Mark Haub, professor of human nutrition at Kansas State University, has astounded America by losing 27 lbs while eating mostly junk food. He also lowered his cholesterol and body fat.
Haub’s methodology was simple – he limited himself to 1800 calories a day. Here’s a typical day on the Twinkie Diet, courtesy of CNN –
Haub’s sample day
- Espresso, Double: 6 calories; 0 grams of fat
- Hostess Twinkies Golden Sponge Cake: 150 calories; 5 grams of fat
- Centrum Advanced Formula From A To Zinc: 0 calories; 0 grams of fat
- Little Debbie Star Crunch: 150 calories; 6 grams of fat
- Hostess Twinkies Golden Sponge Cake: 150 calories; 5 grams of fat
- Diet Mountain Dew: 0 calories; 0 grams of fat
- Doritos Cool Ranch: 75 calories; 4 grams of fat
- Kellogg’s Corn Pops: 220 calories; 0 grams of fat
- whole milk: 150 calories; 8 grams of fat
- baby carrots: 18 calories; 0 grams of fat
- Duncan Hines Family Style Brownie Chewy Fudge: 270 calories; 14 grams of fat
- Little Debbie Zebra Cake: 160 calories; 8 grams of fat
- Muscle Milk Protein Shake: 240 calories; 9 grams of fat
- Totals: 1,589 calories and 59 grams of fat
You may be surprised, but I’m not.
I did pretty much the same thing earlier this year when I lost 33 pounds in 11 weeks eating the “American Diet” as part of a randomized diet trial being conducted here at Cornell Medical College.
The pounds literally dropped off and my cholesterol inched towards normal as I struggled to force down lunches of pizza and oreos and potato chips, breakfasts of bacon and eggs and toast, and dinners of macaroni and cheese and hot dogs, all lovingly prepared and delivered to me by the research kitchen staff and totaling just 1200 calories a day. It was hands down the easiest diet I’ve ever been on, and though I begged Charlie the study director to let me stay on it so I could get the rest of this weight off, he would not extend the study just for me.
Of course, there’s something incredibly satiating about having food prepared just for you. (Mommy…) And I don’t think that I would have had the will power to limit my portion size myself. I recall watching the staff painstakingly weigh and measure every single item for me, trimming the bagel to exactly the right amount of grams, counting out the potato chips or measuring out the chocolate pudding to exactly 1/2 cup. There’s no way I’d do that for myself without grabbing a few extra bites. No way at all. I don’t know how Haub did it.
Should you try the Twinkie diet?
I don’t know. As a lifelong dieter forever looking for the ultimate weight loss tool, a new diet is always appealing. I can see distinct advantages in a weight loss program that incudes previously forbidden foods and which is successful, at least in the short term.
But let’s face it – the Twinkie diet is not going to help you make the habit changes we need to make to keep the weight off in the long term. Before long, I would expect Haub will gain his weight back, as most folks do after almost every diet. That’s what’s starting to happen to me, though it’s taken about 6 months for me to inch back up about 10 pounds past the end weight from my own Twinkie diet.
Since Charlie won’t let me back into his study, I’m on my own again. So, this week I’ve embarked upon the South Beach Diet, which has performed well for me in the past. I’m pleased to say that I’m down almost 5 pounds in just 3 days.
Wish me luck. I still have a long way to go.
I think I’d feel hungry a lot, and also punky from not much protein (though maybe Little Debbie fortifies in some way?)
But yes! It would feel SO much easier if just someone would make me yummy food and measure it out for me.
Congrats with the South Beach 🙂
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Eat fewer calories. It doesn’t matter where they come from.
That said, I do believe that South Beach-type diets (reduced carb, aka “Atkins Lite”) work best for people who are insulin-resistant/diabetic/pre-diabetic. Which is to say they don’t work for me. I used to label people “Atkins responders” and “Atkins non-responders”; now I think it’s a way to sort out the pre-clinically insulin , resistant folks who aren’t yet “diabetic” by any known measure.
We’ll have to wait and see how long my weight stays off. In the meantime, best of luck to you.
His diet just sounds so gross! Hahaha I can see how that would work, but my body would not appreciate it!
I’m not a huge fan of the diets out there. I find that they work(sometimes) for short periods of time and then it’s on to the next one or back to weight gain city. So frustrating! So, if I may make a recommendation: livestrong.com (or any number of calorie counter sites). I’ve seen a lot of success there. It offers a way for you to see what you eat and be able to eat what you like without having to restrict a lot of foods, thus encouraging lifestyle change rather than a “diet.” Also, there are tons of groups and forums for support, many articles, etc.
Good luck with South Beach, though! If you find it time to move on I hope you check out livestrong 🙂
I ended up losing 40 pounds following Dr. Phil’s weight loss program. It’s been years now, and I have managed to keep most of it off. I gained back about 10 pounds due to the fact that I’m not very active in the winter. I try to keep my weight under 155 pounds at the most. I’m 5’6″. My ideal is 144 pounds, but I haven’t reached that in a long time. Although, I don’t exercise as much as I should in the winter, if I follow the rest of the steps for the program during the winter, I can hold steady on my weight. Then I can drop the extra pounds in the summer.
So in the winter if I drink about 64 ounces of water a day, eat a carb, protein, veggie and fruit serving for each meal (Or I have two veggies or two fruits if I don’t have one of each) and do some stress relief stuff like mantras, I can keep my weight pretty steady. Then in the summer, I go back to exercising 5 days a week at my maximum heart rate.
In addition to those things, when I first started the program, I had to drop a lot of useless emotional baggage. That, combined with the steps above, has allowed me to lose the weight and keep most of it off for about 5 to 6 years now.