How to Diet – the Grapefruit Diet

The grapefruit diet was not designed to be a long term sustainable eating plan. It was developed to induce rapid weight loss – a concept which is always popular, albeit controversial….
This fad (ok, not quite as bad as some others) diet promotes quick weight loss over a period of eight to ten weeks. Some people doing the Grapefruit Diet have claimed to have lost as much as fifty pounds in these ten weeks – which makes it attractive to people who have plenty of weight to lose. But…
Losing five pounds per week – constantly – is pushing it a bit (from a medical point of view).
However, this eating plan was designed to deliver drastic results from drastic measures. Since it is not a sustainable eating pattern, you will have to change to a healthier, long term eating habit once you have reached your goal weight.
The Grapefruit Diet Plan:
Here is an example of typical meals from the grapefruit diet eating plan – as you can see by the total absence of carbohydrates, it is not really balanced, not even towards the “very low calorie diet” end. This is – to an extent – compensated for by the gaps between cycles (see below), and explains why the diet is not indefinitely sustainable.
For breakfast you would typically consume half a grapefruit or eight ounces of unsweetened grapefruit juice, accompanied by two eggs (however you like) and two slices of bacon.
Lunch would once again contain the same in terms of grapefruit, while you can eat any salad with any dressing, and any meat, in any quantity, as you like it.
Dinner also includes the grapefruit or juice, but here you have a choice of either the salad or a vegetable (green or red), cooked using butter and/or spices, and topped with butter. This is topped off with fish or meat prepared any way you like it. if you wish, you may have one cup of tea or coffee with this meal.
As a late night snack, you may have a glass of tomato juice, or alternatively a glass of skim milk.
The Grapefruit Diet guidelines:

1. As with any weight loss attempt, you are expected to drink at least eight glasses of water per day. However, it is recommended that you only drink one cup of coffee per day, since it can interfere with the weight loss process.

2. The eating plan does not allow for any snacks between meals – but if you follow it correctly, it is very unlikely that you will get hungry in between. Additionally, you are not allowed to eat any bread, sweet potatoes or desserts – no starch or sugar.

3. You may eat as much as you want – as long as it is done in the right ratios. You may, however, not eat less than the specified minimum amounts. If these quantities are too small, simply double or triple the servings of meat, salad or vegetables.

4. You must never alter the quantity of grapefruit or grapefruit juice, since this is critical to the working of the diet. Additionally, you cannot alter the combination of foods, since the fat burning qualities of the diet depend on it.

5. The diet should be followed for twelve days at a time, followed by two days off, after which you can engage in another cycle of twelve days of dieting. Repeat the cycle for about ten weeks.

Guest Writer: Bushra