The One-Day Diet is a new diet that allows a person to alternate between eating normal meals and following the diet plan. By alternating a person’s intake, the diet is said to maintain a high metabolic rate and thus is effective in reducing weight.

Principle of the one day diet

The One-Day Diet is a low-carbohydrate diet, similar to the Atkins and South Beach Diets. However, what sets the One-Day Diet apart is that it does not completely starve the body of carbohydrates.

The main principle behind the One-Day Diet is that most diets lower a body’s metabolic rate. When the metabolic rate is lowered, the body burns less fat and hence loses less weight. By introducing an alternating diet, the makers of the One-Day Diet claim they can prevent the body from becoming accustomed to a fixed routine, and the metabolic rate remains high.

What are you allowed to eat?

During “diet” days, it is recommended that you consume very little. Some versions of the One-Day Diet encourages people to eat specially-designed wafers only, while others recommend three small servings of the following:

• Fruits;
• Salads;
• Lean meat – such as poultry and fish;
• Wholemeal grains.

What is forbidden?

On “diet” days, you are not permitted to eat:

• Refined sugars – such as cakes and sweets;
• Refined carbohydrates – such as white rice, white bread;
• Red meat – such as lamb, beef and pork.

You are also forbidden to eat more than 1000 calories a day.

One Day Diet Pros and Cons

One of the benefits of the One-Day Diet is that it does not require you to change your eating habits. You are permitted to eat regular meals during “non-diet” days. The One-Day Diet does not consist of any radical changes.

However, the main issue with the One-Day Diet is that it is essentially a starvation diet. A person can lose weight rapidly because they lose both muscle and body fat.

It is also easy to over-eat during the “non-diet” days, as the diet can make a person become very hungry. The diet can be difficult to maintain because of this.

Finally, weight lost on the One-Day Diet can be easily regained.

Daily and Weekly Plans for the one-day diet

The One-Day Diet consists of one day of regular eating, and one day of dieting.

On “diet” days, the recommended meals are:

Breakfast: Half a cup of fruit, or half a cup of oatmeal with fat-free milk.

Lunch: One cup of salad, or half a cup of salad and half a cup of pasta.

Dinner: 6 ounces of skinless chicken or fish fillet, or five ounces of baked potato.

The above meals can be replaced by wafers or nutritional tablets.

Expected Weight Loss on the one-day diet

You can expect to lose anywhere from 5lb – 20lb on the One-Day Diet.

One-Day Diet Rating

Ease: 4/5 – A reasonably easy diet to prepare and does not require drastic changes.

Balance: 1/5 – The recommended “diet” day plans are very low in calories and may not give you the right nutrition for the day.

Maintenance: 2/5 – Can be easy to start, but difficult to maintain as it can leave you very hungry. Any weight loss from the diet also may not stay for long.

Overall: 1/5