Diets that Time Forgot

My blog update today is free of recipes-- instead I wanted to let everyone know about a hilarious and enlightening British TV program "Diets That Time Forgot" that I watched with my dear friend Benita last week.
Benita got the show from the library and we prepared to watch the 6 episodes over two days.

picture from amazon.ca

The show involves 9 overweight British folks living away from their families for around a month in a castle (or what I would call a castle.. maybe it wasn't... it really doesn't matter.) They were then split into 3 groups- Victorian, Edwardian and 1920- each era had its own specific and original diet. At the end of show, they tallied the weight lost to announce a diet winner.

Source

The Victorians- high protein/low carb diet. (that means mostly meat- and not much else.)

Source

 The Edwardians- the "Chew Chew" diet- chewing each spoonful of food 32 times- but otherwise no food restrictions.

Source

1920s- the first calorie restricted diet at 1200 cals a day. (mostly veggies- lots and lots of celery)

They also participated in the popular fitness trends of the day- dancing, weights, running and so on... and also had to wear the appropriate attire (ie. corsets)
I don't want to give away the results of the challenge because I think it is worth watching. I will say that I wasn't surprised by the results and I think it gives all of us in present day something to think about. The main idea that Sir Roy (the host and ultimate judge) pushed was that we have lost self discipline and need to reintroduce this into ourselves and society as a whole if we are going to win the fight against obesity.

I recommend watching this show with a good friend and a pot of tea! :o)