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Egg Diet: 3 Versions Explained
The Egg Diet has become increasingly popular due to reports that some well-known people and celebrities have successfully lost weight by eating only eggs.
Apparently Nigella Lawson’s husband Charles Saatchi, lost over sixty pounds by eating nine eggs a day for ten months.
There is also discussion that Adrian Brody lost 30 pounds in six weeks in preparation for his role in the Pianist by following the Egg Diet. He has since explained that he actually followed a variation of the diet where he ate…
- Eggs for breakfast.
- A small piece of grilled chicken for lunch.
- A small piece of fish with steamed vegetables for dinner.
Egg Diet Basics
There are several versions of the Egg Diet that are circulating on the Internet. Here are three of the most popular including one that should be avoided due to its severe lack of nutrition.
Traditional Egg Diet
The most popular version of the diet does not actually consist of eating only eggs but it does involve getting the majority of your protein from eggs.
This diet is basically a variation on the Atkins diet where the focus is on restricting carbohydrate intake. In this version of the diet you eat….
- Two or more eggs for breakfast along with, grapefruit, low carbohydrate vegetables or lean protein.
- Lunch includes either another serving of eggs or a small portion of lean protein such as fish or chicken.
- Dinner includes either another serving of eggs or a small portion of lean protein such as fish or chicken.
Salads and low carbohydrate vegetables are allowed as desired.
- Fruits are generally limited to one to two serves daily.
- Carbohydrate foods such as bread, pasta and potatoes are strictly limited.
Egg and Grapefruit Diet
Another version of the diet is called the ‘Egg and Grapefruit Diet’ and this involves eating half a grapefruit with each meal.
The rest of the diet plan is very similar to that outlined above.
Extreme Egg Only Diet
The most extreme version of the diet involves eating only hard-boiled eggs and drinking water or crystal light drink mix for every meal.
Not only would dieters quickly grow tired of hardboiled eggs, they would quickly become malnurished, plus eggs have zero fiber which would lead to unhealthy bowel function.
This version should be avoided!
Recommended Foods
Eggs, lean protein, low carbohydrate vegetables, grapefruit, limited fruit, and zero calorie beverages like crystal light.
Sample Meal Plan
| Breakfast
2 boiled eggs |
| Lunch
Roast chicken without skin |
| Dinner
2 egg omelet with spinach and tomato |
Exercise Recommendations
Exercise is not a requirement for following this diet plan and most people will find it hard to exercise due to the low calorie and low carb nature of the egg diet plan.
Costs and Expenses
This is a relatively inexpensive diet plan and the only cost may be that your grocery bill is slightly increased due to the need to purchase extra lean proteins and fresh vegetables.
Egg Dieters would also be advised to buy high-quality free range and vegetarian fed eggs, which can also increase costs at the grocery store.
There are a few more structured egg diet plans available in book form and they range from $5-$10.
The best way to use an egg diet would be with a ketogenic diet.
Available from Amazon →
Pros
- High protein, low carbohydrate diets help to reduce appetite.
- High protein diets increase the rate of calorie burning.
- Eggs are a good source of protein and vitamins.
- Studies show that eating eggs for breakfast increases weight loss.
Cons
- Not a healthy or balanced approach to eating.
- Eliminates entire food groups and many vegetables.
- Lack of carbohydrates will make it difficult to engage in strenuous physical activity.
- Many people experience fatigue and nausea during the first few days of the diet as the body adapts to a reduced intake of carbohydrates.
- Eating a lot of eggs can cause constipation, flatulence, and bad breath.
- Dietary boredom may reduce ability to stick with the program.
- Not sustainable as a lifestyle plan for healthy weight management.
- Likely that any weight loss will be regained upon a return to normal eating.
- Eggs are high in cholesterol but there is debate to their effect on blood cholesterol.
Just Another Fad Diet?
The Egg Diet is essentially a fad diet, especially the version that does not allow for nutritional variety. Although rapid weight loss will probably occur it is most likely that all of this weight will be regained upon the completion of the diet.
Obviously eating eggs alone is not a healthy way to lose weight and the extreme version of this diet is very dangerous for health. Dieters risk not only nutritional deficiency but also severe disruption to their health and well-being.
References
- Layman, D. K., Boileau, R. A., Erickson, D. J., Painter, J. E., Shiue, H., Sather, C., & Christou, D. D. (2003). A reduced ratio of dietary carbohydrate to protein improves body composition and blood lipid profiles during weight loss in adult women. The Journal of nutrition, 133(2), 411-417. link
- Wilson, T. A., Aljohi, H., Kotyla, E., & Nelson, M. D. (2013). Consuming 12 eggs per week for 1 year does not alter serum lipids, lipoprotein cholesterol, or C-reactive protein in older adults. The FASEB Journal, 27, 1078-14. link
- Kovacs-Nolan, J., Phillips, M., & Mine, Y. (2005). Advances in the value of eggs and egg components for human health. Journal of agricultural and food chemistry, 53(22), 8421-8431. link
1 week in on the egg diet. The eggs chicken fruit salad and fish one. Down 10 pounds in the first week and going strong. Drinking water and a couple low carb monsters a day. Light exercise. 50 years old and started at 236 pounds. I feel great and the goal is to get under 200 pounds in a month.
Can you substitute anything for the tomatoes?
I did the traditional for 2 weeks and lost 10 pounds. it’s pretty cool. I’m a small person to begin with and I cross fit daily. my skin is clearer than ever, and I feel pretty amazing. I happen to like consistency, so I don’t get bored with repetitive foods. it’s easy to stick to and it’s amazing how eggs fill you up! yesterday I had coffee with my mom and I she ate her Target popcorn, while I ate my hard boiled eggs in store! it’s will power. once I hit my goal I will try maintenance with throwing in one cheat day and adding in one extra snack like either a yogurt or a protein shake and see how it goes. I love the simplicity of it.
What is a good substitute for grapefruit. I love it, but cannot eat it with my current medications.
Have done Low Carb because i was diagnosed Diabetes 2. Had a lot of energy on that plan. Got off of it because my hubby was bored with the food. We have been unsuccessful in getting back on it. This looks like something to get us going again. Will have to try it for 2 weeks. Then. Back to LC eating. Perhaps use the 2 week egg diet every other month. Low carbdoed bring my sugar levels down. Without dieting my high has been 145, the low 98. Optimum for me is 106 or lower.
*too, not two .
I lost 7 pounds in week 1 and can’t wait to see the results at the end of week 2. It isn’t two bad except when your meal is just a piece of fruit 🙁
Just wondering what version of the diet you did and where did you get the meal plan?? xx
Try pinterest they have all versions and meal plans
What could a vegetarian eat in place of chicken and fish
Allergies to chicken.. Not egg.
Can I replace it with tofu and fish.
Pescaterian
What are the biscuits you can eat?
What kind of salad dressing can you have, and does it need to be fat free, low can?
I usually use either Walden farms dressings or a simple vinegar like apple cider or pomegranate vinegar with a teaspoon of olive oil.
Can you do this but add low calories smoothie for meal substitute? I drink a lot of green tea.
What all can you eat in your salad when on this diet…. is it just lettuce!
Can you drink green tea on this
Numerous wrong statements above:
Carbs make you listless and tired…protein with low carb has you full of energy .. in fact, lo carb = difficulty sleeping
farts increase with carbs as tthey ferment in the gut
carbs will cause you to tank with strenuous activity
I did this diet for one week but didn’t loose much weight and I don’t know why ? I can’t eat whole eggs so I replaced with only egg white and chicken nuggets ..is it a right choice .
No wonder you didnt lose … egg whitrd are lore fattening than an entire egg plus chicken nuggets? Breaded? Fried? Seriously?
Can I have one protien drink daily?
are avocados ok on the egg diet
I’ve seen versions with avocado just a small piece.
Yes. Avocado is fine.
Do u need to exercise or do any workouts ?
If u burned 500 calories in a day for 2 weeks with this diet will. YOU lose more then 11 kilos ?
Can I drink coffee with this diet. Also is there any limit to the fruit I can eat
Black coffee with no sugar and creamer.. yes but if you add anything I would forget about it haha
are avocados ok on the egg diet
Yes, Ruth. Avocado is acceptable on this diet.
Yes, black coffee is fine. You may also use organic almond milk or coconut oil in place of creamers.
Ted is correct. Kale is a great veg to eat
Randy where did you buy egg stripper
I got on HSN or it’s avail on
Amazon http://amzn.to/2GJITNo
I did this diet in the 90’s ate only eggs and spinach. Water also . Now im going back on it. Back then lost 22 lbs in just a little over a month. It does work. Doesnt cost much.
Can u define your complete diet with routine plz
Can I drink normal tea with skimmed milk on the sample meal plan listed above. I Drink about 15 cups a day!!!
Maryi did still lost weight
Not 15 id be floating ?
Today it’s my 5th day on this diet. I started with 188.8lb I’m 5’3 age 35 yrs. This morning I weight myself and my weight was 181.8 I’m very motivated and happy with it. ?
I just bought the Egg Stripper, peels 5 hard boiled eggs under 10 seconds.. Saw it on HSN>> I love hard boiled eggs!
SAVE YOUR MONEY – PUT EGGS IN A LARGE CONTAINER WITH WARM WATER RIGHT AFTER BOILING – SHAKE REALLY HARD AND WALLAH THE SHELLS WILL FALL OFF – I FOUND THIS OUT CAUSE I WAS TOO CHEAP TO PURCHASE THE EGG STRIPPER 🙂 oops sorry for the caps! 😉
I agree. A one quart, or half gallon Mason jar would be a lot cheaper and do the same job.
Being low carbs, can I eat Pig skins?
I eat pig skins daily— use it like it ws bread which is not allowed on Low Carb—-it works—dont cheat—-low carb for life !!
The Pig Skins I eat have no carbs, no sugar – I eat them in moderation though
if I go to the gym and burn 500-600 calories can I eat more food or not?
Yes, but you should calculate your TDEE with the exercise included as well as a calorie deficit so you know exactly how much you can eat. https://healthyeater.com/flexible-dieting-calculator
Dietary cholesterol has no to little effect on serum cholesterol!
Lean meat means a whole lot less flavor, I only eat fatty meats!
I eat low-carb, I have never experienced fatigue, probably because I get all my energy from fat!
One size doesn’t fit all, but this works for me!
Been on the egg diet for 6 days. I have lost 9 bs. I find by adding lemon pepper to the eggs or tiger sauce makes the boiled eggs much easier to eat 6 a day. I also eat salad, steamed veggies,apples,cantaloupe, small amount of cottage cheese, melba toast, whole grain slice of toast, lean meat, avocado, small slice off a block of cheese , grapefruit juice, lots of water, diet coke,coffee and no sugar. Even though tiger sauce has minimal sugar it’s fine. I’ve even had a small triangle of chicken quesadilla with lettuce,pico and a small dab of sour cream and lost 2 lbs the next day. It may show up in a day or two, but as long as I’m losing, I’m winning. The first 3 days I had a headache and felt hungry. But when i would feel hungry I ate, but only enough to relieve the hunger. Usually an egg if it was not time for my usual meal. I have read it is good to only do this diet for two weeks at a time which is what I am planning to do. Off two eating healthy then back on the more strict diet above. Crossing my fingers I don’t gain it all back.
Can you post exact diet/food your eating that’s great you’ve almost weight
That info was very helpful. Thank you for sharing. Good to know what I can eat and still lose wait.
What is the difference in steamed chicken and cooked chicken? Does it really matter on the diet?
You just have to cook the chicken with no oils.
Can i cook it with 1small spoon of coconut oil
Yes, coconut is a good to cook with. I’m following the Keto diet and that’s fine.
I’m starting this diet today, I had two eggs this morning with orange juice I don’t know if I’m suppose to drink orange juice or just water with it? How is the best way to follow this diet to get results? Also does somebody knows if this is healthy for a person without a gallbladder?? Help please
No orange juice. I have no gallbladder and I have no issues with this diet
I drink lemon water allllllllllllll day. I’ve acquired the taste and crave it now; plus lemon is good for the body.
How much fruit is 1 serving?
Example: One medium sized banana, one orange, one apple, etc. or 1/2 cup of fruit that you cut up. I hope that helps. 🙂
After three days have lost 8lb, feel full and so easy to follow
What plan were you following please?
I’ve done this since the early 80’s and it always worked. As egss can be prepared in so many ways it was easy to do. I used to have half a grapefruit and 2 boiled eggs for breakfast. I’d take a couple of boiled eggs for snacks at work. I’d go to a café at lunchtime and have an omelette, usually with cheese and onion or mushrooms and a bit of a side salad, and dinner was always some form of chops or chicken that mum had made, served with spinach or green beans and nothing else. I also made sure I drank loads of water as well. The weight just dropped off, mind you I was in my 20’s and it was so much easier at that age to lose weight and keep it off. I drank bottles of Holsten Pils or Low C on a night out and was worse for wear I have to say!!! I didn’t get constipated as I ate grapefruit, bananas, apples, spinach, other green veg and water to flush me out so to speak! Be ready to pee a lot – lol 🙂 x
Are you allowed any kind of dressing on the salads, can you have salt/pepper garlic etc to flavor your eggs/salad chicken?
Yes, you can use spices and dressings that don’t add hardly any calories.
Speaking as someone who has not used regular salt for over 30 years, it is best if you use something like “Mrs. Dash,” but if you really want the salt taste, Sea salt is a much healthier choice. And, you can use other spices as well. If you use salad dressing of any kind, you have to use it in moderation…. not just on a diet like this, but really it’s best any time to follow that rule. I find that a little dressing goes a long way with flavor if I chop my salad well and put the dressing on, then mix it thoroughly before I eat it. Works great!
Can you have dressing on salad , how much and portion of salad?
How much chicken or fish
What can we eat except chicken or fish
Lean beef, lean pork, lamb
what are some low carb vegetables please
broccoli, celery, cucumber, kale, lettuce, cauliflower, peppers, basically anything that isn’t starchy.
Kale is very high in carbs!
Which nutritional data are you looking it at? Kale is not considered very high in digestible carbs. 2 cups of baby kale as just 2.5 grams of carbs and around 1.7 grams of digestible carbs.
It is high in fiber.
What is barbecued fish? It lists it on my g.f. and egg diet.
same as grilled fish
This is my fifth day on the taditional egg diet. I eat 3 eggs and have a cup of green tea for breakfast, same for lunch plis an apple ,man apple and a cup of green tea in the evening and finally a cup of green tea before i sleep with 1 hour. I feel so exhausted and drained i’m also in a very bad mood and irritated. How long should I continue? And when will i see results? Please help me
You aren’t eating enough which is why you feel so drained. This isn’t a good way to lose weight.
I agree with you, Ted. Shahinaz, no wonder you are in a bad mood. Your body is trying to tell you it isn’t happy and you need to feed it more. You aren’t even eating enough calories to provide your body what it needs for vital functions if you did nothing but sit still and breathe. You’ve got to eat more, dear. The strictly egg diet is BAAAAAAAD. Try one of the other ones.
This is what the problem is, before you started this particular “diet”, 1. you should have started a diet where you did not eat bread, rice, flour or consume anything with sugar. the first 3 days your body would struggle and you would get headaches because it would crave the missing sugar, but you would be able to eat more and be more satisfied . 2. after your food craving appetite started to slow down because your insulin levels will run smoothly because those bad food are out your system (and you would lose water weight during this time) , then you would be able to start reducing the amount of calories you take in each day . 3. That’s when you start using this diet without being so irritated. That’s exactly what i did and i’m losing almost a pound everyday (.7). I’m on day 6 , and i finally felt good enough to go to the gym and do 30 minutes on the treadmill . I don’t have food cravings or anything. i just eat when i know i should , but i skip the apple with green tea before dinner and i have oatmeal with almond milk instead (great source of carbs).
Mr NYC: Thanks for this info!!!! Very helpful and I will try this!
Try a ketogenic diet. It’s designed for long term weight loss and you keep the weight off
I agree 100: keto diet is great on many levels
We live the Keto life go to the gym 4 times a week . Do 6-8 miles a week on treadmill and strength training. We still plateaued after 6 months . The egg diet helped break that. Lost 7 lbs first week . We do the one with fish chicken and veggies. Half an orange in morning
I do Atkins low carb—-there are several low carb keto diets out there; I stay full an not hungry or feel tired an Im 72 yrs old !!!
There is a similar diet where you add a cup of plain oatmeal for dinner – before the final cup of green tea. Maybe that would help your mood/energy, idk. I’m on day one of the diet and I’m hangry. I’m only going to do the diet this way for maybe 3 days and then cut back a little on the eggs and add in lean meats and veggies. This will just be a jump start. When you see a few pounds drop off easily in the first few days, it’s motivating to continue to exercise and eat healthy. That’s my take on it anyway 😉
u have eaten everything correctly except one bowl of oaths at night. it makes u full before u sleep.I guess you following the versatile vicky diet in the youtube.
Love this lol, im on the same boat not talking to anyone in my house at the moment
Great information! thanks for sharing.
Right! Thank you for sharing 🙂
Eat like a King breakfast, then on an evening have soup, then do some weights in the evening, and have 4 boiled eggs afterwards.
Should work okay.
Leave a message…does it mean that I will be taking egg diet till I return to my normal shape?
Everytime i heard of egg diet, I thank god that I found that diet, my weight was desturbing me all the time, but one day I went through google and i typed the egg diet 28 day lossuweight, I found that diet nd it helped me to lose 37 pounds in 28 days, people if you want to lose weight well, I recommand this diet. Thank you for sharing it
Thanks Jessica for your comment! I am going to give it a go.
I am currently trying this diet. Today is Day 1. I hope for results such as yours. Thank you for sharing. Always nice to get result from real people.
It is two weeks since I started the diet and I have only lost a few pounds (around 5). Any tips / advice?
2.5 pounds a week is great!
Doing this diet and just losing 2.5 pounds per week is not good. You can lose that amount of weight on a good and healthy diet and this is not that. I would stop, Hrnakshi. I’m on the first day of this diet and I’ll be doing it for 3-5 days if I don’t get a result by then than I’ll stop because it’s not for me and my body.
Same here. I am very disappointed. Followed it to the letter.
Please give us some hints to help
thanks for sharing the pros and cons of eggs, I’ll not like to have the egg every day as there are other diets which are too healthy than an egg.
magano 1 min ago
What type of yoghurt specifically and milk. and can I use salt, pepper and aromat when I take my eggs, chicken, fish, beef
What type of yoghurt specifically and milk. and can I use salt, pepper and aromat when I take my eggs
Eggs, bacon, and blueberries here and Im perfectly fine.
I actually doubt that it is healthy to eat that many eggs without doing sports everyday. I know another diet that seems good, and the best thing is that no sport or excercises involved – it is dr. simeons diet. I did it couple months ago and lost 12 kilos in 40 days. Also, I used Anat Stern’s support, and believe me, this is really useful!
According to what I’ve read after seeing your recommendation Dr. Simeon’s diet requires receiving daily shots of a very questionable substance, and has been largely discredited. Without receiving these shots which are required under his protocol, you have not been on Dr. Simeon’s diet, nor is it available for the average person as one must be under a physicians care to receive these shots.
Actually you can buy the drops online.
What’s the point of drops when this is inexpensive.
A portion of meat can be substituted for the egg. Palm size though, don’t go overboard. With veggies and lots of water this is a healthy diet. The egg just makes it cheap and convenient, and they are so versatile! This is a lot like the adkins and ketogenic.