100 Calorie Diet

100-calorie-dietThe 100 Calorie Diet is the creation of sisters, Tammy and Susie Trimble, who lost over 100 pounds following their diet plan.

They claim that keeping track of calories in 100 calorie units is the easiest and best way to lose weight.

100 Calorie Diet Basics

The authors state that you don’t have to eat low carb or low fat to lose weight. On their plan you can eat your regular everyday foods and still achieve success so long as you account for the calories. Foods are measured in @100 calorie portions@ and tools are provided to assist dieters in this task.

The basic concept is to continue eating the same foods as usual, but to become aware of serving sizes. The authors claim that this will increase your success of sticking with the plan because you will be able to eat the foods you actually enjoy.

A great emphasis is placed on overcoming the diet mentality and just concentrating on what you will be eating today. There is no need to worry that you are missing out on foods like bread, chocolate or pizza because on the 100 calorie diet you can have these foods every day if you like.

Deprivation is damaging on a psychological level, the authors state, and it also slows down the metabolism, but they also warn dieters not to let their ‘fat monster’ trick them into bingeing on unhealthy foods and sabotaging weight loss.

Women are permitted a calorie intake of 1500 and men 2000 calories daily. Dieters are advised to spend their calories wisely, to only eat high quality foods and not to waste calories on foods that don’t taste good.

An important aspect of the program is planning and dieters are advised to write down what they are going to eat each day in advance. The 100 Calorie Diet also includes questionnaires to help dieters identify obstacles to successful weight loss such as emotional issues and poor stress coping abilities.

Recommended Foods

Dieters are encouraged to select a well balanced diet. Whenever feeling hungry ‘free foods’ are permitted in unlimited amounts. These foods can also be added to meals if desired.

‘Free foods’ include: bell pepper, broccoli, butternut squash, cabbage, carrots, cucumber, green beans, lettuce, mushrooms, snow peas, tomato, zucchini, alfalfa sprouts, balsamic vinegar, bouillon, capers, carob, cocoa, pickles, hot sauce, salsa, diet soda, soy sauce, splenda and V8 juice.

Sample Diet Plan

Breakfast

1 cup corn flakes
1 cup skim milk
1 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon honey
Herbal tea

Morning Snack

1 cup baby carrots
1 Tablespoon ranch dip

Lunch

3 oz turkey
1 oz Swiss cheese
3 slices whole wheat bread
1 tablespoon mayo
Lettuce, tomato, onion and pickles

Afternoon Snack

1 cup plain yogurt
1 banana

Dinner

3 oz baked tilapia
1 cup pasta
2 cups mixed green salad
1 tablespoon olive oil
Lemon and vinegar

Look here for other low calorie meal ideas.

Exercise Recommendations

Dieters are encouraged to find an activity that is enjoyable. Recommended exercises include walking, swimming, dance, hiking and team sports.

30 minutes of aerobic exercise is recommended on most days of the week.

Costs and Expenses

The 100 Calorie Diet is available as an e-Book for $39.98. The package includes a general calorie counter, a restaurant and fast food calorie counter, a cookbook and a food journal.

Available from Amazon →

Pros

  • Includes a calorie counter with a comprehensive listing of common foods as well as fast food and restaurant items.
  • Increases awareness of the calorie content of foods.
  • Highlights the excessive calorie content of many fast food meals.
  • Dieters do not need to give up favorite foods.
  • Encourages gradual weight loss within healthy limits.
  • Food journaling is associated with a greater chance of successful weight loss.
  • Alcohol is allowed.
  • Includes recipes with their calorie count provided.
  • Includes tips for weight loss maintenance.

Cons

  • Calorie restricted diets usually result in rebound weight gain when normal eating is resumed.
  • Calorie intakes may be too low for physically active dieters.
  • Does not encourage significant improvements in dietary intake.
  • Requires calorie counting.
  • Dieters must plan their food for the day in advance.
  • Encourages the intake of diet soda and artificial sweeteners.

Easy Calorie Counting but Not Unique

The 100 Calorie Diet is a basic calorie counting approach to weight loss.

It does include some useful tools, quizzes and tips to assist with losing weight, however in terms of the diet plan it does not have anything particularly new or unique to offer.

 By Mizpah Matus B.Hlth.Sc(Hons)
    References:
  • Drobes, D. J., Miller, E. J., Hillman, C. H., Bradley, M. M., Cuthbert, B. N., & Lang, P. J. (2001). Food deprivation and emotional reactions to food cues: Implications for eating disorders. Biological Psychology, 57(1), 153-177. link
  • Martin, C. K., Anton, S. D., York-Crowe, E., Heilbronn, L. K., VanSkiver, C., Redman, L. M., … & Pennington CALERIE Team. (2007). Empirical evaluation of the ability to learn a calorie counting system and estimate portion size and food intake. British journal of nutrition, 98(2), 439-444. link
  • Toubro, S., & Astrup, A. (1997). Randomised comparison of diets for maintaining obese subjects’ weight after major weight loss: ad lib, low fat, high carbohydrate dietv fixed energy intake. Bmj, 314(7073), 29. link

34 Comments or Reviews

Comments now closed
  1. Vangie

    I did a 100 calories for 12 hrs. a day. Believe me you get tired of eating.

  2. Evangeline

    I did this diet and lost 40 pounds in 2 months, while cheating once a week when going out and then back to my diet! Actually I got tired of eating so much and was never hungry while eating what I liked!

  3. shazza

    Hi so basically you have a 100 cals every hour witht this diet?

    • ted

      No, women have 15, 100 calorie portions divided into three meals and a couple snacks. Guys have 20, 100 calorie portions.

  4. Marcella

    I have eaten 100 calories 12 times a day, starting at 7 A.M. and ending at 6 P.M. I have lost 18 pounds in the months of July and August. It is very easy and it is really great because you don’t get hungry. I look forward to eating every hour and it also keeps my GERD from occurring. I have energy all day long and am never tired. I am a 57 year old female who is slightly active. I have gone from a tight size 14 to a nice size 10. I have even bought size 8ts. I hope to lose another 19 pounds and then eat 14-15 times a day at 100 Calories per hour to maintain. I hope never to have to Yo-Yo again. My goal is 130 pounds. I am 149 at the present and began at 167 pounds. I am married and always fix my husband a nice supper, but eat my 100 calories while he eats and enjoy watching him eat. I find that I have more time to converse with him over supper, when I am free from eating so much. It is really surprising how this plan satisfies!!!

  5. LaTonya

    I do not eat eggs/peanuts/peanut butter. Can you recommend a substitute so i can get the protein i need in this diet

    • ted

      Latonya, there are a lot of protein choices. quinoa, tofu, hummus, beans, other types of nuts, yogurt, whey protein powder etc. plus of course lean poultry, beef, and fish if you eat meat.

  6. Mary

    To the Mary who needs to lose weight but doesn’t eat much. Several years ago I used an online diet plan. I ate everything it recommended for each meal each day. I lost weight. My roommate, who was also dieting, ate much less and could not lose weight. What this told me is that the body needs a balanced diet. Grabbing a yogurt is good, but it isn’t enough. Pick a good balanced diet and eat everything – you WILL lose weight.

  7. nicola

    do u have to have that fish? is there any other type? please ansswer!:) thanks:)

    • ted

      No, you can exchange fish for any form of lean protein.

  8. mia

    looks like a good way to learn portion control

  9. Mary

    I am wondering if I should try this diet, my problem is I am over weight but dont eat much, more eat the wrong things…. I dont have a huge appetite, a yoghurt satisfys me when hungry!! Does anyone else have this problem??

  10. aakhri_tamnna

    i am 90 kg i need to lose 3o kg how to do it i m sick of my fat body!

  11. Lee

    I agree with Ted.

    Jack the main factor in calorie intake is the type of calories you consume and your output (physical activity). Many Athletes have to eat 12,000 (yes 12,000) calories a day to keep them going because of the amount of physical exercise they do.

    Diets shouldnt be called diets… there shouldnt be a need for the name – all a diet is is eating balanced meals and getting active!

    Everyone should realise by now we dont need diets to lose weight, we just need to get off our ass and do something, stop eating so much take-away and processed foods and go back to the way it was in the 50’s etc with homemade meals every night and VERY LIMITED tv!

    I was born more towards the end of the scale in the 80’s and god how i wish i wasnt! Everyone worries too much in this day and age!

    Does anyone know if this book is available in any stores in Australia? Or just online?

    • ted

      Hey Lee, Thanks for your input. This diet is only available as a down loadable ebook…

  12. Jack

    You guys are all fools. I love how people think that 1200 calories a day works for everyone. The amount of calories consumed depends on body size. 1200 calories a day is fine if everyone had the same build, but we don’t. In addition, any fad diet is set up for disease. Enjoy mortality.

  13. amy

    isnt this diet called anorexia?

    • ted

      Amy, you should probably read the review before making a judgment.

    • Ryan

      Lmao

  14. aberdeen quine

    in response to ‘karitas’ comment:
    the diet ISN’T about eating 100 calories per day, it’s about identifying your food in 100 calorie portions and then working out what you’ll eat each day to make up your 1200 (female) DAILY allowance! you’d be surprised how large your ‘regular’ portions are and the aim of this diet is to get you thinking about eating smaller, healthier portions. if you’re a more active person, you may need to think about increasing your daily allowance to around 1500 (for a female) to keep your energy levels up.

  15. karitas

    nobody should be eating only 100 calories a day,this is bullshit,the lowest calories to be consumed is 1200.

    • Me

      It’s not per day- it’s 1200 calories….. read the article

  16. mohammed afzal

    now my waight 96kg and my age 45year i need 25 kg waight loss how i use food please help me

  17. Dennisse

    well i think i like this type of diet =)

  18. justin the trianer

    listen i how your diet works …i am going to put this girl on it she 14 5’2 she weights 168 …better work

  19. RM

    How can this diet be hard? It’s a LOT of food to eat!

  20. Ariel

    Did anyone who tried this diet then started eating more calories gain all the weight back….because my schools homecoming is in November and i wanna lose 50+ pounds before then.

  21. chels

    im sure you lose weight quickly no doubt, but its likely you will gain all weight + more if you stray off it. a diet like this would be hard to maintain for any length of time.

  22. jessica`

    going to try it and see what happens

  23. Tiffany Griffith

    I have been following this diet for 2 weeks and have lost 17lbs

    • Mandy

      Awesome!!! Thanks for the info. I wa skeptical but now I’m going to try it ?

  24. Babiie jane

    Havnt try’d dieting before but this 1 sounds good to me!defo goin to give it a go!

  25. Debra

    I think its a very good idea but its not easy. Pls which is the best slimming tea? send to my email pls.

  26. Jazzy J

    Sounds like a quick way to lose a couple of pounds quickly!!