The military or the 3-day military diet is a popular diet promoted for weight loss. It requires the dieters to follow a diet low in calories for three days and then go back to normal eating for four days.
During the first three days, the restriction of calories is 1100, 1200, and 1400. This diet is low in fat, calories, and carbs, but high in protein.
It also includes food combos that are said to encourage metabolism and contribute to the burning of fat.
Despite the interesting name, this diet doesn’t in any way relate to how military people eat.
According to a website providing info about this diet, people can lose up to 10 pounds in seven days or up to 30 lbs in a month if they keep going with the diet.
Is the 3-Day Military Diet Worth It?
According to a review in the journal of clinical nutrition, a very low-calorie diet may help people shed surplus pounds in the short term. There’s no research that confirms this military diet is helpful for weight loss.
A very low-calorie diet allows around 800 calories per day.
People with obesity may need to adhere to this calorie restriction before they undergo bariatric surgery. Predicting the lost weight if one follows a restrictive, one-week diet, isn’t easy because every person is different.
But, people do experience fast weight gain after they stop some of these short-term diets unless there is a plan in place to keep the weight loss stable.
What Is the Meal Plan for the 3-Day Military Diet?
Instead of focusing on the burning of calories, this diet is focused on reducing the consumption of calories by lowering the types and amount of foods that a person consumes.
Here’s how it looks:
Day 1
Breakfast:
A slice of toast
2 tbsp of peanut butter
Half a grapefruit
A cup of coffee or tea
Lunch:
A slice of toast
Half a cup of tuna
A cup of coffee or tea
Dinner:
An apple
Half a banana
A cup of green beans
3 ounces of meat
A cup of vanilla ice cream
Day 2
Breakfast:
A slice of toast
An egg
Half a banana
Lunch:
A hard-boiled egg
5 saltine crackers
A cup of cottage cheese
Dinner:
Half a banana
Half a cup of carrots
A cup of broccoli
2 hot dogs, without the bun
Half a cup of vanilla ice cream
Day 3
Breakfast:
A slice of cheddar
5 saltine crackers
An apple
Lunch:
A slice of toast
An egg
Dinner:
Half a banana
A cup of tuna
A cup of vanilla ice cream
For the remaining days of the diet, it’s recommendable to follow a healthy, balanced diet. Eat snacks but in smaller amounts. To speed up the loss of pounds, you should follow a diet with 1500 calories per day.
Vegans or vegetarians can replace meat and animal products with suitable alternatives. For example, 2 tbsp of hummus and half an avocado instead of tuna.
Cottage cheese can be replaced with tofu.
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