The global weight management market is a huge one, with the United States controlling a huge chunk of this market. The size of this market will explain why a lot of people are going into it, claiming to offer one solution or the other.
According to a report, which you can read here, this market was valued at about $142.58 billion and is expected to grow at an annual rate of about 10% from 2023 to 2030. Companies and individuals alike want a piece of this market and offer varying solutions, some of which are ineffective at best and harmful in extreme cases.
It is therefore understandable when folks take claims made by Frank Suarez with a pinch of salt. To provide some clarity so you can make an informed decision, we will look at this concept of “La Dieta 3×1” or “3×1 diet” as proposed by Frank Suarez.
Who is Frank Suarez?
If you are going to take advice from anyone, common sense demands that you at least be sure of the individual’s pedigree and authority. Frank Suarez is a Puerto Rican metabolism expert who set out to explain the concept of metabolism in the simplest of ways to enable people to harness its power for effective weight management.
His concepts are shared in his book – “El Poder del Metabolismo” (The Power of Your Metabolism). He offers a NaturalSlim system, which, among other things, includes the 3×1 diet plan.
The Basics of the 3×1 Diet Explained.
Many weight loss programs leave participants feeling deprived. The Natural Slim system does not encourage starvation or unnecessary deprivation. It pushes for the reconstitution of the body composition. That is – reduce fat while building muscles mass.
The strategy behind the formula is – lose 3 pounds of fat while gaining 1 pound of muscle. So, you’re shifting your body’s composition from a fat-dominant one to a muscle-dominant one.
To achieve this, the focus is not to reduce food intake but to change what we take in. This is a core part of the Natural Slim system. Suarez strongly believed that our modern diet is everything we do not want, when it comes to having an efficient metabolic system. He noted that this diet, which is loaded with processed foods, traps fat, reduces the production of energy and also spikes insulin.
So, as a person struggling with fat or obesity, the first course of action will be to cut the carbs because this will force your body to begin to burn stored fat. However, while doing this, you will be eating normally, just that your diet will consist mainly of proteins and vegetables, which will promote muscle growth.
This diet configuration will give your metabolism the much-needed kick, so it begins to function optimally.
Breaking Down the 3×1 Diet Plan
Now, let’s further break down this 3×1 diet plan proposed by Frank Suarez. Like we stated earlier, this diet is not about reducing your food intake but about giving your body a sufficient supply of the type of food that it needs to perform at its best.
Let’s look at how a typical day with 3×1-compliant meals will look on the table:
Breakfast – A protein-rich meal consisting of eggs, spinach, and maybe a piece of avocado. To help with detoxification, you can wash it all down with some lemon water.
Mid-day Snack –Yes, snacks are allowed, but they also have to meet the requirements. So you can make do with some almond nuts here.
Lunch – We need something a bit more filling, so let’s go for grilled chicken and maybe a slice of zucchini. Remember that you are not allowed any fizzy drinks. You can make do with some freshly squeezed fruit juice.
Dinner – To end the day, we can try a dish of salmon and broccoli, steamed or sautéed. Your choice of drinks should remain healthy – no fizzy drinks.
You can see from the above that there is no bland meal that will have you dreading meal times. You just have protein-focused meals that will still leave you filled. Again, the goal is to give your body enough of what it needs to function optimally. This includes a metabolic rate that is optimal, not sluggish.
A major component of the 3×1 diet is the water rule. Frank Suarez taught that people should consume at least half of their body weight in ounces on a daily basis. So, if a person weighs 100 pounds, they are expected to take in about 50 ounces of water every day.
Rounding Off
Frank Suarez’s 3×1 diet plan is far from perfect, but it addresses the core issues working against folks who are looking to lose weight and stay fit. There are a few issues that some folks have had with this plan, and they include the following:
- Carb Withdrawal – This was how Suarez described the cravings and fatigue that some folks experience when they begin their withdrawal from carbs. He encourages patience as this phase passes.
- Protein Target for Vegetarians – While meat eaters will have no problems hitting the protein target required in this plan, vegetarians will find it a bit harder to attain.
- Water Rule of Busy Individuals – Taking in half the number of your body weight in ounces is not something that busy folks can easily achieve.
Like we noted, the 3×1 diet plan is not perfect, and Suarez himself acknowledged this. This was why plans were often tweaked to meet the needs of specific individuals.
Given all that we’ve discussed here, you can approach this as a background on which you can build. Having understood his basic idea, you can tweak it to create a plan that is ideal for you, one that will help you stimulate your body’s metabolic rate to get it working at an optimal rate.
You will be great and your weight will be under control without your having to starve yourself in the name of weight management.
