The 100 Diet

Most of us learn to count to 100 in first grade. Now we have a diet that involves counting to 100 and losing 18 pounds in two weeks. At least that’s the claim made by the diet's creator. What’s the catch? Sugar is the sole focus of this diet. Those of us with a sweet tooth – beware!

Jorge Cruise created the 100 Diet, and wrote the book of the same name. His central concept is that all calories are NOT created equal. His diet is simple: eat no more than 100 sugar calories a day. Other than that, eat whatever you want.

This sounds pretty easy, but there are pitfalls. Many foods that might seem acceptable are actually loaded with sugar calories. Cruise’s go-to example is the humble apple. Everybody loves the apple, right? One a day keeps the doctor away, and all that. But it turns out that a single apple has 80 sugar calories. Another diet staple, brown rice, is pretty much off limits because a mere quarter cup has 140 sugar calories.

Counting sugar calories isn’t hard, though. Just read the label or visit Google or PickMyDiet to find out how many grams of carbohydrates are inside and multiply by four. That gives you the approximate sugar calories. So an apple with 20 grams of carbs times 4 equals 80 sugar calories. Not super precise, but good enough for this application.

So if you can’t eat brown rice or most fruits, what can you eat? Just avoid breading, processed foods and pasta. Some gluten-free foods are also low carb, but read the labels carefully. A stroll down the Atkins Diet aisle of the health food store will reap big dividends. In many respects, this is yet another Paleo or Caveman eating plan.

Can this work for you? Protein lovers will rejoice. Those of us partial to a nice plate of spaghetti, not so much.