Hello Everybody,
For a really safe weight loss plan we need look no further than Halaway Community Correctional Facility in Hawaii. An institution which some would call a jail. The prisoners have been complaining about losing weight. One lost 98 pounds in 6 months, another 100 pounds in 6 months and two inmates lost 40 pounds in a year. A typical case was a man with a height of 5ft 10 inches who complained bitterly that his weight had dropped to 230 pounds. He seemed unaware that with a Body Mass Index of 33 he still had a category of obese. There are other examples, reported in the Star Advertiser, of inmates who having lost weight complain about fading away but who are still overweight.
There are many of us who would rejoice at this degree of weight loss, although we may well not want to go to jail to achieve it. What we do want to know is the secret of the prisoners’ success.
The Department of Public Safety, which runs Hawaii’s prisons, says these are typical meals served to prisoners.
BREAKFAST
Fruit or fruit juice: 4oz
Scrambled eggs: 4oz
Rice: 8oz
Whole wheat bread: 2 slices, margarine.
Cold cereal: 1 cup.
Skim milk: half pint.
Hot beverage (coffee): 8oz
LUNCH
Roast beef: 4oz
Brown gravy: 2oz
Mashed potatoes: 8oz
Green beans: 4oz
Whole wheat bread: 2 slices, margarine.
Fruit: 4oz
Beverage (juice): 8oz
DINNER
Grilled fish: 4oz
Steamed rice: 8oz
Cooked cabbage: 4oz
Whole wheat bread: 2 slices, margarine.
Tartar sauce: 4oz
Fruit: 4oz
Beverage: (skim milk or juice): 8oz
These meals are designed to provide 2,600 to 2,900 calories daily.
It seems to me that the prisoners are offered the best diet of their lives. Whether or not their weight loss is acceptable depends on if they are actually receiving the recommended diet. This appears to be a matter of dispute. I generalise but it does seem they were eating a bad diet before they entered jail and eating a good diet came as rather a shock.
For us, if we want a safe weight loss plan, we could do a lot worse than try the Jail Diet. It may not have quite the glamour of the Atkins Diet or, heavens forbid, the Palaeolithic Diet but it works. For best results I recommend you try it in the comfort of your own home and not in a jail.
See you soon,
Peter Stockwell
24 June 2011
Photo. Rick and Kathy (Flickr)