In a military diet, people are supposed to have a low-calorie diet for around 3 days and come back to a 4 day normal diet. During the first three days, the calorie intake is restricted to 1400 for the first day, 1300 for the second day and 1200 for the third day.
Usually, every diet plan has a high protein intake and low fat intake. Similarly, the military diet is high in protein intake and low in fat, calories, and carbohydrate.
Some other special food items are also involved that boosts body metabolism. But it is interesting to note that this diet plan has nothing to do with the military people.
Study shows that if people follow this diet, they can lose up to 10 pounds in 1 week and 30 pounds in one month. In this article, we are going to study whether this diet plan is effective, the advantages and disadvantages, etc.
Will the Military Diet Work?
Study shows that very-low-calorie diets (VLCD) are rich in protein and low in fats and hence can help people lose weight in a much effective way.
The diet plans that allow only below 1000 calories per day are called low-calorie diets. A VLCD allows only around 800 calories per day. If an obese person wants to do bariatric surgery, he has to lose weight before the surgery and VLCD is the best choice for it.
Since body type differs from person to person, the effect of this diet can be different for different people. The dangerous part is that if one stops any short-term diet plan immediately without doing anything to maintain the body, then there might be a greater gain in weight.
Military Diet Plan
Here is the 3-day military diet plan. People who are willing to follow this plan can purchase the necessary items before starting the diet. People are allowed to drink as much water as they can. They can even drink black coffee or tea.
Day 1
Breakfast
- ½ cup grapefruit
- 1 slice of toast
- 2 tbsp of peanut butter. You can prefer a salt-free, sugar-free brand
- 1 cup of black coffee or tea
Lunch
- 1/2 cup of tuna
- 1 slice of toast
- 1 cup of black coffee or tea
Dinner
- 3 ounces of meat (any form – chicken, mutton, etc)
- 1 cup of green beans
- 1/2 banana
- 1 small apple
- 1 cup of ice cream
Day 2
Breakfast
- 1 egg
- 1 slice of toast
- 1/2 a banana
Lunch
- 1 hard-boiled egg
- 1 cup of cottage cheese
- 5 saltine crackers
Dinner
- 2 hot dogs without buns
- 1 cup of broccoli
- ½ a cup of carrots
- 1/2 a banana
- 1/2 a cup of vanilla ice cream
Day 3
Breakfast
- 5 saltine crackers
- 1 slice of cheese
- 1 small apple
Lunch
- 1 hard-boiled egg
- 1 slice of toast
Dinner
- 1 cup of tuna
- 1/2 a banana
- 1 cup of vanilla ice cream
The above is a nonvegetarian meal plan. Below is the vegetarian meal plan for leaf eaters.
Vegetarian Meal Plan
A vegetarian or vegan meal plan is given below:
Day 1
Breakfast
- 1/2 a grapefruit
- 1 slice of toast
- 2 tbsp peanut butter
- 1 cup of black coffee or tea
Lunch
- 1/2 an avocado
- 2 tbsp hummus
- 1 slice of wheat toast
- 1 cup of black coffee or tea
Dinner
- tofu (up to 300 calories)
- 1 cup of green beans
- 1/2 a banana
- 1 small apple
- 1 cup of vanilla ice cream
If you are a vegan, you can use dairy-free products.
Day 2
Breakfast
- 1/2 a cup of baked beans
- 1 slice of wheat toast
- 1/2 a banana
Lunch
- 1 cup of unsweetened soy, almond milk or hemp
- 1/2 an avocado
- 2 tbsp hummus
- 5 saltine crackers
Dinner
- 2 hot dogs without the buns
- 1 cup of broccoli
- 1/2 a cup of carrots
- 1/2 a banana
- 1/2 a cup of vanilla ice cream. You can very well use dairy-free ice cream.
Day 3
Breakfast
- 1 slice of cheese (for vegans, about 15–20 almonds)
- 5 saltine crackers or ½ a cup of quinoa or 1/2 a cup of couscous
- 1 small apple
Lunch
- 1/2 an avocado
- 1 tbsp hummus
- 1 slice of wheat bread
Dinner
- 1/2 a cup of canned chickpeas
- 1/2 a banana
- 1 cup of vanilla ice cream (or dairy-free ice cream)
Shopping List
To follow the military diet, here are some things that you should buy. Better have them first before starting the diet since you wouldn’t need to discontinue the diet in the middle.
- peanut butter
- eggs
- cottage cheese
- a small amount of cheddar cheese
- a small piece of meat
- green beans
- one grapefruit
- two bananas
- two apples
- small head of broccoli
- caffeinated coffee or tea
- whole-wheat bread
- carrots
- saltine crackers
- three cans of tuna
- hot dogs
- vanilla ice cream
Disadvantages of the military diet
Though it is good to have a military diet, it can be the reason for some problems too. Here are some of the disadvantages of the military plan.
Intake of limited nutrients
The food included in the diet is rich in proteins but are scarce in minerals, fiber, and vitamins. These nutrients take care of the metabolism, health, energy production and detoxification.
Increased intake of added salt, saturated fat, and sugar
The diet contains cheese, hot dogs, and saltine crackers, etc that are rich in added salt. The food items might contain a lot of sodium that might be above the 2300 mg that is recommended.
The diet recommends eating hot dogs that contain processed meat which is rich in sodium and saturated fat.
The hot dogs that the diet recommends eating consist of processed meat. They contain high levels of saturated fat and sodium. The diet also includes ice cream which is rich in added sugar.
The ice cream contributes to around 300 calories and this can be substituted with grains, vegetables, and fruits.
Apart from these disadvantages, the diet is good for weight reduction and every person must try it at least once in their lifetime.
Drink You Can Take
Water is the best drink that you can have in ample quantities when you follow the military diet. Do not try any artificial drinks since they use artificial flavors and sweeteners which is not good for the blood sugar.
You can use Stevia, which is the only artificial sweetener you can use in a military diet. People love coffee. And you cannot cur coffee from your life for a military diet. So, just take black coffee which contributes to about 5 calories a cup. which is not a great deal… Enjoy the military diet.
