The Twinkie Diet: How One Expert’s Junk Food Diet Helped Him Lose Weight
A viral story hit the press in the past week…a nutrition expert lost a lot of weight while eating junk food. This junk food diet (also referred to as the Twinkie diet) proved a point that I’ve known for a while: it’s not what you eat, it’s how much you eat. However, some other implications came out of this “research.”
The Experiment
Mark Haub, a professor of human nutrition at Kansas State University, undertook an experiment in which he primarily ate junk food to show that weight loss is a matter of simply eating less calories. For 10 weeks, he ate 1,800 calories per day. Two-thirds of these calories came from junk food. Twinkies were a favorite. Additionally, he had a multivitamin, protein shake, and vegetables every day. Haub’s previous diet included whole grains, fiber, berries, bananas, and occasional treats like pizza, but he struggled with portion control. Finally, he maintained the same 10 minutes of daily exercise before and during his junk food diet.
The Results
As a 200lb man, Haub burns around 2,600 calories per day. Not surprisingly, only eating 1,800 calories per day allowed him to lose 27lbs. As a result, his body mass index (BMI) went from 28.8 (overweight) to 24.9 (normal). His body fat fell from 33.4% to 24.9%. While this isn’t surprising, consider that his bad cholesterol (LDL) dropped 20% and his good cholesterol (HDL) increased 20%. Triglycerides (bad fat) fell by 39%.
The Takeaways
The big takeaway here is that portion control matters. It is more important to limit calories than it is to eat healthy foods to lose weight. However, an understated takeaway is that it is better to eat terrible foods and be thin than it is to eat healthy foods and be obese. This really highlights the problems with obesity: high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and diabetes.
My Recommendation
I think the Twinkie diet has provided an extreme example of how important weight loss is to overall health. What’s great is that it proves you can lose weight while still enjoying your favorite foods. I’ve always enjoyed diets like Eat Stop Eat and Cheat Your Way Thin that allow this type of flexibility since those are the only diets that are ultimately successful in the long term.
My final recommendation is to focus on portion control first and try to combine that with healthy eating over time. If a junk food diet helps you combat obesity, then go for it. However, in the long run, I think you’ll still be served well by limiting saturated fat and refined sugar.
Related posts:
- No Refined Sugar Diet: Overcoming My Junk Food Addiction
- What Is the Blood Type Diet Plan? Can the Genotype Diet Help You Lose Weight?
- Weight Loss Myths: Does the Mainstream Media Finally Understand How To Lose Weight?
- Why am I not losing weight? What to do to lose weight?
- Weight Loss Math: How To Lose Weight
Posted in Health and Nutrition
Dave,
Going out and saying that what you eat doesn’t really matter all that much when it comes to weight loss is kind of a bold statement, but it’s true. Calories in vs. calories out is all that matters. I find it very interesting that cholesterol and triglyceride levels seem to be more correlated with body fat percentage than diet.
Alykhan
Nice article. I agree that calories matter, but do think what type of calories matter also, especially in relation to whether they cause more cravings or adverse health effects, ect…
Side Note: The guy should of at-least gotten payed off by Hostess to do this… I’m sure they would of given him a nice paycheck
Dave,
I’ve been following this guy with much interest as well. As you know, I’m on the opposite end of the spectrum and I stress the importance of food quality instead over food quantity. (I’ve yet to see a picture of a fat person who eats primarily unrefined meat, veggies, fruit, etc.)
Millions of Americans (and increasingly the rest of the world) have been on a “Twinkie diet” for decades now (as opposed to the couple of months Haub was on it), and the end results speak for themselves (increased obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, etc.)
Conscious calorie restriction is extremely difficult due to the vast amount of willpower it requires. Celebrities, human “lab rats” such as those in the Minnesota Starvation Experiment, and professors looking to make a splash all have a tremendous incentive to use up all of their willpower on eating less, but the Average Joe rarely does.
That being said, calories still count, but the best and easiest way to cut back is, as always, by cutting out the junk!
This is such a great story and that you brought it up with a sensible response … I spend too much time on Facebook (yeah not blogging) and have been amused over the reaction to this fantastic experiment … wish I thought of it first!
It brought calories, weight loss and junk back on the table again (sorry but not as good as “The Takeaways” :-0) to the public but blame the media for its negative spin.
Seriously I would only use a Twinkie for a heat shield on the space shuttle but it goes to show the simplicity in losing weight.
I do agree with your recommendation on fasting to help control calorie level.
Raymond
Hey Dave,
We couldn’t agree more about focusing first on portion size. Portion control is one of the most challenging aspects of American food culture. In most restaurants serving sizes are simply absurd! And it is so hard to stop eating when your full if there is a heaping plate of food still sitting in front of you. We try to cut back on portion sizes by always sharing an entree. Though sometimes, the portion sizes are enough for three people.
Keep doing good work!
Cheers,
Jeremy & Kim
Alykhan,
I think this definitely showed the importance of calories in weight loss. More surprisingly is that based on his body fat tests, the vast majority of weight loss was fat, not muscle. Definitely interesting to see the correlation between losing weight/fat and improved health measures, despite increased junk food levels.
Ahmed,
I also think when you get lean enough, the quality of calories counts more to ensure fat loss. As you mention, there are psychological challenges to eating a pure junk food diet.
Darrin,
You make an excellent point. I’m curious if this study would have worked if someone who was in good shape and eating natural foods suddenly switched to junk food. This might just be a short term phenomenon for someone who was overweight and shifted to a restrictive calorie diet. The immense willpower this guy must have had is impressive. I know very few people who could resist the sugar craving that comes from junk food. From a practical approach, the junk food diet isn’t the way to go…and despite his success, Haub doesn’t recommend it to anyone.
Raymond,
If everyone had your self control, we’d all be a lot healthier. Unfortunately many people crave junk food, and ultimately if you try to take it away completely, I think diets fail over the long term. By at least telling people they can have it in moderation and still lose weight, that’s a good starting point. From my personal experience, I started Eat Stop Eat and still ate plenty of junk food. After I saw weight loss success, I reduced junk food intake and started to eat healthier as a result. I’d like to think others could follow a similar path.
Jeremy & Kim,
I agree that portion control is highly challenging, especially in the age of busy people eating out more or getting more fast food. Portion control becomes much easier when you cook for yourself. Self control at restaurants is challenging.
Dave
Dave, I’m a perfect example. I was following a vegan diet but my portions were so gigantic that each salad I ate had at least 1000 calories. quantity is the key above all. it doesnt matter that you’re eating the “healthiest” foods, it matters how much you actually need.
Alejandro,
I know a lot of people that made the same mistakes. The intentions are good, but results not so good. Combining that healthy eating with portion control is a winner though!
Dave
Just goes to show that almost any diet will be successful for some period of time. The laws of physics, calories in vs calories out, still apply even when those calories in come from twinkies. If weight loss is your only goal, then go for it! But if you want to live a long, healthy, disease free life, then you might want to consider something else.
The calories in versus calories out argument is very applicable to total weight loss and the average fitness enthusiast.
However, it is simply not that simple when it comes to peak athletic performance. When I read this “study,” and saw the “author,” I immediately thought to myself, “I don’t want to look like that guy.”
The biggest problem I see with what he did is that it does not take into account genetic predispositions like insulin sensitivity and natural amylase quotient.
Dave,
I have followed this experiment as well. It is fascinating, but I don’t think it tells the entire story. While I do agree that the bottom line for “losing weight” is calories consumed – calories expended, it is not that simple. How “healthy” can he be? What about cravings. He had an agenda and a goal in mind here. He most likely experienced cravings after his blood sugar spikes bottomed out from the Twinkies, and only stayed on the diet because he knew his research would get loads of publicity.
I do agree that any diet should have room for indulgences, but this is just a guy that knew how to get eye popping numbers and get headlines. If anything, I think an experiment like this will encourage people to try this approach, and most likely fail. It sends the wrong message I believe. Instead, if we can hit the same daily caloric intake (1800), eating foods with higher nutrition value we ought to be better off.
Portion control is a decent approach, but I like your suggestion of intermittent fasting instead. By implementing fasting you don’t have to consciously calculate your portions at every meal, and constantly obsess over it. That is why I recommend it as well. Great article!
Cheers,
Jordan
BarbellJoe,
I’d agree about the healthy life thing. This experiment did highlight how unhealthy obesity is…at least over the short term. A longer term experiment might be more interesting.
Josh,
It’s true that this type of diet will not make you more athletic. However, I’d like to think it offers hope to overweight people that they can get back to a reasonable weight without necessarily sacrificing their favorite foods.
Jordan,
I share your thoughts on cravings and portion control. Maybe people could control themselves if they were getting paid, but most people are too lazy to count calories or eat healthy. Hopefully the media portrays the right message from this in the future.
Dave
Cool study and cool post.
Hopefully the publicity of this study will help people grasp the importance of portion control. The devil really is in the dose.
I used to eat a 6 meal a day bodybuilding diet and was really frustrated that I wasn’t getting leaner. Finally I started to actually eat less, and it was like magic (only a lot more obvious)!
Michael
Dave,
I am in total agreement with the calories in versus calories out belief, but I still think that the quality of the calories is important also. I don’t eat as good as I could, I eat as good as I need to, to have the body that I want. There is always room for improvement but you have to live also.
Intermittent fasting keeps me lean and I eat very good in relation to the average person, but I sometimes find myself feeling guilty when I do eat something not on my “good for you list.” I have to take a step back and realize that if what I am doing is working and I am lean and look better than ever, why feel guilty? I think that sometimes the discipline that it takes to eat and train like we do is like a double edged sword because we don’t always give ourselves enough credit or a pat on the back like we should. We are too hung up on always doing the right thing.
We all need to remember that there is no prize at the end of this. The prize is enjoying life as it happens and living a healthy life while looking the way that we want to look. Unless I am training for some specific event, I am going to stay lean and healthy, while still enjoying myself. This balance is the goal and I think it is doable, minus the twinkies!
-Kelly
Kelly,
Guess you should have just written this article for me. You summed it up better than I could!
Dave