So, I lived on that 3-day diet for, well, 3 days. I didn't put one bite of food in my mouth that wasn't on that list. I didn't divert from the list, except for I didn't eat cauliflower on the 3rd day. Yuck! Here are some interesting things I learned while on this "diet".
1. Trying to eat a cup of cottage cheese is a lot like the drink a gallon of milk challenge. I thought I was going to be sick.
2. Same goes for trying to eat a cup of cooked tuna. I need the raw stuff, sushi style, or nothing.
3. I really like fresh fruit and am going to try to incorporate more of it into my diet.
4. It is possible for me to live without added sugars.
To call this a diet is pretty lame. Basically it is calorie restrictiveness at it's finest. I am sure that I could have eaten anything that I would have wanted, as long as I kept my daily intake below 1000 calories and still lost the weight.
So, how much weight did I lose? Three pounds. Not 10 pounds, not even the half of that which I was hoping for. Three little pounds which I am sure will come right back the second I eat over 1000 calories.
There were plenty of bad things about this meal plan that I hated.
1. Hot Dogs. Hot dogs have nitrates, at least all of the ones I found did. Nitrates = bad.
2. Dairy. I normally don't have much dairy in my diet. The only dairy I ever really eat is cheese, and even that I eat very sparingly. To have to choke down a cup full of cottage cheese was more like torture than lunch.
3. Bread. Although we only by wheat bread that has no HFCS, I still don't normally eat that much bread. I perhaps eat about 2-3 pieces a week. The problem is that I am a bread addict, so although I am against eating a lot of bread, I really did enjoy it.
4. Ice Cream. I see no need for ice cream to be a part of this meal plan. It is both dairy and sugar, two no nos. Now for me it wasn't as bad because I ate no sugar added, lowfat vanilla ice cream. But for others who follow this diet, it doesn't specify what kind of ice cream other than vanilla. That means that others could be eating full fat, full sugar ice cream. That doesn't make any sense to me at all.
Now for the things that I liked.
1. Fresh Fruit. While I eat an apple every day, it was nice to add in some fruit variety with the cantaloupe. I forgot how much I love cantaloupe!
2. Calorie Restriction. I was actually surprised that I wasn't that hungry on this diet. The only time I ever felt hunger was around 3pm - 4pm in the afternoon each day, but even that went away quickly. This diet reminded me what hunger really feels like and the difference between that feeling and boredom eating.
3. Focus On Veggies. This diet had a low focus on meat, which I am not a big fan of anyway, and a huge focus on veggies. Although I would have preferred a little more veggie variety, aka if I see a carrot again in the next little while I will puke, I enjoyed the veggies. I could probably be a vegetarian or at least pescatarian and live a happy life. (That doesn't mean I am switching, though. I still enjoy chicken and pork, and occasionally turkey. We don't ever buy red meat, but I will eat it at restaurants on occasion.)
Overall, I do not recommend this particular three day meal plan. While it had good elements, it isn't a viable plan for weight loss and the negatives (nitrates, dairy, bread, and refined sugar) outweigh the positives. Take a clue, though, from this plan and pack your day with veggies and fresh fruit, keeping an eye on your calorie intake, and good things should happen.
