by Chris Shugart
The One Day Diet Plan
It doesn't take much to lose 5-10 pounds of fat if you're already in pretty good shape. Here's a simple, mostly easy plan.
Most weight-training men would look better if they lost 5-10 pounds of fat. We've built a decent amount of muscle; we just need to unveil it. Peel off some fat and our waists would be tighter, making our upper bodies look bigger. Our arms and shoulders would be more defined. And, naturally, our already strong abs would peek out and say howdy.
Losing 5-10 pounds is relatively easy. It doesn't require obsessive calorie counting or tons of strenuous cardio. The plan below is simple and effective. All you're going to do is have one "hard" dieting day per week, then add in some extra daily movement: walking. I'll outline the basic plan below, then we'll get into how it works.
The One Day Diet, in a Nutshell
- On one day per week, preferably an off day from lifting, consume only 660 calories. Do this by drinking three protein shakes (Buy at Amazon): one for breakfast, one for lunch, and one for dinner. Detail below.
- Every day of the week, walk one mile briskly.
That's it. Expect to lose roughly one pound of fat per week while maintaining lean muscle mass.
How It Works
First, this plan works best for men who've maintained their current body weight for an extended time and would like to lose 5 to 10 pounds. Most of us naturally fall into a sort of "maintenance mode." We train and eat mostly the same way throughout the year, but we're carrying a bit too much fat for our liking.
So, how does such a simple plan work?
1. Diet Day
All things being equal, you need to create a 3500-calorie deficit to lose one pound of fat. It gets more complicated than that, of course. Hormones and a dozen other factors affect this, but 3500 is a good ballpark estimate for most people. Drop or expend 3500 calories per week, and you'll lose about a pound of fat.
On your single diet day every week, you're only consuming 660 calories over three feedings (protein shakes). In just one day, you're putting yourself into a 2840-calorie deficit. You're close to the 3500-calorie goal.
2. Caloric Expenditure
Every day of the week, you're going to walk one mile. You can do it as a stand-alone "workout" or after your regular weight training. A 190-pound man burns approximately 108 calories by walking one mile at 3.5 mph (brisk but not speed walking). If he does this seven days per week, he'll expend 756 calories.
So, you've created a 2840-calorie deficit on your diet day, and you've expended 756 extra calories by walking an additional mile seven days a week. That adds up to 3596. That's just over 3500 – the deficit required (generally) to lose a pound of fat.
The Protein Shakes
Don't try this with a whey-only or vegan protein powder. You'll be wracked with hunger and might risk muscle loss. Use a protein blend containing micellar casein. Micellar casein is more filling, has thermogenic effects, and is the only protein shown to be anti-catabolic (it prevents muscle loss). MD Protein (Buy at Amazon) is perfect for this plan.
A two-scoop MD Protein shake contains 220 calories and 44 grams of protein. Have three on diet day and you'll get 630 calories and 132 grams of protein. You may be used to getting more protein than that for hypertrophy goals, but 132 is more than enough to preserve lean body mass.
Yes, you'll probably still be hungry on diet day, even though you're getting three meals. The calories are still very low, after all, and our dietary habits are tough to break. Tough it out. This strict diet day is the price you pay for getting to eat maintenance calories the rest of the week, and the price you pay for not having to do grueling cardio. It's a fair bargain.
The Walk
Remember, this walk is an add-on to your normal training routine. The number of calories you burn walking one mile depends on several factors of course, like your body weight, pace, and even the conditions (smooth or rough terrain, slightly uphill or downhill, etc.). Generally, though, a brisk one-mile walk is all you need for this plan. No need to overthink it.
I prefer a treadmill walk to easily calculate the speed and distance. It takes about 17 minutes to walk one mile at 3.5 mph. But if you prefer, just walk a mile around your neighborhood. No big deal.
You're Right! This is Too Simple!
Your body doesn't work like a calculator. Metabolism is more complex than that. We could talk about genetics, adaptive thermogenesis, TEF, and more, but let's not. The plan works, maybe a little slower or a little faster for different people, but in the end, caloric deficits work.
Now, obviously, you could screw this up by overeating on the six non-diet days. So, don't do that. Stick to maintenance intake, whatever that is for you.
You can use a math formula and count calories if you'd like, but most people naturally fall into a maintenance intake. Maybe some days you consume more calories and some days less, but it averages out over the week. If your body weight has been roughly the same for months or years, just eat as you normally do on the non-diet days.