Losing weight has become one of the quintessential goals of many people. While trying to achieve this goal, they either end up following crash diets or fad diets. In the process, they become oblivious of the fact that losing weight doesn’t mean curtailing the healthy foods required by our body. In fact, the goal can be achieved by balancing the calories that we consume everyday. One such healthy diet that is based on this logic is the calorie shifting diet plan. It’s similar to the rotational diet that involves shuffling your daily calorie consumption.

Diet Menu Ideas

This diet plan should be started when consumption of same kinds of foods everyday has resulted in a weight loss plateau, and your diet has failed to burn down the extra pounds gained by you. Nutritionists and health experts say that you should alter the total calorie count by reducing it and increasing it every alternate day.

This diet plan is extremely easy to follow and you will get the desired results within a month’s time. The digestive system gets accustomed to similar foods, if you do not alter your menu. If you chalk out a graphical representation of a monotonous diet, you will find a flat line on it. Consuming different types of food creates a metabolic confusion that further helps you to utilize energy more effectively. This ultimately results in weight loss. This way you are ‘shifting’ your calories to achieve the weight loss goals. In order to plan a diet for yourself, you need to check the calorie content of each food, calorie requirement of your body, and how much calorie do you burn each day (metabolism rate). If you are unsure of the shifting diet plan, here is an example of the menu, which will help you decide:

Day 1
Day 1 starts with setting up a calorie baseline for yourself. The maximum amount of calorie permitted is 2000. So, on the first day you have the liberty to consume food that will sum up to 2000 calories, which is required by your body. You can include the following list of items on day 1.

• Boiled eggs
• Milk
• Cereals
• Brown rice
• Assorted vegetables
• Strawberries
• Nuts
• Dried fruits
• Bananas

Day 2
On this day, you will follow the plan where you can add extra 300 calories to the standard value. So your gross calorie intake is up-shifted to 2300. You can achieve the extra value by adding protein rich foods to your diet along with complex carbohydrates. Stay away from junk food. Rather opt for the healthy food to increase your calorie requirements.

• Scrambled eggs
• Tuna salad
• Protein shakes
• Fruit juices
• Roasted beef
• Low fat cheese
• Whole wheat pasta

Day 3
On day three, you need to subtract 500 calories from the standard value. This way you direct your body to consume less food, thereby altering your metabolic rate. Now your calorie intake goes down to 1500. This phase is extremely important and you have to rely on natural sources of proteins to fulfill the requirement.

• Egg white
• Boiled chicken
• Citrus fruits
• Vegetable soups
• Fish fillet
• Tofu
• Skim milk
• Soy beans

Day 4
On day four, you once again go back to the basic calorie line, i.e., 2000 calories. Day 4 completes one cycle of the plan. The extra calorie will come from saturated fatty acids and proteins. So the following items should be consumed during the last day of this diet plan.

• Oatmeal
• Legumes
• Turkey
• Milk shakes
• Nuts
• Sea fish
• Banana
• Raspberries

Follow this plan for a month to get the desired results. Also, it is good practice to note down the foods and the number of calories you are consuming, so that it’s easier for you to remember and calculate.

There are endless types of diets known today that advocate quick weight loss. Most of them are based on scientific observations and conclusions. There are healthy diets which help in losing weight slowly but in a healthy way. On the other hand, there are certain plans that are to be followed only for a short period as they help in quick weight loss. These are known as fad diets. The fruit diet is claimed as a healthy diet, but, it is more of a fad diet. A fruit diet usually means the fruit detox, the fruit flush, and the grapefruit diet.

Fruit Diets for Weight Loss

As the name suggests, you must have concluded that in this diet, one is expected to include only fruits during the day. However, following are the popular 3 types of plans that include consumption of different food items along with fruits to lose weight.

Fruit Detox Diet Plan
A detox diet is meant for internal cleansing of the body, which also aids in weight loss. The fruit detox diet also helps in making the skin smooth and supple. The foods that you can consume while on this diet are all fresh fruits, juices, raw vegetables, and fresh fish. One is also encouraged to have nuts and seeds (unsalted) in this detox diet plan. You can have a single fruit whenever you are hungry and also for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. This diet can last for 7-10 days.

Fruit Flush Diet Plan
The fruit flush diet was created by Jay Robb. This fruit diet plan, which lasts for 3 days, is also a detox diet and helps in weight loss. On the first day of the diet, the person is supposed to have protein shakes with protein powder (without sugar). On the remaining days, one can have fresh fruits every 2 hours or whenever hungry. This is to be accompanied by a meal containing lean proteins (turkey, chicken, fish) and raw fresh vegetables (preferably, green leafy). Along with this, sufficient amounts of water should also be consumed for a proper detox.

Grapefruit Diet Plan
The grapefruit diet lasts for 12 days. This is a low-calorie and low carbohydrate diet plan which aids in weight loss through the medium of a healthy diet. When on this diet, a person is expected to consume grapefruit raw and in juice form as it is believed to aid in quick fat burning. At the same time, one can also have a vegetable salad, egg, bacon, meat, fish, coffee, and tea during the day. When organizing the grapefruit diet meal plan, one should take care not to consume more than 1,000 calories daily.

Apart from these popular plans, there are several other simpler plans like the all-fruit diet where one should have only fresh fruits for breakfast and meals during the day. This diet can be continued for more than a week. But then, it is a fad diet as one should exclude all other foods and simply have fruits. On the other hand, the vegetable and fruit diet is also a version of the fruit diet, where a person can include raw or boiled vegetables, vegetable juices and salads in the daily meals.

Although it is a healthy diet plan, it cannot be continued for a longer period as it is a fad diet. The diet lacks in carbohydrates and fats which are essential for gaining energy and hence, people are not recommended to follow this diet for long. You should consult the doctor before going for it.