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Many diet fads have come and gone, but the 3 Day Diet has been with us for over 20 years, believe it or not.
This diet promises a massive 10lb weight loss – please note it does not say “fat loss”- in just 3 days. Hence the name. Is this real? Do they lie? Tubby investigates….
The origins of this diet seem to be lost in the mists of time, but the claims that the foods you are allowed to eat create a “metabolic reaction” remain unproved. Having cast my eye over the ingredients of this diet, one thing becomes clear; there will certainly be a “bowel reaction”. I’d steer clear of people for the 3 days if I were you!
That or blame the dog…
The 3 Day Diet has to be followed to the letter if the weight loss is to be achieved, and all ingredients have to be weighed. After the 3 days, normal eating (and bowel service!) must be resumed, and you simply MUST be in good health to give it a try.
Here it is in all its glory:-
You must drink at least 4 glasses of water a day. You are allowed a cup of black coffee or tea with sweetener at each meal.
Day 1
Breakfast:
½ grapefruit or juice
1 slice toast with 1 tbsp peanut butter
Lunch:
½ cup tuna (approx 3oz), 1 slice toast
Dinner:
3oz lean meat, 1 cup green beans, 1 cup carrots
1 cup vanilla ice cream
1 apple
Day 2
Breakfast:
1 slice toast, 1 egg (any style)
1 small banana
Lunch:
1 cup tuna or cottage cheese
5 crackers
Dinner:
2 Frankfurters, ½ cup carrots,1 cup broccoli or cabbage
½ cup vanilla ice cream
1 banana
Day 3
Breakfast:
5 crackers
1oz cheese
1 apple
Lunch:
1 slice toast
1 egg, hardboiled
Dinner:
1 cup tuna, 1 cup carrots, 1 cup cauliflower
1 cup melon
½ cup vanilla ice cream
And that’s it. You are allowed lemon, salt and pepper, mustard. Oh, whoopee. Well, one thing’s for sure – you’ll certainly lose weight. But it’ll be mostly water and muscle tissue. There’s only around 500 – 600 calories a day in this menu, which is less than half what you need to function. As soon as you eat normally again on Day 4, you’ll put it all back on again. And I seriously can’t figure out the point of having the vanilla ice cream. Maybe it’s to give you a bit of calcium. If that’s the case, choose a good quality ice cream like Ben & Jerrys.
I freely admit that, as a Brit, these U.S cup measurements confuse me; they seem to mean something different each time. Conversion charts tell me that 1 cup = 8oz, but that would mean 16oz of veg with dinner on Day 3.
Not even King Kong could eat that much veg and survive.
Let’s face it; there’s just not enough to eat in there. No exercise is suggested – not surprising because you’ll barely have enough energy to rush to the bathroom. And you’ll be producing enough gas to cause a hazard to the ozone layer all by yourself. All in all, not a diet I could freely recommend. And I didn’t find any websites that liked it either.
BUT…
If you want to kick start your Weight Loss regime, are in perfect health, have the stomach of a concrete elephant and accept that this 3 Day Diet should only be done maybe once every six months, then it won’t do you any harm. The important thing is to increase your calorie intake to around 1600 kcals per day on day 4, make sure you are eating a balanced diet again and start an exercise regime, even if it’s just a walk around the block. When you emerge from the bathroom, that is.
If you use this diet as a tool and not as a diet in itself, then it will work; you’ll probably find that you don’t put all the weight back on, and if you continue eating sensibly and exercising, the weight will keep coming off at about 1 – 2lb a week. Which is absolutely perfect.
All the best,
Carol J Bartram
(Personal Trainer, Pilates Instructor & Massage Therapist)
Three Day Diet
Next Diet The Zone Diet
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