In vogue in the 80s, the Mayo Clinic Diet for rapid weight loss has not stopped gaining adherents. Despite requiring willpower to follow the plan of not exceeding 1000 calories a day, the results obtained are well worth that sacrifice.
The Mayo Clinic Diet promises rapid weight loss by following a 14-day plan to lose between 7 and 10 kilos and where protein is the most important on each menu.
Table of Contents
What is the Mayo Clinic Diet
The fundamental basis of the Mayo Clinic Diet to lose weight quickly is a hypocaloric plan avoiding the consumption of all types of fats and with a large amount of protein.
The two main foods in this diet are grapefruit and eggs, but the eating plan also includes salads, fish, meat, legumes and various whole grain products, as well as drinks such as tea, coffee and water.
The most important thing for the Mayo Clinic Diet is to be effective in helping you lose weight quickly by not substituting the indicated foods and cooking without the fat.
How the Mayo Clinic Diet is Done
Although the Mayo Clinic Diet to lose weight quickly is a bit restrictive, it is easy because it is based mainly on the need to control the amount of calories consumed daily.
The important thing is that in this diet, to lose weight, the presence of proteins and the reduction of carbohydrates are promoted. At the same time, the food should be distributed in three meals a day that should not exceed 1000 calories and follow the plan for two weeks.
Among the outstanding peculiarities of the Mayo Clinic Diet for fast weight loss is that, contrary to most weight loss plans, daily meals are limited to just three: breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Avoid the consumption of sugar, processed snacks, and adopt extra habits such as keeping a record of what is ingested daily and the physical activity carried out.
What to eat on the Mayo Clinic Diet
The Mayo Clinic Diet to lose weight quickly recommends having coffee, grapefruit and two boiled eggs for breakfast; during lunch, another couple of boiled eggs and salad, ending the plan with a dinner consisting of raw or cooked vegetables and a portion lean meat.
Fats and carbohydrates are prohibited in the Mayo Clinic Diet, which allows only 1000 calories a day. Therefore, a strict and quite restrictive plan that does not consider changes in eating habits and leaves aside the concept of a balanced diet.
Prohibitions in the Mayo Clinic Diet
- Do not prolong the diet beyond 14 consecutive days.
- Do not replace allowed foods.
- Not to drink alcohol.
- Do not eat anything between lunch and dinner.
- Do not eat pasta, bread, or flour-based products.
Sample menus for a week from the Mayo Clinic Diet
| Day | Meal | Items |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Breakfast | One pomelo. 2 soft-boiled eggs. 1 cup of coffee or tea |
| Lunch | Two soft-boiled eggs. One serving of mixed salad. 1 cup of coffee or tea | |
| Dinner | Two soft-boiled eggs. One tomato. 1 cup of coffee or tea | |
| Tuesday | Breakfast | One pomelo. 2 soft-boiled eggs. 1 cup of coffee or tea |
| Lunch | Tomato, lettuce, celery and cucumber salad. 1 cup of coffee or tea | |
| Dinner | Two soft-boiled eggs. One pomelo. | |
| Wednesday | Breakfast | One pomelo. 2 soft-boiled eggs. 1 cup of coffee or tea |
| Lunch | Two lamb chops. One serving of celery and cucumber salad. 1 cup of coffee or tea | |
| Dinner | Two soft-boiled eggs. One serving of steamed spinach. One tomato. | |
| Thursday | Breakfast | One pomelo. 2 soft-boiled eggs. 1 cup of coffee or tea |
| Lunch | Two soft-boiled eggs. One serving of cauliflower with cheese sauce. One slice of toast | |
| Dinner | Two soft-boiled eggs. One serving of spinach and tomatoes. 1 cup of coffee or tea | |
| Friday | Breakfast | One pomelo. 2 soft-boiled eggs. 1 cup of coffee or tea |
| Lunch | One portion of fish cooked without oil, with lemon. One slice of toast | |
| Dinner | Two soft-boiled eggs. One serving of steamed spinach. 1 cup of coffee or tea | |
| Saturday | Breakfast | One pomelo. 2 soft-boiled eggs. 1 cup of coffee or tea |
| Lunch | One portion of grilled white fish. One pomelo | |
| Dinner | Fruit salad in the desired quantity | |
| Sunday | Breakfast | One pomelo. 2 soft-boiled eggs. 1 cup of coffee or tea |
| Lunch | One serving of steamed chicken. One portion of grated carrots with boiled egg | |
| Dinner | One serving of steamed fish. One tomato. One pomelo. |
- Some green celery leaves can replace white celery.
- Meat and fish can be cooked with butter but not olive oil.
- I prefer steaming vegetables.
- Drink water and non-alcoholic liquids that contain sweeteners.
- To sweeten coffee, tea or fruit salad, use some sweetener.
Tips for Following the Mayo Clinic Diet
There are some helpful tips for following the Major Clinic Diet to lose weight quickly since it is a reasonably restrictive plan consisting of only three meals daily.
Eating healthy food
It is recommended to pay attention to the quality and the quantity of the food consumed daily. Thus, salads are ideal because they provide almost no calories and have satiating power.
Vegetables and fruits can be eaten at will, as well as whole grain-based foods and lean proteins such as fish, legumes, and unsaturated fats.
Increase physical activity
This weight loss plan encourages physical activity as well as healthy eating. It is necessary to be active because this way, the organism will use the energy to burn the calories ingested; being advisable to start with a physical exercise activity of 10 minutes and gradually increase that time.
Maintain a regular portion size.
Serving size is essential in this diet to more easily control ingested daily calories. It is unnecessary to weigh all the food but eat regular portions, except for the fruits and vegetables that can be eaten at will, as this helps make the diet more enjoyable.
Keep track
It is recommended to keep a record of everything consumed daily and the physical activity developed each day. Getting a notebook allows you to record and take responsibility for your diet.
Breaking bad eating habits
Adopting new eating behaviours is also a staple of the Mayo Clinic Diet. Some good habits include taking the time necessary to enjoy each meal and always thinking about positive goals during breakfast.
Consume complex carbohydrates
Consuming complex carbohydrates such as oats and whole grains is a good habit because they are fat-free protein sources, especially lentils, soybeans, rice, oats and other grains, which also provide fibre and have the power to satiate.
Variants of the Mayo Clinic Diet
A diet that proposes a plan similar to that of other protein diets since it consists of the intake of eggs and meat or fish accompanied with garnishes of raw or cooked vegetables, but with the particularity that all dairy products and drinks are only allowed water, tea or coffee.
Like most protein diets, the one from the Mayo Clinic seeks to modulate metabolism and cause satiety or decreased appetite, resulting in weight loss, as the body must consume more calories.
With a low carbohydrate intake, all variants of the Mayo Clinic Diet provide the body with few carbohydrates; this makes the body use stored fat tissue reserves, thus generating rapid weight loss.
The Atkins, Dukan, Siken and Scardale Diets are among the best-known protein diets. They are all based on ketosis, the metabolic process through which the body, due to a deficit in carbohydrate intake, uses fats for energy and produces compounds called ketone bodies.
To follow the Mayo Clinic Diet to lose weight quickly, as well as any other protein diet, it is necessary to do it in a controlled way, that is, to follow it for a limited time that does not exceed 14 days.
Likewise, it is necessary to increase the water intake, eat plenty of greens, vegetables and fruits and make control with a specialist to avoid health problems.
Contraindications to the Mayo Clinic Diet
All people in good health can do this Mayo Clinic diet, but it is still advisable to consult a doctor beforehand.
Also, the Mayo Clinic diet is deficient in calories, and therefore, fat deposits burn quickly, and this can lead to acidosis and ketosis. The amount of protein taken in this diet is higher than usual. Thus it can cause kidney overload.
Pregnant women, breastfeeding women, children, and people with kidney or liver problems or high cholesterol levels should refrain from following the Mayo Clinic Diet.
Advantages and Disadvantages of the Mayo Clinic Diet
The Mayo Clinic Diet to lose weight quickly has advantages and disadvantages that you need to know to follow the plan and obtain the desired results of losing between 7 and 10 kilos in 14 days. It is a very restrictive diet; therefore, to follow the program, it is necessary to have a lot of willpower.
Advantages of the Mayo Clinic Diet:
- This is a simple weight loss plan to carry out as it does not need a very complicated culinary preparation for the preparation of the daily menu dishes.
- Weight loss is considered based on a low caloric rate.
Disadvantages of the Mayo Clinic Diet:
- It is a very restrictive and unbalanced weight loss plan, so it cannot be done for more than 14 days, allowing a month to pass before resuming the weight loss plan again.
- It has a low caloric intake, and the amount of eggs on the daily menu can increase cholesterol.
Mayo Clinic Diet Recipes
Although the foods that make up the Mayo Clinic Diet for Fast Weight Loss menus are easy to prepare, some recipes can be helpful when organizing meals.
Fruit salad
The fruit salad is ideal as a dessert in any low-calorie diet, and if you want a sweeter, you can add a few drops of sweetener.
Ingredients
- One apple.
- ¼ kg of strawberries or strawberries
- One banana
- One kiwi.
- One money.
- Three oranges (juice).
Preparation
Wash, peel and cut all the fruits into cubes, except the orange, from which only the juice will be used.
Place all the fruit in a bowl, add the orange juice, and mix well.
Reserve the fruit salad in the refrigerator for two hours.
Serve the light fruit salad very cold.
Cauliflower with cheese sauce
An easy recipe for cauliflower with cheese that is also tasty, low in calories, and can be prepared with other vegetables or by layering cauliflower and broccoli.
Ingredients
- One small cauliflower.
- One tablespoon butter.
- One tablespoon of flour.
- One cup of skim milk.
- 100 grs. Low-fat fresh cheese.
- Pepper.
Preparation
Wash the cauliflower, remove the leaves, cut it into flowers, and place it in a saucepan with water until covered and boil for 8 minutes since it should be al dente.
In a saucepan, melt the butter and add the flour, mixing well with a wooden spoon until the mixture comes off the sides of the saucepan.
Add the hot milk gradually and beat constantly until the mixture has thickened.
Remove the preparation from the heat, add the fresh cheese cut into tiny cubes, and mix until you get a homogeneous mixture.
Season with pepper to taste. Reserve.
Remove the cauliflower from the water and place it in a baking dish.
Pour the cheese sauce over the cauliflower flowers, covering them completely.
Take to honour preheated at 200ºC for about 15 minutes or until it is gratin and with golden colour on the surface.
Serve the cauliflower with a hot cheese sauce.
Conclusions on the Mayo Clinic Diet
Nutritionists insist that the key to a good diet to lose weight is that it is balanced and varied and helps to change eating habits that are harmful to health and figure.
Every year new diets appear, and many promise a miraculous weight loss that either does not occur or, after finishing the plan, the kilos return to add to the figure.
In the case of the Mayo Clinic Diet, it is possible to affirm that it is an unbalanced diet since it does not include dairy products in its eating plan. However, over the years, it has gained many followers since it is a diet with which it is possible to lose weight quickly by following a fairly strict plan.
The advantage of the Mayo Clinic Diet is that it can only be done for a maximum of 14 days and therefore does not harm health, as long as the three specified daily meals are eaten, and a good amount of fruits and vegetables are consumed, in addition of physical activity at least three times a week.
In conclusion, it can be said that the Mayo Clinic Diet to lose weight quickly is a plan that gives short-term results, but if some eating and physical activity habits are not changed, the lost weight can be recovered quickly.
Considered adequate, in the short term, with the Mayo Diet, a significant weight loss is possible in two weeks. Still, in the medium and long time, the results may not be as beneficial and may trigger the dreaded rebound effect; therefore, attention!
Sources and References:
Donald Hensrud, MD, associate professor and chair of preventive medicine and nutrition, Mayo Clinic; medical editor, The Mayo Clinic Diet.
Ruth Frechman, MA, RD, spokeswoman, American Dietetic Association.
Hensrud, D. The Mayo Clinic Diet: Eat Well, Enjoy Life, Lose Weight, 2010, Good Books.
Thousands of people have lost weight by this diet:
My name is Ellie Lauderdale, MD and I am USA based professional Nutritionist .
I am a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and board certified specialist in sports dietetics who is trained in integrative medicine. I have worked with hundreds of clients, from those suffering with chronic disease to professional and olympian athletes. My goal is to help optimize you from the inside so that you can feel, perform, and look your best on the outside.