Sure, we women on a constant quest to lose weight may spend our days browsing for interviews with fit celebrities about their secrets or reading magazines on the latest diet trends. At the end of the day, however, dropping off pounds is just as challenging for us as it is for anyone else.
A few months ago, however, I saw a friend of mine who lost a lot of weight. I asked, “How come you’ve slimmed down and I can’t? What diet are you on?” I got this strange reply: “I did the GM Diet.”
A quick Internet check showed that the GM Diet or General Motors Diet is a seven-day weight loss program originally developed for employees of the famous company it was named after. It was created to help the company’s employees keep their required weight:
Day 1: all fruits, except bananas
Day 2: non-fibrous vegetables, like carrots, tomato, cabbage, etc.
Day 3: combination of fruits and veggies (Day 1 and 2)
Day 4: GM diet soup, 8 bananas, and 3 glasses of milk
Day 5: lean beef, GM diet soup, and tomatoes
Day 6: lean beef and vegetables
Day 7: fruits and vegetables
I tried the program together with an office mate. Because the diet was so restrictive, however, I gave up on Day 6. But surprise, surprise: I still lost a whopping seven pounds!
Before you try it yourself, know the pros and cons me and my office mate have gathered so far about the diet:
Pros:
1. The dishes are cheap.
All the types of food listed on the diet program are actually affordable: fruits, vegetables, milk, tomatoes, etc. So, unlike other types of diet programs, such as the military diet, this will not hurt your pocket.
2. The dishes are easy to make.
Even busy people can try the diet, because the dishes are easy to make. The program may also appeal to dieters who dislike (or have no skills in) cooking or dislike complicated meal plans.
3. The program is actually very simple.
The GM Diet simply has a strict set of eating instructions you need to follow each day. The general rule is that you can eat to your heart’s content–but eat only the allowed foods for the day.
Cons:
1. It’s not a diet you can easily stick to for long.
The biggest problem with the GM Diet is that its guidelines are unsustainable. Most of those who have reviewed the diet say they weren’t able to finish the seven days. I told myself, “I can beat that.” Well, I didn’t.
2. It has unsavory side effects.
Following the diet can deplete the body of energy and some important nutrients. Low energy, muscle weakness, headaches, and hunger pangs are only some of the side effects my diet partner and I have experienced during our GM Diet week.
3. It’s easy to gain back all the weight.
When on low energy diets like the GM Diet, the body automatically clings onto the fat reserve and burns muscle for energy. Once you go back to eating normally, the muscle builds back along with some fat. So after I finished the GM Diet, I immediately jumped to diet delivery services to make sure I don’t gain back all the weight I’ve lost.
Over all, the GM Diet has worked for me in terms of weight loss, but it’s not a lifestyle plan. It’s more suitable as a quick sort of program to help you shed pounds fast. As with other types of diet, GM is not perfect, but it’s sort of a good start for the real thing: regular exercise and healthy eating.
Featured Image from The Devil Wears Prada courtesy of Warner Bros. FE