What is the GM Diet?

The GM Diet is a seven-day diet plan which was supposed to have been created by General Motors for their employees. It was rumoured that they paid a hefty sum to a research lab to come up with the ultimate diet plan. But General Motors soon released a statement where they denied any involvement with the diet plan. But the name stayed on and the diet was soon circulated via emails and forums all over the Web and more people tried it out with different results.

Let's see what the diet looks like.

Day one of the GM diet begins with consumption of only fruits. Any fruits work except bananas. Water melons are highly recommended on day one. Day one is supposed to prepare your body for the rest of the week.

Day two has to start with a baked potato for breakfast. This gives you your morning dose of complex carbohydrates. Through the rest of the day, you have to eat raw or boiled vegetables and you can eat to your heart's content. You can also have vegetable soup. Make sure you avoid coconut and oil in the preparation.

On day three, you have to eat only fruits and vegetables. Avoid fruit juice or vegetable juice. Avoid the morning potato and avoid oil. Avoid bananas on this day. You can use herbs and natural taste-makers in your preparations.

Day four is a tough one. On this day, you may have only bananas and milk. You may have up to eight bananas and about 3-4 glasses of milk on this day. You can also have the special GM soup on this day, which helps break the monotony of the bananas and milk. Also, have up to 8-10 glasses of water on this day.

You can binge a bit on day five. On this day you are supposed to have just lean beef and tomatoes. You can again eat as much as you like on this day. You can replace beef by lean chicken meat or a mix of vegetables like beans, lentils, and tofu. These replace the proteins you get from beef. Make sure you consume plenty of water.

On day six you should have a mix of lean beef and vegetables. You can also have the GM Special Soup on day six. Vegetarians should have a mix of the vegetables from day five. You may also have sprouts in place of beef.

And on the seventh day, you can have brown rice, vegetables and fruits. Fruit juices are also allowed on this day. This wraps up the GM diet plan. You can return to your regular diet from the 8^th day, albeit with caution.

This diet is supposed to make you lose anywhere from one to five kilograms on the eighth day. The diet also plays a detox role by cleaning your body of its impurities. No alcohol is supposed to be consumed during the week. You are allowed to have tea and coffee, but you must avoid adding milk and sugar as this adds unnecessary calories. Also, ensure that you consume adequate water during the diet. Try and avoid working out while you are on this diet as it is possible you may experience fatigue.

The GM Diet Soup

The GM Diet Soup which is also called the GM Wonder Soup or Special Soup consists of six onions, tomatoes, celery, cabbage, herbs, and flavouring in 3 ¹/₂ cups of water. The best part about this soup is that it can be consumed in unlimited quantities on any day of the diet.

Is the GM Diet Effective?

Different people have had different experiences with the GM diet. While most people rave about the diet, some feel it is not effective in the long run. But most people agree that weight loss is very much possible with the GM Diet. Let's look at the experiences these people had with the diet:

Ramesh, a full-time businessman, was unable to work out regularly because he could not find the time to hit the gym. He took up the GM diet and found it to be extremely useful. He was able to follow it easily because all it required him to do was keep an eye on what he ate. At the end of seven days, Ramesh had lost 3.5 kilograms and he cannot wait to try the GM diet again.

Shreya, a homemaker, was looking for something that could help her lose the weight she gained during her pregnancy. After a quick call to her doctor, she started the GM diet. Shreya thinks that the GM diet is extremely strenuous on the system, but is quite convinced about its effectiveness. She lost 3 kgs but is not really sure she wants to try it again. She experienced the occasional bout of dizziness and extreme hunger pangs, but this was only for the first 2 days.

Saloni thinks the diet is not at all useful since you will bounce right back to your original weight once the diet is over with. She says that the diet plan was quite frustrating but it did help her lose 5 kgs. But the very next day after the diet, she started to eat all the food that she missed out on and ended up gaining the 5 kgs and some more! She thinks that the mental strain of the GM diet is the real problem. She also complains that the diet made her hair rough and thin.

Vikram wanted to lose weight before his cousin's wedding because he wanted to look fit. He started at 75 kilograms and was able to lose 4 kgs with the help of the GM diet. He thinks he could have done much better if he had not cheated during the diet! He says the diet is not for everyone and requires extreme will power and focus. His advice is to watch out for weakness and hunger pangs on the third and fourth day.

So you can see people have had different experiences with this method. Consulting your doctor before you begin this diet is a good idea. Go ahead and give it a try, and make sure you post your experiences here!