Drop 12-23 pounds in only 21 days.

What is the 3 Week Diet?

First off, the 3 Week Diet plan claims to help you drop 12-23 pounds in only 21 days. This program is  suitable for women and men of all ages, and it was created by Brian Flatt, a personal trainer, and nutritionist. According to Flatt, this is the fastest diet on the market today.  A specific eating plan and some exercise are required. However, all of the foods involved are readily available in local grocery stores.

We are uncertain when The 3 Week Diet first emerged. This weight-loss program is backed by a 60-day satisfaction guarantee, and there are some customer testimonials presented on the official website, but read on.

How We Get Fat?

Flatt clings to the decades disproven calorie-in/calorie-out theory of weight loss. He even goes so far to say that carbs have no impact on weight gain. He does get it right by saying that we don’t get fat by eating fats. In the past decade, it has become standard in the medical and nutritional field to not mention calories, simply because they don’t exist in the body. Carbohydrates and sugars do, and have over 10,000 studies to prove excess sugars, especially from processed foods, directly influence obesity, hormonal disruption, diabetes, ADHD/hyperactivity, and mental function.

He then goes on to talk about how we need to burn more calories, but never talks about the process of how that is done, just that we need to follow his system. Again, you can’t talk about how to burn calories because calories don’t exist.

Later in the book, he confuses the matter more by free exchanging calorie for sugar. He also has no understanding of the sugar-insulin cycles and the relationship of hormones for hunger, obesity, or energy.

Nutritionally, he tries to narrow what we need into less than 30 vitamins and minerals. Currently, we stand at over 100,000 nutrients that the body uses for health. In a healthy person, we can produce non-essential fats, protein, and phytonutrients from what we eat. But, if there is disease in a person, this ability is greatly reduced and over 80,000 nutrients are suddenly essential for health.

Many other supplements are required. The whey protein, omega-oils, and many other vitamins are required for this diet. In Flatt’s opinion, if you aren't willing to do it all, and use his preferred brands, you will fail.

3-Week Diet Meal Plan

This is the low-carb diet meets low-fat diet. In order to follow the low-calorie diet restrictions, fats are reduced. Since you reduce your carbs and your fat, your pickings are slim for food. It’s one of the main reasons why the whey protein makes such a starring role: it’s just about the only thing you can eat in quantity.

If this diet went on any longer, I would be scared for nutritional deficiencies. Out of the over 5,000 types of fruits and vegetables available, the 3-Week Diet, Week 1 limits you to 17. He limits drinks to water. This is a good thing, since most people don’t drink enough water to meet normal needs.

The recommended first meal is lunch, with the last meal being just before bed. This flies in the face of all the studies on eating habits. We require breakfast to lose weight. Skipping it slows our metabolism.

The rest of the plan is a complex mix of calculating out different calories, supplements, and fasting habits. This isn't for the faint of heart.At the start of the second week, you fast for 24 hours. Supposedly, this is for a detox purpose, but it’s not long enough to actually start the body into any other metabolic pathway other than carbohydrate metabolism. In the end, you are just going to be hungry.

Then, comes the really hard part. This diet wants you to get 80% of your calories from fat, and still keep under about 1200 calories. This means nearly 900 calories come from a source that does not fill you up. Only about 300 calories will come from any food source.To put that in perspective, a dinner of 3oz of steak, 1 cup of broccoli, and a medium baked potato is 300 calories. That would be your total daily allotment in 1 small dinner. Additional recommendations call for using nuts (50-70 calories per oz), avocado (50 calories per cup), and cream cheese  as additions. As you can see, it would difficult to include them in the 300 calorie allotment.

The diet wants you to have 3-4 meals. I don’t know how it’s possible, unless you are eating nothing but bitter vegetables smothered in butter.

The 3 Week Diet: Pro’s

• Complete system: First, as the name misleadingly suggests, it’s not just a diet. The actual program covers all aspects of healthy weight loss and provides 4 separate manuals, each covering one key component (Introduction Manual, Diet, Workouts and Mindset & Motivation). This is great to see as sustainable weight loss is as much about building healthy habits, getting active and being happy as it is about eating the right foods.

• Backed by Science:  There’s mounting evidence to suggest that the fat we consume in our diet isn’t the reason we put on weight. Instead, it’s the influx of unhealthy carbohydrates and sugars, which spike insulin and blood sugar levels, that leads to stubborn and unwanted weight gain. The 3 Week Diet combats this with a system based on consuming quality proteins, healthy fats consuming and reducing ‘simple’ carbohydrates. Together with calorie-controlled portions and intermittent fasting – both of which are time-tested and highly effective for weight loss – this creates a powerful fat burning environment and one which can prevent/reverse hormone imbalances and metabolic diseases, like diabetes.

The 3 Week Diet: Considerations

• The name: It’s not a crazy as it sounds. The 3 Week Diet, while a marketable term, lends itself well to over-hyped headlines and quick-fixes too often seen in the weight loss marketplace, which is a shame. While the 3 week diet is based on its efficacy over 3 weeks, it has the capacity to be marketed and applied as more of a long term weight loss solution built on healthy eating and exercise habits.

• Up-sells: They’re not really a bad thing. In fact, they can often be useful additions to help you reach your goals even faster. Last I checked, the program did have 1 or 2 and while you can easily skip them, they are something to be aware of during your purchase. Your goals, experience, level of support and other individual factors will ultimately determine whether or not they’re right for you.

• Supplements: As part of the program, a few supplements are recommended to assist with weight loss. These include whey protein, along with some essential amino-acids. These can be picked up easily in-store or online, but are additional expenses you may need to factor in nonetheless. It’s important to note that you can still make great progress on the program without them, however their recommendation of a quality protein powder supplement is one I fully endorse, especially when you don’t always have the time to eat/prepare healthy meals.