Do you want to lose 10 pounds in just three days?

Well, the creators and followers of the 3 Day Diet have already enticed so many people with this promise that it has gained a lot of popularity on social media sites like Facebook and Pinterest.

And I can see why, who wouldn’t want to try something that produces great results?

But you know me, I’m a bit skeptical. You have to show me proof before I believe such extraordinary claims right away.

So I did some research myself to find out what the 3 day diet exactly is and whether it actually works.

What is the 3 Day Diet?

The 3 day diet is one of the few diets that was not just a hype and has been around for many years. But just because something has been around for years does not automatically mean that it is good.

Also known as “the military diet”, the 3 day diet is really quite strict. It involves sticking to an incredibly strict diet of less than 1000 calories per day for 3 consecutive days and then taking a break for 4-5 days.

You may also be familiar with other diets. Another more recent diet that has been all the rage lately is the 5:2 diet , which involves fasting for 2 days with 5 day breaks in between.

But are the health benefits the same? Or is the 3 day diet just another one of the many things that say it works but actually don’t? We looked at what this diet promises and we asked experts for their advice.

How does it work?

By limiting your daily calories to less than 1000 calories per day for 3  days, this diet claims it can boost your metabolism to burn more fat and lose weight quickly.

One thing to keep in mind is that unlike the 5:2 diet, the 3 day diet really needs to be followed for 3 consecutive days. That means that unlike the 5:2 where you have to fast for days, you simply limit your calorie intake.

For 3 days you follow a strict meal plan, which you really should not deviate from to get optimal results.

Unlike other diets, there is no diet book, group or website that explains exactly how the diet works and why your metabolism increases. So let’s try to find out for ourselves

The meal plan of the 3 Day Diet:

One thing that is very important to know about the 3 Day Diet is that it will not work if you don’t stick to it exactly.

So that means you have to follow it to the letter, portion sizes are essential, and the diet says you eat at set times even though you may not feel hungry.

• Day 1
• Day 2
• Day 3
• Myth 1: Eating Healthy and Nutritious with the 3-Day Diet
• Myth 2: You only need to diet for three days with the 3-day diet
• Myth 3: You don’t have to count calories with the 3-day diet
• Myth 4: It’s no problem to lose 10 pounds in three days
• Myth 5: The 3-Day Diet Loses More Than Just Fluid
• Myth 6: The 3 Day Diet Will Speed ​​Up Your Metabolism
• Energy Needs and Weight Loss
• Introducing changes gradually
• Increase your activity levels
• Reduce your calorie intake
• Be patient and persevere

Day 1

• Breakfast
  • Black coffee or tea, with 1-2 scoops of artificial sweetener
  • 1/2 grapefruit or juice
  • 1 slice of toast with 1 tablespoon peanut butter
• Lunch
  • 150 grams of tuna
  • 1 slice of toast
  • Black coffee or tea, with 1-2 scoops of artificial sweetener
• Supper
  • 85 grams of lean meat or chicken
  • 150 grams of green beans
  • 125 grams of carrots
  • 1 apple
  • 125 grams of vanilla ice cream

Day 2

• Breakfast
  • Black coffee or tea, with 1-2 scoops of artificial sweetener
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 banana
  • 1 slice of toast
• Lunch
  • 225 grams of cottage cheese or 150 grams of tuna
  • 8 cream crackers
• Supper
  • 2 beef sausages
  • 85 grams of broccoli or kale
  • 65 grams of carrots
  • 1/2 banana
  • 65 grams vanilla ice cream

Day 3

• Breakfast
  • Black coffee or tea, with 1-2 scoops of artificial sweetener
  • 5 cream crackers
  • 25 grams cheddar cheese
  • 1 apple
• Lunch
  • Black coffee or tea, with 1-2 scoops of artificial sweetener
  • 1 boiled egg
  • 1 slice of toast
• Supper
  • 150 grams of tuna
  • 125 grams of carrots
  • 140 grams of cauliflower
  • 175 grams of melon
  • 65 grams vanilla ice cream

In addition, you should also drink 950 ml of water or non-caloric drinks per day.

But who actually created this seemingly amazing diet plan that promises you’ll lose five times more weight?

Some people believe that the 3 Day Diet was passed by word of mouth and spread via junk mail. In the 1980s it became known as the Fax Diet because anonymous faxes about this “miracle diet” were popping up everywhere.

The 3 day diet also has other names such as the ice cream diet, the military diet, or the army or navy diet. All of these institutions prefer not to be associated with this diet and do not endorse its use, which strikes me as a huge warning sign.

If I had come up with a successful weight loss plan, I would certainly want to get all the credit for it… unless of course it didn’t work. And if these health-conscious institutions don’t want to be associated with the diet, there might be something wrong or at least have a good reason for it, right?

6 Myths About the 3-Day Diet

After doing some research I discovered some myths about the 3 Day Diet that I think you should know too.

Myth 1: Eating Healthy and Nutritious with the 3-Day Diet

While some extreme diets will only let you drink water with lemon and others will let you drink only fruit juice or meal replacement shakes, the 3 Day Diet contains inexpensive ingredients and makes it easy to follow meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner as well.

Sorry, no snacks are allowed, not even healthy snacks.

So with this diet, you only eat healthy lean proteins such as tuna, eggs, and lean meat, and fruit such as banana and grapefruit and whole-grain toast. I can relate to that.

On day two, eat beef sausage for dinner and then vanilla ice cream for dessert. Those are two things I wouldn’t expect on a short-term diet.

Not only does day two’s dinner sounds not remotely like a diet, but look what’s on the menu on day three: tuna, banana, and ice cream, anyone? That combination just sounds like vomiting when you think about it, let alone when you eat it.

As you can see, this meal plan is far from ideal.

Contrary to what you may think, you don’t have to limit yourself to tuna, eggs, and crackers to lose weight! You can also lose weight and be healthy by eating an abundance of good food.

My big problem here is that the 3-day diet is not something that is going to work for the long term. It is not sustainable at all and does nothing to teach you good long-term habits.

In short: if you follow such a diet, you never learn how to eat healthily. Your body gets used to a yo-yo diet cycle instead of getting used to a complete, stable way of eating.

Myth 2: You only need to diet for three days with the 3-day diet

The 3-day diet is actually a misunderstanding because in reality you are actually only dieting for 7 days for the entire month. Let me explain to you.

The intention is to follow a strict diet every three days, that part is good. But then there are four days of no dieting.

No, these are not smuggling days, not at all. Instead, make sure you eat a diet that is very low in carbohydrates and also contains lean protein and vegetables.

So except during the 3-day diet, there are zero smuggling days. I don’t know about you but if I follow a healthy diet there should also be room for a pizza or a piece of baguette with butter once in a while.

And what should you do after the month is over?

The chance that you will return to your old habits is very high.

Myth 3: You don’t have to count calories with the 3-day diet

Most diets want you to track your calories on your iPhone, for example, but the diet ‘experts’ of the 3 Day Diet say that you don’t have to count your calories while following this meal plan.

But that’s a bit weird.

If you follow the displayed sizes and foods without looking at how many calories each contains, you have absolutely no overview of the number of calories you consume. For example, if you don’t like tuna at all and have to look for a replacement, you should at least be able to find out how many calories, carbohydrates, and proteins it contains in order to find a good alternative.

For the four rest days on which you do not follow the diet, you will also have to keep an eye on your calories. Since you are absolutely not allowed to smuggle, you have to pay attention to the calories you consume so that you know if this is in line with the typical calorie range that the 3-day diet meets, between 800-1000 calories per day, and this is very difficult without counting.

And that leads me to the next problem of this diet plan.

The minimum estimated daily calorie intake is 1,200 for women and about 2,200 for men. While that may lead to rapid weight loss, it can also lead to extreme fatigue, hunger, and mood problems.

Myth 4: It’s no problem to lose 10 pounds in three days

For most people, it takes at least a month to safely lose 10 pounds and not a week.

In general, the more weight you have to lose, the easier and faster it will be. If you’re high on the BMI scale and actually moving towards obesity, avoiding harmful fast foods and cutting calories will naturally cause you to lose weight.

But losing such a large amount of weight so quickly is usually not permanent and the weight you will gain back will hit you twice as hard. When you really work hard to get long-term results by following a stable, healthy diet and exercising more, you’ll keep the weight off for longer and it’s not just fluid loss that makes the pounds fly off.

Myth 5: The 3-Day Diet Loses More Than Just Fluid

Yo-yo dieters are often faced with the exciting feeling of losing a lot of weight in a very short time.

Psychologically this motivates people and makes them want to stick to their diet until reality hits hard and they realize that they want more diversity in their food choices, that their bodies can no longer tolerate it or that they want to stop their diet completely.

Then the weight slowly comes back and the problems start all over again.

Followers and creators of the 3 Day Diet say that not only do you lose fluids and therefore lose weight, but you also actually lose fat. However, there is no clinical evidence that this statement is correct.

I’m really not surprised that the followers of the 3-day diet lose so much fluid; they have to drink tea or coffee all the time and as we know caffeine is a diuretic. They also lower the number of calories and carbohydrates, which can also cause a lot of fluid loss.

You lose weight that consists of fluid quickly, but losing that weight that consists of fat is not easy. But moisture is also the easiest weight to gain and especially if you do not move you will quickly suffer from this.

Myth 6: The 3 Day Diet Will Speed ​​Up Your Metabolism

As if this diet didn’t have enough snags and does everything it can to convince you to follow it, it also proudly claims that it can speed up your metabolism so that you can lose 10 kilos per week without any form of exercise.

You can hardly say this without laughing, right?

Not only is there absolutely no scientific evidence for this statement, but it also so utterly contradicts everything we know about our metabolism.

The only things you can really do to increase your metabolism is to do regular exercises, especially strength training, and build more muscle. Stimulants such as caffeine may also have a temporary effect.

As you can see, the 3-day diet does not talk about exercising at all and you will therefore not increase strength or build muscle to burn more calories.

So what should you do instead?

The healthiest way to lose weight is really not by following a crash diet or suddenly start exercising like crazy. The body likes slow changes in terms of food and exercise.

Someone who has not exercised for years should not suddenly start jogging for miles a day or toil on the treadmill. Not only will this feel like a struggle that leaves you feeling discouraged and demotivated, but you are also much more likely to get injured and feel physically weak.

The same goes for people who suddenly start starving themselves. Diets that require you to severely restrict your calories all at once can lead to deficiencies in the nutrients and vitamins your body really needs.

So, if you want to lose weight, what should you do?

1.           Energy Needs and Weight Loss

Your body uses the food you eat for energy. It stores all excess energy as fat. This means that if you eat more food than your body needs for daily activities, the rest will be stored as fat as a kind of reserve.

In order to lose weight you actually have to start using this fat storage. The most effective way to do this is:

• Reducing the amount of calories you eat (but not too much!)
• More exercise

2.           Introducing changes gradually

Small changes can make a big difference. An extra cookie per week can already lead to more than 5 pounds of extra weight per year and if you omit that cookie completely, you can also lose that weight extra.

You are also more likely to stick to your diet longer if you, for example, replace whole milk for the semi-skimmed or skimmed version and choose a diet that allows you to have a good breakfast instead of a diet that imposes very strict rules on you.

You should really start to see the weight loss as a permanent change in your eating habits. While most people set themselves a goal to lose x number of kilos after a few weeks, it is better to ask yourself where you want to be in a few months or years as this will often lead to lifestyle changes for life.

3.           Increase your activity levels

Someone who suddenly starts to move a lot more but continues to follow the same diet and does not do anything about his calorie intake will have a hard time losing weight.

You really don’t have to suddenly become a sports freak and get into action — even light exercise, such as a short 20-minute walk, if you do it a few days a week, can be beneficial for weight loss.

Remember that if you exercise more than usual you will burn more calories and fat.

There are many ways to get more exercise. Participating in team sports or racquet sports, taking aerobics classes or running, hiking, swimming and cycling will all improve your fitness level. If you need some motivation or just want to keep track of how much you actually move, it can be worth buying a fitness tracker.

If you do an activity that you enjoy, it is easier to stick to and before you sign up for something, also check the location and costs because it has to be feasible. If the activity is available near you, it will be easier for you to incorporate it into your routine and you will likely have less missed sessions due to vacations, family commitments, etc.

Also go out on the weekend. Leave your car and go to the store on foot. Try taking longer walks to the park, along the coast, or plan a trip to the countryside and bring a picnic basket so you can control what you eat that day.

Every extra step you take helps. Always take the stairs instead of the elevator, or if you travel by bus get off one stop earlier and walk the rest of the way home.

Use the commercial breaks in between TV shows to get up and do some exercise or put an exercise bike in the living room and get some exercise while watching your favorite show.

4.           Reduce your calorie intake

If you are overweight , you cannot continue with your current eating habits if you really want to lose weight.

It is not possible to lose body fat while still eating pastries, fatty foods and sweets on a regular basis. This does not mean that you should never eat it again, but you should learn how to eat small amounts of it on special occasions, for example.

In order to achieve weight loss you need to make sure your body starts using its own fat reserves and through that you need to eat less and make healthier choices so that your body will use the fat for energy.

This means no crash diets (less than 1500 calories a day), which usually end in or get weaker or give up in despair. Quick fix diets can also lead to a yo-yo effect and many people see drastic weight loss first followed by weight gain, resulting in a vicious cycle and poor self-esteem.

There are no quick ways to lose weight in a healthy and reasonable way.

Eating 300 to 500 calories less per day will lead to a loss of between 1 and 2 pounds per week. This is a realistic goal. It may seem slow, but it still allows for a weight loss of more than 50 pounds in a year.

Below are some ways to reduce your calorie intake without making significant changes to your diet.

• Replace soft drinks and fruit juices with water.
• Hies for skimmed or semi-skimmed milk instead of whole milk
• Eat less lunch than usual. For example, prepare a sandwich at home and limit the use of margarine or butter and full-fat mayonnaise (ready-made sandwiches often contain this).
• Stop using sugar in tea and coffee.
• Eat smaller portions and enjoy your food more.
• Avoid a second round at dinner.
• Leave out unhealthy things like pastries, sweet cookies, and chips between meals.
• Reduce your alcohol intake.

All these things will positively affect your health.

Finally, don’t be tempted to skip breakfast — or any other meal because you want to lose weight so badly. By skipping a meal, your calorie intake may decrease at the time, but later you will become very hungry and eat more.

Not only are you likely to make up for the calories you missed, but you often make poor choices to fill the hunger hole: a bar isn’t as healthy as a cereal box, and it’s less filling, making you more at another meal. will eat.

Irregular eating habits also disrupt your body’s metabolism, making it harder to lose weight in the first place.

5.           Be patient and persevere

It may take a week or two before you notice any change but it will eventually happen. After the first month you can see the results through your loose clothing you will definitely notice it.

Staying motivated is one of the most difficult aspects of dieting. There will be days when you want to throw healthy food out the window and there will be weeks when you won’t lose any weight at all – or just a little.

This is normal and happens to everyone – whether you’re on a diet or not – so don’t let it get in the way of your plans to lose weight. You’re not doing anything ‘wrong’, but you may need to adjust your plan. Are you moving enough? Do you need to make some changes to your diet? Maybe you need to put in more effort to stick to your current plan?

Of course, you also have to make sure that you achieve your goals. While it’s nice to step on the scale and see a lower number, it’s better to look for something that will work in the long run and will keep your clothes looser forever. Include your friends and family in your plan. They can correct you or remind you not to eat certain foods, but they can also support you in difficult times. The support you get from others can get you through it.

Finally…

As we get older we gain weight. A few pounds over the years shouldn’t be a problem, but people who suddenly gain more than 10 pounds compared to their weight as an 18-year-old run a greater risk of health problems. Women in particular are at greater risk of having a heart attack and are twice as likely to die of cancer.

It may not seem like something to worry about right now, but trust me time flies and before you know it it will be here. By maintaining your weight now, you probably have less chance of developing obesity and diseases in the later years.