As you pass your 20’s & 30’s you’ll find that dropping weight quickly is a thing of the past…. or is it? Check out the result’s of the 3 Day Military Diet- touted to be the best diet for dropping 10 pounds of fat in just 3 days time and see if it actually works…

As a Mom of 2, wife of a self-employed blue-collar working man I find that I have little time to myself to work out as I used too. It’s rather frustrating, if I worked out just 3 days a week for an hour, I could maintain a nice 133-136 pounds. That would have been fantastic as I hit 40! Alas, that is not the case. I thought it would be great to give this 3-day military diet a try.

If you or a loved one has ever been in the military you know that this is NOT how they eat! So where did the name come from? The military diet refers to the discipline it takes to stay on the regimen for three full days without cheating or quitting.

There are a few things to be aware of though:

First and foremost, You CAN drink as MUCH water as you want during the 3 days, you’re not losing water weight, the diet is not a diuretic aka water diet. The weight you lose should not be due to dehydration of any sort. With that said, NO you CANNOT Drink Soda, Pop, sweetened or flavored drinks of any kind. You CAN have Plain Herbal Teas (no honey, no lemon, no stevia or artificial sweeteners of any kind.

You CAN Have Black Coffee or Tea (no more than 3 cups per day), no creamers, no milk, no non-dairy creamers, etc. The key to this diet working is to be chemically balanced to boost metabolism. Also, make sure if you’re going to drink coffee that you drink the kind WITH caffeine. Decaffeinated coffee is actually pretty horrible for you, health-wise.

We realize that there are food items here that don’t seem particularly healthy such as the hotdogs on day 2- we’re aware of that. They’re there for a reason, do not omit them.

It is NOT recommended to substitute certain items, such as grapefruit, Some foods that are acidic to taste, such as lemon, lime and grapefruit, are rendered alkaline once digested, placing, far less burden on the digestive system as a whole.

Breakfast
1/2 Grapefruit
1 Slice of Toast
2 Tablespoons of Peanut Butter
1 cup Coffee or Tea (with caffeine)

Lunch
1/2 Cup of Tuna
1 Slice of Toast
1 cup Coffee or Tea (with caffeine)

Dinner
3 ounces of any type of meat
1 cup of green beans
1/2 banana
1 small apple
1 cup of vanilla ice cream

Breakfast
1 egg- scrambled, hard-boiled, poached, etc (Cooked without any Fat)
1 slice of toast
1/2 banana

Lunch
1 cup of cottage cheese
1 egg- scrambled, hard-boiled, poached, etc (Cooked without any Fat)
5 saltine crackers

Dinner
2 hot dogs (without bun)
1 cup of broccoli
1/2 cup of carrots
1/2 banana
1/2 cup of vanilla ice cream

Breakfast
5 saltine crackers
1 slice of cheddar cheese
1 small apple

Lunch
1 egg scrambled, hard-boiled, poached, etc (Cooked without any Fat)
1 slice of toast

Dinner
1 cup of tuna
1/2 banana
1 cup of vanilla ice cream

It can be difficult to try a new diet plan, even for just 3 days, so here’s a review of each day of the military diet meal plan as well as my results.

Day 1 Journal Entry: Here’s the thing, I like to eat. I like to try new foods, I like varying flavors; So, the thought of eating these very bland- minimal calorie meals has me scrunching up my eyebrows and hoping I can follow through! In addition to completing day 1, I’ve made a concerted effort to drink more water. In addition to my 2 cups of black coffee, I also drank 72 ounces of water.

Day 2 Journal Entry: Today wasn’t too bad, except that I have not deviated from the original diet plan by a single item! By the time that dinner rolled around, I was feeling the hunger! I kept waiting for my other half to start the grill & cook the hotdogs- but I was ready to eat them raw at that point.

After the main “meal” I happily munched the ice cream with half a banana. It really does seem to make a difference that you’re allowed to eat “junk” with the dinner meal. It seems to shut up the little voice in the back of your head that says “eat, eat”.

As for exercise, I only managed to weed the garden beds and clean up around the yard outside. I didn’t workout out all, but it wasn’t because I didn’t intend to, I just ran out of time.

I’m a bit nervous about tomorrow, the meals are pretty meager. In addition to the 2 mugs of coffee, I also drank 72 ounces of water and 2 mugs of herbal dragon tea. (Unsweetened, 1 calorie per mug).

Day 3 Journal Entry: Too weak to write, just kidding. I’ve never been a big fan of processed foods (especially hotdogs!), I want a big fat salad, hahaha.

Days 4,5,6,7 Journal Entry: The first 3 days of the diet are over, I stuck it out even though on the last day I was pretty hungry and ready to scarf down a big meal. With that in Mind, I lost a grand total of 9 pounds. That’s enough to keep me focused on the next week.

The next four days are “eat normal” days. For me, that means mostly salads, lean meats, and NO sugar, flour, white rice, white potatoes or corn. These items have a tendency to cause intense cravings for me personally.

The point of the diet is that you’re not starving yourself, you’re simply triggering your body to burn calories effectively.

Before substituting the ingredients ask yourself if you REALLY need to, keep in mind that you need to match caloric intake rather than quantity.

Now, Onward to the 2nd time around, don’t substitute more than 1 item per “meal” or you won’t see any results.

Following the military diet with substitutes is actually pretty easy! There are a number of variations that will work just fine. Here we’ve outlined the best substitutions for each food item, simply choose ONE item as a replacement, not the entire list.

Substitution Ideas for Banana:
2 kiwis
1 c. papaya
2 apricots
plain unsweetened applesauce

Substitution Ideas for the Bread: (Choose ONE)
1/8 cup of sunflower seeds
1/2 cup of whole grain cereal
1/2 high protein bar
1/4 cup of plain yogurt with 1/2 teaspoon of flax seeds
1 tortilla
two rice cakes

Substitution Ideas for Broccoli:
Cabbage
Cauliflower
Brussel Sprouts
Asparagus

Substitution Ideas for Carrots:
Parsnip
beets
celery
bell pepper

Substitution Ideas for Cheddar Cheese: (1 slice of cheese= 1 oz)
Egg
Cottage Cheese
Ham

Substitution for Cottage Cheese
Egg
Plain Greek yogurt
Cheddar cheese
Ricotta cheese

Substitution Ideas for Eggs:
1 c. Milk
1 chicken Wing
1/4 c. seeds (or nuts)
2 slices bacon

Substitution Ideas for Green Beans:
any type of leafy green vegetables, such as lettuce, kale or spinach

Substitution Ideas for Hot Dogs: (Match Calories 250-300 Cal max)
Soy Dogs
Turkey Dogs
Tofu Dogs
Bratwurst
Bologna

Vegetarians can use beans, lentils, portobello mushrooms

Substitution Ideas for Tuna:
Lightly grilled sushi grade tuna (either 1/2 or 1 cup, depending on the day of the diet), the same size as 1/2 or 1 cup cottage cheese
boneless skinless chicken breast
plain tofu
almonds or peanuts.
Tilapia
Halibut

Substitution Ideas for Lean Meat:
lentils
beans
tofu
portobello mushrooms

Substitution Ideas for the Peanut Butter:;
almond butter
hummus
pumpkin butter
soy butter
sunflower seed butter
Two tablespoons of plain sunflower seeds

Substitution Ideas for Saltines: saltine crackers have 13 calories each- using other crackers must not contain sugar and must be equal in calories
Rice Cakes

Substitution Ideas for Vanilla Ice Cream:

1 c. fruit yogurt
1 c. apple juice

Non-Dairy Option: Strawberry, Vanilla or Banana Almond Milk (NOT CHOCOLATE!!)

Acceptable Seasonings:

Black Pepper, Lemon pepper, Tiny amount of Salt. If you can see it glistening on your food, you use too much.

Calories for Day One: approx 1400

1/2 Grapefruit: 45 calories
1 Slice of Toast: 120 calories
2 Tablespoons of Peanut Butter: 200 calories
1 cup Coffee or Tea (with caffeine): 5 calories
1/2 Cup of Tuna: 150 calories
1 Slice of Toast: 120 calories
1 cup Coffee or Tea (with caffeine): 5 calories
3 ounces of any type of meat: 300 calories
1 cup of green beans: 35 calories
1/2 banana: 50 calories
1 small apple: 75 calories
1 cup of vanilla ice cream: 300 calories

Calories for Day Two: approx 1200
1 egg 75
1 slice of toast: 120 calories
1/2 banana: 50 calories
1 cup of cottage cheese: 230
 calories
1 hard boiled egg: 75 calories
5 saltine crackers: 70 calories
2 hot dogs (without bun): 350 calories
1 cup of broccoli: 35 calories
1/2 cup of carrots: 25
 calories
1/2 banana: 50
 calories
1/2 cup of vanilla ice cream: 150 calories

Calories for Day Three: approx 1100
5 saltine crackers: 65 calories
1 slice (1 ounce) of cheddar cheese: 120 calories
1 small apple: 75 calories
1 hard boiled egg (or cooked however you like): 75 calories
1 slice of toast: 120 calories
1 cup of tuna: 300 calories
1/2 banana: 50
 calories
1 cup of vanilla ice cream: 300 calories

Once you’ve Jump-started your weight loss & powered through your 3-day diet, here’s an actual Fitness plan that you can follow. The creator of the site lost 100 pounds on it and you can too.