What is The IU Diet?
Basically you eat one apple for breakfast, a sweet potato for lunch and a protein shake for dinner. It’s a fairly easy diet and I like that you don’t have to weight everything you consume. You can read more about it here. Let’s see if I’ll be able to stick to it!
Also, if you like this post, feel free to follow me on Twitter (@apink for blog & diet updates!)
Just to clarify: I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS TO ANYONE! It is not healthy! I’m doing this diet so that I can lose some weight before going on vacation as I have gained a ton of weight recently and don’t feel comfortable in a bikini. Also keep in mind that I have a Binge Eating Disorder.
DAY I
Breakfast: Apple
Lunch: Sweet potato
Dinner: (Vegan) Protein shake w non vegan milk (0,3% fat)
Calories: 569 kcal approx.
I’m hungry, but I’m not starving ATM. Thankfully I had to work very late so I didn’t get tempted to throw the towel before even properly starting The IU Diet.
My vegan protein shake tasted disgusting, though. I couldn’t finish it and I definitely have to buy another brand of protein powder tomorrow. Chewing gum kept me occupied and – to my surprise – even kind of satisfied. I’m wondering if I’ll be able to stick to this diet for 7 days.
DAY II
Breakfast: Apple
Lunch: Sweet potato
Dinner: (NON vegan) Protein shake with non vegan milk (0,3% fat)
Calories: 573 kcal
Only having an apple for breakfast wasn’t that great. I am definitely a breakfast person so compared to what I usually consume in the morning this was a rather sad meal. My stomach felt empty so I tried to fill up on sparkly water and I bought diet coke (is that considered cheating? it doesn’t have any calories..). Please applaud me for not buying chocolate or anything else to binge when I went to the grocery store, though!
The sweet potato for lunch was fine. I prefer regular potatoes over sweet potatoes but oh well, I just have to suck it up. Thankfully it really filled me up, so I wasn’t suffering as much as I did in the morning. I mean, really.. what a disappointment of a breakfast.
Man, thank god I got this new protein powder. It actually tastes like stracciatella ice-cream!! I enjoyed my dinner very much today, to say the least. I have to admit that I am fairly hungry right now – I mean, it would be weird if I weren’t but you know… this diet is actually easier than I expected. I honestly thought that I’d crack on day 2, but so far I’m doing great!
DAY III
Breakfast: Apple
Lunch: Sweet potato
Dinner: Protein shake (w milk)
Calories: 573 kcal
So day 3 is the worst so far. My stomach is completely empty and growling. I have to actively force myself not to drink my protein shake before 6 PM. The apple in the morning left me hungry as well as the sweet potato. I’m drinking a ton of water hoping that it’ll fill me up. I’m scared that I might crack on the weekend since I’m going over to my mom’s place for breakfast every Sunday. I should just take my sweet potato with me that day..
I’m pleasantly surprised that I’m not feeling super weak though. I thought that this diet would absolutely drain me of all my energy but I don’t feel that tired, actually.
Update: I took the protein shake at 4.30 PM. Note to myself: don’t take the shake before 6 PM.
DAY IV
Breakfast: Apple
Lunch: (small) Sweet potato, half a cup of cappuccino
Dinner: Protein shake (with 0,3% fat milk), 1 cashew
Calories: around 600 kcal
I still feel pretty energized, to my surprise even though I am super hungry. The Youtube reviews I watched of this diet all said that the 4th and 5th day were the worst and I can relate. I am really
hungry and the apple didn’t fill me up at all – who would’ve thought. Also I’m getting sick of the sweet potato. Honestly, I guess I’m just not a fan of sweet potatoes in general so having to eat one every day is getting really tiresome. The only thing that’s keeping me going is the protein shake.
I think if I ever do this diet again I’ll definitely replace the sweet potato with oatmeal or something. At least that’s enjoyable.
I ended up eating one cashew because one of my co-workers kept offering it to me and wouldn’t let me refuse. Also I drank about half a cup of cappuccino because one of my friends bought me one as a surprise and it would’ve been impolite to refuse that as well. My sweet potato was rather small today, though, so I don’t think there’s a huge caloric difference.
OH! I almost forgot: I was very energized today. I don’t know why my body doesn’t feel tired on this diet but I’m not complaining!
DAY V
Breakfast: Apple
Lunch: Sweet potato
Dinner: Protein shake (with 0,3% fat milk)
Calories: 573 kcal
I was working from morning till 5 PM and now I am eating my sweet potato. I was feeling hungry during the day and I kept thinking about wanting to break this diet, to be honest. I was looking at food a lot so that wasn’t really helping. Other than that today was fairly easy though! What I’m scared of is tomorrow when I’m at my mom’s place. I already warned her that I’m going to bring my own food, so hopefully I won’t crack.
I’m looking forward to my protein shake hehe.
DAY VI
Breakfast: Apple
Lunch: Sweet potato
Dinner: Protein shake (with 0,3% fat milk)
Calories: 573 kcal
I am almost at the end of my IU Diet Journey™, damn! I woke up today with a cold so now I am drinking a shit ton of tea hoping that it’ll go away quickly. I probably didn’t get enough vitamins from my “meals” (who are we kidding… those are not meals but side dishes). HOWEVER I am determined to make it till the end!
I still feel really energized and it seems like my body is adapting. I am a little scared to weight myself on Tuesday, tbh. If I only lost 1kg then IU’s cancelled!!! (I’m kidding, ofc)
DAY VII
Breakfast: Apple
Lunch: Sweet potato
Dinner: Protein shake (with 0,3% fat milk)
Calories: 560 kcal
FUCKING FINALLY! It’s the last day!!! I can’t wait to eat something else than sweet potatoes, y’all. Today I couldn’t even finish my lunch because I’m so sick of it. I ended up adding more milk to my protein shake though, to make up for it.
I was very hungry today just because I’m exhausted from everything that has been happening to me and frankly speaking I was close to just giving up. My cold has gotten worse, too, and I just really crave something fulfilling to eat.
Conclusion:
I ended up going from 76,9 kg (169 lbs) to 72,4 kg (160 lbs) in one week of doing the IU Diet. I’m 168 cm (5’5”), without exercise! In total I lost 4,5 kg (almost 10 lbs)
So that’s pretty impressive, isn’t it? I am definitely going to try to shed the last few kilos too so that I’m back at a healthy weight for my height.
If you are someone who’s used to dieting then this diet won’t be that hard and it’s easy to follow. Unlike many other people said in their reviews, the IU Diet did not drain my of my energy. Then again I didn’t workout in addition to it, so maybe that’s why.
Also let me say this again: if you ever try this diet then BE CAREFUL.
Diets like this lead me to having an Eating Disorder so I definitely do not recommend it to anyone.
63 comments On The IU Diet Review | – 4,5 kg (10 lbs) in 1 Week
Can i replace sweet potatoes with something else cuz i don’t have any potato
oat meal!
Would carrots be a good substitute?
Can I use normal potato in place of sweet potato
should be fine
Dose it mater what type of protean powder
nope, you can use any kind
Oh wow! i tried the exact same diet but i couldn’t handle the sweet potato so i just switched it to 2 boiled eggs.
What ingredients did you use for the protein shake? And did you alternate with the ingredients?
I just used milk and cheap protein powder I got from my local drug store! 🙂
Did you workout???
Bcz I need something without exercise
no, didnt workout!
Looking forward to trying this! I honestly can’t wait.
Good luck!!
I am very interested in this diet but I do not want an eating disorder, is there something I can do to prevent this?
Definitely eat more than 500kcal. Add veggies and rice to your meals and when you feel hungry: eat. Don’t starve and listen to your body!
just by eating under your bmr won’t give you an eating disorder becaus that’s not how it works.eating disorders have very little to do with the actual food.
starving yourself, getting a taste of what its like to FEEL skinny can cause an eating disorder. that’s why im warning everyone before trying this out.
hey , what Brand of protein drink u take in this diet ?
Layenberger LowCarb.one 3K Protein Shake Stracciatella
Nicely done I’m going to try this next week!!!
how did you do ur sweet potato ??
can I bake it or ???
I put it in a microwave for 5-10 minutes and that’s it!
I enjoyed reading your blog. What protein shake brand did you use?
Where are you from? Asian sweet potatoes are definitely sweeter than western ones (they’re really watery in comparison I feel). Might this be why you got tired of sweet potato so easily? I could understand this part but OATMEAL as a replacement??? Wow there are people who actually like oatmeal haha 😵
Germany! Yeah I’m not a huge fan of the taste of sweet potatoes here… oatmeal is nice if you put some berries in !! 😀
is it okay if i do this diet once a week ?
dont do this
Were you able to keep the weight off?
For some time, yes. But I ended up bingeing again so now I’m back to where I started lmao rip
How did you prep the sweet potato? Steam, baked or boiled?
I used a fork and poked it a few times and then i put the sweet potato into a microwave for around 10mins and that’s it!
entoxicatedthoughts@gmail.com
Was wondering if tgeir was a substitute for protein shake
protein bars, tofu, 200 g of lean chicken breast maybe!
Hello, I’m starting this diet tomorrow! Just a question: can I replace the sweet potato with 2 boiled eggs and replace the protein milkshake with a cup of normal milk?? So together it will be:
Breakfast: 1 apple
Lunch: 2 boiled eggs
Dinner: a cup of normal milk
Will this be okay and do u reckon it will work the same?💓 also did u only drink water? no green tea, no soda,no juice right?
yes sure you can!
Can I just eat 569 calories a day but not the exact foods?. (Sorry if I sound dumb)
Hmmm, i would stick with similar types of food like if you want you can replace the sweet potato with rice or regular potatoes but id stick to the general idea tbh
what time did you typically eat your meals? asking bc I want to try it ;”)
i ate breakfast at 8am, lunch at around 1pm and dinner usually at 4pm
I am very interested in this diet..i will begin this diet tomorrow…i hope i do well in 2 weeks…so stress thinking about my body🤕🤕🤕
replacement for apples?
1 banana!
I’m from malaysia. I find layenberger brand protein shake in malaysia but i i cant find it. I want to buy it from there but i dont know why tehre is no postage for malaysia country. Can you suggest another protein shake or perhaps any apps to find the layenberger protein shake? 😫
you can use any protein shake 🙂 just go to the store and get one that looks delicious
does it help slim down ur whole body like the thigh area?
So is it okay to drink protein shake without working out?
Yes
I’m super late to this party but I’ve done the diet a few times (before special events) and one massive, life-saving suggestion: GOOGLE SWEET POTATO RECIPES!!!! Seriously, by day 3 I’m always completely and utterly sick of sweet potatoes so the last time I googled up some recipes and looked for what I could make without extra ingredients. My favorite was making baked sweet potato fries w/o salt and using the minimal amount of olive oil I could get away with. They’re also super filling because one single sweet potato makes soooo many fries. This time around, I’ll be using sesame oil just because it has a lot of health benefits.
The least I’ve ever lost was 7lbs w/o exercise and the most was 15lbs w/ regular exercise (i.e. 40 mins of cardio and a weight training circuit).
But did you gain the weight back again right after or did you keep it off?
i gained it back
can I replace the protein shake with a tea
nope
Can u give me the name of the protein shake
i just used a drug store brand, its called Layenberger Lowcarb 3K Protein Shake (chocolate flavor)
Is it okay if I can substitute the protein shake to something like a coffee or some milk ??
no you should stick to the protein shake tbh bc you need at least some nutrients
So, did you gain the weight back, just after you stopped the diet?
I mean, is it not possible to maintain the diet as it is by adding a small cup of brown rice in the noon and maybe an egg with veggies for dinner??
Yes I gained all of it back. Adding brown rice and egg + veggies sounds like a good idea!
What the hell? Literally this “diet” is extremely toxic and very inappropriate for human health, specially for YOUNGER GIRLS! Please guys if you read this warning, DON’T TRY THIS RESTRICTIVE AND HORRIFYING DIET!!! This is such a huge waste of your time and actually when you go back to eating this little, you gain more weight than what you lost! Also, you just loose water weight and muscle as well, leading your body to be dehydrated and technically NOT losing any fat… Please guys, there’s other ways to loose fat if you want to! Go with a professional nutritionist and don’t just ruin your metabolism by eating less than a 3 year-old kid! Hope you guys read my message and take care <3
Guys you know what, this dirt ain’t toxic until you are doing it for a week like don’t do it for a week instead for 1 or 2 day detox it’s nice.
So what can you do instead of this diet? Let me tell you I lost 5 kgs in a week. what did I do ? 3 days of my regular excercises, with major important factor being walking. You don’t even know how much walking helps, just take a walk after every meal and do more walks in a day. life changing that is. And I ate home cooked meals, I even ate fried stuff, pasta too, yes I did. but i ate it as a snack and not as a big full meal keep that in mind. Other than that you don’t have to starve your body, you will end up getting stress disorders, eating issues and what not, I’ve tried the diet before and saying this with experience. Iu even in the interview mentioned how she ended up having stress issues and had to consult a psychiatrist.
i dont like protein shakes or atleast havent found one i enjoy, is there one that you enjoy most that i could probably enjoy too, also i cant eat apples so is there a substitute for that i can do instead?
honestly just use any protein shake you like! there are ones without flavor which you could try. instead of an apple you can eat papaya or a pear.