If you only want to lose weight for a special event and don’t mind losing weight long-term, the 3-Day Cottage Cheese and Grapefruit Diet may be for you. That said, if you have long-term weight loss goals, you’ll probably want to avoid it.

The good thing about this diet is that you can lose up to 10 pounds in 72 hours. The bad news is that you will almost certainly gain all the weight back immediately after going off the diet. It would also be very unhealthy to follow this diet long term, as you would end up malnourished, tired, and susceptible to disease because your immune system will have been compromised.

But, there is nothing wrong with trying in the short term. If you want to go to a high school reunion or look cool for a friend’s wedding, it may work well for you. Just be careful with it.

The 3-Day Grapefruit and Cottage Cheese Diet helps you shed excess water weight, reduce bloating, and burn some fat by reducing your calorie intake. It’s the drastically lower calories that will put the weight back on when you’re done, because your body’s natural reaction will be to store fat when you start eating regularly again.

An important note here: you should avoid this diet if you are taking any type of antidepressant or anti-anxiety medication. Both types of medications can have a negative and dangerous interaction with grapefruit.

The key is to follow the diet to the letter. Any substitution will mean that all your efforts have been wasted!

Day 1:

Breakfast: A cup of black coffee or tea and a slice of toast; eat half a grapefruit or drink a glass of grapefruit juice.

Lunch: Have a full serving of cottage cheese, a slice of toast, and black coffee or tea.

Dinner: Eat three ounces of any lean meat, a cup of carrots, a cup of ice cream or frozen yogurt, an apple, and a cup of black coffee or tea.

Day 2:

Breakfast: A cup of black coffee or tea and a slice of toast; eat half a grapefruit or drink a glass of grapefruit juice.

Lunch: A full serving of cottage cheese, five crackers, and a cup of black coffee or tea.

Dinner: Two hot dogs, half a cup of carrots, a cup of broccoli, a banana, and a cup of black coffee or tea.

Day 3:

Breakfast: Black coffee or tea, five crackers, one ounce of cheddar cheese, and one apple.

Lunch: A boiled egg, a slice of toast and a cup of black coffee or tea.

Dinner: One serving of cottage cheese, one cup of carrots, one cup of cantaloupe, half a cup of ice cream or frozen yogurt, and one cup of black coffee or tea.

So there it is. Hot dogs, crackers and all. But before you start the 3-Day Cottage Cheese and Grapefruit Diet, ask yourself: Are the few pounds of water weight you might lose in exchange for feeling hungry, cranky, and miserable really worth it?