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Otis fad diet thread — yoga, fasting, and kevzilla walking on🚶‍♂️ (9 Viewers)

meh.  i'm really light headed, dizzy at times and had an ocular migraine for the first time in my life. (thought i was having a stroke)  i thought it would be fun to try, but i'll just go back to what works for me.  eating right, exercise and less booze.  pounds fall off.  this is a cheat/hack.  not what i consider a healthy diet.  it wasn't for me.  good luck potato people

 
UPDATE

Not sure where to begin other to say that this week was a total disaster.  And it wasn't.

First time with any business travel since I started the hack.  And, as I feared I might, I went completely off the rails.  All the lunches and breakfasts were catered in, and I did alright with those, but we were out in the middle of nowhere in East Texas and had to of course stop at a few great BBQ and soul food type places.  Stuffed myself, and drank a few along the week.  Got home last night, ate whatever was around the house, a couple glasses of wine, and two scotches.  

This morning I woke up feeling beat up and longing for the potato fast days.  I made pancakes for the girls and of course had one myself.  Went up for my usual morning routine, fully expecting that I'd be back up somewhere between 220 and 225 (I projected probably 222 in my head).  I step on the scale and...

New low: 215, 21.5%

Now, I assume I need to chalk some of this up to dehydration, though I drank a bunch of water, coffee, and ate before getting on the scale (usually the scale is the first thing I do in the morning), so that would offset that factor somewhat I would think.  

Potatoes really are the most magical thing on earth.  It's like they completely reset my gut to work better, more efficiently.  

Weekend ahead, which means I'll remain off the rails in some fashion.  But come Monday, it's ride back in the saddle.  I'm honestly really missing some plain baked potatoes.  Looking forward to it.

Onward to 210, and then 200....

OT

 
Jumped in this morning.

Baked a couple russets and yukons last night and ate them cold this morning.  Brought some more to the office for lunch.

What do I win?

 
Chaka said:
Jumped in this morning.

Baked a couple russets and yukons last night and ate them cold this morning.  Brought some more to the office for lunch.

What do I win?
Would you like an eight pack b/c that's what you're heading towards?

 
Otis.  Do you still consider yourself mega fat?  Or are you now a slender man?
I'm not slender, but not mega fat either.  Just normal middle aged guy.  I could border on slender, even athletic, if I could kill off another 10-15lbs.  Struggling to get to that point without regular exercise.

 
Turns out my little 10 days off wasn't exactly problem free.  After all the booze subsided and the smoke cleared, this morning I was at 219.6.  That's just after one day on spuds this week, but another two days in and I should get to bordering on 215 again.  Still, I've been stagnant in the 215-220 range for a long time.  Need to get serious and push down past 210.

 
Ok I'm in.  6ft 229.5 baseline.  Started yesterday, woke up at 228.2 this morning.  I'm sure that was water weight.   :sadbanana:   Still 6ft tall though!

 
Otis said:
I'm not slender, but not mega fat either.  Just normal middle aged guy.  I could border on slender, even athletic, if I could kill off another 10-15lbs.  Struggling to get to that point without regular exercise.
FYI If you (re)read The Potato Hack you will note that Steele agrees with me that when hacking to lose weight you shouldn't do heavy exercise, rather you should just be active (walking, playing with the kids, house work, manscaping etc.)

 
FYI If you (re)read The Potato Hack you will note that Steele agrees with me that when hacking to lose weight you shouldn't do heavy exercise, rather you should just be active (walking, playing with the kids, house work, manscaping etc.)
That's a lot of hair.

 
Who else is still in, and how's it going?

After my 10 day hiatus, I'm back to Day 4 this week of my sort-of-usual-weekly-hack.  I just have coffee and zero calorie drinks all day, and then eat my first and only meal some time between 6-9pm, which consists of a good sized bowl of previously-boiled potato wedges that are baked up with a light dousing of cooking spray, some spices, and topped with Rao's tomato sauce and a very light sprinkle of Parmesan.  Before or after the meal I usually have one of those tine kid sized bags of potato chips, and the past two nights I've had a Coors Light with the meal--little cheats in view of what I do the rest of the day.

With that, after binging on whatever the hell for a while, I'm back down to a legit 218.  Incredibly gassy this week, I think because my body after 10 days off has had to re-adjust to the potato world.  

Now, that puts me at like a month stuck trying to break through 215.  It won't happen this week, and I'm eating well this week to save up for the weekend (big Italian meal out on Friday night with the boys in Queens), but at least heading into next week I'll be back into my "new normal" routine.  

But I do need to figure out a way to shave down to 210, and the ultimately I'd like to get near 200.  If I can get there, I think it would probably be an ideal weight for me.  Then I would plan to just maintain with the same program I've basically been running on.

It would be good if I could build in some more body weight exercise.  Work and family have just been so crazy that it's been damn near impossible to track any regular routine.  I installed pull-up bars in the basement and garage, and use them on occasion for a set here or there (or something approximating a set -- it's like a few half assed pull ups, rest, a couple more, rest. Etc.)

Bottom line, I made the first lifestyle change, and I think I've cemented it, and it's gotten me a good 20lbs of weight loss to a good place, but in order to make the next big move, it's looking like I'm going to have to figure out another lifestyle change to add to the mix.  Exercise is proving challenging, but maybe I'll have to stop taking off weekends for some period of time, and instead eat really well on weekends too, at least until I get to my steady state goal.

 
Needing to get back in.  I intended on starting back up this week, but the weekend was too busy and I didn't get to the grocery store to stock back up.  My intent is to get back into it next week.

Weighed myself for the first time since I've been off for a week or two.  Back up to 191.  Not all the way back to where I started, so I have a small benefit, but obviously I need to get back at it. 

 
After my 10 day hiatus, I'm back to Day 4 this week of my sort-of-usual-weekly-hack.  I just have coffee and zero calorie drinks all day, and then eat my first and only meal some time between 6-9pm, which consists of a good sized bowl of previously-boiled potato wedges that are baked up with a light dousing of cooking spray, some spices, and topped with Rao's tomato sauce and a very light sprinkle of Parmesan.  Before or after the meal I usually have one of those tine kid sized bags of potato chips, and the past two nights I've had a Coors Light with the meal--little cheats in view of what I do the rest of the day.

Bottom line, I made the first lifestyle change, and I think I've cemented it, and it's gotten me a good 20lbs of weight loss to a good place, but in order to make the next big move, it's looking like I'm going to have to figure out another lifestyle change to add to the mix.  Exercise is proving challenging, but maybe I'll have to stop taking off weekends for some period of time, and instead eat really well on weekends too, at least until I get to my steady state goal.
So you fast for about 20 hours then eat one meal consisting of potatoes a "tiny" bag of chips (which, despite being potatoes, are not allowed on the Potato Hack) and a beer?  That really doesn't sound like the spirit of the program.  It really sounds like a lot of the odd habits that you talked about in your bet with Woz thread are returning but centered around potatoes instead of mutant protein bars and the like.  Then weekends/life/work start piling up and you go off the rails increasingly worse every week until you stop trying altogether.  Not trying to be a buzzkill but your post reads as very familiar to lots of stuff you have posted before in these threads throughout the years.

You should consider going back to formula and just doing potatoes with a little salt for three straight days (Mon-Wed are probably the best days).  Just to truly reset your focus.

 
So you fast for about 20 hours then eat one meal consisting of potatoes a "tiny" bag of chips (which, despite being potatoes, are not allowed on the Potato Hack) and a beer?  That really doesn't sound like the spirit of the program.  It really sounds like a lot of the odd habits that you talked about in your bet with Woz thread are returning but centered around potatoes instead of mutant protein bars and the like.  Then weekends/life/work start piling up and you go off the rails increasingly worse every week until you stop trying altogether.  Not trying to be a buzzkill but your post reads as very familiar to lots of stuff you have posted before in these threads throughout the years.

You should consider going back to formula and just doing potatoes with a little salt for three straight days (Mon-Wed are probably the best days).  Just to truly reset your focus.
I don't know, I don't feel bad about this. Truth is, I'm not hungry during the day while working.  I haven't been a been breakfast guy during the work week and that works for me.  Same for lunch.  I also don't feel terrible about 150 calories of snack and 99 calories of watered down beer given how low calorie I am the rest of the day and given that the vast majority of my diet is still potatoes and tomatoes.  My goal hasn't been life-long potatoes and salt, but something sustainable.  The current has proven sustainable.  

 
Who else is still in, and how's it going?
I am torn about my experience.  On the one hand my results are undeniable; I started the week at 187 lbs on Monday morning, dropped to 183.9 lbs on Tuesday morning (but I attributed most of that loss to a high salt, high carb, high alcohol night last Sunday which inflated my Monday morning weigh in, on Sunday morning I also weighed in at 183.9 lbs).  On Wednesday I had dropped only 0.5 lbs to 183.5 (confirming my belief about the Tuesday morning weigh in) but then this morning after 72 hours on nothing but potatoes, a little salt and a half cup of bone broth (tried to make the gravy recipe from the book and it sucked) I weighed in at 179.7 this morning. :shock:  I view this a a legitimate 4 lb weight loss because I think the Monday weigh in was skewed.  Still, it's impressive.

What is more interesting to me about this is that I was mostly sedentary during this past 72 hours.  From April 15-July 31 I averaged 9879 steps/day (according to my Mio Fuse, great product btw, and yes I am the geek who keeps a spreadsheet of my daily steps).  For the last three days on the potato hack I averaged 4416 steps, so an increase in activity is definitely not the explanation for 

That is positive, no doubt.  My working theory on this diet is that it works for three main reasons.  1) I believe that the massive dose of resistant starch definitely helps feed your good gut bacteria and boosts your biome and probably metabolism as a result.  2) I believe that the potassium:sodium ratio, which is something like 50:1, provided by a potato only diet is so far removed from even the healthiest eating habits which typically sees an American eat 2-5:1 sodium:potassium somehow helps boost your metabolism (too tired to dig into the weeds on this one so I'll hope Maurile jumps in with the sciency stuff) and 3) It is so ### #### difficult to overeat on a diet of nothing but potatoes that you naturally create a significant caloric deficit.  I really tried to push this last one by forcing myself to try and get to the upper end of Steele's recommended range of 2-5lbs potatoes/day just to try and offset that aspect of his claims but it's really, really ####### hard to stuff 5 lbs of potatoes into your body in any given day.

However I truly feel like I am going to punch the next Irishman I see straight in the ####.  ####### potatoes.  I have not felt great for the last two days.  Tuesday night I felt nauseous, but that was probably because I had tried to stuff 5 lbs of potatoes into my face that day.   The feeling carried over, although less severe, into Wednesday night.  My focus at work has not suffered but when I am not task oriented I have felt mentally distant and tired.  And eating nothing but potatoes is just not easy, even for a guy like me who has demonstrated the ability to accomplish some pretty extreme, and unhealthy, eating/dieting feats.

Overall I have to say that it has been a net positive but certainly something that is not sustainable in my lifestyle.  Maybe something to do once every 1-2 months.

 
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How strict have you been?
nothing but spuds with spices.  I've used malt vinegar, hot sauce and potato starch & chicken broth gravy from the book as condiments.  Skipped breakfast yesterday and again today.  I used a tsp or less of olive oil with a couple meals to brown them.  Only sparkling water and coffee to drink.  My appetite seems to have adjusted. :shrug:

 
I don't know, I don't feel bad about this. Truth is, I'm not hungry during the day while working.  I haven't been a been breakfast guy during the work week and that works for me.  Same for lunch.  I also don't feel terrible about 150 calories of snack and 99 calories of watered down beer given how low calorie I am the rest of the day and given that the vast majority of my diet is still potatoes and tomatoes.  My goal hasn't been life-long potatoes and salt, but something sustainable.  The current has proven sustainable.  
How do you feel about having plateaued and slowly creeping back up in weight.

You are effectively doing a daily intermittent fast, and not a very good one.

And trying to do it while also on the Potato Hack I think you are missing out on the benefits the PH likely provides, while not getting the benefits provided by IM.  You are not getting the big boost in resistant starch and you are not getting a boost from a flipped potassium:sodium ratio (you are just getting very little of each).  And tomatoes are not part of the hack either (yes I understand it's only a little bit).

All I am saying O is that what you are posting today reads almost exactly like all those boastful posts about how you were only having a cup of coffee and a Quest bar (or whatever) all day before coming home to a meal of lean protein, veggies with a glass of wine (or scotch) and a "tiny" but permissive dessert.  And I don't think you were satisfied with those results.

I think you know that I am always happy when you post positive results in these things, and I know that I often take on the role of Captain Buzzkill but I wouldn't be doing you any favors by not calling it like I see it (and have seen it for years).  I think you have lost sight of the 30,000 foot view of this situation and you need to take a step back and reevaluate.

 
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Reactions: Ned
coyote5 said:
nothing but spuds with spices.  I've used malt vinegar, hot sauce and potato starch & chicken broth gravy from the book as condiments.  Skipped breakfast yesterday and again today.  I used a tsp or less of olive oil with a couple meals to brown them.  Only sparkling water and coffee to drink.  My appetite seems to have adjusted. :shrug:
Hmm.  I experienced nothing but steady drops the first week, but I am a firm believer that everyone responds differently to food, so it may just be a different reaction going on in your body at the start of this.  A couple of more days should hopefully shed some light on what's going on.  Good luck.

 
I have backed off it for the last couple weeks.

There is an undeniable correlation between potato only days and constipation.  Not sure why this is... potatoes with all their fiber should be helping not hurting in this department, no?

Otherwise, it is still too easy.  Still love potatoes and could eat them everyday if it were practical.

 
Hmm.  I experienced nothing but steady drops the first week, but I am a firm believer that everyone responds differently to food, so it may just be a different reaction going on in your body at the start of this.  A couple of more days should hopefully shed some light on what's going on.  Good luck.
Yeah, I'm going full spud today which will be a 4 day stretch, off for the weekend and I'm gonna give it another honest 4 day stretch next week and see where I am.

 
I have backed off it for the last couple weeks.

There is an undeniable correlation between potato only days and constipation.  Not sure why this is... potatoes with all their fiber should be helping not hurting in this department, no?

Otherwise, it is still too easy.  Still love potatoes and could eat them everyday if it were practical.
Pretty sure too much fiber can back you up too, no?

 
Apparently so...

It seems counterintuitive that fiber could cause constipation, as its usually recommended as a preventive measure or reliever. But because fiber soaks up water it can result in stools that are hard to pass and spend too long in the digestive tract.
So need to drink more water.. which I am already drinking more of.

 
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meh.  i'm really light headed, dizzy at times and had an ocular migraine for the first time in my life. (thought i was having a stroke)  i thought it would be fun to try, but i'll just go back to what works for me.  eating right, exercise and less booze.  pounds fall off.  this is a cheat/hack.  not what i consider a healthy diet.  it wasn't for me.  good luck potato people
down 5#, eating mostly veggies, drinking a little less and *gasp* doing a little exercise.  

oats, i love ya, but that one meal a day just doesn't sound healthy or sustainable.  

 
down 5#, eating mostly veggies, drinking a little less and *gasp* doing a little exercise.  

oats, i love ya, but that one meal a day just doesn't sound healthy or sustainable.  
Same, this intrigues me, but I've lost 15lbs since January by simply eating a yogurt for breakfast, some rice/veggie/meat for lunch and a similar dinner. Along with exercise and cheating a bit on the weekends, it's been easy. I still can have snacks and drinks at night. Healthy food will fill you up with minimal calories.

 
So I decided to push through for one more day on the full spud thing.  I am just having difficulty reconciling an almost 4lb weight loss in one day without an external explanation (e.g. high sodium/alcohol/carb the day before).  So I am going to give it one more day just to see what happens.

But #### you Idaho!  Seriously, right here you spud donkeys!

 
The character in Martian was on it and Matt Damon looked like he had a terrible disease when he was done and being brought back to earth.  He must have lost 50 pound 

 
Day 4: Down another 0.8 lbs.  Not bad but I am doubt I ate more than 3 lbs of potatoes yesterday, which is a pretty serious calorie deficit.  OTOH I probably added more salt than I had previously so maybe I have a touch more water weight that I wouldn't have if I had gone salt free.

Either way, I'm out of this.  It appears to work, no denying the results.  I can see using this maybe once a month, or twice every three months for 3-5 days as a palate reset.  But nothing more frequent than that.

Enjoy your spuds.

 
Chaka said:
How do you feel about having plateaued and slowly creeping back up in weight.

You are effectively doing a daily intermittent fast, and not a very good one.

And trying to do it while also on the Potato Hack I think you are missing out on the benefits the PH likely provides, while not getting the benefits provided by IM.  You are not getting the big boost in resistant starch and you are not getting a boost from a flipped potassium:sodium ratio (you are just getting very little of each).  And tomatoes are not part of the hack either (yes I understand it's only a little bit).

All I am saying O is that what you are posting today reads almost exactly like all those boastful posts about how you were only having a cup of coffee and a Quest bar (or whatever) all day before coming home to a meal of lean protein, veggies with a glass of wine (or scotch) and a "tiny" but permissive dessert.  And I don't think you were satisfied with those results.

I think you know that I am always happy when you post positive results in these things, and I know that I often take on the role of Captain Buzzkill but I wouldn't be doing you any favors by not calling it like I see it (and have seen it for years).  I think you have lost sight of the 30,000 foot view of this situation and you need to take a step back and reevaluate.
"and slowly creeping back up in weight."

This isn't happening.  I've been hovering around 218 for weeks, plus or minus a couple pounds.

But yes, I've plateaued.  If I want to make another big move, you're right, I probably just need to commit hard again to only potatoes strictly for a few weeks.  I may give that a shot.

 
down 5#, eating mostly veggies, drinking a little less and *gasp* doing a little exercise.  

oats, i love ya, but that one meal a day just doesn't sound healthy or sustainable.  
Why not?  Who says you have to eat every 4 hours?  

 
Consistently and evenly dropped 3lbs a week for the first six weeks.

Off the plan the last three weeks. First week was a family destination vacation where, instead of potatoes, I ate nothing but lobsters drenched in butter for eight consecutive meals. After seven days of holiday gluttony, I only added back 2 pounds.

On the flight back, the Chinese guy next to me was coughing all over the place and stuck me with some bird flu or something. So I've been sick the last two weeks with a cold. Ate bland turkey sandwiches and chicken soup the first week. Mostly salads and chicken this week. Lost four pounds over these two weeks.

Net result is that after 9 weeks I'm down 20 pounds even as of today.

Will start back up with potatoes 4 consecutive days a week starting on Sunday as long as the cold is passed. Trying to lose 30 more. Why not give it a shot?
Nice :thumbup:

Sounds like we're in a similar boat in terms of progress so far.  Maybe I'll plateaued a little longer.  I think losing 15 more is the top end of what I need to do.  Even 10 would be great.  Just need to get in gear.

Go git em.  Here's to spuds :banned:

PS... going out feasting at an italian restaurant in Queens tonight.   The pasta dish will of course be the gnocchi bolognese.  

 
Up 2.6 lbs today.  Last night was certainly more permissive, particularly in the drinky-drinky department, with red wine and Thai food.  But that jump in lbs seems particularly large relative to my consumption.  I think most of you who have been around here for awhile know that I track this diet & exercise #### pretty regularly, certainly more than most people, so I have a pretty good idea what works for me and a jump in weight like that typically follows something like an intermittent fast in my world.  What this tells me is that the potato hack, while providing the resistant starch and high potassium benefits (which I think are great arguments in its favor) may really, at its core, be a low sodium, calorie restriction diet that works mainly because it is so very difficult to overeat on a diet of strictly potatoes, which makes compliance a little easier than on other such diets.

I would have to take this to the next level of before and after blood tests with a period of at least two weeks of strict potato hacking to truly determine if this is anything more than a standard low sodium/calorie diet plan.  I have done experiments like that before but I am not sure that I want to do that with the PH.

 
i tried blending up a potato in a ninja blender it ws not that great and pretty hard to drink take that to the bank bromigo 

 
Up 2.6 lbs today.  Last night was certainly more permissive, particularly in the drinky-drinky department, with red wine and Thai food.  But that jump in lbs seems particularly large relative to my consumption.  I think most of you who have been around here for awhile know that I track this diet & exercise #### pretty regularly, certainly more than most people, so I have a pretty good idea what works for me and a jump in weight like that typically follows something like an intermittent fast in my world.  What this tells me is that the potato hack, while providing the resistant starch and high potassium benefits (which I think are great arguments in its favor) may really, at its core, be a low sodium, calorie restriction diet that works mainly because it is so very difficult to overeat on a diet of strictly potatoes, which makes compliance a little easier than on other such diets.

I would have to take this to the next level of before and after blood tests with a period of at least two weeks of strict potato hacking to truly determine if this is anything more than a standard low sodium/calorie diet plan.  I have done experiments like that before but I am not sure that I want to do that with the PH.
So the swings in weight consist of what?

 
So the swings in weight consist of what?
It is always difficult to nail that down.  But I would say that it is probably due to a sudden transition from the low calorie, low sodium potato hack to a high alcohol, highish sodium diet (still low relative to the Standard American Diet).

I bookended the PH with big drinking nights and last Sunday was also a pretty poor eating day for me.  Last night was high alcohol (red wine) but still solid on my food intake.

My feeling now is the PH "works" primarily on the basis that it provides a low sodium, low calorie intake that makes it difficult to overeat.  The main compliance issue with the PH is food boredom.  Eating nothing but potatoes for days is mentally draining.  I would have to dig into my blood work to determine if it is truly healthy or not.

Like I said a couple posts ago; I think it is a good option every few weeks as a "palate reset" after a long binge/bender.  But as a regular, say weekly, diet plan I am more skeptical as to the true benefits.  I would have to take it to the blood work level to make a true determination of its value.

 
this thread has lost its steam.   i still believe in potatoes.  i just bought a 15lber from costco.  i've stalled in my quest for 195 but if i'm going to get there, its going to involve a heavy dose of them.

 
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Well, I heard Chaka's advice, so this week I have gone back to full spud.  Just potatoes with seasoning, no booze, no snacks, and no tomatoes etc. spread over the top of the potatoes.

The one thing about this "diet" that has been craziest to me is that I have for the last several weeks bordered, at least on the weekends, and it has crept into the weekdays, on eating the way I always used to.  A lot of booze and a lot of garbage.  One day back on the plain hack yesterday, and this morning I weigh in at 218.4.  Basically right where I've been plateaued for some time.

I don't know what miracle this thing worked, but it basically made me bulletproof against bad eating habits on the weekends, and even cheats on weekdays (and in recent weeks, I mean full on "skipping the diet" for a week or two...pretty amazing).

All that said, I'd still like to get back to decreasing weight, blow past the 215lb resistance I've been stuck at for some time, and forge ahead to 210, and then beyond.  One other issue -- my sister this weekend noted that I looked skinny, but also said "wow you look like dad, you're all thin up here (gesturing towards my shoulders)."  I guess I really need to start getting serious about some muscle training.  Really I don't think I need a lot, but I should be doing the basics daily -- push-ups, pull ups, some military press and curls, some squats.  I don't attribute this "you're no longer a muscular young man" to eating potatoes -- I'm pretty sure it's because I just turned 40 and stopped working out regularly long ago.  But it was a sobering reminder that youth and vitality are mostly behind me, so I ought to do what I need to do to preserve muscle, and even maybe build a tiny bit.

In any event, this diet is still the most genius thing ever geniused.  That's all.

 
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Seeing huge swings with this.  Last Thursday morning, 222.  Went off for the weekend and admittedly, it was a good weekend.  Back on Monday morning @ 233, this morning 223.

 

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