Wednesday, October 6, 2010

...Mark Haub

Nutrition professor Mark Haub of Kansas State University put himself on a diet. At 5 foot 10 and 201 pounds, Haub's pre-diet body mass index of 28.8 classified him as almost obese. What did he do? He ate junk food. For one month he decided to eat Twinkies, Ho Hos, and brownies for each meal. He wanted t show his students that weight alone does not classify you as being healthy or not. He lost 15 pounds, lowered his bad cholesterol and raised his good cholesterol. This is what he did:
"To reach his goal of a normal BMI of 18 to 25, he would need to lose at least 25 pounds. He set an eventual target of 175 pounds and calculated that a diet of 1,800 calories a day for one month, 600 to 800 calories fewer than usual, would get him halfway there. To keep his energy up during the day, he grazed on 400 to 500 calories every few hours, more than 80 percent of which came from prepackaged chocolate-coated snacks. He ate almost no whole grains, fruits, or dietary fiber. A daily multivitamin, milk (whole) for calcium and protein, and a small serving of vegetables were his only concessions to nutrition. He also registered about two hours a week of physical activity—cycling, walking around campus, and chasing two young, high-energy sons."
This may sounds crazy, but it could work. Portion control is the most important thing. Even diet foods can become just as unhealthy as regular food if you eat too much of it. Too much of a good thing can be a bad thing. Haub had this to say about his experiment, "I'm losing weight and my cholesterol is improving by eating those foods. Is it really soda and chips that are making people obese, or how much of them they eat?" and "I want people to look at what I'm doing and decide, is this healthy? I hope the answer encourages them to reexamine their own relationship with food." Take a look at one of his daily menus:
Breakfast - Total calories: 376

1 double espresso, black
2 cups Kellogg's Corn Pops
1 cup whole milk
1 Centrum Advanced Formula multivitamin
Lunch - Total calories: 540

1 Hostess Twinkie
1 Little Debbie Star Crunch
1 Muscle Milk Protein Shake
Snack - Total calories: 150

1 Hostess Twinkie
Dinner - Total calories: 688

1 Little Debbie Zebra Cake
1 brownie (Duncan Hines mix)
3-4 baby carrots
1 Muscle Milk Protein Shake
Snack - Total calories: 75

6 chips, Cool Ranch Doritos
Total Calories for the Day: 1,829

While I may not agree with everything he says, I do think this is an experiment. This could help open the eyes to many obese Americans. You can eat whatever you want, but in proper portions, and a little exercise will not kill you at all. I am giving Mark Haub a Digit Up.

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