The Shred Diet

Dr. Ian K. Smith was educated at Harvard Medical and writes for the New York Times, Men's Health and Newsweek. President Obama even appointed him as a member of the National Health Council. With his shred diet, he has now created a riot and his book quickly became a New York Times bestseller.

What Exactly Is The Shred Diet?

The shred diet is a diet that lasts six weeks. Every week has a different theme that you follow.

1st week - Prime

2nd week - Challenge

3rd week - Transformation

4th week - Ascend

5th week - Cleanse

6th week - Explode

The principle behind the diet: Every day up to seven meals or snacks are eaten. The decisive factor is the time interval between the individual dishes. This interval is between 1.5 and 3 hours. Due to the many small meals, the insulin levels in the blood is kept stable and food cravings are avoided.

Those who, for example, eat breakfast at 6:30, should eat the next snack at 8 already. If you don’t eat breakfast until 8:30, you should snack at 10. This lets the diet adapt to every person personal rhythm of life. However, this is only possible if you work somewhere that allows constant snacking.

Due to the many meals, you should never be really hungry and feel like “you could eat anything.” This then should facilitate the diet. In addition, the foods you eat at breakfast, lunch, etc. are constantly changed. This keeps the diet from becoming boring.

A Typical Shred Diet Day

8:30AM Breakfast

• 1 piece of fruit (pear or grapefruit)
• One of the following foods:
• 1 serving of porridge
• 2 egg whites, as an omelet with diced vegetables, some green peppers
• 1 small bowl of breakfast cereal without sugar, with low-fat milk
• 2 mini pancakes
• 1 serving of cereal or polenta
• 1 cup (180 g) yogurt, low fat or fat-free
• 0.2 L juice (freshly squeezed) grapefruit, apple, orange, tomato or carrot

10:00AM Snack

• No more than 100 calories

11:30AM Lunch

• One of the following foods - not more than 300 calories and unsweetened:
• 1 fruit smoothie
• 1 protein shake
• 1 serving of soup with not a lot of salt!
• A piece of fruit or a serving of vegetables
• Water (including carbonated) and as much as they want and one of these drinks:
• 1 glass of lemon water with 1 freshly squeezed lemon
• 1 glass of mineral water with fruit flavors
• 1 glass of juice (not from concentrate)
• 1 glass of iced tea or other tea, unsweetened
• 1 glass of low-fat milk, unsweetened soy or almond milk

1:00PM Snack

• No more than 150 calories

3:30PM Takeout

• Sandwich: 1 slice whole wheat bread, 1 slice of chicken or turkey fillet or fresh cheese, with lettuce, tomato, 1 slice of cheese and 1 teaspoon mustard or mayonnaise, if desired
• 1 serving of salad (without toppings, up to 3 tablespoons SHRED-dressing)
• One drink that is not the same as lunch

7:00PM Dinner

• 1 serving of vegetables
• One of the following foods:
• 150 g / 5.3 oz. skinless chicken
• 150 g /5.3 oz. fish
• 120 grams / 4.2 oz. of tofu or smoked tofu
• 150 g / 5.3 oz. turkey meat without skin
• Second serving of vegetables
• 30 g / 1 oz. brown rice (raw weight) cooked,
• One drink that is not the same as earlier

8:30PM Snack

• No more than 100 calories

In the book there is not only a daily diet plan, but also numerous suggestions and collections. For example, for 100-calorie snacks (blueberries with 1 tablespoon of whipped cream, 1 nectarine, 10 baby carrots with 2 tablespoons of hummus) or 150-calorie snacks (20 grapes with 15 peanuts, 1 small bowl of applesauce with 2 tablespoons of breakfast cereal, ½ bananas with 3 rice cakes). Also, other options for soups, smoothies and protein shakes are listed. The shred diet is also doable for vegetarians due to the many options you can choose from.

Overall, you end up with around calories 1100-1300 calories daily. One big difference to many other diets is that the foods are generally very common, easy and also cheap to come by.

Shred Diet: Suitable Long Term?

Due to the reduced amount of calories the diet should not be carried out in the long run. However, since the foods you consume are so varied, you should not have to worry about any deficiencies.

Shred Diet: What About Sports?

A major criticism of many diets is that there is no exercise involved. However, with the shred diet this is not the case. Here, exercise plays an important role. Everyday tips and instructions are given on how long to exercise and what to do.

Shred Diet: Conclusion

With the combination of many recipes and exercise, people get a pretty good deal with this diet. The large variety and the fact that you don’t need to be hungry during this diet is also great. The only problem with this diet is whether or not you can incorporate the schedule into you and your family’s lives. Also since the diet is low in calories it should not be used for long periods of time.