A Beginner’s Guide to the 3-Day Plan

The following is a sample meal plan from the Military Diet: (6)

Day 1

Breakfast 1 slice of toast with up to 2 tablespoons peanut butter, 1 cup of black coffee or tea with caffeine, and ½ grapefruit

Lunch 1 slice of toast with up to ½ cup of white tuna fish, 1 cup of caffeinated coffee or tea

Dinner 3 ounces meat (any type you prefer), 1 small apple, ½ banana, and 1 cup green beans

Dessert 1 cup vanilla ice cream

Day 2

Breakfast 1 slice of toast with 1 egg and ½ banana

Lunch 5 saltine crackers, 1 egg (hardboiled or however you prefer it), and 1 cup cottage cheese

Dinner 2 hot dogs (no buns), 1 cup broccoli, ½ cup carrots, and the other half of the banana

“The middle day does include 1 cup of broccoli — which is a source of insoluble fiber — but likely not enough,” Rothenberg adds.

Day 3

Breakfast 5 saltine crackers, 1 apple, and 1 slice of cheddar cheese

Lunch 1 piece of toast and 1 egg

Dinner ½ banana and 1 cup of tuna

Dessert 1 cup vanilla ice cream

Strict adherence to the diet is recommended to achieve the optimal results. It’s important to note that you can’t have snacks — instead, you may “borrow” a food from one of your meals during snack time, but then eat less at that particular meal.

The Remaining Four Days of the Week

While this eating plan consists of “four days off,” that doesn’t mean your eating plan will fall by the wayside. In fact, the Military Diet offers its own recommendations via a “four-day-off menu plan” that consists of 1,500 calories a day (slightly up from 1,100 to 1,400 during the initial three days). You are still restricted to the same food lists, but you can add two snacks into your day. (7)

The Military Diet also recommends that you only eat up to 1,500 calories during these four days if you actually burn this amount in a given day. The plan recommends you figure out your estimated calories burned by multiplying your body weight by 12. (7) Just know that this formula is imperfect. The best way to determine calories burned is by accounting for your age, weight, height, gender, and physical activity level, notes the NIDDK. (8)

Once you’ve cycled through the strict three days and slightly less restrictive four days of this diet plan, you have the option of starting over. However, experts do not recommend doing so.

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