We've all heard about the new "fad" diets that circle around and are usually ridiculous. Effective? Maybe. Practical? No. These diets are usually supported by celebrities and media that claim to have incredible and easy to attain effects.
Well, recently I heard about this diet called "The Military Diet." Hearing this, the little voice in my head said, "Oh, good God no. It's going to be terrible," but I decided to look up what it was anyway. Turns out, it's a diet with a reasonable amount of food, including bread, hot dogs and even vanilla ice cream. (Ice cream? On a diet?) The diet lasts three days and to get the results you have to follow a meal plan with exact portions. Even the official "Military Diet" website claims that you can lose up to 10 pounds in the three days. It also recommends that you do it once a week, three days on and four days off (consuming 1,500 calories or less on the break days). I thought this was never going to work, but being the experimenter I am I decided to try it.
I went to the store to stock up on tuna, green beans and vanilla ice cream to start the diet. I weighed myself that morning, coming in at a solid 135. The diet passed pretty quickly, and pretty easily. The meals were easy to make but were kind of bland at times. There was a lot of toast and I found out one whole cup's worth of vanilla ice cream was actually a lot!
I was exercising during the diet, which they recommend to make it the most effective. I never really felt hungry either because the meals were perfectly portioned and nutritionally balanced. (I was plugging everything into the app "my fitness pal" and checking out my protein vs. carbs vs. sugars.)
On Wednesday night, after three full days of "Military Diet" meals, I stepped on the scale in my workout clothes and clocked in at 129. I couldn't believe it...six pounds! I did not think this diet was going to work. I was exercising, of course, but I do everyday anyways. There were no other changes in my health routine besides the diet.
I had a lot of energy plus I looked and felt better on this diet. I do recommend it even if you're not trying to lose weight, but just want to eat healthier. It's short, easy and you get a cheat dessert every night!