The Bowflex Diet

The Bowflex body leanness program, commonly known as the Bowflex diet, is a specialized weight loss program that combines exercise on the Bowflex home gym with calorie restriction over the course of six weeks. Ellington Darden, Ph.D., created the Bowflex diet in 1995 to test the weight loss potential of the home gym. Ask your physician or a registered dietitian if the Bowflex Diet is safe for you before beginning the program.

Initial Development

According to Darden in his book, "The Bowflex Body Plan," he was skeptical of how effective the Bowflex home gym could be for weight loss when he was first introduced to it in Gainesville, Florida. Three men and three women participated in Darden's original Bowflex weight loss study. They followed a calorie-restricted diet and performed a weight training regimen on the Bowflex three times per week. At the end of the six-week study, the men lost an average of 27.95 lbs while gaining 3.7 lbs of muscle mass, and the women lost an average of 16.96 lbs with a gain of 2.73 lbs in muscle mass.

Diet Specifics

The Bowflex diet is a high-carbohydrate weight loss plan that has you consume a ratio of 60 percent carbohydrates, 20 percent protein and 20 percent healthy fats. Men begin the program with a 1,500 calorie per day diet, while women begin with 1,200 calories per day. Every two weeks, the daily caloric consumption is reduced by 100 calories. You eat your normal three meals every day, along with two small snacks. Darden recommends easily prepared foods and lots of fruits and vegetables to make meal planning easier. You are also advised to "superhydrate your system" by drinking from 1 to 1 5/8 gallons of ice-cold water every day.

Diet Comparisons

Darden states that the Bowflex diet features the "best" ratio of calories for weight loss. However, 2009 research published in the "New England Journal of Medicine" indicates that there is very little difference in weight loss potential from one calorie-restricting diet to the next. In the study, researchers compared four different diets used by 811 overweight adults. The diets included a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet and high-fat and high-carbohydrate diets. The one trait that all of the diets shared was calorie restriction. At the end of two years, around 80 percent of the participants were still following their diets and had statistically similar weight loss totals. Therefore, it is likely that weight loss on the Bowflex diet is more a result of regular exercise and significant calorie restriction than it is eating a 60:20:20 ratio of carbohydrate, protein and fat.

Safe and Sustainable Weight Loss

In its 2009 position paper on weight management, the American Dietetic Association recommends that you only restrict your normal diet by 500 to 1,000 calories per day to achieve safe weight loss. This will give you a weekly weight loss of 1 to 2 lbs. The caloric guidelines of the Bowflex diet may reduce your daily consumption beyond the ADA's recommendation. This may lead to a weight loss that is unhealthy and unlikely to be maintained when the diet is completed. Speak to a registered dietitian for suggestions on how many calories you should eat a day to achieve a healthy bodyweight.