The 4 Day Diet is a book written by Dr. Ian K. Smith who is also the author of the famous and very popular Fat Smash Diet and Extreme Fat Smash.
The purpose of the book is simple: to provide readers with an easy to follow way to shed pounds fast without being bored by what they eat, feel serious deprivation, being exposed to weight loss plateaus, and not requiring users to eat the same food over and over again as so many diets do. The question is whether this book actually delivers on its promise.
The 4 Day Diet was published in 2008 and is 256 pages long. This book enjoys overall positive reviews as can be seen in the 4 star average rating it has in its Amazon listing.
How Does the 4 Day Diet Work
The title of the 4 day diet is somewhat misleading since the diets is actually 28 days long. The 28 days are divided into 7 modules of 4 days in length each. The concept is that it’s much easier to focus on short-term goals like what you need to accomplish in the next 4 days than on bigger goals like the total 28 day period.
In addition, the division into short modules helps avoid boredom and plateauing since you’re always changing what you’re eating and how you’re eating.
The 7 Modules are as follows:
- Induction (detox/cleansing)
- Transition (to reintroduce all food groups)
- Protein Stretch (to avoid plateaus)
- Smooth (when you can have some formerly forbidden foods like pizza and French fries)
- Push (the sprint just before the final stretch, back to a stricter eating plan)
- Pace (a comfortable module for you to catch your breath)
- Vigorous (the final module to lose those last few pounds)
The order of the 7 modules is flexible. As long as you do the first 2 modules in order, you can shift the order of the other 5 modules as you wish. This allows you to customize the 4 Day Diet to suit your lifestyle and schedule.
Each module has its own list of recommended foods and exercise guidelines. The book also includes some 60 recipes to help you make this diet as tasty as possible.
4 Day Diet Menu Samples (for the first two phases)
Induction Phase
- 2 cups coffee (limit sugar to one packet; limit cream or milk to one teaspoon per cup)
- 2 cups green, leafy vegetables, raw or cooked
- 1 cup freshly squeezed lemonade with no more than 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon psyllium husk
- 4 servings fruit
- 6 ounces plain, fat-free yogurt
- 2 cups green salad with 3 tablespoons fat-free dressing
- 1 cup cooked beans (chickpeas, lentils, etc.)
- 1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice
- Unlimited plain water
Transition Phase
- 3 servings fruit
- 4 cups raw vegetables
- 1 cup beans
- 4 ounces fish or poultry
- 1 diet soda
- 2 snacks from a long list of options, including low-fat cheese, fruit, lean roast beef, and treats like marshmallows.
4 Day Diet Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Places emphasis on psychological aspects of dieting
- Works for vegetarians
- Includes detailed recipes
- Allows cheating
- A flexible and customizable program
- Advocates healthy food choices
- Prevents diet boredom
- Has excellent reviews
Cons:
- Menu plans are arranged in a day by day and not a meal by meal fashion
- Will not work for people who prefer a more organized eating plan
- Some days will be lower on calories than what most people will be used to.
- Isn’t suitable for people who wish to develop muscle mass
- Lasts for 28 days. Not a plan for a lifetime.
In Conclusion
The 4 Day Diet is a book which can help you to lose weight. It isn’t made for athletes but for people who want to drop some pounds fast. Ian K. Smith claims that you can lose up to 12 pounds in 28 days. This is something that will change from person to person. I can’t really say what the chances of this happening. Overall, this is a program that has some similarities to other plans and may indeed work for you.
Here’s a video of Dr Smith discussing the 4 Day Diet:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ibib5aBJ9Sk
