Navy Diet/3-day diet

ViperGT_007

New member
ok so im re-joining the Navy for those of you who don't know, and i was talking to my recruiter and he recommended this diet called the 3-day diet, i've noticed it doesn't have much protein so i was kinda hesitant b/c im trying shape up my arms as well as drop weight...the diet claims that you can loose 10 pounds in 3 days and up to 40 pounds in a month...my recruiter said he did it and it worked, he also mentioned that heart surgery patients are given this diet before going into surgery to clean their systems out and drop the weight needed...so tell me what you guys think:

Day 1:

Breakfast- Half Grapefruit, 1 piece toast, 3 tbsp peanut butter
Lunch- Half cup Tuna, 1 slice toast
Dinner- 2 slices any meat (3oz), 1 cup string beans

Day 2:

Breakfast- 1 boiled egg, 1 piece toast, half banana
Lunch- 1 cup cottage cheese, 5 saltine crackers
Dinner- 2 hotdogs, 1 cup broccoli, half cup carrots, half banana, half cup vanilla ice cream

Day 3:

Breakfast- 5 saltine crackers, 1 slice cheddar chese, 1 apple
Lunch- 1 boiled egg, 1 slice toast
Dinner- 1 cup tuna, 1 cup beets, 1 cup cauliflower, half banana or half cantaloupe, half cup vanilla ice cream


It says after three days you eat normal but do not over do it and after four days start back on the three day diet, so 3 on 4 off 3 on 4 off kinda like that...says it works on chemical breakdown and is proven. also says: DO NOT vary or substitute any of the above foods, salt n pepper may be used but no other seasonings allowed.
 
Actually this diet doesn't have much of anything, let alone protein, but in ratio, the diet is high in protein compared to carbs.

If you do the three days on, 4 days off, it's not doing much more than zig zagging your caloric intake which can have a positive effect on your metabolism. It looks like these meal plans allow for about 900 calories. With an average BMR for your weight, I'd imagine you'd be in a deficit of 1500 calories a day for those three days, or about 4500 calories, or about 1.25lbs in weight loss a week if this is all you did. Hardly 10lbs.

Weight loss as quick as this diet promises is basically starvation for someone of your weight. Doctors don't recommend losing more than 2lbs a week.
 
If you want to lose lean muscle mass, this is a great way to do it. It reminds me of another guy who went to his army recruiter, and this recruiter highly recommended he wear 3 extra layers of clothing to sweat more during cardio!

These guys should be court martialed for some of the advice they give! :)

Here's that explains how much of a calorie deficit you can run without really cutting into your lean body mass.

The bottom line is that each pound of fat will sustain about 31 calories of deficit, so that if you have 50 lbs. of fat, you could run a daily deficit of slightly over 1,500 calories. If your resting metabolic rate is around 2,400 calories, and you use 600 calories a day in exercise, that would mean that the absolute minimum you would need would be 1,500 calories. A diet of 1,000 calories a day will mean that you will be losing at least a pound of muscle mass every week. Is that what you really want to do?

The figures above are just for the sake of example -- I have no idea what your body fat pctg. is, but it would be worth finding out.

In practice, I think a plan that relies on the full 31 calories per lb. of body fat is a bit extreme -- unless you're massively overweight. Also, the more weight you lose, the more you have to cut your deficit. Why? Because your body fat percentage is decreasing (if you're doing it right) and therefore you're able to sustain less of a deficit.
 
Yeah, I would have to agree that this seems fishy. I can tell you right now that I eat LESS than that in a day, and a lot of the same foods and 10 lbs a week isn't healthy unless you are morbidly obese. And what kind of diet includes vanilla ice cream? Wow.
 
They have been issuing this diet for many, many years. From what you posted, it matches identically the diet I received in 1993. They wouldn't still be doing it if it doesn't work.

I too thought it was suspicious when I saw it; I mean, come on - vanilla ice cream and hot dogs? However, I can personally confirm that this diet does indeed work, as I was put on it in the last months of DEP before I went to boot camp, but it is intended for short-term, "emergency" weight loss. It's a chemical diet, meaning calories, carbs or protein aren't the important factors. It's the combination of the particular foods that helps to induce weight loss and acts as a cleanser.

This particular diet is meant for people that are joining the military but need to lose some weight to meet the BMI standards. I went on this diet for 2 months before joining the Navy. I have to say that it gets old and boring pretty quick, and I don't care for some of the items on the menu, but it does work. It helped me lose just enough weight to meet the Navy's regulations.

It is not really meant for the general population, because it is not the healthiest of diets, and is not intended for use over long periods. You will lose a lot of weight in a short period of time, which is why they generally only give this diet to people in DEP (Delayed Entry Program) who are not quite at the requirements, but who aren't losing the weight fast enough on their own.

If you are concerned about protein because you are building muscle, or already have built muscle, then you probably don't need to be on this diet anyway. This is for people that - to put it bluntly - are too fat for the military's standards, but not so fat that they don't think you can make it. I was in this category.

One thing not mentioned in the diet plan above is that you are also only supposed to drink water; optionally, you MAY drink tea or black coffee, but you should not use cream or sugar or any other additives because it can offset the chemical balance of the diet. Also, some seasonings are allowed, but try not to get too exotic. The more ingredients listed on the container, the more likely it can interfere with the chemical nature of the diet. I recommend just sticking with salt and pepper if you can. EDIT: Never mind - just noticed it said the same thing under the menu.

If it's not listed, it's not included. For example, Day 2's dinner of "2 hotdogs" is JUST the hot dogs - no buns, no ketchup or mustard, no relish, nothing else.

The "3 on/4 off" is specifically because this diet is NOT the healthiest diet. It does cause a lot of weight loss, and they don't want you taking it every day of the week. However, you shouldn't go back to a normal diet on the 4 days. You should still try to eat healthy, but you can splurge a lot more than the diet plan.

Dice up a skinless chicken breast in a salad tossed with your favorite kind of vinegar, olive oil, and seasonings. Have some fruit or yogurt (preferably organic, as it doesn't contain high fructose corn syrup, which you should avoid). Snack on vegetables. Just eat responsibly during the four days off, and you can avoid massive caloric fluctuations. But make sure you enjoy the food on the four days off, or you won't be able to stand the diet after the first couple of weeks.

Water is your BEST friend. You can lose weight just by ditching all other drinks for water. And drink lots, 5 or 6 bottles a day is a good goal, if you can't manage to drink more. The benefits to drinking lots of water are numerous.

Also, make sure you start exercising when on this diet to supplement the weight loss and increase your metabolism. This carries a benefit other than the obvious; it prepares you for boot camp. You don't need to do anything fancy, just push-ups, sit-ups and jogging (or start by fast walking). I don't know if the requirements have changed, but when I was in, you needed to be able to pump out 70 push-ups, 60 sit-ups, and run 1.5 miles in 12 minutes to pass the PRT at the end of boot camp. Nothing too tough, but if you can't do that right now, now is a good time to start working on it.

I can offer a couple of other tips to people that might be extremely close to the requirements, but not enough. The military measures your waist, neck, height and weight to determine your body fat index. Just before I was supposed to go into boot camp, I was still slightly over the requirement. My dad used to work in medicine, and remembered the silly fact that we shrink throughout the day, since the longer we are on our feet, the more compressed our spine becomes. This compression relaxes while we sleep, so we are technically at our tallest first thing in the morning, and I had been measured later in the afternoon, after either a day of school or working. We went back and had my height measured again as early as we could, and sure enough, it was just enough to put me BARELY within the requirements.

Also, you could go to an independent doctor and have a proper and more accurate BMI measurement done, such as by hydrodensitometry weighing or DEXA. If it says you are within the requirements even though the military says you aren't, the military doctors will usually accept it and give you a waiver; at least you could do this back when I joined. Note however that independent tests must be done at your own expense.
 
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I fit in the category too of being just outside the requirements to join. I'm also piss poor and a new mom, so I don't have time or money to spend cooking all day. This three-day diet seems to fit the bill, plus the off-days consist of eating veggies and stuff I do already anyway. I'm exercising, I'm eating right (with the occasional splurge), but I'm struggling. I really look forward to trying this, and three days isn't forever, which is nice. If I can shake 20 lbs in the next month or so, then hooray. I'll be stoked for something that works...
 
this diet has been around for many years it works on a chemical break down process in the body. Yes to follow this diet for 7 days a week would be starvation. It is meant for Obese military personnel that NEED to lose weight to maintain rank and stay in the military. That is why you follow it for 3 days only. then eat sensibly for the next 4 days. and the ice cream is the fat content your body needs. people should not comment unless they have all the correct information, if i were to actually give you all the actually dietary and chemical break down process this post would be way too long. trust me it does work and if followed correctly will work wonders in a short period of time. again this was meant for severally obese ( by military standards) people.
 
Well, I'm attempting to get into the Navy. I scored a 85 on my asvab and have a GPA of 3.9. However, I'm stuck at 175lbs. My weight isn't fluctuating. I'm in weight training at my school but I was wondering if ya'll would recomend this diet for my use since I my workout is very rigorous.
 
Well, I'm a senior in highschool and don't have that much time to work out between every other project and research papers I have to do.
 
I use the canned chicken instead of tuna, and it works just as well. I can't eat tuna so the chicken is great the best advice I can give is try and see. Thats how you find out for sure if it works.
 
ok so im re-joining the Navy for those of you who don't know, and i was talking to my recruiter and he recommended this diet called the 3-day diet, i've noticed it doesn't have much protein so i was kinda hesitant b/c im trying shape up my arms as well as drop weight...the diet claims that you can loose 10 pounds in 3 days and up to 40 pounds in a month...my recruiter said he did it and it worked, he also mentioned that heart surgery patients are given this diet before going into surgery to clean their systems out and drop the weight needed...so tell me what you guys think:

Day 1:

Breakfast- Half Grapefruit, 1 piece toast, 3 tbsp peanut butter
Lunch- Half cup Tuna, 1 slice toast
Dinner- 2 slices any meat (3oz), 1 cup string beans

Day 2:

Breakfast- 1 boiled egg, 1 piece toast, half banana
Lunch- 1 cup cottage cheese, 5 saltine crackers
Dinner- 2 hotdogs, 1 cup broccoli, half cup carrots, half banana, half cup vanilla ice cream

Day 3:

Breakfast- 5 saltine crackers, 1 slice cheddar chese, 1 apple
Lunch- 1 boiled egg, 1 slice toast
Dinner- 1 cup tuna, 1 cup beets, 1 cup cauliflower, half banana or half cantaloupe, half cup vanilla ice cream


It says after three days you eat normal but do not over do it and after four days start back on the three day diet, so 3 on 4 off 3 on 4 off kinda like that...says it works on chemical breakdown and is proven. also says: DO NOT vary or substitute any of the above foods, salt n pepper may be used but no other seasonings allowed.
Say what you like I lost 140 lbs on this diet in 1989,and lost 10 to 15. Lbs per week. I worked out with it on my 4 off days too.
 
It looks like a useful program. thanks
 
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