The Biggest Loser Diet is a "calorie-controlled, carbohydrate-modified, fat-reduced diet that is high in lean protein" according to The Biggest Loser Cookbook. The diet is meant to become part of your lifestyle, not followed temporarily. It consists of three meals and two snacks daily and focuses on natural, unprocessed foods.
Total Calories
There is a simple equitation found in The Biggest Loser Cookbook for figuring out how many calories you can eat on this diet. The equation says to multiply your current weight in pounds by 7 for your daily calorie intake. If you weigh more than 300 lbs., start with 300 when calculating your calories. If you are less than 150 lbs., use 150 in the equation. Thus, if you weight 230 lbs. multiply 230 by 7 for 1,610 daily calories.
Biggest Loser Food Pyramid
The Biggest Loser Diet has its own version of the food pyramid. Fruits and vegetables are found at the bottom. Biggest Loser experts recommend at least two servings of fruits and two servings of vegetables each day. More servings can be eaten as long as fruit servings do not outnumber vegetable servings. The pyramid step is protein-rich foods like fish and poultry. Eat at least three 8-oz. portions each day. Next you'll find whole grains including whole wheat, brown rice, couscous, and rolled oats. Get two 1-cup servings daily. The top of the pyramid provides 200 extra calories. The Biggest Loser Cookbook recommends using these to add flavor to your meals with healthy oils, low-fat condiments like mustard or tasty splurges like avocados.
Foods to avoid
Natural foods are recommended because they are typically lower in calories and keep you more satisfied than processed food, according to the Biggest Loser Cookbook. That means avoiding refined grains and processed lunch meats. Also limit starchy vegetables like winter squash and sweet potatoes to a few times per week, because they are higher in calories than other vegetables. Dried fruits and fruit juice are less filling than whole fruit and have concentrated sugar, so opt for whole fruit instead.
What to Drink
Water is the best option says the Biggest Loser Cookbook. If plain water doesn't provide enough flavor, try adding herbs, cucumber slices or a squeeze of lemon to your cup. Alcohol is not off limits; just use the 200 extra calories for a glass. Diet soda is okay, but only one or two a day. Avoid sugar-sweetened beverages. A 2009 study from "The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition" published by Chen et al. found that you can lose over a pound in six months by cutting out one serving of liquid calories daily.
Meal Ideas
Biggest Loser nutritionist Cheryl Forberg and the Ladies Home Journal created a seven-day meal plan for the Biggest Loser Diet. Try scrambled egg whites with wheat toast, blueberries and a cup of fat-free milk for breakfast. A tasty lunch includes a cup of tuna over salad greens, bell pepper slices and green onions with 2 tbsp. of low-fat Italian dressing. For dinner have a serving of salmon with half a cup of brown rice and baby greens with low-fat dressing. Dessert can be half a cup of strawberry sorbet and a sliced pear. Munch on a fat-free mozzarella string cheese with an apple for your morning snack and in the afternoon make yogurt parfait with low-fat vanilla yogurt, sliced strawberries and 2 tbsp. of low-fat granola.
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