The 3-Day Rotation Diet is the brainchild of Dr. Martin Katahn and it is a variation on a theme. There are countless three-day diets that heavily restrict your caloric intake and often revolve around a single food. Many people have been lured by quick weight loss claims associated with the grapefruit diet, the egg diet, the cabbage soup diet, the hot dog diet and the cookie diet. The Rotation Diet eschews a reliance on one particular food and instead focuses on the amount of calories you consume each day.
Diet Plan
The 3-Day Rotation Diet could also be called the Month-Long Rotation Diet, since it spells out the daily amount of calories you can consume for a month. During the first three days, women must limit their diet to 600 calories per day and follow a fairly rigid menu. The next four days, women are allowed 900 calories per day. On week two, calorie restrictions are loosened to allow 1,200 calories per day. Week three is a repeat of the first week, with 600 calories allowed the first three days and 900 calories the next four days. Week four allows you to eat 1,200 calories the first three days and 1,500 calories the next four days. Then you are "free" for a week or two to eat about 1,800 to 2,000 calories per day. After that, you start the diet over again. Men are allowed to consume 600 calories more than women on a daily basis.
Theory
The 3-Day Rotation Diet is supposed to enable you to lose weight by varying your daily caloric intake in order to keep your metabolic rate high enough to burn calories. In addition, by varying calories on a daily and weekly basis, you won't get as bored on the 3-Day Rotation Diet as on diets that prescribe the same foods and calorie count every day.
Menu
When you start the Rotation Diet, here's an example of what you'll be eating during the first three days. For breakfast, consume 1 oz. of fortified cereal, 8 oz. skim milk and 1/2 cup of berries or other fruit. For lunch, 3/4 cup yogurt, 1/2 banana and 1 tbsp. wheat germ. For dinner, 3 oz. broiled or poached fish, 1/2 cup of rice, 1 cup broccoli and 1 cup tossed salad of any vegetables.
Dangers
Consuming less than about 1,000 to 1,200 calories per day constitutes a starvation diet. As health writer and educator Tanya Zilberter explained on the Chase Freedom website, the 3-Day Rotation Diet "is simply not sustainable in the long-term because it's just too aggressive and short-term in its focus." The 3-Day Rotation Diet also qualifies as a yo-yo or crash diet, which can be particularly harmful to your health. As cardiologist Isadore Rosenfeld told CNN Health in 2010, "A crash diet once won't hurt your heart. But crash dieting repeatedly increases the risk of heart attacks."
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