Not all calories are equal according to diet guru, Jorge Cruise. In his new book, "The 100", the US weight-loss expert explains how by just limiting your daily sugar calories to just 100, you could lose weight fast - up to 18lbs in just two weeks.
But what is a sugar calorie? Well, it's pretty much exactly as it sounds: the calories in our food that come from sugar and non-fibrous carbohydrates. But a lot of 'healthy' foods like fruit and even brown rice contain a surprising amount. So how do you begin to calculate how many sugar calories you're eating? Let us explain...
Just like the cabbage soup diet as well as our exante diet, and the military diet, this is a short-term diet that works fast. For a longer-term approach to weight loss, we’d recommend the Mediterranean diet, the Noom diet, and the 16:8 diet plan.
"The 100" Diet formula
You'll need to keep a fairly close eye on nutritional labels when on this diet, as you're limited to just 100 sugar calories a day but it's quite simple to work out when you know the basic rule of thumb. All you need to do to work out the amount of sugar calories in your food is to take the amount of carbohydrates in grams and multiply them by four.
For example: 50g of brown pasta = 33g of carbohydrate x 4 = 132 sugar calories 1 large apple = 20g of carbohydrate x 4 = 80 sugar calories 50g brown rice = 35g of carbohydrate x 4 = 140 sugar calories
As you can see, if you don't make the right choices you can quickly use up your daily allowance of 100 sugar calories - one apple is not far off after all!
So, what can I eat on "The 100" Diet.
Carb-lovers need not be put off by The 100 Diet. Jorge Cruise explains that by making a few simple swaps you can still enjoy bread and even cake! By exchanging wheat flour for flax, coconut or almond flour in your favourite recipes, you can seriously reduce the amount of troublesome carbs and sugar calories you're eating while still enjoying tasty baked treats.
There are lots of 'freebies' on the plan too: foods you can eat in unlimited quantities. Some of these include egg whites, chicken breast, cheese, salad and vegetables.
A typical lunch would take the form of tuna-mayo or grilled steak served with a fresh salad and there are some other treats that are fine to eat as well - including whipped cream and even certain types of red wine.
There's no denying that if you want to try The 100 Diet, you will need to make some quite big changes to how you eat but for people who want to see quick results without having to calorie count every meal or spend a lot of time exercising, this could be worth a try. It's definitely a little more complex than other recent diet crazes such as the 5:2 Diet, but one reviewer on Amazon recorded a 5lb weight loss after just the first week.
Like the sound of "The 100" Diet? The book, which comes with a 4-week meal planner, is available to buy on Amazon for £11.04.
