Eat all protein, practically no carbohydrates and practically no fat. Yes, that is right not many choices. Pretty much limited to meat and eggs. I did not say this was easy, but it is incredibly effective. It will throw your body into full ketosis within 24 hours of starting the program. In ketosis your body has converted from a carbohydrate burning machine to a fat burning machine, and because you will not be eating any fat the only fat to burn as energy will be your own body fat.

The other thing about this only protein program that you will need to understand is the protein is what is responsible for protecting your lean muscle tissue. What I mean is that without adequate amounts of protein during periods of caloric restriction our body will begin to cannibalize its lean muscle tissue as an energy source. This is the biggest problem with most diets on the market. The weight that is lost is usually a combination of both fat and muscle. And let me make it clear, you do not want to ever lose muscle. Muscle tissue is what makes your metabolism fast or slow. With protein only you will be eating plenty of dietary protein to protect your lean mass from cannibalization.

You will not have much energy after the first day or two of this program. You will be tired and slow moving. You may even have a headache. Your body is accustomed to running on large amounts of carbohydrates for its energy source. The longest I usually recommend staying on this kind of program is two weeks at a time. This strategy is exactly what bodybuilders do in preparation for a contest to get so incredibly lean on stage. During the second week of this carbohydrate depletion most people feel pretty lousy. The brain functions primarily on carbohydrates for its energy source so without carbohydrates your brain will not be working on full capacity.

The main difference between this program and better know programs like Atkins is that on Atkins you are substituting large amounts of caloric fat for energy instead of carbohydrates. The Atkins approach can be effective but it may take months to lose the body fat you need to lose. The reason for this is that you are supplying through your diet large amounts of fat so that your body will use that fat for energy. You will also be burning some of your stored body fat on Atkins, but it will be a slower process. With the only protein program you will not be supplying any dietary fat so your body is forced to burn stored body fat.

One approach I have seen work well and be a more tolerable for the average person is to do the only protein plan two days in a row, than eat normal for one day. Keep repeating this two days on one day off cycle until your fat loss goals are met. This strategy is one that lets you go in and out of ketosis. You will be burning the most fat every third day, this will be the second day of only protein. On the second day of only protein you should be into ketosis. But then once you eat normal on the next day you will quickly throw your body out of ketosis. This type of approach is safe to do as long as it is needed.

Author's Bio: 

David Oromaner is a vitamin, herb, and nutritional supplement specialist with over 25 years experience in the health and wellness industry. He is a certified personal fitness trainer and bodybuilder with 25 years of experience in these areas of health and fitness. He owns a company called Guaranteed Supplement Designs that specializes in development and distribution of cutting edge natural products such as the natural sleep aid GuaranteedToSleep.

If you like this article you can read more at his Healthy Notes blog.