The Birmingham Diet
(Meant for overweight heart patients to lose quick weight before cardiac surgery)
Testimonial: I, Niksik, hereby swear that I have successfully lost 6 lbs in 3 days on this diet 6 years ago. I did it when I used to work at a hospital along with 3-4 other coworkers. It's not too bad.

FIRST DAY

Breakfast:
Black coffee or tea
½ grapefruit
1 slice toast
2 tbs. peanut butter

Lunch:
½ cup of tuna (no mayo)
1 slice toast
Coffee or tea

Dinner:
2 slices of any meat
1 cup of string beans
1 cup of beets
1 apple
1 cup of vanilla ice cream

SECOND DAY
Breakfast:
1 egg
½ banana
1 slice of toast
Black coffee or tea

Lunch:
1 cup cottage cheese
5 saltines

Dinner:
2 hotdogs
1 cup broccoli
½ cup of carrots
½ banana (the other half from breakfast)
½ cup vanilla ice cream

THIRD DAY

Breakfast:
5 saltines
1 slice cheddar cheese
1 apple
Black Coffee or tea

Lunch:
1 hard boiled egg
1 slice toast

Dinner:
1 cup of tuna
1 cup beets
1 cup cauliflower
½ cantaloupe
½ cup vanilla ice cream

Most people lose about three pounds in three days. After 3 days of dieting you can eat normal food but do not overdo it. After 4 days of normal eating, you can start back on your three day diet. You can lose up to 30 pounds in 40 days if you stick with it.

(source: wwltv.com)

it consists of only 3 meals per day..rest of the time what to do? i mean atleast 4-5 or 5-6 smaller meals r better than only 3 meals...because whenever u r hungry u should eat something...it can be a cucumber or a KFC twister...because eating more meals but smaller portions help u to lose weight faster..everytime u r resetting ur metabolism...and thus fat is burnt...

This the the exact diet to be followed. Remember that it is meant for patients who are trying to lose weight for surgery, so I guess they follow another principle. All I can say is that for a kickstart, this may be good, but not to be done on a longterm basis.

syr, but what are string beans, saltines and cheddar cheese ???

This sounds really bad for you.

Just out of curiosity - why is it called the Birmingham diet?

Originally Posted by Sahar02

This sounds really bad for you.

yeah this is too bad...bcz u starve b/w the meals ..and when u starve u dotn burn fat ..u STORE fat..

Why do cardiac patients need to lose weight ASAP before surgery?

i don't eat tuna or the vegetables mentioned in the diet..can i substitute them for something else?

you guys have to keep in mind that this is not a permanent diet. It is meant to just give you a jumpstart to losing weight.

You only stick to this diet 3 days out of the week and that's it.

i rather do southbeach

vanilla ice cream??
chedar cheese?
saltines???
hotdogs??

dont they have so much fat in them??

and how cud u loose weight eating alllll this stuff??

isnt it too much for a person on a diet??

^ I think the quantity is very little, hence it can help u lose weight.

dun think ic ud do this for even a day :aq:

no the quantity isnt less at all

1 cup each its not less

and the dinner is quite heavy too

my sister used weight watchers which i think is a much better diet as u can implement it into ur lifestyle easily and it dsnt restrict u from nething..its a point system which means u get to choose how to use them in the day, u can have 1 chocolate which is equivalent to 3 toasts so it makes it fun!

however that is for gradual weight loss but it does work! u get weighed every week..

but as she is trying to lose weight fast for a shadi she has started on a new diet- its called the cambridge diet... u go to this place where they give u sachets of special food which contain nutrients only- she lost 2 stones in 2.5 weeks!!

This diet plan was circulated by a nurse in the hospital where I worked, and a bunch of us did it together. I believe the combination of foods help the metabolism to work a certain way even though there are some high calories items on the menu.

It is named after a hospital that introduced this diet for patients who need to lose weight due to certain risks they could have during surgery.

I have read controversies behind this diet for sure. But back when I did it, we did it very enthusiastically, and did lose weight. I guess overall, you total calorie intake is less than normal.

This plan is good if you want to lose many pounds but want a kickstart to your program. This is NOT good for longterm weight management, only for a maximum of 3 days. After that you need to follow a more acceptable weight loss regimen such as Weight Watchers and Atkins or whatever...

Day one of the Birmingham diet! Just had dinner, thank God for the vanilla icecream) Let's see if I cheat till I get to bed which is my weakest time of the day usually. Its tough to follow though as the food is very limited but let's see!!

Originally Posted by Sara516

^ I think the quantity is very little, hence it can help u lose weight.

dun think ic ud do this for even a day :aq:

I agree, the quantity is very little, the only way I survived today was by taking a long nap between lunch and dinner and today is Sunday. The day isn't over yet, so lets see if I can manange to "not eat".