Melbourne resident Andrew Flinders Taylor plans to eat nothing but potatoes in 2016. So far, about a month in, he has lost 22 pounds.
While it seems that eating nothing but spuds might bring about some other health complications, Taylor says he is committing to the bizarre yearlong diet in an effort to curtail his addiction to food.
According to a report on Today.com, Taylor has been posting updates related to his progress on Facebook and YouTube, since January 4th.
This man has multiple reasons for choosing potatoes as his fuel: they are inexpensive and can help him to avoid eating meat, potatoes can be prepared in a wide variety of ways, and most importantly, he feels that they have all the essential nutrients, including protein and vitamin C, that he needs. And it is a change he that he is welcoming.
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“The last couple years I’ve not been anywhere near as fit and active as I’d like to be,” Taylor says in his first video post. “(I thought) perhaps I could choose one kind of food and just stick with that, so I’d be as close to going cold turkey off food while I can while still eating nutritious, healthy food.”
Taylor says he has done his research and that similar potato challenges have been done before.
Apparently, the spuds have most of what a human body needs to survive, and as long as he is feeling healthy in body and spirit, he plans to stick to the diet.
Opponents of the restrictive diet have much to say. Experts worry that the diet lacks enough protein and will soon cause Taylor to lose energy, be injured more quickly and suffer from hair loss. He may also experience problems sleeping, muscle and joint pain, have a constant craving for carbs, and be overcome by feelings of stress some say.
Taylor, however, feels that eating only potatoes is fine. He is losing weight and not only that, he is ‘freeing things up in his mind’ and allowing more space for thinking about things besides what he’s going to eat, he admits, which previously took up ‘more than its fair share of space’ in his daily thoughts.
A wild story? It may seem like a strange and rather exceptional approach to food, but this story is not the only one in the media about an individual trying to distance themselves from the distraction of food.
Canada’s Globe and Mail Journalist, Maryam Siddiqui confessed last December to eating a similarly limited diet as a non-foodie. In contrast with Taylor, who turned to food for pleasure and is now trying to re-direct his mind, Siddiqui is one who had lost all interest in food, and was no longer excited by it. Cooking was a chore, and restaurants boring.
In this article, Siddiqui admitted to consuming smoothies, protein bars or apples with almonds for snacks, and salads with protein of some sort for lunch and dinner.
And her breakfast for the past 10 years has been exactly the same: a glass of green supplement mix and a mixed berry smoothie. That’s the way she likes it.
Will Taylor end up the same? Has cheese steak disappeared from his diet forever? Only the coming year will tell, one potato at a time.
Good luck!
Photo credit: Sea Wave/Shutterstock
