I'll admit, I was pretty intrigued when a member of my Fit For Life Body Transformation Programme showed me this diet.
'Lose 14 lbs in a week', claims 'the egg' diet
Which, given what I wrote about protein yesterday over here…
Eating eggs probably isn’t a bad idea for you.
Cheap, versatile and a great source of protein, healthy fats, vitamins and minerals.
AKA
Nature's vitamin tablet...
^^^ If you’re wondering how many eggs you should eat per day see the link at the bottom
But here’s the thing with most of the “[insert magic food here]' diets…
They’re nothing more than rigid, cookie-cutter meal plans that you’d do well to stick to for a week
^^^ which last time I checked, probably isn’t going to give you the education to be able to be in control of your diet and weight.
Which is what you really want, right?
Rather than limiting your food choices every now and then and being miserable just to lose a few pounds...
Only to put them back on again when you eat 'normally' again
^^^ A bit like me when I used to cut out ALL of my carbs because carbs 'make you fat'
And here's 'the egg' diet:
“Day 1 Breakfast 1 slice dry toast and grilled tomatoes
Lunch Fresh fruit (any amount)
Dinner 2 hard boiled eggs, salad, grapefruit
Day 2 Breakfast Grapefruit, 1 boiled egg
Lunch Roast chicken (any amount) & tomatoes
Dinner Grilled steak and salad
Day 3 Breakfast Grapefruit, 1 boiled egg
Lunch 2 boiled eggs and tomatoes
Dinner 2 Grilled lamb chops, celery & cucumber
Day 4 Breakfast 2 slices dry toast, 2 poached eggs
Lunch fresh fruit (any amount)
Dinner 2 hard boiled eggs, salad, grapefruit
Day 5 Breakfast 1 slice dry toast, 2 poached eggs
Lunch 2 poached eggs & tomatoes
Dinner Fresh or tinned fish and salad
Day 6 Breakfast 1 boiled egg, 1 glass grapefruit juice
Lunch Fresh fruit (any amount)
Dinner Roast chicken, cabbage, carrots
Day 7 Breakfast 2 scrambled eggs, grilled tomatoes
Lunch 2 Poached eggs& spinach
Dinner Grilled steak & salad
NOTE
Abstain from anything not mentioned.
Eat only what is shown or do without.
No substitutions allowed.
No eating between meals
No alcohol
No butter milk or fat
Drinks = black tea, black coffee, lemon tea, grapefruit juice, tonic, soda or water only
Salad = lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes and celery only”
And here’s the part that really made me chuckle:
“DO NOT DIET FOR MORE THAN ONE WEEK AT A TIME”
Which sounds a bit like:
Restrict all your favourite foods (and wine)
THEN…
Celebrate by going out and binging on all the foods you just gave up.
And do you know what annoys me even more about this?
The lack of education.
I mean, telling someone who struggles to control their food intake, enjoys socialising with friends and family and lives a busy life working...
Plus looks after 3 kids (who aren't their little 'babies' anymore...no matter how long you call them that for) to:
‘eat only what is shown or do without’
And
‘abstain from anything not mentioned’
Is like telling someone who’s depressed to be happy and thinking your job is done.
Where’s the education?
The empowerment?
The long-term plan so you can lose weight and keep it off
^^^ rather than dieting for ‘one week at a time’
It’s not all doom and gloom, though.
Because it does encourage quite a bit of protein.
Which…
Is probably why you may feel more full and satisfied.
But at the same time…
Before hopping on the latest diet craze.
Just take a minute to answer the following questions:
* How long could you do this diet for?
^^^ particularly given that they suggest you don’t diet on it for more than a week…
* What will you do after this diet?
^^^ Do you have an after plan? Can you see yourself doing this in 3 months time?
* What are you going to do if you have a social event?
^^^ Ask for an egg, maybe? Not the most egg-citing meal out, ay? (That's me trying to tell a joke)
* How will you feel if you go off the diet at this social event?
^^^ Would it make you feel like you failed? Would you feel guilty? Even if you just swapped the eggs for say chicken, beef or fish?
* What will you do if you stop losing weight?
^^^ Do you know how you could break through periods of stubborn fat loss?
The reason I ask is because banning foods not only makes you more vulnerable to a deficiency
^^^ Which may make you feel tried, sluggish and demotivated
But I also tend to see it result in mild symptoms of an eating disorder.
* That guilt of eating a ‘bad’ food that was ‘banished’ from the meal plan.
* The worry of what might happen.
^^^ ‘Will I gain the 14lbs back tomorrow when I step on the scale?’
It begins to take over our life.
Makes us stressed.
It can becomes more important than the things that actually matter…
* Family…
* Friends …
* Our confidence..
* Gratitude for others…
All because we end up blaming ourselves for ‘failing’ on yet another diet.
Which is completely against why you made a decision to improve your health.
With your 'why' being:
To enhance your life, right?
And not..
Be a detriment.
Which is exactly why a nutritional strategy should be something you can do for more than a week 😉
Speak soon,
Matt 'shell shocked' Fruci
PS. If you’re wondering how many eggs you should eat per day and worried about the cholesterol, go here: https://frucifit.com/many-eggs-can-eat-per-day/