English diet for 21 days

Among the many ways to lose weight, a special place is occupied by the English diet for 21 days. Changes in nutrition involve the alternation of vegetable and protein diet, which contributes to the acceleration of metabolism and, accordingly, getting rid of extra pounds. The caloric content of dishes is slightly limited, but not so much that there is an agonizing desire to eat. In most cases, the diet is followed comfortably, and the most difficult are considered only the first adaptive days.

In fact, the English diet for 21 days is observed for 18 days, since three days - it is a discharge of the body. According to nutritionists, for this period it is possible to get rid of about 7 to 10 extra kilograms, and it happens easily and without catastrophic consequences for the body. The average daily amount of calories is within 1000-1200 kcal.

Indications

The English diet for 21 days is suitable for those who have excess pounds, and there are no chronic or acute diseases of the digestive system, kidneys and liver, requiring a special diet table. The diet is relatively balanced, which allows you to reduce subcutaneous fatty fiber and not harm the metabolism.

The English diet is quite plastic, with a competent approach, it can be adjusted "for yourself". For this reason, this diet is perfect for those who do not tolerate unnecessarily strict restrictions, do not like to independently think out a meal plan and prefer to adhere to a pre-created diet. Nevertheless, the English diet for 21 days is still not recommended for frequent and even more regular use: to normalize weight is enough to follow it 1-2 times a year.

In addition to weight loss, the English diet helps to get rid of a number of other problems. Thus, users note the improvement of skin condition, visible correction of body volume. Many people have stabilized blood pressure and blood sugar, and their general well-being has improved.

General information of the 21-day English diet

The English diet for 21 days consists of several stages:

1. At the first stage, the body is unloaded, and this is where the main restrictions apply. The products used are low-calorie, consumed in minimal quantities, so a person may feel hunger and weakness.
2. At the second stage, protein products are included, which can cause a feeling of satiety, but do not cover the body's need for energy resources. As a result, hunger is practically not felt, but weakness may still be present. At this stage it is important to drink enough water.
3. The third stage consists of a fruit and vegetable diet, which aims to add vitamins to the body and establish the intestinal function.

The general rules of the English diet for 21 days are as follows:

• The first two days are unloading days, and then alternate two days of protein and fruit and vegetable days;
• the last day should be adaptive and include a gradual transition to the usual diet;
• 2-2.5 liters of normal drinking water should be drunk daily;
• the first meal should take place about an hour after waking up, and the last meal no later than 7 pm.

After 21 days, to strengthen the effect of the English diet, you should observe certain restrictions for at least 10 more days:

• don't put on large portions of food;
• consume a glass of kefir and/or a cup of cottage cheese daily;
• Increase the daily calorie intake gradually, not more than 50 kcal/day, until it reaches the optimal level;
• carefully monitor the amount of salt and sugar consumed, if possible, under-salt the dishes, and from sweets and should be abandoned altogether;
• You can return to the diet again after six months at the earliest.

Detailed menu for each day

The English diet for 21 days consists of unloading, vegetable and protein days, which alternate according to a certain principle, which allows you to gradually adjust the body to lose weight and relatively easy to carry the entire dietary period. It is better if the entire diet for 21 days will be planned in advance. This will help to prepare the necessary products in advance and think through the menu to make it as comfortable as possible. The most difficult, according to users, are the first and second day of the English diet, since they are the most "hungry". Nevertheless, you should not neglect the unloading stage, as it prepares the body for subsequent changes in nutrition.

Let's try to present a sample diet according to the English diet for 21 days.

English diet by day	Sample menu
Unloading	Every 3 hours - 200 ml of kefir or milk. Instead of dinner - one apple or carrot.
Unloading	Every 3 hours - 200 ml of kefir or milk. It is allowed during the day to eat 1 whole-grain breadcrumbs or bread. Instead of dinner - one apple or carrot.
Protein Day	Breakfast: a cup of green tea, 200 g of fat-free cottage cheese. Afternoon snack (3-4 hours after breakfast): 200 ml of milk or kefir, 100 g of nuts. Lunch (3-4 hours after the afternoon snack): fish broth with a piece of fish, 100 g of pea puree with whole-grain breadcrumbs. Dinner (3-4 hours after lunch): 2 boiled eggs, 200 ml kefir, a spoonful of cottage cheese.
Protein Day	Breakfast: cottage cheese casserole (100 g cottage cheese and 1 egg), a cup of green tea. Afternoon snack: a glass of kefir, 100 g of nuts. Lunch: meat soup, a piece of boiled meat with bean puree. Dinner: a glass of kefir, steamed fish cutlet.
Vegetable	Breakfast: two apples and a cup of chamomile tea. Lunch: vegetable soup, vinaigrette with whole grain breadcrumbs. Dinner: vegetable salad, cup of herbal tea.
Vegetable	Breakfast: 2 oranges, cup of tea. Lunch: carrot-apple salad, beet soup, whole-grain breadcrumbs. Dinner: vegetable casserole, tea.
Protein	Breakfast: a glass of kefir or milk, 200 g of cottage cheese. Afternoon snack: nuts, tea. Lunch: steamed omelet, a piece of boiled meat, breadcrumbs. Dinner: cottage cheese casserole, tea.
Protein	Breakfast: a portion of oatmeal with milk, tea. Afternoon snack: cottage cheese. Lunch: bean soup, fish casserole, tea. Dinner: fish casserole, breadcrumbs.
Vegetable	Breakfast: semolina pudding, vegetable juice. Lunch: stewed vegetables, whole grain bread, carrot cutlets. Dinner: vegetable salad and carrot cutlets.
Vegetable	Breakfast: fruit smoothie, tea. Lunch: broccoli soup, cabbage schnitzel with braised vegetables. Dinner: carrot and apple salad, zucchini spaghetti.
Protein	Breakfast: 4 quail eggs, bread, a glass of kefir. Afternoon snack: natural yogurt without additives. Lunch: pilaf with mushrooms, milk or kefir. Dinner: semolina and whey casserole, tea.
Protein	Breakfast: steamed cheesecakes, herbal infusion. Afternoon snack: cup of milk, breadcrumbs. Lunch: buckwheat soup with meat, a cup of plain sour milk. Dinner: a piece of meat, a glass of milk.
Vegetable	Breakfast: green banana, glass of vegetable juice. Lunch: vegetable and lentil stew, bread. Dinner: vegetable salad, chickpea cutlet.
Vegetable	Breakfast: two peaches, tea. Lunch: ratatouille, whole grain bread, vegetable juice. Dinner: vegetable pate, breadcrumbs, herbal infusion.
Protein	Breakfast: steamed omelet, a glass of tea. Afternoon snack: a cup of milk, a few nuts. Lunch: couscous with meat, kefir. Dinner: a piece of meat, non-fat yogurt without additives.
Protein	Breakfast: milk rice porridge, a cup of tea. Afternoon snack: 100 g cottage cheese with tea. Lunch: chicken soup, meat casserole, herbal infusion. Dinner: a piece of meat casserole, a glass of plain sourdough.
Vegetable	Breakfast: fruit salad, herbal infusion, breadcrumbs. Lunch: spinach and rice soup, salad, tea. Dinner: stewed vegetables, bread.
Vegetable	Breakfast: smoothie of greens, tea. Lunch: vegetable stew, carrot juice with breadcrumbs. Dinner: stewed vegetables, apple, tea.
Protein	Breakfast: two poached eggs, a glass of kefir. Afternoon snack: nuts, herbal infusion. Lunch: fish fillet, side dish of buckwheat, whole-grain bread, tea. Dinner: cottage cheese soufflé, a glass of kefir or milk.
Protein Day	Breakfast: 200 g cottage cheese, a cup of milk. Afternoon snack: boiled egg, herbal infusion. Lunch: meat casserole, milkshake, tea. Dinner: rice with meat, kefir.
Unloading	Every 3 hours - a glass of kefir or milk. Instead of dinner - an apple or a carrot.

A vegetable afternoon snack usually consists of eating some fruit or vegetable of your choice. In general, it is advisable to eat every 3-4 hours. During breaks, you should drink enough clean water.

Recipes

• Vegetable stew. Ingredients: 500 g white cabbage or cauliflower, one large carrot and onion, one bell pepper, two tomatoes, a few cloves of garlic (according to your preferences), 400 ml of water, oregano pepper, optional - ginger or herbs, cumin. Vegetables are cut, pour into a pot with a thick bottom, pour water and a little vegetable oil, stew for 30 minutes under a lid. Add spices, stir and remove from the heat. When serving, you can sprinkle with herbs.
• Grilled zucchini. A few young zucchini cut into circles, add a little vegetable oil, oregano pepper, dry herbs, pour lemon juice and sprinkle with a small amount of cornmeal. Place on a baking tray lined with parchment. Bake in the oven in grill mode, or on top heat with convection, at 180°C until cooked (a brown crust should appear). Serve with herbs.
• Pumpkin puree soup. Ingredients: 500 g pumpkin, onion, carrot, zucchini, spices. Dice pumpkin, chop onion, zucchini and carrots. Pumpkin is boiled until ready, the other vegetables are poached in a pan with vegetable oil and sent to the pumpkin. Using a blender turn into a puree. Add your favorite spices, bring to a boil, remove from heat. When serving, sprinkle with greens.
• Manna and whey casserole. Ingredients: 500 g cottage cheese, 3 eggs, 3 tbsp. Semolina, 3 tbsp. Kefir or milk, a little vanilla and/or cinnamon. The ingredients are mixed well, left for about 20-30 minutes, after which they are laid out in an oiled mold. Bake in the oven at 170-180°C for 30-40 minutes.
• Broccoli casserole. Ingredients: one broccoli cauliflower, two chicken eggs, 300 ml of milk, pepper and other spices to taste. First of all, a container with very cold (ice) water is prepared. Cut the broccoli florets, lower them into a pot of boiling water, after about 4 minutes transfer the florets into ice water (this is necessary to preserve the rich green color of the vegetable). In a separate bowl, mix eggs and milk, as well as spices. On an oiled baking tray spread broccoli, pour the milk and egg mixture. Bake in a preheated oven at 200°C for 15 minutes. Serve sprinkled with herbs.

Benefits

Nutritionists warn: you should not turn to the first diet you come across in order to reduce body weight, because it is difficult to immediately determine whether the new diet will help or harm the body. It should be understood that the diet is a kind of therapeutic course, which requires certain approaches. For example, you can not radically change the menu, as it can cause the opposite effect from the "rebellious body". In addition, you can not blindly follow all the principles of the diet table, especially if there is an allergy to any products, or metabolic disorders. The best solution is to visit a nutritionist and consult with him before changing the diet.

Like any weight loss diet, the English 21-day diet has its advantages and disadvantages.

Of the downsides:

• The diet is not too rich, and for lovers of tasty and a lot to eat there is a risk of weakness, irritability, deterioration of mood.
• A diet involves eating according to a set schedule. Therefore, people who are used to eating just "when they feel like it", without a specific schedule, and those who are not punctual, may experience some discomfort.
• At the end of 21 days, you should not immediately return to your usual eating habits: the exit from the restrictions should be as gradual as possible.

From the merits:

• Slimmers relatively well tolerate the English diet for 21 days, the feeling of hunger rarely visits.
• There are no special expensive and hard-to-find foods and complex dishes in the diet: everything is simple and without additional costs.
• Physical activity is desirable, but not mandatory. Therefore, the English diet for 21 days is often chosen by fans of "passive weight loss".

What can and what can not?

What can I eat?

• Fruit:
  • Citrus (lemons, oranges, etc.);
  • kiwis;
  • pomegranates;
  • apples;
  • green bananas;
  • pineapple;
  • apricot, peach.
• Vegetables:
  • Cucumbers, tomatoes;
  • root and petiole celery;
  • pumpkin;
  • beets;
  • parsnips, carrots, fennel;
  • bell peppers;
  • zucchini, eggplant, zucchini;
  • onions, garlic;
  • white and Peking cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts, spinach, sorrel, dill, parsley.
• Legumes:
  • Beans, peas;
  • chickpeas, mung beans, lentils, soybeans.
• Cereals:
  • Brown rice;
  • oatmeal;
  • buckwheat, semolina;
  • barley, wheat groats, bulgur, couscous, amaranth.
• Dairy products with a fat content not exceeding 2.5%.
• Nuts (almonds, walnuts, pine nuts, hazelnuts).
• Quail and chicken eggs, lean meat and fish.
• Berries (any kind).
• Wholegrain bread crumbs, diet breads.
• Spices such as ground black pepper, dried ginger, thyme, basil, bay leaf, cinnamon.
• Green tea, fresh vegetable juice, herbal infusions, non-carbonated pure water.

What can't you eat?

• Dried fruits (any kind).
• Ripe bananas, grapes, melon.
• Potatoes.
• Salt and sugar.
• Butter, cream, sour cream.
• Seeds.
• Lard, sausages, offal, fatty meats and fish, roasted meats and fish.
• Any baked goods, pasta, any flour products (dumplings, dumplings, etc.).
• Candies, cookies, cakes, jellies, jams and confitures, any desserts, including ice cream.
• Canned fruits and vegetables, pickles and pickles.
• Stew, canned meat and fish.
• Fast food, mayonnaise and any sauces.
• Carbonated drinks, packet juices, fruit juices, compotes, alcohol, coffee and strong black tea.

Contraindications

Nutritionists have identified several categories of people to whom the English diet for 21 days is contraindicated:

• Children. Children's bodies require high quality food rich in essential vitamins, trace elements, proteins, fats and carbohydrates. Any restrictions in nutrition can adversely affect the physical development, the state of the nervous and immune system.
• Women during pregnancy. Expectant moms often start to panic, anticipating future weight gain. However, some increase in body weight in the process of carrying a baby is a natural state, the norm. After the birth of a child on the background of lactation, the weight usually returns to its former values. If you limit yourself in food, as well as in general to reduce the caloric content of the diet, it can adversely affect both the condition and development of the baby, and the course of pregnancy.
• Women in the lactation period. If a woman is breastfeeding, it is better not to even think about the English diet for 21 days: the baby should fully receive all the necessary nutrients from mother's milk. What should a mom do if you want to quickly bring the weight back to normal? Fitness, aerobics, yoga, Pilates are not forbidden and will be beneficial.

In addition to the voiced categories of people, you need to consider other contraindications to following the English diet for 21 days:

• Digestive system diseases (both acute and chronic);
• genitourinary pathologies;
• cancer;
• recent surgical intervention;
• diabetes;
• Infectious diseases accompanied by fever, signs of intoxication;
• hypertension, hypotension;
• anemia.

If there are doubts about one or another contraindication, it is better to consult a specialist beforehand.

Possible risks

The English diet for 21 days is one of a huge number of diets based on the principles of alternating protein and fruit and vegetable days. To date, such diets are known dozens and even hundreds. Since the changes in nutrition are short-term - only three weeks - the positive result can really find those people whose weight slightly exceeds the recommended values. But obesity is already a chronic disease, and the use of such short-term dietary courses initially can not become effective enough. It is important to understand this in order not to harm your own health. Therefore, if you intend to get rid of a large number of extra pounds, you should visit a competent nutritionist, conduct an examination, jointly analyze eating behavior, select a list of optimal products and make an individual eating regimen.

As practice shows, the English diet for 21 days, like many similar strategies, "works" only the first time. Therefore, any adequate specialist will never advise one or another dietary variations, but will prescribe a complete weight loss program, assuming a small calorie deficit on the background of a properly balanced diet, reasonable physical activity.

Protein alternating days are especially popular among women, but almost no one thinks about their possible adverse effects on the body. The essence of such days is a sharp reduction in the carbohydrate component, to less than 20%. The plus is that the predominance of proteins leads to a lack of hunger in thinners. In addition, a gradual fat breakdown begins: with carbohydrate deficiency, the body has to draw energy from its other source - fats. As a result, the weight predictably decreases. However, there is another side to this condition. On the background of a sharp carbohydrate deficiency appears weakness, mood deteriorates. In the bloodstream increases the content of ketone bodies - products of fat breakdown, which shift the acid-base balance of the body in the acidic side. As a result, ketoacidosis develops, which gradually leads to the failure of organ adaptation systems. First of all, the kidneys are affected.

Fruit and vegetable days also carry some threat for people who have any diseases of the digestive system - and, in particular, the pancreas. After such a diet of raw vegetable products, most patients will experience an exacerbation of pancreatitis.

Complications

The vast majority of diets with any explicit restrictions are not really able to get rid of the problem of excess weight. More often than not, the lost kilograms gradually return, and the risk of health problems such as depression, gallstone disease, depressive disorders, metabolic disorders increases.

Unfortunately, short-term diet courses do not provide the main thing: they do not teach people to eat right, do not provide the body with enough of all the necessary substances. The lost kilograms are mostly excess fluid and muscle mass. During the period of restrictions, energy expenditure is reduced, metabolism is inhibited, and the return to the usual diet is accompanied by already slow metabolic processes. This leads to a re-gain of the lost weight, and even its increase.

Regular protein days often provoke increased stone formation in the gallbladder: as a result of bile thickening, sludge is formed and then stones. Insufficient fluid intake also increases the risk of kidney stones.

The predominance of high-protein foods in the diet leads to an increase in cholesterol levels. Its excess activates processes that negatively affect the work and functional state of the cardiovascular system. Scientists have proven that prolonged carbohydrate-free diet increases the risk of premature death from cardiovascular pathologies by about 30%.

Nutritionists insist: if there is a need to lose weight, the English diet for 21 days can be considered only as a one-time approach. In the future, you should completely revise your diet, put in order the diet, making it as complete and balanced as possible, without overeating and starvation. Only correct and healthy eating habits along with an active lifestyle will help to permanently part with excess fat deposits and correct the figure for many years.

Results

In order for the effect of weight loss after the English diet for 21 days was really noticeable, you should fully comply with all the conditions of the new diet. So, the beginning of the diet course - namely, the first and second day - should be severely limited and hungry. This will make it easier to bear all the subsequent days.

Protein alternations are particularly effective in terms of weight loss: they successfully reduce the degree of fat layer, forcing the body to take energy from its own reserves. Optimal products that contribute to this: lean meat or fish, eggs, hard cheese, cottage cheese, sour milk.

Fruit and vegetable days allow you to saturate the body with essential vitamins and minerals, and also help the work of the intestines, stimulating its cleansing.

Severe dietary restrictions are not recommended for anyone, as a radical and drastic change in diet is a considerable stress for the body, which negatively affects both health and general well-being and mood. In this aspect, the English diet for 21 days clearly wins: it does not imply too strict restrictions, it can be called relatively balanced, and the positive results in the form of dropped kilograms will really please: users note weight loss on average by 6-10 kg for the entire diet course.

Despite the fact that the English diet for 21 days provides a fairly good weight loss, the long-term result will only be achieved with a radical change in lifestyle.