Eating four eggs and one Weight Watchers meal a day is likely to result in weight loss. But the real question at hand is, Should you follow such an extreme diet to lose weight? The best diets draw from all food groups. Four eggs and one meal a day limits your intake of nutritious foods essential to your overall health. This means you can eat four eggs with a frozen meal and lose weight, but you shouldn't.
Caloric Deficit
It takes a deficit of 3,500 calories to lose 1 lb. of fat. Limiting the amount of food you eat can help reach this deficit, but it's often healthier --- and more effective, for that matter --- to add more nutritious foods than just take food away. Eating more fruits, vegetables and whole grains that are low in calories can bring about this deficit without sacrificing satiation. For most people, eating only four eggs and one frozen meal a day leads not only to a great deal of hunger, but also to malnourishment.
Caloric Intake
Four eggs are equivalent to roughly 280 calories. Add a frozen meal into the mix, and you're looking at total caloric intake for the day of anywhere between 500 and 700 calories. This caloric intake is equivalent to a very low-calorie diet, which should be supervised by a medical professional. It promotes rapid weight loss that can bring about adverse effects, such as fatigue, dizziness, lightheadedness, nausea and even the development of gallstones. The National Institutes of Health recommends not lowering your intake below 1,200 calories for women and 1,500 calories for men without medical supervision.
Weight Loss
Weight-loss results for this type of diet varies from person to person. Everyone's body has a specific caloric need when it comes to food. Let's say your body has a daily need of 2,000 calories. Cutting your caloric intake to 700 calories a day generates a deficit of 1,300 calories, thereby promoting a weight loss of over 2 1/2 lbs. a week. Cutting your intake even further to 500 calories a day leads to a weight loss of 3 lbs. every week. This may sound appealing, but it's too drastic of a cut to be healthy.
Nutrition
Eating such a limited menu not only deprives your body of the right amount of essential nutrients, such as vitamin A, vitamin C, potassium, calcium, iron and dietary fiber, it also increases your intake of both cholesterol and fat. According to the American Heart Association, you should keep your cholesterol intake to no more than 300 mg a day. Four eggs are providing you with over 700 mg, which can increase your chances of heart disease, heart attack and stroke.
Saturated fat intake should make up no more than 7 percent of your caloric intake. At 700 calories a day, you're looking at a value of less than 5 g of saturated fat. A single egg provides a total of 2 g of saturated fat, so eating four equates to 8 g, which is higher than the recommended amount. Like dietary cholesterol, saturated fat can lead to high blood cholesterol, increasing your risk of heart disease, heart attack and stroke.
References
- MedlinePlus; Tips for Losing Weight; October 2009
- MyFitnessPal.com: Egg --- Large Grade A --- Whole Egg Raw
- MyFitnessPal.com: Heinz --- Weight Watchers -- Beef Lasagna Frozen Meal
- MyFitnessPal.com: Weight Watchers --- Chicken Thai Curry Frozen Meal
- MyFitnessPal.com: Weight Watchers --- Tomato Penne Pasta Ready Meal
- American Heart Association; Know Your Fats; May 2011
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