This week, Michela, Lauren, and I wanted to try some crazy three-day detoxes that people actually use to help lose weight quickly. We were curious to see if crash diets are actually worth doing. We each followed a meal plan for each crash diet, for three days. We documented and observed how the diet affected us, physically and mentally.
Our results: None of them ended up being a healthy way to diet! All of them left us extremely hungry and irritable. We each lost a couple pounds while on these cleanses, within the three-day time period, but we certainly gained it all back after resorting back to our normal diets. It takes a lot of dedication to stick with these crash diets. We all felt that these diets were extremely draining! We would never do these again and would not advise anyone else to try them!
Lauren Kelley: The Military Diet
For the three days, I tried the military diet. This diet consists of eating very low calorie, bland foods, such as a few saltine crackers or a cup of straight-up tuna. The first day was not terrible, but as the days went on, the portions became smaller; by the third day I was practically starving, very irritable, and did not think I had enough energy to get through the day. After the three days, I went back to eating my normal diet, which my body did not seem to know how to properly process.
Lauren Perrine: The Baby Food Diet
I took on the challenge of attempting to eat only baby food products for three days. From the start, we should have known this crash diet was going to end in disaster, seeing that a college student is about five or more times the size of a baby! The consistency of the baby food made every meal unpleasurable and none of it provided enough nutrients! The only things I actually enjoyed eating were the baby cookies and cheese puffs! I experienced symptoms of lightheadedness, irritability, and high stress. The baby food was not filling at all! I would start drooling and get depressed when I saw pictures of amazing-looking, real food on Instagram.
I relied on eggs as my only form of protein and nutrients for the three days. Each meal I ate was an egg based meal: either scrambled eggs, an omelette, or even a raw egg. You can probably tell how this diet turned out: getting your nutrients all from one source, for every meal, for three days. This was not the best idea.
So there you have it, Crazy Crash Diets Debunked!! By sticking to any of these three day diets, you definitely will not get the proper amount of nutrients needed to get through the day. Especially as a college student, who needs the energy for a nonstop schedule of classes to socializing and other responsibilities. There are a lot more healthier and better alternatives. Instead of a low calorie diet, try a low fat one! Add a few more vegetables or fruit into your everyday diet. Or just eat everything in moderation! There’s nothing wrong with treating yo self every once and a while!