Nutrition Professor Loses 27 Pounds on Snack Food Diet

MANHATTAN, Kan.A professor of human nutrition at Kansas State University lost 27 pounds over two months by limiting his caloric intake and eating a snack food diet full of Twinkies, Doritos chips, Oreos, Little Debbie Snacks and sugary cereals.

Mark Haub, 41, teaches an obesity-related, energy balance course began the class project on Aug. 25 to illustrate metabolic, mental and sociological issues surrounding weight. His goal was to show that  in weight loss, pure calorie counting is what matters mostnot the nutritional value of the food.

He followed the simple principle of eating fewer calories than he burned. He ate a snack every three hours instead of meals, but has limited his calorie intake to less than 1,800 a day. Two-thirds of his total intake came from junk food; he also took a multivitamin pill, drank a protein shake daily, and ate a can of green beans and three to four celery stalks daily.

His body mass index has dropped to a normal 24.9 from his initial overweight 28.8, and he now weighs 174 pounds. His body fat dropped from 33.4 percent to 24.9 percent.

Haub's "bad" cholesterol, or LDL, dropped 20 percent and his "good" cholesterol, or HDL, increased by 20 percent. He also reduced the level of triglycerides by 39 percent.

"The overarching principle is to bring to light some of the issues with obesity, our understanding of health, health outcomes and societal issues on what is good," he said.