Japanese Banana Diet

I love bananas. I think they’re the perfect fruit, and will defend them to the death. My husband thinks they are the death of a low calorie diet because they are dense in calories. Combine a conversation where my father-in-law confirmed that opinion and an ad that keeps popping up telling diet lovers to avoid bananas to reduce belly fat, I took that as a personal insult on behalf of my second favorite fruit (mangos will always be first) and started researching. What did I find? A diet! Based on that very fruit! Where people have lost a lot of weight! Specifically, it’s called the Japanese Banana Diet and it became a craze in late-2008. What is the diet?

The Morning Banana Diet regime is simple: A banana (or as many as you want) and room temperature water for breakfast; eat anything you like for lunch and dinner (by 8 p.m.). A three o’clock snack is okay, but no desserts after meals, and you have to go to bed before midnight. {Source: Time, October 17, 2008}

That left a little too much wiggle room for me, so I researched further and found this plan that met all of the requirements So what would a diet like this look like? I found someone who had not only created a plan, but lost a few pounds after being on it for five days. She then tested it on a client, and the client lost five pounds in seven days. She created this menu:

Breakfast- 2 large bananas, two eight ounce cups of room temperature water, and a handful of nuts.
Snack- Handful of non-salted cashews
Lunch- Green salad with vinaigrette, ½ of Tuna sandwich on Whole-wheat bread, two 8 ounce cups of room temperature water.
Afternoon snack- 1 Large banana & water
Dinner- Green salad with baked chicken, cup of string beans, ½ cup of broccoli, two 8 ounce cups of room temperature water
After dinner- Grapes or cherries & water

{Source: Associated Content, October 26, 2008}

I’m actually not a fan of diets, even though I research them a lot. I am, however, a fan of the basic equation for weight loss.

Calories in < Calories out = Weight Loss

And my second favorite equation:

Vegetables + Fruit + Water = A Good Day

So I entered all of the food into SparkPeople as a day’s worth of food and this is what it came to, with my daily calorie goals in parentheses:

1247 Calories (1200 – 1400)

168 Carbs (163 – 236)

52 Fat (32 – 56)

66 Protein (60 – 127)

30 Fiber (25 – 35)

Not only does it hit in every goal, the menu plan has enough water for the day built in as well as enough servings of fruits and vegetables. This is huge because I struggle to get enough protein and fiber in my diet, and where to fit in enough veggies. I started wondering if this was a quick fix for the extra three pounds I picked up over vacation. So I convinced my husband to join me on a trip to Publix. I picked up (bags) literally of vegetables and chicken.

I followed this plan (as much as possible) for five days. Come back tomorrow for a cost breakdown, my complete food plan and results!