The egg diet is super effective, affordable and easy for those trying to lose weight. And it's not just eggs. Nutritionists give many recommendations on how to diversify your daily diet so that you do not suffer too much from hunger.
The essence of diet
In principle, the egg diet is not a monodiet, but a type of protein diet, the goal of which is to limit carbohydrates and fats as much as possible. It seems to many that only eggs in various preparations are allowed in such a diet. But actually the diet is more balanced.
What are eggs rich in?
It is a product that contains everything necessary for the growth and development of the whole living organism, full of proteins, polyunsaturated fatty acids, fat-soluble vitamins, amino acids and minerals. Used for weight loss, they contain minimal carbohydrates, but provide a long-lasting feeling of fullness.
The fatty acids in the product prevent the deposition of fat reserves. Such protein nutrition will never lead to a loss of muscle mass due to the rich protein content. Any egg diet allows you to eat other healthy foods, fruits or vegetables, most often citrus fruits. Therefore, even the mono-mode of eggs and grapefruit is easily tolerated physically and mentally. According to experts, there is no reason to fear eggs as a harmful food.
Main rules
In order for the diet to have a maximum effect, you must follow simple rules:
- Maintenance of water balance. You should drink at least 1. 5 liters of clean water per day. This not only helps you lose weight, but also relieves digestive problems.
- Make sure you have enough fiber in your diet. Regardless of the number of meals you eat per day, you should eat plenty of raw vegetables each time. The right amount of fiber can be provided by fruits, bran, or the pharmaceutical version in its pure form. This requirement is common to all protein diets.
- Vitamins. The chicken egg diet is one of the few that does not require additional vitamin and mineral complexes. On the contrary, it is even forbidden because. . . Eggs and citrus fruits contain more than enough vitamins and minerals.
- If you don't like chicken eggs, you can eat quail eggs in a ratio of three to one.
- Dinner. Evening meals are prohibited after 7-8 p. m.
- Dream. In this mode, you should devote at least 8 hours a day to sleep. You have to go to bed by 11 o'clock at the latest.
- To cook food. The boiled egg diet means eating a soft or hard boiled product. From time to time, we can make an omelet without fat. Other products (vegetables or fruits) should be eaten raw, fried (oven, grilled), steamed or boiled. Fried foods can also be prepared in a pan without fat.
- Spices. To improve the taste of products, you can flavor them with lemon juice and use any spices. But if hunger persists, it's better to avoid gas stations.
- Eating raw eggs is dangerous, it is better not to do this.
- The egg diet can be practiced 1-2 times every 12 months, not more often.
- To avoid the failure of a long-term restricted diet, the main product is sometimes allowed with substitutes in the form of low-fat cottage cheese or meat.
- Parallel physical activity will be very useful for losing weight in the shortest possible time.
How does the egg diet work?
Regarding protein, this diet contains a standard list of products for them. The peculiarity is the high content of eggs and citrus fruits, most often grapefruit. The effect on the body is based on special biochemical reactions, so such weight loss requires strict adherence to the rules. The advantage of this diet is that you will not feel hungry. A diet rich in protein ensures a long-lasting feeling of fullness.
There are many variations of the egg diet that target different results. But all of them are surprisingly effective. The choice of option depends on the goal: how quickly and how much excess weight you want to lose.
The composition of chicken eggs
To understand the benefits or harms of eggs, you need to understand their composition. Physically, they consist of liquid white with a dense yolk surrounded by a shell. Protein is an easily digestible, clean protein that should be included in the diet of athletes. The yolk is a nutrient-rich cocktail of fatty acids (linoleic acid, oleic acid, stearin), fat-soluble vitamins and minerals. At the same time, 100 g of eggs provide only 150 kcal of energy. The amino acid choline regulates cholesterol levels, lecithin strengthens memory and prevents arteriosclerosis. There is no point in listing all the beneficial properties of eggs.
Horror stories about cholesterol
Opponents of egg consumption dispute their position due to the high cholesterol content of eggs, which is dangerous for the body. It forms plaques on the walls of blood vessels, which clog the channels and impede blood circulation. The result of this process is various cardiovascular diseases. However, it has long been known that not all cholesterol is harmful. What is found in excess in processed heavy fats - sausages, chips, sweets - is harmful. Cholesterol in natural foods, even fried ones, is not dangerous.
How Many Eggs Can You Eat Safely?
Nutritionists do not give a clear answer to this question. The figures for the weekly allowance are different. It depends to some extent on the size of the eggs, which can be 2 times. The yolk of a large chicken contains 150-180 mg of cholesterol. For one day, this amount is not enough to cause harm to the body, especially if the diet is balanced. Some doctors claim that eating 2 eggs a day increases the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases by five times. But again, these statements are relative, since the conclusions were drawn without taking into account the lifestyle, age of the subjects and other important parameters. For example, they did not take into account bad habits, people's blood pressure, etc. Therefore, the harmful effects of chicken eggs have not been proven.
The advantages and disadvantages of raw chicken eggs
A common question: is it possible to eat raw eggs, because many people do. The main argument of raw egg lovers is that they are a treat for many animals and birds, but they cannot cook omelettes or scrambled eggs for themselves. But in industrial production conditions, there is a high risk of the eggs becoming infected with salmonellosis, a dangerous infectious disease. The longer raw materials are stored, the greater this risk. Only products obtained from healthy chickens can be eaten raw, but only fresh, with an intact shell. It is worth consuming on an empty stomach, 30-40 minutes before the main breakfast.
Advantages and disadvantages of the egg diet
This type of protein food is easily tolerated due to the inclusion of fruits and vegetables. They provide the body with light carbohydrates, mainly fructose, which relieves weakness and dizziness - the eternal companions of low-carb diets. At the same time, thanks to eggs, the body is saturated with a large amount of protein, amino acids, microelements and vitamins. But not everything is so simple and clear, in this case there are advantages and disadvantages.
The benefits of the egg diet are as follows:
- No feeling of hunger.
- A high intake of fat-soluble vitamins from eggs combined with water-soluble vitamins from citrus fruits strengthens and improves the condition of nails and hair.
- During weight loss, the skin does not sag.
- Psychologically, the restrictions are easily tolerated, thanks to the varied menu, the probability of failure is reduced to a minimum.
- Excess fluid is excreted from the body.
- The result of losing weight is fixed for a long time, you can get rid of one kilogram of excess weight in one day.
The benefits of eggs for men
Chicken or quail eggs can be considered a natural anabolic steroid, making them an essential part of an athlete's diet. They are known to minimize the effects of stress, normalize erectile ability and increase libido.
The benefits of eggs for women
They also have a positive effect on the female body. They reduce the risk of breast cancer, eliminate iron deficiency, help maintain slimness and beauty, and nourish the mother's body well during pregnancy or breastfeeding. Due to the egg white, the placenta forms normally, the amino acid choline promotes the development of the fetal brain.
Mistakes
Despite the attractiveness of the egg diet, it has significant disadvantages:
- With a long-term diet of more than 7 days, dizziness and weakness are possible.
- For those who are used to small and frequent meals, eating three meals a day without snacks can lead to hunger pangs.
- Indigestion may occur.
Contraindications
It should be remembered that the egg diet has many contraindications:
- Pregnancy.
- Breast-feeding.
- Allergy.
- High cholesterol in the blood test.
- Confirmed vascular atherosclerosis.
- Sexual disorders.
- Kidney damage.
- Pathologies of the liver.
If you have any digestive disease, you should stop using this method of losing weight. If the course is accompanied by discomfort, dizziness, nausea, it should be stopped immediately and switched to a full-fledged diet.
Menu for weight loss
By its very nature, the egg diet is not a monodiet, as many people think. But this is still a strict procedure in which substitution of prescribed products is unacceptable. But the phenomenal result can be achieved quickly and will pay off all costs. Below is a full menu for courses of various durations.
3 days
Depending on your initial weight, you can lose 2-5 extra kg in just 3 days. Basic principles of the 3-day egg diet for weight loss:
- No more than 3 meals a day.
- Breaks between meals are 4 hours.
- 1 type of vegetable should be eaten during 1 meal.
- If you are very hungry, drink green tea with lemon juice.
For 3 days you need to stick to the menu: 3 chicken eggs plus 1 grapefruit; as much as you want - vegetable salad of cucumber, tomato, carrot, Chinese cabbage; any tea; plain water - unlimited; up to 300 gr. diet drinks daily.
for 5 days
Removes 3-6 kg of excess weight. Eat 2 eggs for breakfast every day. For breakfast on the 1st, 3rd, 4th day and evening on the 5th day - 1 grapefruit.
Number of eggs:
Day |
Breakfast |
Dinner |
Dinner |
1 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
Other menus of the period:
Day |
Morning |
Dinner |
Evening |
1 |
herbal tea |
orange – 1, chicken fillet – 0. 15 kg |
vegetable salad (tomato, cucumber, pekingese - 0. 2 kg) |
2 |
green tea, apple - 1. |
salad - 5 leaves, boiled pollock 0. 13 kg. |
1. 5% kefir - 0. 2 kg |
3 |
tomato juice - 200 gr. |
turkey fillet - 0. 15 kg |
2. 5% kefir - 200 ml, whole orange - 1. |
4 |
– |
hake - 0. 15 kg. |
vegetable salad (Beijing, apple, carrot) – 0. 2 kg |
5 |
vegetable salad (Beijing, apple, carrot) – 0. 2 kg |
boiled shrimp - 0. 15 kg, 0. 1 kg Beijing shrimp. |
cottage cheese 5% fat - 0. 1 kg. |
for 7 days
You can lose up to 8 kg in one week with a stricter system.
Number of eggs:
Day |
Breakfast |
Dinner |
Dinner |
1 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
4 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
5 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
6 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
7 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
Number of citrus fruits:
Attention! Abbreviations are used here and below: G – grapefruit, A – orange (the number next to the letter is the quantity), CA – 200 gr. freshly squeezed orange juice.
Day |
Breakfast |
Dinner |
Dinner |
1 |
1G |
1A |
– |
2 |
SA |
2G |
– |
3 |
– |
1A |
– |
4 |
– |
– |
2A |
5 |
– |
SA |
– |
6 |
SA |
2A |
– |
7 |
1G |
1G |
Other products:
Day |
Morning |
Dinner |
Evening |
1 |
– |
chicken fillet - 0. 15 kg. |
200 ml glass of 2. 5% kefir, chicken - 0. 2 kg. |
2 |
– |
0. 15 kg of boiled chicken. |
200 gr. 1. 5% kefir. |
3 |
tea. |
0. 2 kg of veal. |
– |
4 |
as many greens as you like. |
0. 2 kg of chicken breast, 0. 15 kg of vegetable salad (peking, tomato, cucumber, 2 tablespoons of 10% sour cream). |
– |
5 |
0. 2 kg of vegetable salad (boiled carrots, greens, 2 tablespoons of 10% sour cream) |
two fresh grated carrots. |
0. 2 kg steamed cod. |
6 |
0. 15 kg. 7% cottage cheese. |
– |
green tea. |
7 |
– |
0. 2 kg of beef |
green tea. |
for 2 weeks
As a result of the more serious 2-week egg diet, they lose up to 15 kg. For breakfast, you should always eat, in addition to eggs, 1 grapefruit, a cup of green tea or coffee (not instant! ). Lunch and dinner are different.
Number of eggs:
Day |
Breakfast |
Dinner |
Dinner |
18 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2, 9 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
3, 10 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
4, 11 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
5, 12 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
6, 13 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
7, 14 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
Number of citrus fruits:
Day |
Breakfast |
Dinner |
Dinner |
18 |
1G |
1G |
|
2, 9 |
1G |
1G |
|
3, 10 |
1G |
||
4, 11 |
1G |
||
5, 12 |
1G |
||
6, 13 |
1G |
||
7, 14 |
1G |
1G |
The rest of the diet
Day |
Dinner |
Evening |
18 |
herbal tea, 1 tomato or 0. 2 kg. juice from it. |
0. 2 kg. vinaigrette without dressing, medicinal tea. |
2, 9 |
– |
300 gr. roast beef, 2 tomatoes and 2 cucumbers, unlimited - celery. |
3, 10 |
unlimited - spinach, green tea. |
100 5% cottage cheese, 50 gr. beets, 0. 1 kg. Beijing, herbal tea. |
4, 11 |
unlimited coffee and spinach. |
0. 1 kg. boiled hake, 0. 2 kg. vinaigrette dressing, without tea or coffee. |
5, 12 |
unlimited coffee and spinach. |
0. 1 kg. boiled hake, 0. 2 kg. vinaigrette, 0. 1 kg. Beijing, herbal tea. |
6, 13 |
0. 2 kg. fruit salad (orange, pear, apple, kiwi). |
0. 15 kg veal steak, 2 tomatoes, unlimited celery, coffee. |
7, 14 |
0. 2 kg. boiled chicken, 2 tomatoes. |
0. 1 kg. boiled chicken fillet, 0. 1 kg. Beijing, 1 carrot, 1 tomato, tea or coffee (not instant! ). |
The products listed below, with the exception of the mandatory breakfast egg with citrus, can be eaten during the day, as much and whenever you want. Daily menu:
- Unsweetened fruits
- Any vegetable, cooked or fresh.
- Same.
- Unlimited fish, boiled vegetables 200g, Chinese cabbage 0. 2 kg.
- Unlimited chicken, boiled vegetables.
- One type of fruit is unlimited - all day. For example, all day - only apples or apricots.
- Same.
Leaving the diet
Correct exit from the protein diet helps to consolidate the achieved result. It also allows you to lose weight for a while. The strict egg diet requires adherence to the basic principle of quitting – consistency. After stopping the course, you must definitely eat the same foods that were included in your diet during the course.
For example, you should eat no more than 0. 15 kg of protein food for lunch and 200 g of vinaigrette for dinner. This relieves the body of severe stress and smoothly transitions to normal nutrition without shockingly overloading the pancreas, liver and kidneys. For this, in the first week after the end of the course, you must eat 1 orange plus 2 eggs every day.
It is advisable to eat at the same time as the previous one.
Cooking means cooking, steaming, baking. During the 1st week, you should refrain from eating fried foods. It is advisable to start eating foods fried in oil no earlier than 3 weeks after the course. Every day should include low-fat dairy products, lean meat, fish and poultry. The number of meals should be increased to 4-6 per day, i. e. practicing fractional meals. Do not consume more than 300 grams at a time. food.
Instead of high-calorie confectionery products, choose jelly, chocolate-free marshmallows, marshmallows and jam. Dark chocolate is allowed up to 70 grams per day. Carbohydrate-containing foods should not be eaten after 2 p. m. You must avoid flour for at least 28 days. Bread - up to 70 g. daily, with rye or bran.
Alcohol consumption is prohibited during the first weeks. It stimulates the appetite and is high in calories. In exceptional cases, no more than 1 glass of dry wine can be consumed. Salads must be flavored with no more than 15% sour cream, lemon juice or olive oil. You should still drink about 2 liters of still water a day. Limit salt and sugar intake. Avoid seasoning with monosodium glutamate, e. g. flavor enhancer.
According to the season, the daily diet should be supplemented with fresh fruits and vegetables. In order for the food to be better absorbed, the food should be stretched as long as possible, thoroughly chewing each piece. No need to watch TV or read while eating. If you are distracted, you will easily eat too much. While eating, you have to concentrate on it and eat slowly.
Exercise when leaving the field, walk as much as possible, avoid elevators and escalators.
To support the skin and prevent sagging, massage or body wrap 1-2 times a week and use anti-cellulite creams. Consolidating healthy eating habits and regular exercise will help you maintain your slimness for a long time.
Authorized products
In order for the egg diet to be tolerated easily and without problems, it can be supplemented with the following products:
- Lean meat: beef, pork, skinless chicken, rabbit.
- The fish is white or red.
- Vegetables.
- Fruits.
- Dairy products: skimmed milk, cheese, fermented milk products.
- Tea coffee.
- Spices: any, but without monosodium glutamate.
Prohibited products
The global list of prohibited foods is the same as other food restriction systems:
- alcoholic drinks,
- Flour,
- sugar,
- cereals,
- potato,
- pasta,
- chocolate,
- confectioner,
- everything fatty: meat products, sour cream, mayonnaise, cream, any fat,
- walnut,
- Honey,
- soft cheese,
- from fruit: any grape, banana, dried fruit,
- salt that retains fluid in the tissues.
Healthy recipes
The egg diet mainly requires the consumption of boiled eggs. But in order to diversify the menu, other dishes are not prohibited. This will slow down the weight loss a bit, but the process will be easier to bear. Make sure all recipes are low in calories.
Omelet with vegetables
A healthy, simple recipe. Finely chop a tomato, half a bell pepper, and half a small onion, simmer for 5 minutes, then add the mixture of milk and two beaten eggs, then simmer under a lid until soft.
Omelet with mushrooms
Steam some chopped chanterelles in a pan. Fry the beaten mixture of milk, two eggs, salt and pepper separately. Place the steamed mushrooms on the fried omelet and cover with the other half of the omelet. Cover with a lid and simmer for 5 minutes.
Coil
Egg pancakes are baked from eggs beaten with milk, a spoonful of flour, chopped herbs and a pinch of salt. We prepare the pot under the lid. Then put finely chopped onion, preferably red pepper, bell pepper and parsley on this pancake. We can add a little bulk or cottage cheese. Distribute the minced meat evenly in the pancake and roll it up.
Legs
If you don't know what to do with a large amount of spinach, make a healthy casserole out of it. Finely chop 2 red onions, a green onion, a large bunch of spinach, season with salt and pepper and simmer. The resulting mass is divided into baking dishes. Pour the egg mixture over it and put it in a hot oven for 10 minutes. This is a great breakfast or dinner.
Healthy pizza
Mix 2 tablespoons of milk, 2 eggs, a spoonful of flour, salt and pepper in a bowl. Beat and pour into the pan. After 2 minutes, sprinkle with a mixture of chopped tomatoes, herbs, sweet pepper and olives. Cover with a lid and simmer for about 15 minutes. The result is a tasty, healthy meal.
Stuffed eggs
If you do not use mayonnaise, fatty fish or meat, then this dish will be dietary. Instead of the usual filling products, use herbs, vegetables and seafood. And for the dressing, if you follow an egg-kefir diet, use yogurt or low-fat sour cream. For example, by combining boiled shrimp, cheese, egg yolk, fresh cucumber and a small amount of yogurt, we get an excellent, tasty, low-calorie filling. Use greens or shrimp meat for decoration.
Expert opinion
Nutritionists have not come to a unanimous opinion on the "egg" method of losing weight. Their observations and user opinions are radically different from each other. This is mainly due to personal experiences or the individual characteristics of patients. But the opinion of experts should not be ignored.
If you are planning to do a "protein course", consult a doctor you trust.
Reviews and results
Analyzing the opinions published on the Internet about the egg diet, we can see that the most enthusiastic comments are left by young, thin mothers, with whose help they managed to quickly get back to normal after giving birth. The most negative comments are left mainly by ruthless critics of restrictions and the eggs themselves, who have never personally dealt with "this nonsense". But there are those who tried it, but were dissatisfied with the result. Understanding the situation, it becomes clear that this is either due to a malfunction or an allergyhappened.