Snickers* Diet

ClosetBayesian

This week, I’ll be out of town at a conference for four days. Catering at events like this usually revolves around bakery items, which I absolutely cannot eat (I am severely gluten intolerant). After hours, I’ll be staying with a friend who is not exactly conscientious about his food choices; I could ask him to stock up on foods I can eat, I suppose, but I’ll only be at his house for one meal a day; additionally, he’ll be out of the house when I get there at the end of each day, and I would rather not cook in someone else’s kitchen for four days. I’ve read enough about professor who tried out the “Twinkie Diet” that I thought it might be fun to test it out, with slight modifications.

Twinkie Diet synopsis: professor ate junk food for two months; thanks to a caloric deficit, he lost weight; additionally, his cholesterol and triglyceride numbers improved (see the link to CNN for more details).

I can’t eat Twinkies (gluten), but I can eat Snickers. I looked at the nutrition info, did some math, and thought, why not? Each Snickers is 250 calories; five a day would put me at very slightly fewer calories than I eat now (I average @1300-1400 per day currently, which is workable for me; I am mostly sedentary, exercise very infrequently, and do not have a lot of weight to lose). Math’ing out the macros (not necessary for caloric deficit; I’m thinking in terms of satiety), at 12g fat per bar, that’s 60g fat per day, which is not out of line with what I eat now; the carbs and the protein are where things get dicey. At 33g carbs each, that’s 165g of carb per day, which is a bit more than I eat currently (very roughly 100g per day); since I have no medical problem which necessitates watching carbs, I have no problem bumping them up for a few days (for science!). The protein, though... at 4g per bar, that’s 20g per day… that’s a bit low…. Upon further thought, I decided to sub out one of the Snickers per day with a gluten-free protein bar (which also has a significant amount of fiber, and slightly more calories), hence the asterisk in the title of this post; I’ll be consuming just shy of 1300 calories per day. (Why not a protein bar diet for four days? Most of them have quite a bit of sugar alcohol in them; this particular brand does not, but has over 20g of fiber per bar; either way, if I ate protein bars for four days, I’d be in the bathroom more than I’d be in conference sessions. Additionally, protein bar diet is not nearly as much fun to say as Snickers bar diet). So, four Snickers plus a protein bar, plus a multivitamin (because vitamins), for four days. (The cost works out to roughly $25 total for those four days, which is a heck of a lot less than my $60 per diem.)

My prediction: I’m still going to lose some weight, thanks to being in a calorie deficit, although I may retain a little bit of fluid as a function of eating more carbs than I do currently. The protein is a little lower than I usually eat, but seeing as how I don’t lift weights on a regular basis anyway, this shouldn’t be a real problem. I’ve been playing with 16/8-style intermittent fasting recently, so I’m not terribly worried about being physically hungry – hunger doesn’t really bother me. Most importantly, I’m not worried about eating something that will put me in the hospital for a few days while I’m 1000 miles from home, which is kind of a big deal (the last time I went to a conference, I found out the hard way that rice served in restaurants is frequently cooked in stock thickened with wheat flour; I missed most of that conference).

I am definitely not recommending this as a long-term weight-loss strategy; this is really no better than any other highly restrictive eating plan, as it definitely does not teach moderation. I have two reasons for doing this: for starters, eating Snickers for four days is better than playing the dietary lottery with conference food, where hidden gluten or cross-contamination will put me in the hospital (I generally do not consider any food to be “junk” food, but rather as existing on a continuum of more/less healthy; that said, I take great delight in being able to tell people who look at me sideways while I’m eating two or three Snickers at lunch that I’m eating them for better health). More seriously, this is to prove a point: for weight loss, you can still eat candy bars and lose weight – it’s about CICO. The fact that the CI for me is going to be Snickers (and one gluten-free protein bar) is irrelevant in terms of weight loss: outside of specific medical conditions, there is nothing inherently wrong with carbs in general or sugar specifically, nor does “clean eating” really matter, either (I refuse to wash the Snickers before eating them). CICO. That’s it.

Have at, doubters.

(Apologies in advance to the mods.)

ASH_DVM

Interested to hear how you end up! I love Snickers bars. They are the perfect fuel for hiking or long days of walking.

willammoney

I would be concerned about micro nutrient intake but for a week it won't matter

6502programmer

I'm curious how you'll feel about snickers at the end of the process. I'm also morbidly curious about where you come in at on the Bristol scale, but only because snickers and protein bars are edge case food intake.

Eta: I'm also curious about satiety. We eat a variety of foods not just for nutrition, but for satiety as well. Five candy bars a day sounds awesome, but will you still feel hungry?

sarahkanzalone

I really hope there is an "after" post for this.... Also I recommend snickers peanut butter squares a few fewer carbs and one more gram of protein should the original get old (similar calories as well)

calliewolfer

I'm interested on how it turns out. I don't eat protein bar but decided to try the quest bars today.. Big mistake, I was in the fetal position for a few hours and it totally wrecked my day

Triplestep

I actually did something at a three day conference/expo, but it was not snickers; it was a bag of almonds and a giant bottle of bolthouse vanilla chai tea - one a day. I knew I would be too busy to eat regular meals, and I also knew what was available would be junk. Obviously this is not a longer term solution, but for three days, this combination held me all day long without hunger, and mental clarity was just fine. Good luck!

queenliz99

I say why not! It sounds like it would be safer than taking your chance with unknown ingredients in food. Very cool!

ClosetBayesian

Absolutely planning on updating throughout. I wake up at 3AM Monday morning to catch a 6AM flight; this officially kicks off then.

Re. micros: multivitamin, plus 1x/ day protein bar w. 20+g fiber.

I'm not particularly worried about satiety. I think I'll be hungry between "meals", but not to the point where it will be earth-shattering. Intermittent fasting has been a fantastic learning experience for me, and I think it will pay off here. Before IF, I used to eat three meals a day plus one or two snacks (but never felt really satisfied; on IF, I eat the same foods and amounts of food per day, but only two meals and maybe one snack per day; eating the same amount of calories at fewer sittings is much more filling; additionally, I have re-learned what real hunger is like (as opposed to the munchies or the I-want's), and been able to cope with it. I'm really looking forward to this!

nutmegoreo

I am also looking forward to the updates!

yarwell

Should be fun.

emmaprocopiou

Looking forward to hearing the results , love me a marathon ( still old school here lol) hope you aren't too sick of them at the end of the week

LazSommer

Interesting, but may your teeth rest in peace. I can't finish one bar without feeling sick, so I appreciate your dedication to the cause.

Triplestep

ClosetBayesian wrote: »

I'm not particularly worried about satiety. I think I'll be hungry between "meals", but not to the point where it will be earth-shattering.

You know, you don't need to eat them as meals; you can nibble a little at a time. That's what I did with my almond/chai tea consumption. Kept me going all day long.

I learned several months ago that I don't need a whole protein bar at one time, and I now routinely cut them in half when I unwrap them. Eating a whole one in one sitting seems too sweet now. You could do the same thing by buying the smaller snickers bars - the kind people hand out on Halloween.

JShailen

Sounds yummy lol

Although I think 4 days is long enough. I bet you'll be sick of chocolate by the 2nd day. Still, good luck.

lynn_glenmont

This week, I’ll be out of town at a conference for four days. Catering at events like this usually revolves around bakery items, which I absolutely cannot eat (I am severely gluten intolerant). After hours, I’ll be staying with a friend who is not exactly conscientious about his food choices; I could ask him to stock up on foods I can eat, I suppose, but I’ll only be at his house for one meal a day; additionally, he’ll be out of the house when I get there at the end of each day, and I would rather not cook in someone else’s kitchen for four days. I’ve read enough about professor who tried out the “Twinkie Diet” that I thought it might be fun to test it out, with slight modifications.

My only thought is that as a house guest, it would be a nice gesture if you're getting home earlier than your host to pull together a meal at least on one night of your stay that he could join you in when he gets home, either cooking it yourself or getting carry-out (consulting him ahead of time on timing and options).

Sued0nim

You're gonna be starving

And

Now I want a snickers

AMRROL

This used to be a fad back in the late 1980's. Just pick one single food. Anything you like (Lobster, steak, snickers, ice cream, etc). And that is all you can eat for a month. Nothing else except water, tea and coffee. You can eat as much as you want and as often as you want. After a while, you get sick and tired of eating it, so much to the point of eating less and less of it. As you eat less of it, the weight loss increases. Not exactly a healthy way of eating.

snowflake954

Sounds like a plan to me--good luck.

yayamom3

You might find this an interesting read.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10023905/my-one-day-snickers-bar-story/p1

tincanonastring

Volume-wise, you may be in for a surprise. Good luck, though; the plan is solid from a logical standpoint.

Sassie_Lassie

Sounds rather boring. And I'm not sure what your point is. Of course you're going to lose weight. It doesn't matter what you eat. If you're consuming less calories than you will lose weight.

JoRocka

Seems reasonable. Outside the whole - only eating snickers for a few days thing LOL

I routinely use snickers to fill the food- they are a perfect pre-workout snack- and have enough p/c/f to really fit the bill- buuuuuuuuuut- satiation may be an issue.

If you have the discipline - should be easily attainable.

yarwell

So did @ClosetBayesian survive ? Went a bit quiet ;-)

PearBlossom9

Incidentally, I wonder it this will work to get past a food craving. Eat it until you hate it, lol.

Colorscheme

I feel like doing something like this with Reese's peanut butter cups for a few days would be hilarious. I'm allergic to Snickers due to an egg allergy....

Jelenajelenajelenajelena

But...Why

Asher_Ethan

It's been a week, I want to know how the Snickers diet went.

ellevs

Even if you don't have a medical issue against carbs... those carbs aren't healthy ones, they are SUGAR. Are you trying to lose weight? Forget it! You'd do yourself a real service if you just packed a few sandwiches and healthy munchies.

You might still lose weight, but you'd be losing out on health properties you only get with good foods. How did it go btw?

AgentFlex

CooCooPuff

I bought a bag of Snickers Crispers (highly recommend them) on clearance in honor of this thread. Don't let me down, OP.