Saturday, November 20, 2010

My Life's Biggest Project: 3 Day Diet

My Life's Biggest Project: 3 Day Diet: "There are all different kinds of fad diets out there that promise to give you the results that you want, but in reality they ar ruinging our..."

3 Day Diet

There are all different kinds of fad diets out there that promise to give you the results that you want, but in reality they ar ruinging our metabolisms and causing a much worse weight problem for us in the long run. One of the fad diets that promises not to ruin our metabolism and has been around since 1985 is the 3 Day Diet. I would like to go ahead and say that I will not be trying this, but I thought that I would tell you all about it.

The 3 Day Diet promises to make you lose 10 pounds in three days, but really you are probably losing water weight and not fat weight. There is a process that one must follow exactly for the three days. Once the three days are up the person is to go back to eating normal for four to five days before doing the diet again. The reason it is neccesary to go back to normal eating is so that the metabolism doesn't get screwed up. This "normal eating" is never defined.

The 3 Day Diet is a very specific food plan that must be followed to a T. Portions must be eaten exactly as stated and those partaking in the diet are told not to overeat, or they may not lose the 10 pounds promised. The dieter is also told not to under-eat, even if they are not hungry. No exercise is ever recommended in any of the literature about this particular diet. The diet goes as follows:

The 3 Day Diet meal plan:
Day 1
Breakfast
Black coffee or tea, with 1-2 packets Sweet & Low or Equal
1/2 grapefruit or juice
1 piece toast with 1 tablespoon peanut butter
Lunch
1/2 cup tuna
1 piece toast
Black coffee or tea, with 1-2 packets Sweet & Low or Equal
Dinner
3 ounces any lean meat or chicken
1 cup green beans
1 cup carrots
1 apple
1 cup regular vanilla ice cream
Day 2
Breakfast
Black coffee or tea, with 1-2 packets Sweet & Low or Equal
1 egg
1/2 banana
1 piece toast
Lunch
1 cup cottage cheese or tuna
8 regular saltine crackers
Dinner
2 beef franks
1 cup broccoli or cabbage
1/2 cup carrots
1/2 banana
1/2 cup regular vanilla ice cream
Day 3
Breakfast
Black coffee or tea, with 1-2 packets Sweet & Low or Equal
5 regular saltine crackers
1 ounce cheddar cheese
1 apple
Lunch
Black coffee or tea, with 1-2 packets Sweet & Low or Equal
1 boiled egg
1 piece toast
Dinner
1 cup tuna
1 cup carrots
1 cup cauliflower
1 cup melon
1/2 cup regular vanilla ice cream

In addition to its strict daily food prescription, dieters drink 4 cups of water or noncaloric drinks daily. It is never explained how or why and their is no author or book or any kind of scientific explanation for how it is that this diet works, but the way it is said to work is simple. Supposeably the combination of the foods in the meal plan create some kind of crazy metabolic reaction that boosts fat burning to a high. It is said to burn fat, increase energy, cleanse the body and lower cholesterol. As said before though there is no documentation of this anywhere.

In all of the research that I have done on dieting and health lately never once have I read anything else that suggested eating most of the things on that list (i.e., peanut butter, saltine crackers, ice cream). It may sound like a crazy fad, but if it really has been along as long as people say there must be something to it. I find it interesting that it has been around as long as it has, because in most cases when people find out that something like this doesn't work the fad normally dies down. The fact is once some kind of miracle diet is invented it won't be a fad it will be a triumph and everyone will do it.

Until that day comes it is important to realize that you are an individual and something that works for somebody else may not neccessarily work for you. We are made up of different genetics and each of these things that make us different than our friends are the things that make weight loss different for everyone. The only one thing that has been proven to work for everyone in the world is a well balanced diet and exercise...crazy that there is no quick fix for this just a change in habits.

Today I'm going to clean my apartment and probably jam out to some Lady GaGa while I do. Singing and dancing while cleaning will make the task much more bearable and keep me in a better mood as well as keeping my heart rate going. What a wonderful plan for today. I hope you all have a wonderful Saturday and I'll have something new for tomorrow!