With 7 4 day stages, the 4 Day Diet provides a 28 day dieting program that supposedly provides variety, distraction, and an easy way to lose weight without the monotony. And for someone who is busy, it is easy planned out, focusing mostly on servings of certain food groups with minimal preparation.

Technically, the 4 Day Diet introduces healthy food into the dieter’s repertoire, again focusing on a lot of fruits and vegetables. But the 4 Day Diet also incorporates healthy lean proteins and other essential nutrients. There are some foods that are not so healthy like diet soda, and it has a phase where writers encourage you to eat pizza and other junk food in moderation of course. But 6 of the phases focus on purely healthy approaches. For the most part, the 4 Day Diet is basically healthy.

Who is the 4 Day Diet For?

This is where makers and I disagree. The creators of the 4 Day Diet market it toward struggling dieters who have already struggled with the effects of yoyo dieting. Considering all 7 phases, the 4 Day Diet is actually for the health nut who wants to take it one step further to lose weight. It takes approaches that I’ve seen other diets take. But all of those diets are extremely specific about how hard it is to follow.

The first phase is obviously going to be a bit extreme, it’s the detox phase that is supposed to jump start you into successful weight loss results. But the other phases should transition you into a healthy and sustainable lifestyle. You would think that it was going that direction if you looked at the 4th phase. But phases 5, 6, and 7 go right back to unhealthy extremes, actually giving you 12 days that are ironically stricter than the detox phase.

But it’s possible I’m just being biased or just basing this on what I’ve seen with everyday dieters. What about experts, people who don’t necessarily study weight loss, but do focus on nutrition on a daily basis?

What Do the Experts Say?

A registered dietician at the American Dietetic Association says “The program allows dieters some degree of flexibility by letting them pick and choose which phases they choose to use after they complete the first two phases”, which is not public knowledge. Most dieters using the 4 Day Diet don’t know that.

But this particular representative, Eliza Zied, goes on to say that “Actually, there is more evidence out there that being more consistent in your dietary patterns is much better when it comes to long-term weight loss and weight management” and further that certain phases do not fulfill the acceptable calorie intake requirements. In other words, the first phase and last few phases dip below 1300 calories a day, which slows your metabolism and can hurt your body.

Should You Use the 4 Day Diet?

I’ve seen reports of rebound, and I’ve seen people who thought they were getting something completely different. There are some health nuts who could lose weight and then keep it off later on using this diet. But most are not disciplined enough, and according to the experts, some phases can also be unhealthy. At the very least, the 4 Day Diet is not made for most.