Dieting Doesn’t Have to Be Hard, You Can Lose Weight On A Twinkie Diet.

“If you believe that weight loss requires self-deprivation, I’m going to teach you otherwise.” - Robert Atkins

So is this really true or is it clickbait?

The short answer is yes the Twinkie diet was a real thing. Not clickbait

In 2010 a professor at Kansas State University did an experiment to teach his students that one of the biggest factors for losing weight was getting into a calorie deficit. Mind you this is a nutrition professor who ate nothing but junk food for 10 weeks and lost 27 pounds. Reducing his body fat, cholesterol levels, and other health markers in the process. 

Or how about the man who ate nothing but McDonald’s every day for over two months. He lost over 20 pounds and he didn’t even exercise. 

Here’s the reason why something like that works

No matter how unbelievable it may be the answer is simple. A caloric deficit is what will be the driving factor behind reaching the body weight you desire. An added bonus to weight loss is that our biomarkers for health and longevity withimprove as we reduce the amount of body fat we have. Which is why that professor had better blood tests even though he was eating nothing but junk food. Weight loss can be achieved in two ways.

• Moving your body. Do things to increase the amount of calories you’re burning throughout the day. This can be as simple as parking farther away, taking the stairs whenever they are present, or hitting the gym regularly. Whatever way you prefer to accomplish this is up to you and should fit within your routine.
• Eating less. That nutrition professor leveraged the eat less half of the equation and saw a drastic reduction in body weight in two and a half months. Pretty good progress for eating Twinkies and sweets. Losing weight and toning up does not have to be a complex process, in fact, more often than not the more simple we keep things the better off we are.
• The best approach is to do both.

Eating less + Moving more= Weight loss

Should you go on the Twinkie diet?

At the end of the day calories matter most, regardless if you’re doing intermittent fasting, high-fat low carb or high-carb low-fat. We all have different preferences so finding what works for you is going to make the biggest difference when it comes to long-term adherence.

It should go without saying that this type of diet is not a good approach for achieving your ideal physique or healthy living. While this is an extreme example to teach a foundational principle for losing weight and creating a more defined lean body it is far from ideal.

Creating a caloric deficit will help you lose weight but it does not optimize performance and does not create a strong and lean muscular physique. Having a balanced diet with enough protein paired with resistance training will maximize the amount of muscle you gain. 

The reason I use this extreme example is to prove that you do not need to restrict yourself all the time in order to lose weight. The thought of going on a diet is enough to make people not even want to start because they don’t want to give up the things they enjoy. I don’t want you to do that either. I believe in moderation and utilizing the 80/20 rule, meaning if you eat well 80% of the time then you are afforded to indulge a bit for the remaining 20%. 

This falls in line with what is called an “if it fits your macros” way of eating that states as long as you are hitting your caloric goals with fats, proteins, and carbs in their ideal ranges then you have some wiggle room with your food choices. 

Your attention throughout the day should be on these two things: How much protein am I eating, and how many calories? Control these two variables to give yourself more freedom with food choices. 

Think of your calories and your diet as a budget. 1/3 of your income will go to rent and utilities, 1/3 will go to groceries, gas, and other necessities while the remaining balance is free spending. If we look at the average diet people consume around 2,000 calories a day (this doesn’t mean this number is right for you). This is your budget, once you have your rent, utilities, and other necessary expenses covered then you have what’s left to spend as you would like. 

So does that mean you can eat that candy bar, cookie, or other desserts you’ve been craving because you’ve been eating well all week? Yes, it does. Check the label, maybe there are around 200 calories in a candy bar consisting mainly of carbs due to the high sugar content. Do you have 200 calories in your budget for the day or have you spent them all? If you do have room then satisfy that craving and reward yourself for all the good that you’ve been doing. Put that energy to good use and get a good pump going at the gym.

Here’s the truth, diets don’t work.

Most people will go on strict diets and cut out too much food in a nonsustainable way. Eventually, they will go back to their old way of eating because nobody would be able to keep that up for long anyway. So while they lost weight in the process what they also did was wrecked their metabolism, meaning their body became so accustomed to processing a small amount of food that when more is added they can’t handle it. The body ends up storing most of it as fat because it doesn’t know what else to do with excess calories. Just take a look at all the contestants who go on The Biggest Loser, most of them are bigger than when they started.

Some research even supports the idea of diet breaks where you do 4 weeks of dieting and you take one week off with no restrictions. The important part is getting back on track for the next 4 weeks. One of the biggest keys to sustaining a new way of eating is making it last for a long time, if you can’t see yourself doing it 6 months from now then don’t start it today. People will ask what the best diet is and the answer is simple, the one you’ll stick to. 

It doesn’t have to be hard and you don’t have to use any motivation or willpower. Start by reducing your daily calorie intake by 300 calories and wait a month. You’ll see a change.

Summary of main points

1. Eat less and move more to lose weight
2. While a diet like this can result in weight loss it does not optimize healthy living or muscle growth. So if you desire an awesome physique then you’re gonna need to build some muscle.
3. Treat your diet like you treat your finances, create a budget and stick to it
4. Occasionally indulging in an “if it fits your macros” way of eating can give you the freedom to have indulgenceswithout taking away your progress.
5. Diets don’t work, find foods that you enjoy eating and make it your lifestyle. Snacks and treats will not sidetrack your progress if you follow the 80/20 rule.

Call to Action

• Next time you indulge in a snack or dessert, check the nutrition facts label and see how many calories you would be consuming in that one sitting. The more you make this a habit the better you will get a keeping track of your budget throughout the day. You’ll recognize that certain snacks or treats will wreck your budget more than other things would. Make a mental note of all the snacks you’re eating on a daily basis. At the end of the week, how many calories do you think you ate in snacks alone?