How the Mayo Clinic Diet Can Help You Loose Weight

We rely on the Mayo Clinic to provide us with trustworthy advice and information about our health, but that usually only happens when we have a nagging question about an ailment or about what we can do to give ourselves a boost of nutrients. But did you know their team of medical experts have also crafted a diet that’s designed to help you shed up to 10 pounds in just two weeks?

The Mayo Clinic Diet was originally published as a book back in 1949, but was updated more recently in 2017. You can simply buy the book ($18.54, Amazon) and follow the advice, or you can sign up for an online membership that costs $5 a week. That fee gives you access to personal coaches, healthy recipes, and fitness tracking tools. But before you decide to invest, let’s breakdown how the diet claims to work.

The diet is separated into two phases — Phase 1: Lose It! and Phase 2: Live It! In the first phase, they aim to “jump-start” your weight loss and help you shed up to six to 10 pounds. To achieve that, they encourage members to break bad habits like eating a ton of sugar, meat, and dairy, and focus more on eating plenty of veggies and fruits (at least four servings of each a day), whole grains, and healthy fats. They offer a Habit Tracker to help members keep a daily record of how well they’re following the diet’s recommendations.

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This initial phase also reduces your calorie intake. For example, if you’re a woman between 251 and 300 pounds, you would be advised to restrict your daily calories to 1,400, — again, with most of that being supplied by fruits and vegetables. They warn that this will also increase your intake of fiber and if you’re not used that, you might experience “minor, temporary changes in digestion” — basically, you might feel a little gassier than usual.

For the second phase, the diet aims for members to continue losing one or two pounds a week until you reach your goal weight. That means continuing to restrict your calories to at least 500 to 1,000 fewer than you normally consumed before starting the first phase. It’s completely up to each individual how much they set for their daily calorie limit, but they don’t recommend ever dipping below 1,200, as that can cause you to miss out on essential nutrients.

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Here’s what the clinic describes as typical daily menu on their diet:

Breakfast: 1/2 cup of cooked oatmeal with 1 cup of milk and 2 tablespoons of raisins, 1/4 cup of mango, and a calorie-free beverage
Lunch: Quinoa and sweet potato cakes, tossed salad with a fat-free dressing, and another calorie-free beverage
Dinner: 1 pita pizza, 3/4 cup of mixed fruit, and yet another calorie-free beverage
Snack: 1 cup of sliced bell peppers and 2 tablespoons of hummus

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The diet does allow for sweets, but recommends those be restricted to 75 calories a day. They also suggest keeping those along the lines of dark chocolate, low-fat frozen yogurt, and other healthier treat options.

If you’ve read through all of that and feel like it could be a good fit for your weight loss goals, you can find more information and sign up for a membership on the Mayo Clinic website. Before starting, though, be sure to check with your doctor to get their blessing. Otherwise, there should be nothing holding you back from trying out the Mayo Clinic Diet to help you feel healthy, happy, and fit!

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