People definitely lose weight on the 3 day military diet since it suggests eating foods that are low in calories and high in nutrient value.
When there is a calorie deficit, your body makes use of your own body fat for energy, thereby helping your shed pounds automatically.
This is the reason why many people see successful weight loss results on the military diet program.
So, if you wanted to substitute the military diet foods, then always choose the foods that are low in calories and contain the same nutrient value.
How Many Calories a Day in the Military Diet?
On an average, you’ll be getting between 1000 to 1200 calories per day while on the first 3 days of the diet and on the remaining 4 days off, you’ll be following either the 1200 calorie meal plan or the 1500 calorie diet plan.
The diet encourages to eat low carb high protein foods that help curb your appetite and let you lose weight. Caffeine is also allowed.
Let us breakdown the calories of each food item suggested on the 3 day military diet menu for a better understanding of this low cal diet program.
Military Diet Calories Breakdown for Day 1
You get roughly 1200 calories on the first day of the military diet menu.
| Day 1 Food Items | Qty | Calories |
| Grapefruit | 1/2 | 52 |
| Wholegrain Toast | 1 Slice | 67 |
| Peanut Butter | 2 tbsp | 188 |
| Coffee or Tea | 1 cup (w/o sugar) | 5 |
| Tuna | ½ cup | 89 |
| Banana | 1/2 | 53 |
| Apple | 1 small | 55 |
| Meat | 3 Oz | 200 |
| Vanilla Ice Cream | 1 cup | 289 |
| Green Beans | 1 cup | 34 |
Military Diet Calories Breakdown for Day 2
On the second day, you’ll get roughly 1100 calories from the foods.
| Day 2 Food Items | Qty | Calories |
| Egg | 1 | 78 |
| Whole Wheat Bread | 1 Slice | 67 |
| Banana | 1/2 | 53 |
| Cottage Cheese | 1 cup | 232 |
| Saltine Crackers | 5 no’s | 64 |
| Vanilla Ice Cream | ½ cup | 144 |
| Hot Dogs | 2 (w/o buns) | 350 |
| Broccoli | 1 cup | 54 |
| Carrots | ½ cup | 41 |
Military Diet Calories Breakdown for Day 3
You’ll be getting around 1000 calories from the day 3 meals of the military diet program.
| Day 3 Food Items | Qty | Calories |
| Cheddar Cheese | 1 Slice | 113 |
| Saltine Crackers | 5 no’s | 64 |
| Apple | 1 small | 55 |
| Egg | 1 | 78 |
| Toast | 1 slice | 67 |
| Vanilla Ice Cream | 1 cup | 289 |
| Tuna | 1 cup | 179 |
| Banana | 1/2 | 53 |
How Many Calories You Need Per Day to Lose Weight?
On an average, a woman needs about 2000 calories per day to maintain her weight, while an average man needs about 2500 calories. These figures are estimated considering the person’s height is 5.8 to 5.10″.
Use this calculator to know your exact calorie needs per day to lose weight.
So, if a women needs to lose 1 pound of weight per week, then she can either skip 500 calories worth of food items per day from her meal or burn 500 calories by working out every day. Either ways, she could easily lose 1 pound of body weight per week (500×7=3500 cal or 1 pound).
Likewise, a man can also lose 1 lb in 7 days easily.
In the military diet, a person would eat not more than 1200 calories on any given day, which puts him in a calorie deficit mode. As we’ve already discussed, the person enters fat burning mode when he cuts down calories from his food.
During that period, the body makes use of the existing calories stored in his body as fat for energy, thereby making the person to lose weight naturally.
However, since these extremely low calorie diets should not be followed for more than a week, it is suggested to follow the army diet for only 3 days, followed by a 1500 calorie diet or 1200 calorie meal plan for the remaining 4 days.
This would ensure the person’s metabolism doesn’t gets effected badly due to the weight loss diet.
It is a form of Intermittent Fasting, which helps speed up your metabolism and thus burn more fat than usual. Of-course, you can lose a few more pounds if you could include these fat burning workouts in your routine. But, that is optional.
Please note that the weight loss depends on several factors like age, height, current weight, level of activity, metabolic rate and a lot other factors.
Word of Caution
Since, it is an extremely low calorie diet, it is highly advised not to follow this diet chart continuously for more than 3 days. And, that is why it is recommended to have either a 1200 calorie or 1500 calorie meal plan from the day 4 to day 7.
Once you complete the military diet plan for a week, you should leave at least 1 week gap before repeating the diet again. You can do so until your reach your weight loss target.