The egg diet is a low-carbohydrate, low-calorie, but protein-heavy diet. It’s designed to help aid in weight loss without sacrificing the protein needed to build muscles. Like its name suggests, it emphasizes the consumption of eggs as a main source of protein.

The egg diet has multiple versions, but in each you can only drink water or zero-calorie beverages. Foods high in carbohydrates and natural sugars, like most fruits and all breads, pastas, and rice are eliminated from the diet, which typically lasts 14 days. You only eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner. There are no snacks, aside from water or other zero-calorie drinks.

 

MEAL PLAN

Egg diet meal plan

While there are several different versions of the egg diet, they all work primarily the same. You’ll start each day with eggs, and you’ll continue to eat small portions of lean protein through the day.

Lean protein includes:

• eggs
• chicken
• turkey
• fish

 

Fruits and vegetables you can eat include:

• grapefruit
• broccoli
• asparagus
• zucchini
• mushrooms
• spinach

 

 

In the traditional version of the egg diet, you’ll eat eggs or another source of lean protein like chicken or fish at every meal. Low-carb veggies or grapefruit are included in breakfast and dinner. A sample meal plan would include:

Breakfast: 2 boiled eggs and 1 grapefruit, or a 2-egg omelet with spinach and mushrooms

Lunch: 1/2 roast chicken breast and broccoli

Dinner: 1 serving of fish and a green salad

 

Another version of the egg diet is the egg and grapefruit diet, where you’ll eat one-half of a grapefruit with each meal (instead of it being optional twice a day). A meal plan from this version of the diet would include:

Breakfast: 2 boiled eggs and 1/2 grapefruit

Lunch: 1/2 roast chicken breast, broccoli, and 1/2 grapefruit

Dinner: 1 serving of fish and 1/2 grapefruit

The final version of the egg diet, which is less common, is the “extreme” egg diet. In this version, people only eat hard-boiled eggs and drink water for 14 days. This diet is not recommended, as it’s extremely imbalanced and can cause malnourishment.