In this article I will cover everything you need to know about eating only chicken and broccoli.
You can eat only chicken and broccoli for the short-term because those foods are low-calorie dense foods, have high satiety, and will create a caloric deficit. In the short-term, eating only chicken and broccoli can lead to improved body composition and reduces weight.
People usually start chicken and broccoli to reduce excess weight, but somewhere along the line, this diet gets boring very quickly and it’s easy to fall off the wagon.
What Happens If I Eat Chicken And Broccoli Every Day?
Eating chicken and broccoli every day will cause declining satisfaction of those foods because of the sensory-specific satiety phenomenon. Consumption of the same type of foods over time leads to lower appetite, but in the long term, it increases the cravings for new flavors or food.
This means if you only eat chicken and broccoli initially you will feel fine.
This is a popular short-term method used in the bodybuilding community to reduce excess weight.
However, the longer you stay on the same diet, the more you will generate cravings for new types of food which can lead to a binge (source).
Depending on the multiple factors, some people can stay on a chicken and broccoli diet for a number of months, even years.
But that doesn’t mean this is for everyone.
Any caloric restriction creates extra stress on the body. And if you already have a lot of stress going on in your life, any additional dose will make you crack under pressure.
Our body needs some stress to make us better, grow and develop. But too much stress can make us progressively worse.
People who can maintain eating only chicken and broccoli are typically younger men who don’t have a lot of daily stress, other than exercise.
But for people who run multiple businesses, have two full-time jobs, work 12-hours 7 days a week, look after sick parents, cope with relationship issues, experience financial problems, or having some health issues, this approach won’t last for too long.
Keep in mind that people eat for various reasons, not only to satisfy their hunger.
One of the biggest reasons why people eat when they are not hungry is stress.
So the more we stress, the more we have on the plate, the more likely we will break down and eat.
Does Chicken And Broccoli Diet Work?
The chicken and broccoli diet works because it creates a caloric deficit. During caloric deficit body switches from external sources of energy into internal sources of energy (body fat). The chicken and broccoli diet is low on calories and high satiety, therefore it will drive caloric deficit.
You may see saucy results from popular actors like Alexander Skarsgard, Chris Evans, Tom Hardy or Mat Damon.
Those actors are famously know from manipulating their body weight for their roles, with a jaw-dropping results.
However, if you listen carefully to the actual interviews, you can clearly see that this is the worst part of their work, and as soon as the film shooting is finished, all of them get back to their regular diets.
Which is a clear sign that this is something not to be done over a long period of time.
Will I Lose Weight Eating Chicken And Broccoli?
You will lose weight eating chicken and broccoli because those are high-protein, low-calorie dense foods that increase satiety and lower hunger. Eating high-protein foods will increase muscle protein synthesis and increase the thermogenic effect of foods which will drive weight loss.
So you will kick ass. In the 12-16 weeks of eating chicken and broccoli, you can reduce excess weight, improve overall body composition and look like an Armani model. But what happens after 16 weeks?
Eating chicken and broccoli is not sustainable. Everyone can kick ass in the short term. But to make a permanent change, you need to make your approach sustainable.
Sustainability means balancing all the competing demands like your work, family, and your social life, and still having energy left in the tank. It means being flexible, having the skills to bounce back and recover from any setbacks.
To make diet sustainable you have to find an approach that you want, you’re willing, and you’re able to do in the long-haul.
Is Chicken And Broccoli Healthy?
Chicken and broccoli are healthy because they are low-calorie foods, therefore don’t cause any metabolic issues. However, a long-term diet that contains only chicken and broccoli may lead to an insufficient amount of some fat-soluble vitamins and certain minerals.
Fat-soluble vitamins need the presence of fat to be absorbed.
Every time when you eat your meal with fat-soluble vitamins, they must be present with fat in order to pass the intestine wall, through micelles.
A micelle is a transportation unit that is formed of cholesterol, bile, and fatty acids.
This is the only way for fat-soluble vitamins to get absorbed.
The formation of micelles is triggered by bile.
Bile is secreted by the liver, and is trigger by lipase (fat digestive enzyme).
Lipase can be only triggered by fat from your meal.
So what happens when you don’t have enough fat in your diet?
Without fat in your meal, you cannot secrete lipase.
Without lipase, there is no bile. No bile means no micelles.
So you cannot absorb the fat-soluble vitamins.
That’s why it is imperative to have some portion of fat with each meal, especially if you want to have dry chicken breast and broccoli.
Chicken And Broccoli Diet To Build Muscle
The chicken and broccoli diet is an effective way to build muscle because it contains a high amount of lean proteins that are essential for muscle protein synthesis. Muscle protein synthesis is a process of building muscle, which is regulated by high protein foods and resistance training.
Our muscles are very “plastic” and responsive to any adaptation. When you do a biceps curl, the body will adapt by increasing the size of the biceps.
When you add weight, it will adapt again, and grow more. When you stop doing biceps curls, it will adapt again, and shrink.
So it’s very responsive on the things you do (and eat).
Regular resistance training with progressive overload together with 1 gram of proteins per 1 pound of body weight is enough to trigger muscle hypertrophy (source).
Progressive overload is when you increase the resistance of your workouts by adding more reps, sets, time under tension, or total weekly volume of weight lifted.
The high amount of protein in the diet will have a positive impact on muscle building.
On the flip side, not enough proteins in your diet will lead to a prolonged rise in muscle protein breakdown (source).
Chicken And Broccoli Diet For Bodybuilding
The chicken and broccoli diet is popular in the bodybuilding world, especially before the competition. Bodybuilders, in favor of fat loss and optimum body composition, diet for 12-16 weeks, usually after bulking. This temporary approach lowers calorie intake and can reduce body fat percentage to a single digit.
That’s why on the day of competition they look very dry and muscles are more visible. However, no one is staying that lean all year round.
This means, once the competition is over, they usually can put some of their weight back on in a relatively short period of time.
Related article: Will I Lose Muscle On OMAD?
Related Questions
Can I Eat Chicken And Broccoli Every Day?
You can eat chicken and broccoli every day because they are widely available foods with relatively low calories. Chicken is a good source of protein and vitamin B12, where broccoli is a good source of carbs, minerals, phytonutrients, and fiber.
What If I Only Ate Chicken And Broccoli?
If you only ate chicken and broccoli you will get bored and more prove to have higher cravings for the other foods that you haven’t eaten for a while. In the short-term, eating chicken and broccoli will lead to improved body composition.