Jackie Lin lost five pounds after being on the 3-Hour Diet for a week.

"I got to eat whatever I wanted," said Lin, 27. "You can eat sweets, ice cream (and) cakes so you are not going to be deprived."

According to the 3-Hour Diet, "the secret lies in eating the right foods every three hours to stabilize your blood sugar, which controls your appetite." Jorge Cruise, the founder of the diet, said in materials prepared for the media that eating every three hours guarantees a steady loss of two pounds of excess fat per week.

Additionally, proper timing of meals helps increase energy levels and alertness.

Cruise said the latest science shows that this plan "will reduce the stress hormone, cortisol, which is responsible for stubborn belly fat."

The diet’s philosophy also includes eating something sweet -- about 50 calories worth -- every day.

Ideal Weight

Lin, who works for a software company in the restaurant industry in Atlanta, weighs about 150 and would like to be about 130 pounds.

She says she has tried several diets and often thought the 3-Hour Diet meal plan allowed too much food.

The diet provides menus for meat lovers, carbohydrate lovers and vegetarians, as well as heart healthy and fast food menus.

After the first week on the diet, Lin says she was not sure if she could interchange the menus but did so anyway.

"I went up and down that week between one to three pounds," she says. "I think I should have stayed with the same meal plan."

Sample Menu

A sample menu for a meat lover includes:

7 a.m. breakfast: Turkey bacon and eggs wrap
10 a.m. snack: small brownie
1 p.m. lunch: grilled Reuben with bean salad
3 p.m. snack: string cheese
6 p.m. dinner: filet mignon with blue cheese, mixed veggies and baked potato

Although Lin says she felt full on the diet, she would have liked to count the calories for her meals.

"The meal plan didn’t show calories," she says. "I tried to count my own calories. I kind of wanted to see what I was consuming."

Lin says she was never completely sure about how many calories she had each day.

While Lin lost weight on the diet, her lifestyle posed problems.

She says she missed going to lunch and bonding with her co-workers.

"In the restaurant industry, we go out to eat a lot," she says. "Slowly, over time, I would say, ‘I’ll go out to eat with you guys.’ "

Don't Get Famished

Melanie Thomassian, a dietitian with Dietriffic.com, says that eating small, regular meals that are wholesome and nutritious is the key to weight loss.

In fact, Thomassian suggests to her clients an eating schedule similar to Cruise's.

"Eating in this way ensures you don't reach that famished state, which is usually when we binge on unhealthy foods and therefore consume unnecessary calories that lead to weight gain," says Thomassian.

She adds that improving one's overall fitness and health also requires activities that will burn calories.

"It's important that you find activities you enjoy, and that fit easily into your daily life," she says. "Thankfully, this doesn't necessarily mean a trip to the gym, just something that causes you to move more."