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We've been getting a lot of questions and
comments about the controversial weight loss stories that hit the Web in
the last few weeks- the "Twinkie Diet" and the "Potato Diet".
About a month ago the wacky diet phenomena kicked off on
CNN with the headline "Twinkie diet helps nutrition professor lose
27 pounds"
Since then it's caught wildfire
Mark Haub is a nutrition professor at Kansas State University who set
out on a class project to show that weight loss is always a matter of
Calories in Vs. Calories Out.
Photo: Ian Sane
On his diet, he was consuming "fattening foods" such as Doritos, donuts
and Ding Dongs. (He also had Twinkies, Corn Pops and brownies, but
that doesn't rhyme as well.)
In any case, 2/3 of his total intake was what much of the Nutritional
Community deems fattening junk food.
What was the other 1/3? A daily protein shake, some
fibrous vegetables like green beans, carrots and celery and he
supplemented with a multivitamin.
So how did he do?
Well, he lost 27 pounds, and his
body fat % went from 33.4 to 24.9 percent.
What? Are you kidding me!? Eating all that CRAP!?
Yes.
But how? How can you lose weight when you're eating all that fattening
food?
It comes down to Law of Thermodynamics, something we preach here on
MCNewsletters as...
Calories in Vs. Calories Out
This basically means you need to burn more
calories than you're taking in each day.
Plain and simple,
* If you eat/ drink a total of 2500
calories per day and you burn on average 2000 per day, you will gain
weight.
* If you eat/ drink a total of 2000 calories per day and you burn on
average 2000 per day. You will not gain or lose weight. You will
maintain status quo.
* If you eat/ drink a total of 1500 calories per day and you burn on
average 2000 per day. You will lose weight.
So how did Haub do it?
For the class project, he lowered his
caloric intake to approximately 1,800 calories a day, well below what he
burns daily- approximately 2,600 calories.
That's right, even though he ate low quality, processed snack foods, he
lost weight.
How?
Because he created a caloric deficit
Even though he was eating low quality, processed foods he made sure to
stay below the 1800 calorie mark each day.
In a way, it was easy to be sure of the
calorie count because the calorie content is listed in each package.
However, it probably wasn't so easy mentally and physically considering
just 1 serving of Ding Dongs is 368 calories and some people can consume
multiple servings in one shot.
Ding Dong's Nutrition Facts
Photo: Clearly NOT health food
Chances are you're also familiar with the Potato Diet
The Potato Diet was essentially a stunt by Chris Voigt, head of the
Washington State Potato Commission to get white potatoes into the WIC
program.
Voigt consumed an all potato diet for
60 days
Photo:
photomato
WIC (Women, Infants and Children) is the
USDA’s Food and Nutritional assistance program for low-income families.
The political reason is beyond the scope of this article. If you'd like
to read the details,
head over here.
On his shocking diet, Voigt consumed an all potato diet for 60 days and
ended up losing 21 pounds in 60 days and actually lowered his blood
sugar.
So Mike, since the Junk Food Diet worked so well for Haub and the Potato
Diet worked so well for Voigt, should I do something similar?
No.
Why not?
Although Haub had some temporary success (weight loss and a positive
change in a few health markers which are common in most low calorie
diets) on this pattern of eating, we need to keep in mind-
1. It was only a short period of time (10
weeks)
2. We don't have the full panel of health
markers which would almost certainly not look very good after a longer
stretch of this diet.
And for Voigt? Besides the fact that he probably wont eat another potato
for a looooong time, following a
strategy of such narrow food choices is sure to leave you feeling crappy
and deficient in certain nutrients before you know it.
The quality of food you eat makes all the difference for health,
energy, and body composition (body fat % and lean mass).
At the end of the day, what we can take out of Haub's and Voigt's weight
loss success is that it is simply reinforces the fact that weight
loss is a caloric endeavor.
P.S. If you're not on our free newsletters
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P.P.S If you'd like a complete program for
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