The Best Military Diet Substitutions To Use

The Best Military Diet Substitutions To Use

Even though the military diet has a specific meal plan for people to follow, it can be altered to fit the specific dietary needs and preferences of each individual.

Whether you don’t like a specific food, you are allergic to it, or you are vegan or vegetarian, you can still follow the military diet!

This post will give substitutions for each food ingredient so that you can create a diet plan that truly works for you.

more: Exactly How To Do The Military Diet Plan

Here are the foods that are included in the original military diet:

The Foods In The Military Diet

  • Black coffee
  • Herbal tea
  • Eggs
  • Ice cream
  • Toast
  • Peanut butter
  • Tuna
  • Meat
  • Grapefruit
  • Apples
  • Bananas
  • Broccoli
  • Carrots
  • Green beans
  • Hot dogs
  • Cottage cheese
  • Saltine crackers

foods in the military diet

The most important thing to take note of when substituting the above foods is that the substitutions are based on calories, not size.

You shouldn’t be replacing the amount of food because every food has different amounts of calories depending on the size.

more: Lose Weight Fast With This 1200 Calorie 7 Day Meal Plan

By replacing the ingredients with foods that have the same amount of calories, you will get a similar weight loss effect.

How To Replace Each Military Diet Food

How To Replace Black Coffee Or Tea

If you don’t like coffee, that’s okay! You can drink green tea instead.

Green tea naturally contains caffeine. You can use black coffee and herbal tea interchangeably in the military diet.

Other sources that you could get caffeine from include sugar-free hot chocolate. The cacao powder will contain small amounts of naturally occurring caffeine.

Make sure that you don’t replace coffee with any sugary drinks. Most other sources of caffeine will have too many calories for the Military diet.

If you regularly drink energy drinks, you can try drinking the sugar-free Red Bull, which contains 76 milligrams of caffeine.

more: How To Lose 17 Lbs In 7 Days

How To Replace Eggs

The best thing to substitute eggs with in the military diet is avocado.

One hard-boiled egg could be substituted with half of an avocado. You can also replace one egg with one cup of milk, one chicken wing, 2 slices of bacon, 20 almonds, or 1/4 cup of nuts or seeds.

As you can see, these substitutions vary in size, but they all equate to a similar amount of calories.

How To Replace Ice Cream

If you are a vegan or lactose intolerant, you can replace dairy ice cream with non-dairy ice cream.

Whether it’s cashew ice cream, almond milk ice cream, or coconut-based ice cream, it doesn’t matter.

more: The 21 Best Foods For Fast Weight Loss

What matters is that the calories are similar! Ice cream can also be substituted with 1 cup of fruit-flavored yogurt or apple juice. You can also substitute the ice cream with 1 cup of vanilla almond milk.

How To Replace Toast

You can replace a slice of toast with 1/8 cup of sunflower seeds, or 1/2 cup of whole grain cereal.

Alternatively, you can also choose 1/2 of a high protein bar, or 1/4 cup of yogurt with 1/2 teaspoon of flax seeds.

If you eat gluten but you don’t want toast, you can also use one tortilla. Another gluten-free option would be two rice cakes to replace one slice of toast.

more: Can Kellogg’s 2 Week Weight Loss Plan Help You Lose Weight?

How To Replace Peanut Butter

If you are allergic to peanuts or want more variety in the military diet, you can substitute peanut butter with the same amount of cashew butter, soy butter, almond butter, or sunflower seed butter.

Alternatively, you can also replace it with hummus or any bean dip. Another option that would work is simply two tablespoons of raw sunflower seeds.

How To Replace Tuna

There are many people who don’t like to eat canned tuna, and that’s completely fine. A great substitute for canned tuna is one piece of grilled sushi-grade tuna.

You can also substitute tuna with any lean meat such as turkey or chicken, however fish is most preferable.

Tuna can also be replaced with cottage cheese. Vegans and vegetarians can replace tuna with tofu, 1/2 an avocado, 2 tablespoons of hummus, or 20 almonds.

more: Scientific Steps To Lose Weight As Fast As Possible

How To Replace Meat

If you don’t eat meat, you can use any type of beans, lentils, tofu, or even Portobello mushrooms as a replacement. Just make sure it equals the same amount of calories!

How To Replace Grapefruit

Grapefruit is a common fruit that many people can’t eat. For some people, it interferes with their medication. There are also lots of people that simply don’t like the flavor.

The military diet doesn’t allow you to substitute grapefruit with oranges. Oranges create the opposite effect and will hinder results.

To get the same results that grapefruit provides, the best thing to do is put 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda in a glass of water and drink that.

more: The Complete Beginners’ Guide To Intermittent Fasting

Baking soda is important because it will create an alkaline pH in the body, which is what grapefruit does as well.

Alkaline conditions in the body are more beneficial for burning fat. Something else you can do is squeeze the juice of the grapefruit into a cup and add Stevia to make it taste better.

How To Replace Apples

There are many fruits (and vegetables that you can replace an apple with. Some of these include peaches, grapes, plums, pears, apricots (fresh or dried), and zucchini.

more: Take The Quiz – Do You Know The Unique Veggies That Burn Abdominal Fat?

How To Replace Bananas

When the military diet calls for 1/2 a banana, you can substitute that with 2 kiwis, 2 fresh apricots, or 1 cup of chopped papaya.

Grapes, applesauce, and plums also provide a similar effect. The important thing is to make sure that the substitution has the same amount of calories and not more.

more: 3 Day Military Diet Substitutions

How To Replace Broccoli

You can substitute broccoli with cauliflower, spinach, asparagus, or Brussels sprouts. You can also replace it with green or red cabbage.

How To Replace Carrots

Carrots can be replaced with any starchy or non-starchy vegetables such as squash, parsnips, beets, bell pepper, or celery.

How To Replace Green Beans

You can replace green beans with any green vegetable. Replace with the same amount of calories of lettuce, spinach, kale, or tomatoes.

more: How To Replace Foods In The Military Diet

How To Replace Hot Dogs

There are so many foods that you can replace hot dogs with. These include soy hot dogs, tofu hot dogs, baloney, or deli meat.

If you want to eat more whole foods, you can choose to substitute it with beans, lentils, or Portobello mushrooms.

As long as you replace the hot dogs with a food that has a similar amount of calories, it will be sufficient!

There are approximately 250-300 calories in two plain hot dogs. You can also substitute tofu for hot dogs.

How To Replace Cottage Cheese

Cottage cheese can be replaced with plain and unsweetened Greek yogurt. It can also be substituted with ricotta cheese, cheddar cheese, eggs, or ham.

For vegans or lactose intolerant individuals, it can be replaced with tofu, or 1 cup of unsweetened soy or almond milk with 2 tablespoons of hummus.

more: The Best Military Diet Substitutions

How To Replace Saltine Crackers

Rice cakes are the best thing to substitute saltine crackers with. You can also replace them with any other type of cracker, as long as it’s the same amount of calories.

Each saltine cracker has 13 calories. If you don’t want crackers or rice cakes, you can substitute with the same amount of calories of quinoa or couscous.

Now you have plenty of options if you would like to try the military diet. Just remember keep the calories similar when substituting food, and switch up your options to create variety in your diet.

31 comments… add one
  • Tina Walker February 5, 2019, 7:41 pm

    Love the military diet. First time I did it lost 7 pounds, 2 time I lost 5 pounds. Love how easy n simple it is and your not hungry.

  • dahlia March 7, 2018, 3:35 pm

    can i use seasonings like salt and pepper when on a military diet plan? i am also used to drinking energy drinks, good thing i can still do so while on this diet as long as its sugar-free.

  • isabella March 6, 2018, 2:38 pm

    i love broccoli and carrots and i don’t know if i can ever replace them. =(
    but i’d still try this military diet.

  • arianne March 5, 2018, 10:00 pm

    wow, i didn’t realize i’d have to give up a bit more than i expected. but if you say it’s worth the try then i maybe i can. if i get good results, then i can try some more.

  • jam March 2, 2018, 5:00 pm

    i am allergic to eggs and i don’t like most of the foods in the military diet but i still want to try it because it is very effective according to my friends who have already tried it. good thing i can swap the foods i don’t like. thanks for this wonderful article.

  • yaritza March 1, 2018, 5:27 pm

    i’ve been wanting to try the military diet but i am hesitant because there are a couple of food items that i can’t consume because of dietary limitations. i am happy i found this article that contains substitution list.

  • nadia February 28, 2018, 5:04 pm

    this diet seems easier than what i though it would be. i was thinking it’s going to be very strict and really hard to follow, but turns out very doable.

  • emery February 27, 2018, 5:01 pm

    i am eager to try this diet plan and i am not a fan of meat. glad you included the foods i can replace it with. i just need to be cautious of the calories and make sure they are similar to the foods that i want to replace.

  • juanita February 26, 2018, 7:20 pm

    this diet plan could be the best option for me to lose extra pounds. i have tried other weight loss program but i didn’t get good results. what i love the most about this diet program is there are lots of substitutions so i can make what really works for me.

  • jemma February 22, 2018, 8:26 pm

    i really like your posts about diet because i always end up learning a thing or two. this military diet was a first for me and i think i already understand its concept.

  • sofia February 21, 2018, 7:06 pm

    green tea is my recent favorite and i’m planning to have it instead of coffee. i love avocados too, i think this replacements could really work well for me!

  • alice February 20, 2018, 11:27 pm

    i didn’t know this type of diet could be effective. thanks for sharing, this could be the great start i’m actually looking for.

  • connie February 19, 2018, 12:54 pm

    i love ice cream, what i did was substitute it with yogurt that’s flavored with strawberries and others so it doesn’t feel like i’m depriving myself.

  • keira February 19, 2018, 11:25 am

    great list. but do they have the same amount of calories as the original food in the military diet? just wondering

  • ivy February 16, 2018, 7:43 pm

    great list. but do they have the same amount of calories as the original food in the military diet?

  • rebeca February 15, 2018, 8:18 pm

    for me, no other diet plan can beat military diet. i already tried it and it really works!

  • kayla February 14, 2018, 2:24 pm

    i thought the foods in military diet plan are not enjoyable at all. i was wrong.

  • susan February 13, 2018, 3:16 pm

    wow i didn’t realize there’s also a lot of work to put into for this diet. i don’t know if i can do this.

  • zoe February 12, 2018, 1:05 pm

    i will have no problem with this diet! i can choke down all the foods listed without difficulty.

  • Pam February 11, 2018, 10:13 am

    The military diet is great. It’s so simple and realistic, none of the wacky ideas in all the other diets that have you restricting yourself until you break down and go on a wild food binge… and it always happens… the military diet is actually really similar to how I eat already anyway.

  • brooklyn February 10, 2018, 3:25 am

    this is really great, i tries replacing ice cream and even my dairy products with almond milk and stuff, it feels good!

  • olivia February 8, 2018, 9:20 pm

    i don’t i could ever replace coffee in my life! =(

  • hailey February 7, 2018, 3:02 pm

    these all sound good to me, will surely try this method

  • agatha February 5, 2018, 11:59 pm

    love most of the foods on this list. i think i can try this tyoe of diet.

  • ivee February 4, 2018, 6:41 pm

    great! i am a tuna lover!

  • jasmine January 31, 2018, 11:13 pm

    wow, i didn’t know there’s such thing. think i can try this

  • beverly January 29, 2018, 9:28 pm

    i just started this diet yesterday and i already lost 3 pounds!

  • brooke January 25, 2018, 3:38 pm

    i love this diet. very quick and easy to prepare.

  • emily January 24, 2018, 7:10 pm

    green tea is the best and it has lots of health benefits.

  • sammy January 23, 2018, 5:52 pm

    wow, these are good ideas i can try

  • bella October 9, 2017, 11:48 pm

    these are great options i can choose from! =)

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