The Four Day Diet - About the diet, good points, bad points and more
Four Day Diet: Celebrity Diet Experts! Hooray!
Have you ever stopped to think about some of the sheer lunacy we have done to ourselves because some celebrity did it first? Each and every crazy, half baked, loopy thing a famous or quasi famous person does will get some following, you can safely bet money on it. Thank goodness this isn't the case here. This is actually a reasonable diet plan, with realistic, sustainable weight loss at a healthy rate. So, why is it called the four day diet? Read on and all will become crystal clear to you.
The Celebrity Diet Expert, and Author of the Four Day Diet
Ian K. Smith. MD., was the diet expert on the VH1 reality show, Celebrity Fit Club. Taking what he knows and what he has learned, he devised a plan that is a series of seven phases, each lasting for four days for a total of twenty eight days. In that time, his plan should net you 10-12 pounds of weight loss and a new understanding of your body and how you view food and food categories. Along the way, he gives you tools to work with including affirmations, the power of thinking like a thin person and ways to look beyond the scale to measure your success. (You should note for instance that lean muscles weigh more than fat, so while the scale may say you weigh more, your clothes will say it is a tighter more.)
Getting the Right Frame of Mind to Start Out
Smith recommends that you start a food diary before you actually start phase one to give yourself a clear picture of what your food troubles and triggers really are.
The Seven Phases: Phase One
- Phase one is the Induction phase with a fairly restrictive menu. You are allowed fruits, leafy greens, non-starchy vegetables, beans, brown rice, low fat/non fat yogurt or milk and very little fat. This is meant to get your metabolism revved up and ready to go.
- Phase two: Transition. This is the phase where you are introduced to a whole new way of eating. The foods in this phase are high in fiber and are all unprocessed and wholesome. The calorie count in this phase is about 1300.
- Phase three: Protein Stretch. In this phase lean meats, fish, milk and eggs are added in and the calorie count goes slightly higher.
- Phase four: Smooth. In this phase you are encouraged to eat what you what within moderation because the belief is that by now you know what healthy foods are, what a healthy portion looks like and can make those choices on your own.
- Phase five: Push. Because you are almost at the end of the program now, you are back to more restrictive eating with this phase.
- Phase six: Pace. Again, a few more foods are added back in.
- Phase seven: Vigor. Back to strict eating plan so that you can lose the last few pounds before ending the plan.
You can do the plan in any order that you choose, as long as you always start with one and two first. You can do the plan every couple of months if you need to, or just do a phase or two for maintenance.
The Plan's Good Points
Recommending a food diary is a very valuable tool- almost all dieters underestimate their calories, especially those that are in liquid form. Having a black and white, tangible reminder of what they ate and drank may be the wakeup call that some need to realize it is time for a major lifestyle and food habit change.
Exercise is not only suggested it is demanded, and Smith would like to see people doing more than 30 minutes of exercise at a time. The phases of the plan are split up so that they keep the body guessing and are not long enough to be overly trying even when they are at their most restrictive. Tips and strategies are offered throughout.
The Plan's Bad Points
There are phases that may be too low in calories for many dieters which could be a problem both in terms of health and in terms of weight loss if the metabolism stalls.
The plan is also too restrictive of certain foods and food groups and may make it difficult to get adequate nutrition. It also has a one size fits all approach that will not work across the board. We are not all of the same size and our caloric needs are not the same.
Calorie counts and food information is not included and while it is not mentioned at all, should be added that the need for vitamin supplements might be necessary.
The Official Website of the 4-Day Diet is:
Other resources for the Four Day Diet plan:
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