If you have a wedding around the corner and are having trouble fitting into the dress you got last year, the GM diet would solve your problem! You can lose up to 15 pounds in 7 days without breaking a sweat.
General Motors Inc had reportedly developed the GM Diet for its employees to help them lose weight and feel healthier.
General Motors Inc then collaborated with the Food and drug administration and the US Department of Agriculture, developing the first formulated diet plan.
It was first tested at Johns Hopkins research center in 1985. Since then, this diet plan has been accepted as a legitimate solution to weight loss, helping people across the globe.
How Does The GM Diet Work?
GM Diet works on a simple principle- the food you consume will burn more calories than the energy /calories they provide for the body to accumulate as fat.
Moreover, this diet detoxifies your entire body because of the amount of water the plan provides. Following GM diet plan, you can lose between 10 and 17 lbs per week.
This detoxification process will cleanse your body and prepare it for better health after seven days.
For the first three days, you must eat low-calorie foods such as fruits and vegetables for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
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The total calorie intake for these three days is 1000-12000 calories daily. From the fourth to the seventh day, you will eat protein-rich foods and carbs in the form of bananas, brown rice and milk.
After you have finished the diet, you might experience resistance to unhealthy, processed foods, which are incredibly harmful to your body. It is optional for dieters to work out or to add supplementary non-food items to their diet.
Apart from this, you can do this diet multiple times, leaving a gap of five days in between each cycle until you reach your target weight.
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The kinds of GM Diet Plans
Broadly speaking, there are two kinds of GM diet plans available. One for vegetarians and the other for non-vegetarians. There are also other variations or alterations based on the diet, like the Indian GM diet plan or the Vegan GM diet plan.
The original version includes beef and salmon in the plan, but it is reported to have the same results as the altered ones. Let us primarily focus on the two kinds of GM diets- the one for vegetarians and the non-vegetarians.
7 Days General Motors Diet Plan
This plan incorporates the consumption of vegetables, fruits and starch, along with lean meat. To set yourself up for the GM diet, you have to maintain a distance from alcohol for a couple of days, particularly during the diet routine and before it. This is a vital tip you have to look after.
Alcohol builds up uric acid in the body, which leads to water retention in the body. This hinders the detoxifying process from playing an active role. Drinking up to 10 glasses of water daily is also necessary, as it will be your body’s primary energy source for the whole day and boost your metabolism rate.
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Day 1:
The first day is always the hardest, but you must keep motivated. It would help if you tried to avoid all sorts of cravings, as today you would be consuming only fruits. Consumption of all kinds of fruits is allowed for this day, apart from bananas, grapes, litchi and mangoes.
There is no restriction on the quantity. It will help if you consume more watermelon, oranges, lime, apples, strawberries, pomegranates and melons. You can eat at least 20 times a day, but only fruits. There is a chance of losing up to 3 pounds this day.
Day 2:
Today is all veggies day. Boiled or raw vegetables best fill your stomach and not make you feel hungry. You can even start your day with just one medium-sized boiled potato and a teaspoon (not more!) of butter. This will give the body sufficient energy and carbohydrates for the rest of the day.
But following those, only raw and boiled vegetables should be consumed. This is a calorie-free day with a good amount of fibre and nutrients. No amount of boiled chicken or fish must be taken along with the boiled veggies, in case you are a non-vegetarian.
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Day 3:
This day combines Day 1 and Day 2, which means you can eat vegetables and fruits together. But at the same time, you must keep away from potatoes on this day, as you are attaining a sufficient amount of carbohydrates from the fruits. Today is the day your body is more or less accustomed to burning fat.
Day 4:
On the 4th day of the GM diet, you can consume up to 6 bananas daily and four glasses of milk. Bananas act as a supply of potassium and sodium for the body. This will help the body get its essential salts. But you must remember to drink at least 8 glasses of water the entire day!
You can also have just one cup of well-diluted soup for the day. The soup should consist of capsicum, onions, garlic and tomatoes. The recipe is simple and can be found on the internet.
But remember, JUST ONCE! And again, no lean meat for the soup if you are a non-vegetarian!
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Day 5:
Protein day is finally here! Today is a festive day, as you can finally have a meal! For vegetarians, tomatoes, sprouts, paneer (cottage cheese), and soya chunks can be made into a soup.
As for the non-vegetarians, today is a big deal because they can have beef/chicken/fish, and tomatoes. It would be best to remember to increase your water intake today to cleanse your body of the accumulated uric acid.
Day 6:
Today is the second last day of your diet, and it is a bit different from the previous days. You are also expected to see a few changes in your body and feel better.
Today, you can have sprouts, paneer, broccoli, celery, cucumber, and everything else, but not tomatoes. And for the non-vegetarians, 10 oz of beef/chicken/ fish can be used instead of paneer.
The soup will help kill hunger, and the vegetables in it are rich in fibre and will provide the vitamins with your body needs.
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Day 7:
Today is the last day of your diet and the most important one. You can have fresh fruit juices for the day. You can also opt for just one cup of brown rice, half chapatti, and other vegetables you would like to eat. You can finish your day by consuming lots of water.
No meat or paneer for this day to eat, along with the vegetables. You are already expected to feel light on your toes and happy from the inside after completing this 7-day GM diet!
You will see that your weight has reduced by a minimum of 10 pounds compared to the first day of starting the diet.
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7 Days GM Diet Plan Chart
What to do after the GM diet is over?
Two main things must be considered once the GM diet plan is over. One, eating habits and two, how to prevent the yo-yo effect. There is no guarantee that you will not gain weight after this diet plan because our body weight depends on how we deal with it.
- It would help if you turned to a low-carb, high-protein diet to maintain weight permanently or until your next GM diet session.
- Saying NO to high-calorie foods like noodles, pasta, chicken nuggets and all sorts of foods high in carbs or starch.
- Drinking up to 3-4 litres of water daily.
- Replacing white foods, like white rice, with brown-coloured foods, like brown rice.
- Switching to Green Tea instead of tea or coffee.
- Allotting at least 30 minutes to yoga or cardio.
You will maintain your weight if you follow the above mentioned tips and stay fit!
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Pros and Cons of the GM diet plan
The GM diet, like everything else, has advantages and disadvantages. It would be best if you weighed the pros and cons according to your judgement before doing it.
The advantages of the GM diet over other types are as follows:
- It is a relatively quick way of losing weight while keeping within the limits of crash dieting.
- The diet aids workout regimens by burning extra calories.
- Motivates people to continue weight loss activities by providing results within weeks.
- The GM diet improves digestion and keeps the body healthy by incorporating more fibre-producing food items like vegetables and fruits,
The GM diet may have the following disadvantages depending on the anatomy of specific individuals:
- The diet may lead to severe dehydration as it decreases the amount of water the body can hold.
- The diet must balance nutrients as it only incorporates a little protein and fat-based items.
- By reducing food choices, the diet may interfere with the metabolism of the body
- The diet is too rigid and does not allow for any exceptions, which may be expected over an entire week.
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Tips and tricks to ace the GM diet plan
To make the GM diet even more effective, you can consider the following tips and tricks to incorporate into your 7-day regime:
- Avoid drinking water right after eating fruits and wait at least half an hour. It may cause acidity and have an effect on your diet plan.
- Keep away from sugar in all forms. Eating sugarcane juice should be avoided on the 7th
- A daily walk of 30-45 minutes can be healthy. It would help you get rid of your water weight in the body.
- You must avoid eating all types of lentils or beans on the meal day.
- To make your salad a little less boring, add a dash of lemon or apple cider vinegar/ white wine/ red wine.
- Start with drinking lukewarm water with honey and lemon squeezed into it. It helps fasten up the detox process.
Frequently asked questions about the GM diet plan
Can I do the GM Diet continuously?
The GM diet is only a diet that introduces an individual to weight loss methods. The diet can be undergone only after two weeks. Or preferably one month of healthy balanced eating. It is important to note that returning to the pre-diet routine, lifestyle, or eating habits is not advisable.
Can I have dried fruits or nuts?
Dried fruits are incredibly concentrated energy sources and will not go with the GM diet. After a week of the diet, dried fruits may be consumed in small quantities to maintain a healthy routine.
Can Pregnant Women Follow the GM Diet?
That is a big no! Pregnancy and motherhood require additional nutrition to compensate for the baby. The GM diet is a strict diet whose main caveat is to consume fewer calories each day than the body spends.
A well-balanced diet with all types of nutrients is necessary for a pregnant woman to keep her and her baby healthy. Following the GM diet would deprive the mother of these essential nutrients fundamental to her baby’s growth.
As a matter of fact, pregnant women should not follow any diet or weight loss program but should instead stick to a healthy food regimen.
Hope the GM diet helps you follow the lifestyle and lose weight naturally. Stay Healthy!
