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Does the Military Diet Work?

There are the diets detractors that say the diet isn’t nutritious.  Their main complaint seems to be because of the hot dogs and the vanilla ice cream as part of the dinner. The word nutrition is thrown around a lot in the diet world.  Why should we choke down romaine lettuce instead of iceberg when clearly iceberg tastes better? Apparently because “nutrition” told us to.

Does the Military Diet Work Because it is Nutritious?

Nutrition is simply the process of obtaining the food necessary for health and growth.  This requires a balance of foods.  The body requires 7 main components to be healthy.  These pillars of nutrition are:

• Carbohydrates
• Proteins
• Fats
• Fiber
• Water
• Minerals
• Vitamins

All 7 of these are present in the 3 day military diet.  Does the Military Diet Work because it full of kale and rhubarb?  No it is full of normal food and that is where its success lies.  The diet isn’t unhealthy by any means.  In fact, this diet is healthier than most Americans eat regularly.  If you ate nothing but hot dogs and ice cream all day you might run into some problems.  Many have been on the diet for 3 days and then immediately go on the diet for another 3 days.  This isn’t recommended because you can slow down your metabolism eating so few calories each day. This doesn’t do your metabolism any favors but it is no problem nutritionally.

Losing weight is more about how much you eat not necessarily what you eat.  Years ago there was a professor that lost weight on Twinkies, Nutty bars, and Powdered donuts. He did take a multivitamin and had sporadic vegetables.  But the mysterious part of the experiment was that he was healthier after his “convenience store” diet.  His “bad” cholesterol, or LDL, dropped 20 percent and his “good” cholesterol, or HDL, increased by 20 percent. He reduced his level of triglycerides, which are a form of fat, by 39 percent.  I’m sure someone called him out for not having the right level of “nutrition”.  But he lost weight and he was healthier.  It is pretty clear that his diet worked for him.

Do what works for you, Diet or no Diet

Everybody is different and everyone’s body is different.  Some just can’t seem to “eat right”. And some will never now what that means.  There are those out in the nutrition world that claim the definition of eating right is eating nothing but vegetables.  But what is right for you may not work for your neighbor.   There are people that can lose weight if they stick to eating candy as long as they have to unwrap it.  Others can drink and smoke heavily clear into their 100’s.  That doesn’t mean that you should follow in their path.  The point is to do what works for you.  Does the Military Diet Work because it has candy, Twinkies, and Nutty bars?  No!  The 3 Day Military diet works because it makes it easy.   It takes the decision making out of the process.  Some doctors claim that willpower is a finite resource.  They claim that the more you use the less you have to use.

How Does the Military Diet work if you are only on it for 3 Days?

You know what you have to eat for breakfast.  You know what lunch is.  You know what to expect for dinner.  There’s no guesswork.  The 3 day military diet probably didn’t originate from the military.  It is based on following the diet like a soldier follows orders.  And if you follow the diet like a soldier, and don’t cheat, you will lose weight.  It is only 3 days at a time.  It’s easy enough for anyone to follow.

How Does the Military Diet Work out to be Cheaper?

Another benefit of the diet is that it’s cheap.  Real cheap.  Did companies like Bally Total Fitness, Gold’s Gym , 24 Hour Fitness, Weight Watchers International, NutriSystem, eDiets and Jenny Craig get to be billion dollar business because Americans are happy with how they look and feel?  No. The average diet works out to a costly $85.79 a week — that’s 58 percent more than the $54.44 the average single American spends on food each week.  The Sugar Busters diet is a diet based on baked turkey breast and vegetables. It has shown a lot higher success rate than the average American diet and it was cheaper.  Diets that take the decision and temptation out of the dieters hands have a much better chance of working. And real foods work better than “special” diet foods and expensive pills.

And how is it that a diet ended up being more expensive anyway?  Diets are about consuming less.  Many diets have an element of exercise and that is healthy and important.  But losing weight starts and ends in the kitchen.  Very few can burn enough calories to eat what they want.  To lose weight you simply need to take in fewer calories than you are burning.  And if you are consuming less calories on a diet why are they more expensive than normal eating?

You don’t need Jenny Craig or Nutrisystem food.  Many diets of basic foods that keep you satisfied and full of energy will do much better than starving yourself or eating “special” food that is supposed to make a difference.  You would be better off eating junk food as long as you kept your calories lower than your basal metabolic rate.

How much can I lose on the 3 Day Meal Plan?

The 3 day Military Diet is based on 7 days.  3 days of the plan the dieter is restricted to around 1200-1300 calories.  After the 3 days you return to eating normal.  This does not mean to eat like a starving pilgrim! If you normally eat 2,000 calories to maintain your weight, then stick to the 2,000 calories.  If you don’t normally have a coke after lunch then you can’t have a coke after the diet.  You don’t want to play catch up.  There is no reward in food or drink.  The reward is losing weight.

 So how much weight can you lose?  This is the trickiest question of the bunch.  It’s a hard question to answer because everyone has a different basal metabolic rate.  A person’s basal metabolic rate is the rate of calories your body uses just to sustain itself.  Some have higher metabolisms than others. The diet is the same for an athletic guy weighing 240 lbs. and for a small woman in her 70’s.  Obviously the higher the metabolic rate and lifestyle the higher the weight loss.  But losing 10 lbs in a week is not uncommon.

Military Diet Snacks

Snacks?  There aren’t any.  It is 3 meals a day.  We address snacks in our Military Diet FAQS.

Hypothetically if someone wanted to spread out their meal a bit, that is allowed.  But there are no snacks on the 3 day diet plan.  The meal plan works because certain foods are eaten together.  The foods are chemically balanced to maximize fat burning and to help metabolism.  There is nothing magic about it.  The real magic is in the low calorie count and how the foods will keep your energy up.  One of the main reasons that diets fail is because dieters have low energy and lose will power.

Snacks are a modern day invention.  Our ancestors didn’t have easy access to snacks.  They gorged when food was available and fasted when food wasn’t.  Our biology is set up to make us feel hungrier when we eat more.  This is dangerous and results in weight gain.  Train you body to eat 3 meals a day (still probably more than our ancestors) and you will consume less calories.

Military Diet Success Stories

Does the Military Diet Work only on paper or is it a diet that works in real-time? Just about every diet I have ever seen has its success stories.  The military diet is no different.    The forums of the internet are full of those that have lost weight on the diet.  And conversely, every diet has its detractors.  The military diet is the same as well.  There is more than one claim that the diet is nothing but hogwash.  Diet and weight loss is nothing more than what we put into it.  If you expect great results and do all you can you will be successful on the 3 day military diet.

Many ask does the military diet work only if you work out hard.  I think these are those that watch The Biggest Loser and are used to fat people running around doing silly exercises all day.  90% of a weight loss plan starts and ends in the kitchen.  This is why the military diet is powerful.

You’ll be Surprised with How Well it Works

We know that there are many diets out there that work.  But some diets work better than others and some are easier than others.  Like we mentioned above, everyone is different.  Fasting works well to lose weight but it isn’t easy. If you want a balance of a weight loss plan that is quick and relatively easy try the 3 day military diet.  The power of the diet is that the plan is laid out for you and food works well to give you everything you need to not suffer like some diets make you suffer.  We feel the 3 day military diet is the easiest way to shed weight fast.  Give it a try.  You’ll be surprised at how well it works.