breakfast. And for\u00a0lunch, it’s tuna, toast and more coffee (or caffeinated tea).\u00a0On the\u00a0dinner menu: three ounces of meat, a cup of green beans, half a banana, a small apple and, yup, a cup of vanilla ice cream.<\/p>\n

\"Military
Photo: Twenty20<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Military Diet: Day Two<\/h3>\n

This is where things get especially…interesting. For breakfast you’ll have an egg, a slice of toast and half a banana. For lunch, another hard-boiled egg, some saltines and a cup of cottage cheese. Then for dinner, have those hot dogs handy. You’ll eat two mystery tubes plus some fruits and veggies, finished off with more vanilla ice cream.<\/p>\n

\"Military
Photo: Twenty20<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Military Diet: Day Three<\/h3>\n

On the last day of the diet, you’ll cut calories down to approximately 1,100 in the following breakdown. For breakfast, five saltines, an ounce of cheddar cheese and a small apple. Up next, just one egg and slice of toast for lunch. Then for the grand finale, a cup of tuna, half of a banana and one last cup of vanilla ice cream.<\/p>\n

\"Military
Photo: Twenty20<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Then What?<\/h3>\n

Once you complete the three-day diet, you\u2019re supposed to eat and exercise normally for the next four days. \u201cWhat I found interesting is that this diet allows for almost 1,500 calories<\/a>, which is a pretty normal weight management diet,\u201d says Gomer. \u201cIt\u2019s not a crazy 800-calorie crash diet.\u201d But its promises aren\u2019t all they appear to be.<\/p>\n

\"Military
Photo: @marjo.nell.aurea<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Three-Day Diet: Crazy or Legit? <\/strong><\/h3>\n

One of the central claims of the Military Diet is that your meals are arranged in \u201cfat-burning\u201d food combinations. However, \u201cThere\u2019s no science behind it,\u201d says Gomer. You may still lose weight if the calories you\u2019re consuming are less than the calories you\u2019re burning off throughout your day. But nothing about pairing grapefruit with peanut butter<\/a> toast will necessarily help you slim your waistline more than another combination of similarly caloric foods, Gomer says.<\/p>\n

The Military Diet\u2019s focus on small quantities of high-fat food might leave you feeling hungry, too. \u201cThis is allowing a very little bit of rich food,\u201d explains Gomer, noting that you\u2019ll still feel hungry despite indulging in ice cream each night. \u201cIt makes me frustrated because I could give people six times the amount of food [for the same amount of calories],\u201d says Gomer.<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/strong>To Sip or Not to Sip: The Benefits of Bone Broth<\/a><\/p>\n

You\u2019d be better off focusing on filling, low-density foods such as fruits and vegetables, which have a lot of water and fiber, Gomer notes. Plus, the diet is also lacking in whole grains<\/a>, which can reduce your risk of many chronic diseases<\/a> (like diabetes and heart disease) and help with weight maintenance.<\/p>\n

So we hate to break it to you, but devouring hot dogs and ice cream probably won\u2019t be your ticket to sustainable and healthy weight loss. \u201cThe idea that there\u2019s something magical in a certain diet, that\u2019s the American dream,\u201d says Gomer. The Military Diet isn\u2019t sustainable, she says. \u201cYou\u2019ll get hungry and grouchy and you break your diet and [then] you\u2019re looking for the next miracle.\u201d<\/p>\n

It might be time to get off\u00a0the diet rollercoaster and leave the miracles to Disney.<\/p>\n

Originally published October 2015. Updated January 2017.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The popular Military Diet claims you can lose 10 pounds in three days\u2026while eating ice cream and hot dogs. Is this trend legit \u2014 or looney-tunes crazy? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":57704,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,7,18],"tags":[41,71,341,380],"class_list":["post-43947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-diet-nutrition","category-health","category-weight-loss","tag-diets","tag-nutrition","tag-tax1living-well","tag-tax2diet-advice"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43947","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43947"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43947\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57704"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}