What is the 3-Hour Diet?

The 3-Hour Diet is the brainchild of Jorge Cruise a fitness journalist and author of The 3-Hour Diet: How Low-Carb Diets Make You Fat and Timing Makes You Thin. Cruise writes from personal experience, as he was an overweight child. In the 3-Hour Diet Plan he advocates eating every three hours as this, he states, increases your baseline metabolic rate (BMR) – the rate at which your body burns calories. He also believes that timing is everything. According to this plan, you should have your breakfast within one hour of rising and then eat every three hours. Also, your last meal of the day should be consumed at least three hours before bedtime.

The logic behind the 3-hour rule is that if there’s a long gap between meals, your body starts preserving fat in order to combat what it perceives as starvation. Eating every three hours also keeps your blood sugar levels consistent. On this plan, it is possible to lose up to two pounds every week.

The Pros

The biggest plus point of this diet plan is the strong emphasis on a balanced diet – carbs, proteins and fats are all included, albeit in varying quantities. Big servings of fruits and vegetables have also been recommended. 3 main meals clock in about 400 calories each and 3 snacks at about 70-80 calories, which brings daily calorie intake to 1,450 calories, which is more or less an ideal amount for the day. Cruise believes that there are no bad foods, just bad portions. So the diet plan allows you to even eat chocolate, bacon, red meat and goes as far as including McDonald’s! However, portion control is the key, so you can eat say a chocolate mini, not an entire bar. This way you’re not depriving yourself of little treats and it makes it easier to stick with the diet. And of course, don’t forget your eight glasses of water.

The Cons

While theoretically this is a very feasible diet plan, if you’re working long hours and don’t have access to frequent, healthful meals, it’s quite easy to just reach for whatever is available – more often than not junk food. So make sure that you carry enough meals to tide you over. Since you’re eating frequent meals, there is a chance that you might overeat sometimes. Hence it’s important to keep an eye on the portions and/or calorie limits. And lastly, the biggest drawback of this diet is that exercise isn’t a part of it, which is quite strange considering the overwhelming body of research that confirms how important it is for a healthy life.

As with any diet, make sure you consult your doctor before embarking on a new regime. Also remember that every diet must be accompanied by moderate exercise to be really effective.

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