Pasta, pizza, cheeseburgers, and fries, who could turn these foods away? Apparently not me, after months of "motivating" myself to slim down. However, with a wedding coming up in only two short weeks, I was DESPERATE to lose 10 pounds. And by desperate, I mean, I was willing to cut off an arm, or maybe even a leg? I scoured my Pinterest looking for any "get skinny quick" pins. Juicing? Eh, not my thing. Herbalife shakes? Dang, too expensive! What if it doesn't even work? Then finally, bam! I found my solution, the military diet.
The military diet, also called the three day diet, is a weight-loss plan that claims to help you shed 10 lbs in three days. Yes, you heard me correctly, 10 lbs, three days. Almost unheard of, right? The shopping list for the meal plan was fairly inexpensive and for what I pay binging on fast food daily, I actually saved a few bucks. I was all in. So late Thursday evening, I head towards the grocery store. Walking down aisles looking for items on my list could have been hell. The store already had Halloween candy out and peanut M&M's are my weakness. Keep walking I say to myself... Minutes passed as well as snacks and this may have seemed like the longest shopping trip of my life. I was on a mission for healthy foods, yet all the foods I craved stood in the way. Eventually, I made it out of the store with only the essentials to make this diet work. I was bound and determined to see results.
DAY 1 (The easiest day)
Breakfast, was simple. Half a grapefruit, one slice of whole wheat toast, two tablespoons of peanut butter, and a cup of coffee or green tea. I love caffeine, and peanut butter. This was definitely the diet for me.
Lunch came soon. Easy to prepare, easy to eat. Half a cup of tuna, one slice of toast, and another coffee or green tea. I'm not a big fan of tuna, but I'll eat it if it means losing a few pounds.
Dinner. I'm a little bit hungry, not terribly. two slices of any type of meat (I chose turkey), a cup of green beans, half a banana, one small apple, and a cup of vanilla ice cream. I skip on the ice cream with thoughts of better results. Terrible idea, I repeat, terrible idea. I ate my dinner early, and late night snacks ALMOST coaxed me into their gates of hell. Damn, I think to myself, I should've ate the ice cream.
DAY 2 (Welcome to the moment that I almost gave up)
Breakfast once again was the easiest meal, despite the fact that I was starving. It consisted of one hard boiled egg, a slice of toast and a banana. Luckily, bananas will hold you over for a couple of hours, and errands and hitting the gym kept me focused. I noticed I had already lost three pounds!!!
And then there was lunch...I felt like I hadn't ate in days and I thought that the meal would we satisfy my every need. I quickly snarfed down another hard boiled egg, five saltine crackers, and half a cup of cottage cheese. The cottage cheese tasted better than ice cream at this point. Or so I thought. I had hopelessly been craving cheese for well over a day.
Dinner was the worst. We had a family BBQ for Labor Day and I most certainly thought I had hit the jackpot with the hot dogs that were on the menu. Except, I couldn't have ketchup...or a bun! (I love bread) I felt like a rabbit eating the plain cold cup of broccoli and half cup of carrots. Laughter filled the dinner table for my family knew that I wanted to plug my nose so badly. (For those of you who don't know, holding you nose will block out senses so that you can't smell or taste!) The 1/2 banana made it all better though.
Day 3 (The end is near)
As the last few meals of this diet approached, I actually saw significant results. I had lost a total of six pounds! Yes, six pounds in less than three days. I was shocked to say the least and I proudly ate my small breakfast of a slice of cheddar cheese, 5 saltine crackers and a small apple.
Lunch was the smallest meal I endured all week, but the results I saw on the scale motivated me to follow the diet strictly. I learned to slowly eat my meals by this time. I also included a full glass of water with every meal. Water really can keep you full. One hard boiled egg, and a slice of toast later, I was more than ready for the last meal of this torture.
"The Last Supper" finally arrived, and it didn't include a glass of wine and mama. Instead I enjoyed a meal of "cat food" (one cup of tuna) as my coworkers would claim, a half banana, and FINALLY, actual vanilla ice cream. I caved in for this meal despite other nights, because I had felt I truly deserved it.
My experience on the military diet was grueling but most definitely worth it. My final weigh in totaled at a loss of seven pounds in three days. I was extremely satisfied with my results, and excited to share it with everyone I knew. However, I won't lie. You must be truly dedicated to lose the weight. Meals will be scarce, and you must limit yourself to water, plain green tea, or coffee as your only beverages. You can not late night binge on snacks, despite the 7 goldfish I may or may not have snuck in one evening. You must be willing to work out daily. I don't mean walking around the track a couple times. Work out so that hard that sweat drenches your body from head to toe. Be so sweaty, that people are afraid to get within feet of you for fear of smelling like straight ass. Yes, this did happen. But most importantly, you must be disciplined. If you can not discipline yourself, than this diet is NOT FOR YOU.
Find the detailed meal plan here:
