Paradise in Cheeseburgers. Matt James
military service and the top 36 were chosen). They were placed on restricted calorie diets for six months, and their behavior was monitored closely. The observations of this study were that the volunteers experienced similar symptoms of patients with eating disorders.
The most exceptional change in behavior was a preoccupation with food. Focusing on usual activities would become difficult as the men “became plagued by persistent thoughts of food and eating.” During the phase of semi-starvation, food became a central topic of conversation, reading, and daydreaming. Rating scales were used to determine that the men were experiencing increased thoughts of food, as well as similar declines in interest in sexual, and other, activities during semi-starvation.
After the six month semi-starvation period ended, the men slowly received more food during the refeeding phase. Even after 12 weeks of refeeding, some of the men simply could not stop eating. In fact, some would intake 8,000 to 10,000 calories daily over the weekend. This is commonly known as “binge eating.” Emotionally, the men were more prone to mood swings and full on depression. From the study:
Although the subjects were psychologically healthy prior to the experiment, most experienced significant emotional deterioration as a result of semistarvation. Most of the subjects experienced periods during which their emotional distress was quite severe; almost 20% experienced extreme emotional deterioration that markedly interfered with their functioning. Depression became more severe during the course of the experiment. Elation was observed occasionally, but this was inevitably followed by “low periods.”
On top of the behavioral changes, their bodies showed an overall slowing of physiological processes. Body temperature, heart rate, and respiration all decreased, as well as basil metabolic rate (BMR). BMR is basically the amount of calories, or energy, our bodies require at rest (i.e., no physical activity) to accomplish our normal physiological processes. Two-thirds of our bodies energy needs are accounted by BMR while the rest is used for physical activity. By the end of the semi-starvation phase, the men’s BMR had dropped about 40%. That drop represents our body’s incredible ability to adapt to low-caloric intake by reducing its need for energy. This is one of the reasons why when you reduce your caloric intake by 20%, your body will match that reduction of its output.
Recent studies have shown that many dieters reduce their metabolic rate and still not lose any significant weight. The moral of the story is that you could be fat, reduce your caloric intake significantly and still not lose all that much weight. Our bodies don’t like starvation. Why this even needs to be said is odd, but here we are.
This experiment started with healthy men and semi-starvation negatively affected their lives to the point of depression, binge eating, anger, as well as increased anxiety. Hmm, I wonder how many people have felt these same emotions while on diets that aren’t closely monitored by researchers. I’ll take a guess and say almost everyone.
I’d like to point out that these studies kept macronutrient percentages close to what post-WWII Europe would be going through (determining the effects of famine was one of the reasons for the study). These men were being fed 1,560 calories per day, made up mostly of carbs while being low in fat.
A group of University of London researchers led by John Yudkin performed a similar study in 1970. This time, the subjects were given a low-carb/high-fat meal plan. From the study:
The instructions relating to the low carbohydrate diet were identical to those given to patients attending a hospital overweight clinic under our supervision. Essentially, the subjects were asked to take between 10 and 20 oz milk daily (about 300-600 ml), and as much meat, fish, eggs, cheese, butter, margarine, cream, and leafy vegetables as they wished.
The results were similar to what Yudkin had observed over the previous fifteen years at his weight-loss clinic. The subjects didn’t complain of hunger or show signs of other ill effects. On average, caloric intake decreased from 2,330 to around 1,560 per day—the same amount as the Keys study. The main difference here is the Yudkin group was not on a restricted calorie meal plan. They could’ve eaten more if they liked, but they were not hungry enough to do so. Something must be going on here.
One more note about exercising. Fitness and well-being is one thing, but if you’re looking to develop muscle mass or body-build, this isn’t the book for that. As far as getting “toned,” I personally stick with a military routine. Pushups, pull-ups, and sit-ups are about as far as I go. The one advantage of being overweight is that doing pushups can build your triceps and chest relatively quickly. As you lose weight, increase your “reps” as you are obviously lifting less weight as you go. At some point, if real nice definition is your goal, hitting the weights may be the only option. Of course, you have to lose all that fat before you will see any definition. C’est la vie. One of the points of this book is to do this stuff on the cheap, and there’s nothing cheaper than pushups, pull-ups, and sit-ups.
Speaking of military routines, one of you may ask, “How is it that overweight teenagers lose weight while at Marine boot camp. Isn’t that calories-in/calories-out?” First, if someone shows up overweight to Parris Island or San Diego, they will be put on a “diet tray,” which means they will have a calorie restricted meal plan (which may reduce carb intake as well). Couple this with the intense physical training they will undoubtedly go through, they will lose weight. They may not get as lean as other recruits, but they will obviously reduce their fat percentage.
If you want to live your life everyday as if you were in Marine boot camp, I can almost guarantee two things. One, sooner or later, your body will break down to the point that you will no longer be able to function properly. Marine boot camp is about 70-days long and the average recruit is just about at the peak age for doing physical activity. You are probably not. Even Marines stop performing the rigorous amounts of physical training after boot camp ends (they still perform PT, just not at boot camp levels). Two, you will go broke because you won’t have time for a job (unless you’re independently wealthy or are supported by someone else, of course).
I will also point out that the “Boot Camp” your local gym provides, although possibly just as rigorous as its military counterpart, gives you the choice of when to participate, and for how long. I highly doubt you’ll be in there eight-hours a day, 365-days a year. Even if you did do this, how long before your caloric intake matches your output. I wouldn’t bet on someone going the same 70-days without increasing meal size and calories when given the option. There’s nothing wrong with that either. If you are hungry, eat. Just choose foods that will not make you fat. By almost all accounts, this means choosing foods low in carbohydrates.
1 The British Journal of Sports Medicine reports that exercise fails to help many people lose weight. A team of sports scientists conducted a study which involved monitoring the calorie expenditure of a group of people on a rest day and then again on a controlled exercise day. The results showed that exercising did not generate a calorie “after burn” that many people believe. In fact, in some cases people burned less fat on their exercise days than on their rest days.
2 The Joy Project + Effects of Starvation on Behavior. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.joyproject.org/overcoming/starvation.html
3 Nutrient Intake of Subjects on Low Carbohydrate Diet Used in Treatment of Obesity’. (1970.). Retrieved from http://www.ajcn.org/content/23/7/948.full.pdf+html
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