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!
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.