The grapefruit diet, an extremely low-calorie weight loss plan, requires eating specific foods for each of 12 days, resuming your regular diet for two days, and then continuing the grapefruit diet for 12 days and repeating. Food preparation on the grapefruit diet proves simple as long as you have ingredients on hand to prepare your breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Breakfast Preparation
Your breakfast meal on the grapefruit diet includes two eggs any style: scrambled, fried, boiled or poached. Eggs contain a lot of cholesterol -- 213 mg in a single egg yolk -- so when preparing your eggs, it's best to cook them in as little fat as possible. Use vegetable spray, or make boiled or poached eggs. Pan-fry or microwave two slices of bacon to go with your eggs and cut a grapefruit. Eat half for breakfast and save the other half for your next meal. Of, if you prefer, pour yourself an 8 oz. glass of unsweetened grapefruit juice. Brew coffee or tea using your favorite brewing method.
Lunch Preparation
Lunch preparation of the grapefruit diet includes baking, broiling, grilling or frying any kind of meat you like. Prepare -- and eat -- as much meat as you wish. To prepare a salad to accompany your meat, cut up some cucumbers, celery and radishes and chop up some lettuce. Toss all vegetables together and drizzle with low-fat, fat-free or diet salad dressing. For a salad variation on another day, chop up tomatoes, lettuce, asparagus and endive. Eat the remaining half of your grapefruit or drink an 8 oz. glass of unsweetened grapefruit juice.
Dinner Preparation
To prepare dinner, grill, fry, boil or bake any type of meat or fish. Steam, boil, grill or bake red or green vegetables or saute them in butter or spices. Choices of red or green vegetables might include spinach, broccoli, peas, red onions or radishes. Alternatively, you could toss yourself a salad with your salad ingredients from lunch. Brew your favorite coffee or tea and drink it with your dinner. Pour yourself an 8 oz. glass of unsweetened grapefruit juice or slice another half of grapefruit. You may also eat one snack before or after dinner. Choose between 8 oz. of nonfat milk or tomato juice.
Calorie Restrictions and Side Effects
The grapefruit diet severely limits calories to no more than about 1,000 calories a day and does not provide adequate nutrition. The United States Department of Agriculture says you can reduce your calories by 500 a day and still eat a balanced, nutrient-filled diet that includes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean protein and low-fat dairy. Cutting calories by 500 a day will yield a weight loss of about 1 lb. per week. You would lose about 2 lbs. a week on the grapefruit diet, which provides more cholesterol and saturated fat than you need and too few healthy carbohydrates. If you take medications, talk to your doctor before beginning a grapefruit diet -- or consuming grapefruit in any form for any reason. Grapefruit can adversely interact with many medications, including birth control pills, statins, calcium channel blockers, antivirals and antidepressants, among others.
References
- Iverda.com; The Grapefruit Diet; Levi Reiss
- 1is2Fat.com: The Grapefruit Diet
- Weight Loss Resources; The New Grapefruit Diet Review; Juliette Kellow
- MayoClinic.com; High Cholesterol -- Eggs; Thomas Behrenbeck; December 2009
- United States Department of Agriculture: Choose My Plate
- The Harvard Medical School Family Health Guide; Grapefruit and Medication: A Cautionary Note; February 2006
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