NTUC is National Trades Union Congress, a labour union that has a bunch of services under its wing in Singapore. A couple of years back, NTUC Fairprice, the Supermarket chain, introduced the NTUC 3-day diet program. It was a detox-cum-weight-loss aimed diet that listed out the exact food you can have during a period of 3 days.
Since this was a trend a few years back, I hadn’t heard of it until a Singaporean colleague told me about it at lunch one day. She forwarded me the list of stuff we can eat and three things caught my attention, making me want to try it – peanut butter, vanilla ice cream and average weight loss of 2kg in 3 days.
I am sharing the list here in case any of you want to try it.
Disclaimer: Diet police and people who feel this is unhealthy/shouldn’t be shared/is polluting minds of healthy people, may choose not to read the rest of the post. Its each person’s personal choice whether they want to try it or not. I am not for or against this, just sharing something I came across and tried myself.
Here’s the shopping list, stuff you’ll need to buy the day before you start.
1 grapefruit2 bananas2 small appleslong beans200 gms beetroot100 gms broccoli50 gms carrot100 gms cauliflower3 chicken sausages200 gms tuna100 gms cottage cheese10 Ritz biscuits300 gms vanilla ice creamCheddar cheese slices1/4 honeydew
The total list cost me about 28 SGD. These items are very easily available in Singapore and I am hoping its not an issue in India. The diet is not very substitution-friendly so you may see varying results if you do too much swapping. Note that cottage cheese here doesn’t mean paneer but if you can make your own paneer from low fat milk, then that should work too.
Here’s the meal schedule.
Black tea/coffee1 grapefruit1 slice toast2 tsps peanut butterDay1-LUNCHBlack tea/coffee
4 oz (100g) tuna1 slice toastDay1-DINNER1 chicken sausage1 cup (50g) long beans4 oz (100g) beetroot4 oz (100g) ice-cream1 small appleDay2-BREAKFASTBlack tea/coffee1 slice toastHalf a bananaDay2-LUNCHBlack tea/coffee4 oz (100g) cottage cheese5 Ritz biscuitsDay2-DINNER2 chicken sausages4 oz (100g) broccoli2 oz (50g) carrotsHalf a banana4 oz (100g) ice-creamDay3-BREAKFASTBlack tea/coffee1 egg hard boiled1 slice toastDay3-LUNCHBlack tea/coffee1 slice cheddar cheese5 Ritz biscuits1 small appleDay3-DINNER4 oz (100g) tuna4 oz (100g) beetroot4 oz (100g) cauliflower1/4 honeydew4 oz (100g) ice-cream
Important Notes:
Do not vary or substitute any of the above foods. Salt and pepper to be used and not other seasoning. Where no quantity is given, there are no restrictions other than common sense. Toast is to be dry – no butter or margarine. Tuna, string beans and beetroot can be frozen. Ice-cream is to be vanilla flavour only.
This diet is to be used for 3 days at a time. In the three days you will lose 2 kg* (avg weight). After 3 days of dieting you can eat normally. Remember, not to overdo it. You can try this program up to twice a month.
My Notes:
Any kind of diet is a torture for me, simply because I hate restrictions in food. I like to eat what I please, when I please and I trust myself to practise some restraint and not go overboard on most days. I tried this because it was just 3 days and I had immense curiosity to see if I would lose the promised 2kg. I actually lost 2.5 kg in three days and gained back the .5kg in the next 3 days. The 2kg weight loss stuck even though I have returned to my normal food habits now.
The long gap between lunch and dinner is hard. I did this Monday – Wednesday since being at work makes it easier for me to control food and forget hunger to a large extend. Some prefer weekends so its up to you.
The smell of canned tuna was obnoxious, so I simply skipped it without substituting with anything else.
There are no vegetarian alternatives to the diet and I may not be the best person to come up with one. If you have any thoughts on that, please do share in the comments section.
Will I do this again? I am not sure. As of now, the answer is no. I can’t take that level of hunger. I get cranky. Its not hard, its just hard for me 🙂
If you try it, I’d love to hear from you.
I first heard of this 3-day diet plan more than 20 years ago when I worked in SDU (Social Development Unit). A member shared this with us and it was published in our quarterly SDU magazine called 'Link'. They used lbs instead of grams. I did not know how to convert into grams so did not try.
I tried this diet plan abt 15 years ago when I put on alot of weight after married. I managed to lose few kgs aft 2-3 tries in 2 months time. I tried again aft I gave birth as I gained weight tremendously from 48kg to 65kg. Again, managed to reduce to 58kg aft few tries in few months.
Now I need to start this 3-day diet plan again… :p
Health gimmicks… Pls go study ppl…
I am trying this now and on Day 1 lunch – gotta say that eating tuna out of a can on its own, does not appeal to me and so I squeezed half a lime over it and added freshly cracked black pepper and a handful of chopped parsley and spring onion. I understand not straying too far from the original diet but I can't see how this modification will add calories. In fact, it makes me enjoy what I'm eating even more which is key so I don't feel like giving up on the diet.
I had almost forgotten about this 3-day diet 🙂 Let me know how it goes.
i have tried this program during the time when it was intro by NTUC, and it works for me too. i have lost 2kg then. did not put on the 2kg when im back to normal diet.
but the hunger really make me cranky.
and same here im put off by the tuna so have skipped taking it.
don't like the beetroot too…luckily there's the ice-cream to reward me after dinner everyday.
Hi, I am curious to know on the 3rd day a quarter honey dew means from a slice or out of the whole honey dew? Instead of Chicken sausage on the 1st day, can we swap for Chicken ham instead?
Thanks
I have tried this diet plan about 10 years ago, and it works. I still do it ocassionally now, especially after festive season when I over weight, or I want to control my weight to get a better BMI reading.
What one thing you did not mention is that one needs to drink plenty of water to suppress the hunger pank and also help to detox.
Hey thats an interesting diet. I think i will try it. I have done GM diet before. I often do detox programs.
Thanks for sharing it!!
Tx……list sounds cool but I guess I am like u when it comes to food..hehhe….I will keep u posted when I try this…
Thanks for the prompt reply Nags. Will do. 🙂