The 3-Day Diet, also known as the Military Diet, is a weight loss plan that promises rapid results by drastically reducing calorie intake for a short period. While the allure of losing 10 pounds in a week is tempting, it's essential to understand the diet's principles, potential benefits, and drawbacks before embarking on this restrictive regimen.
What is the 3-Day Diet?
The 3-Day Diet is a fad diet that claims that by drastically cutting calories for three days, you can drop 10 pounds in a week. It also encourages you to lower the amount of calories you eat for four more days after the initial three-day plan. Despite the name, it didn't come from the military. The name was inspired by the discipline and willpower you need to be in the military, implying that you need the same traits to complete this diet.
This diet only allows 1,100 to 1,400 calories per day. The Military Diet spells out exactly what you should eat for three days and gives you visual indicators for measuring serving sizes depending on the food.
The menu is made up of three breakfasts, lunches, and dinners. For instance, one lunch consists of one cup of cottage cheese, one hard-boiled egg, and five saltine crackers. For dinner, you can have one cup of tuna, half a banana, and one cup of vanilla ice cream. It doesn't allow you to snack in between meals.
If you continue the diet, you'll eat no more than 1,500 calories for the next four days. The average adult needs about 1,600 to 3,000 calories each day.
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What You Can and Cannot Eat
The 3-Day Diet is very specific about approved foods, so it's easy to know what's allowed and what isn't. There is a list of substitutions if you don’t like a certain food, and there's also a vegetarian and vegan version of the diet. If you do make substitutions, rather than matching serving sizes, make sure that you adjust the portion sizes so that you get the same amount of calories. One cup of a certain food may have more or less calories than one cup of a different food. The 3-Day Diet has a serving size guide to help you with this.
Foods Allowed
Some common foods you can eat on the standard Military Diet include:
- Toast and saltine crackers
- Fruit such as grapefruit, bananas, and apples
- Proteins such as tuna, boiled eggs, peanut butter, and hot dogs
- Select vegetables, including broccoli, green beans, and carrots
- Dairy like ice cream, cottage cheese, and cheddar cheese
- Tea and coffee
- No-calorie seasonings such as salt, pepper, lemon juice, fresh garlic, and certain spices
- Low-calorie condiments such as mustard, hot sauce, and low-sodium soy sauce
The vegan and vegetarian version of the diet replace milk-based items with dairy-free options. It also includes meat alternatives like beans, tofu, hummus, and veggie hot dogs.
Foods to Avoid
This diet largely focuses on what you can eat. Anything else shouldn't be included in your three-day plan. The guidelines do mention a few things that you should avoid for sure, such as:
- Cream and sugar in your coffee
- Sweeteners except stevia
- Garlic salt
- Alcohol
- Condiments such as mayo, ketchup, and store-bought salad dressings
3-Day Diet Food List
To help you with grocery shopping or meal prep, here are all the ingredients you need for the Military Diet sorted by food type.
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- Produce: 2 bananas, 2 apples, 1 grapefruit, Green beans (fresh, frozen, or canned), 1 small head of broccoli, Carrots
- Meat and seafood: 3 cans of tuna, Hot dogs, 3 ounces of your choice of meat
- Dairy: Cottage cheese, Cheddar cheese, Vanilla ice cream
- Eggs
- Bakery: Whole wheat bread
- Snacks: Saltine crackers
- Condiments: Peanut butter
- Beverages: Tea and coffee
Potential Benefits of the 3-Day Diet
Even though the diet is very short, it does have some pros other than weight loss. Its rules encourage a few helpful things:
- No added sugars and sweeteners that don't have nutritional value, except for stevia
- Cooking your own food instead of eating out
- An easy-to-follow meal plan
Risks and Drawbacks of the 3-Day Diet
The diet's main weaknesses come from the effects of drastically cutting calories. This can have short- and long-term consequences.
- You're not burning fat. Generally, the goal of weight loss is to lose fat, which takes time. When you lose weight on a three-day diet, you're likely just losing water weight. So, one con of the Military Diet is that you're not actually reaching the typical health goal of losing weight through fat loss.
- It limits exercise. While the 3-Day Diet technically advises moderate exercise, such as walking, it also suggests cutting back if you feel dizzy or weak due to a lack of energy during the diet. Exercise is key to proper weight loss that targets fat instead of muscle mass. But the calorie limit of the Military Diet restricts how active you can be because your body simply cannot sustain the exercise.
- It can disrupt normal body functions. Cutting back on nutrients can lead to constipation, exhaustion, low energy, hair loss, loss of bone strength and density, and a weakened immune system.
- It can affect your mental health. Fad diets like this one that promise quick, short-term weight loss through extreme changes can take a toll on your body. It often leads to a cycle of yo-yo dieting, where you may start strong but "give in" to cravings later, breaking the diet rules. This can make you feel guilty before you restart. This can increase your chances of eating disorders and low quality of life and well-being.
Who Should Avoid the 3-Day Diet?
This diet is only safe short-term. But if you struggle to set healthy eating habits already, you may want to avoid it. Studies show that dramatically cutting calories can encourage an unhealthy relationship with food as well as eating disorders.
Rapid weight-loss diets are also generally not suggested for:
- Children
- Teenagers
- Pregnant women
- Older adults
Expert Opinion
Dr. Melinda Ratini is a physician specializing in family medicine. She has expertise in treating obesity, coronary artery disease, hypertension, among other conditions. Here is her take on the 3-Day Diet:
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- Does it work? You will likely lose weight on any diet if you eat less than 910 calories a day. But losing 10 pounds in three days is both unlikely and unhealthy. To lose just 1 pound of body fat, you need to reduce your daily calories by about 500 a day for a whole week. That's giving up 3,500 calories over the course of seven days. To lose 10 pounds in three days would mean decreasing your calorie intake by 35,000 calories in just three days! The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics recommends a slow and steady weight loss of no more than 1/2 to 1 pound a week. Otherwise you are losing muscle and water, as well as weakening your bones. You also are much more likely to gain it all back.
- Is it good for certain conditions? The 3-Day Diet is low calorie, but it certainly is not low-fat, low-salt, or low cholesterol, so it is not a healthy option for most people with certain medical conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, and high cholesterol. If you are overweight, weight loss is key to managing these conditions. But it should be a healthy and sustainable weight loss that includes healthy nutrition and exercise.
The Final Word
The 3-Day Diet is a very low-calorie diet that uses simple foods that are low in cost and easy to find and prepare. A short-term weight loss is likely. But that is where the good news ends.
During the three days of the diet, balanced nutrition is lacking. Some of the foods that are recommended are high in salt and fat and would not be appropriate for people with certain medical problems like heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, or high cholesterol. You may not be getting enough vitamins, minerals, and fiber while you are on the diet. If you are taking medicine for your diabetes and want to try the 3-day diet, it's important to talk with your doctor first about how to adjust your medicine.
Physical activity is an important part of a healthy lifestyle and helps prevent and treat heart disease and diabetes. But the 3-Day Diet does not address this at all. Nor does it teach you how to make changes in your diet that will allow for a lifetime of healthy eating.
Finally, such a restrictive diet takes the enjoyment out of eating. During the three days a week that you are following the plan, eating out or with others could be very tough. Also, boring diets are very hard to maintain. The temptation to overeat on the other four days of the week when you are not dieting will likely be high.
Remember, when it comes to weight loss, slow and steady really does win the race.
The 3-Apple-a-Day Diet: An Alternative Approach
Another dietary approach involving apples is the 3-Apple-a-Day diet. This plan focuses on incorporating three apples into your daily routine to potentially aid weight loss and improve overall health.
Potential Benefits of the 3-Apple-a-Day Diet
The 3-Apple-a-Day diet increases fresh produce and lean protein intake, and it establishes a habit of regular exercise without requiring you to purchase expensive dietary supplements or equipment.
In her book, Flynn says that the diet has helped people lose weight - in particular fat - while keeping cholesterol and blood sugar in check. While no research has been done on her diet plan, research on the health benefits of apples gives an idea of the diet’s efficacy.
- Aids Weight Loss: Some research suggests that the fiber and polyphenols (antioxidant compounds) in apples could aid people in reaching their weight loss goals. A medium-sized apple contains 3.7 grams (g) of fiber, so eating three apples per day would mean getting about 12 g of fiber. Your minimum daily fiber intake should fall somewhere between 22 and 34 g depending on your age and sex, so eating three apples could get you almost halfway there. Other research has found that apple polyphenols may play a role in helping people across a wide range of body mass indexes keep off visceral fat, the type of fat that surrounds the organs and that can negatively impact health.
- Reduces Cholesterol: The diet claims to help people lower cholesterol, particularly LDL ("bad") cholesterol; a high LDL level is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, according to the American Heart Association. Pectin, a dietary fiber found in the cell walls of apples and other fruits, may also help lower cholesterol by improving the way your body metabolizes, or breaks down, fat.
- Stabilizes Blood Sugar: When it comes to the 3-Apple-a-Day diet’s potential impact on blood sugar, results are mixed. In a small study in which people ate an apple and white rice in different orders, people with normal and impaired blood glucose both had lower blood sugar after mealtime when they ate the apple first.
The Three Apple Diet Plan: A Phased Approach
The data is clear: apples are a superfood. They are rich in soluble fiber and phytonutrients like flavonol as well as vitamin C. Scientific research has shown that the regular consumption of apples can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and certain forms of cancer. Furthermore, some studies have demonstrated that individuals who eat an apple before each meal (breakfast, lunch, and dinner), consumed less food (and therefore, about 15% less calories) when compared to those who did not have the pre-meal apple.
A medium sized apple has about 70 calories, so 3 apples are just over 200 calories. Additionally, unlike a bag of chips or other common pre-packaged snacks, a single apple is also a great self-contained portion control device. It is hard to accidentally or mindlessly devour an entire bushel of apples.
- Phase One (Days 1 to 10): During first 10 days, you get to eat exactly the same way that you are eating right now, except before each meal, you enjoy a medium apple first. Also, you can choose any apple variety you wish.
- Phase Two (Days 11 to 20): After the first ten days, you continue to enjoy the same foods you love. You also continue to eat a medium sized apple before each meal. Now you simply add two really big salads to your day: one with lunch, one with dinner.
- Phase Three (Begins Day 21): This is the final phase of the diet and will you continue to eat this way until you achieve your ideal weight. In this phase, you continue to enjoy an apple before each meal as well a large salad with lunch and dinner. Now you remove all the processed food, fast food, fried food, and junk food from you diet and focus on whole foods. A simple definition of whole foods are those foods which are produced by Mother Nature instead of the foodstuffs which are product of human industry; whole foods are those food which are grown or raised.