Featured Image Credit: YouTube/Aventura Australia
Topics: Food And Drink, Health, Weird, YouTube, Social Media, Australia
Olivia Burke
Topics: Food And Drink, Health, Weird, YouTube, Social Media, Australia
A bloke who decided to find out what would happen if he doubled his calories everyday was left stunned by the effect it had on his body.
Jared Baker set out to complete a gruelling 16-day challenge, which would culminate with him shoving a whopping 32,000 calories down his gullet - if he could make it that far.
Although he was determined to get as far as he could, Jared admitted he wouldn't be surprised if he 'cracked from hunger' in the early days of the challenge.
He also raised concerns about whether he would be able to 'make it' through the supersize portions he'd have to stuff down in the second leg.
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Outlining the idea of his experiment in a YouTube video shared last month, he explained that he would 'start with one calorie on day one, two calories on day two, and so on and so on'.
Essentially, the content creator, who is better known as Aventura Australia online, is doubling the amount of calories he has in comparison to the day before. Got it?
At the beginning of his more-than-two-weeks challenge, Jared weighed 84.5kg (186lbs) - but this number looked significantly different when he stepped on the scales later on.
His first day was something of a baptism of fire, as Jared explained there was 'nothing' on the menu for his breakfast, lunch, or tea with only one calorie to spare.
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"Turns out I can't even have black coffee, apparently it has two calories in it," he said. "So I'll be going completely natural for the next couple days, despite being functionally dependent on caffeine.
"Even most diet drinks have like 5 or 10 calories," he said, which forced him to settle for sparkling water before portioning up 6.6 grams of lettuce for his evening meal.
Unbelievably, Jared had already lost 2.7kg (6lbs) by the time he entered the second day of the challenge thanks to his ridiculously unsubstantial scran and getting 8,099 steps in.
"This trend better not keep up, or else I'm going to be withering away to nothing," he told his more than 17,000 subscribers.
Throughout the experiment, Jared wanted to continue with his regular exercise routine even though he wasn't fuelling his body for workouts like usual.
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He managed to keep up with his fitness schedule, but admitted he 'didn't really have the [same] energy' as usual - but to see how far he could push himself, Jared also booked a job interview in.
Depriving his body of its usual nourishment didn't bode too well for Jared, but he reckons things became even worse when it came time to eat in excess.
By the time he had hit day 14, and was nearing the end of the challenge, he explained that he 'felt like a complete failure and champion at the same time' when he finished eating.
"You've conquered food, but food has also conquered you," he said. "On day 14, I ate 8,192 calories, walked 17,855 steps and gained 1kg (2.2lb)."
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For context, the NHS suggests that the average man needs about 2,500 calories per day - and Jared had to consume more than three times that amount at this point in the challenge.
And the idea of doubling his calories again the next day, and somehow putting away 16,384 of them, just proved too much for him, as he threw the towel in.
"It's day 15 of this completely ridiculous challenge," he told viewers. "And I'm officially quitting. Yesterday I had 8,000 calories, that was extremely difficult for me.
"It made me feel sick. All these foods that I was craving for so long, all these foods that I really wanted to enjoy, I didn't enjoy them anymore.
"I'm just tired of being a glutton, tired of my life being controlled by the number of calories I can consume in a day. This has been a very strange journey, it's really taken a toll on my relationship with food."
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Jared said he had become sick of counting calories and constantly keeping track of his eating - and he warned others not to try this challenge out themselves.
"This challenge went from extreme restriction to extreme gluttony very quick," he said. "I'm just excited to eat when I'm hungry again and eat good quality food that I actually enjoy.
"These past few days have definitely been some extremely disordered eating. Overall, I'm glad I finished this challenge - but I do not see myself doing anything like this for a very long time.
"It turns out stuffing your face until you're completely miserable isn't quite as fun as it sounds, and arguably, it's even worse than barely eating anything for 10 days.
"If you're thinking about trying this for yourself, my recommendation is: don't."
Jared explained that he ate a total of 16,383 calories over the 14 days, walked 166,770 steps, and lost 3.5kg (7.8lbs) in weight, which he is working on 'gaining back slowly and healthily'.
He also explained that his challenge had made him come to an interesting realisation about how much he underestimated how important food is in our lives.
"Until you start consistently skipping meals, you don't really realize how much bonding and connection happens over the dinner table, or even just sipping a morning coffee together," Jared added.