The Survivor Diet And The Prisoner Workout
Survivor Diet:
My brother told me he had lost 8lbs in the past 2 weeks and thought he was on the right path until he told me he was – 'following The Survivor Diet and The Prisoner Workout'. I took a deep breathe and began to educate him on the healthy, balanced way to get fit and lose weight. He listened silently and then retorted “I was just doing what the people on Survivor do, they only eat rice, exercise all the time, and lose a ton of weight”. I explained to him that when he exercises for several hours and doesn’t fuel his body properly, most of the weight he lost was water, and then muscle.
You can’t help but notice that once the Survivor season is over the contestants look emaciated and frail. By starving yourself you will lose pounds, but not in a healthy way. And if kept up over long periods of time (Survivor only lasts 30 days) you will go into ‘starvation mode’ where your body will start to hold onto every calorie you eat, not knowing when it will get more, and then store it as fat. Your metabolism will slow down and eventually you will put the weight back on. Once you start eating normally again, you will gain more pounds -like the contestants who finish the show and return to ‘normal’ life, put weight back on and resemble healthy again.
The Prisoner Workout
He continued, “And the guys in prison just do push ups, sit ups and pull ups all day long and they are ripped. Why is that?” The Prisoner Workout…doing body weight only exercises everyday, is better for you than lifting heavy weights everyday, but not realistic, nor ideal for most of us. Stressing the same body part day after day puts stress on your muscles, and your joints as well. You also increase your chances of developing annoyances such as arthritis, tendonitis, muscle strains, sprains and tears. Doesn’t sound like fun, huh?
I also explained to my brother that the guys in jail are fed a regulated diet and get plenty of sleep. Him, being a husband, a father of four children, and working a full time, will not see his results as quickly or be able to hold up a routine like the Prisoners on a long term basis.
Background
I recently received this phone call from my older brother on the East Coast. The older brother
who regularly made a meal out of 8 corn on the cobs and a stick of butter… needless to say I was pretty shocked when he starts off our conversation by telling my he has been going to the gym every night for the past 2 weeks, sweating on the Step-Mill and lifting weights (like they do in prison he tells me) – the same routine every night for 2 hours. Oh, and he is ONLY eating 600 calories a day which consisted of tempeh, hot sauce, seaweed, and drinking maybe 2 glasses of water per day. “It works for the contestants on Survivor” he said to me.
We chatted a bit more, said good night and hung up. The following week my brother calls again. This time he was all about the Cleanse Diet where you consume ONLY cayenne pepper, maple syrup, and lemon juice for days to clean out your colon…he wanted my opinion. Can any of you out there guess my answer?
I didn't say anything else except recommended he start drinking Organifi's red juice and green juice....baby steps I thought.
