Man spends 50 hours in Chinese 'fat loss prison' to see what really happens inside

A man has revealed what it was like to go through an intensive 'fat prison' in China after signing himself up for one of the controversial programmes.

Stan Browney shared his experience at one of the camps, explaining that life there was governed by strict rules around what people could eat, as well as exercise, and that it 'really looks and feels like a prison'.

The video shared to Browney's YouTube channel was called I Survived China's Fat Loss Prison, and sees the YouTuber signing himself in to the compound which is dotted wire fences and CCTV cameras, the Daily Star reports.

“Behind me is a prison made for fat people,” he explained. “But the people here aren’t real prisoners. They are paying to be locked up in here. So, they are forced to lose weight.”

While they might look like a prison, the camps are actually intensive programmes where people pay to undergo a strict regimen of diet and exercise to help them lose weight.

The price for this can range from between £330 and around £780 a month, and includes highly controlled meals, exercise, as well as regular check-ins to monitor the progress of people in the weight loss camp.

In the video Browney reveals that he had to step onto scales 'twice every single day' during his stay at the facility, which has seen a boom in popularity.

The camp involved an intensive weight loss programme (Getty Stock)

It even includes daily weight loss targets, and a failure to meet this target results in someone having to undergo more exercise or training.

“They don’t lose enough weight,” explained Browney's translator. “So, I need to work out extra because they have to hit their weight loss target at the end of the day. Every day."

As for the food, Browney said that it emphasises protein and vegetables with very few carbs, such as trays of chicken and vegetables, with Browney guessing that one meal would be approximately 350 calories.

“Everyone was standing in line. Getting the same food," he said.

Browney revealed that he weighed 82.9kg when he arrived at the facility, and after the brutal regimen of exercise and diet said that he had already started to lose weight, claiming to have lost 2.3g over the course of only 50 hours, including 'seven insane workouts in just two days'.

“My final weight is… 80.5kg,” he said.

There were weigh-ins twice a day (Getty Stock)

However, he did acknowledge that most of the weight he had lost was water weight rather than fat, saying: “Most of the weight I just lost was water weight."

He added: “Yes, this place works… for some people this might be the answer.”

Extreme weight loss camps have seen a big increase in popularity in part due to producing rapid results, even being compared to GLP-1 medications as an alternative to the drugs.

They have also come at a moment where beauty standards again appear to be shifting back towards the skinny fashion of the 2000s, as well as gaining viral attention on social media.

Despite their popularity health experts have warned of the risks of losing weight too quickly.

This can lead to muscle loss, injury from over-exercising, as well as becoming deficient in some nutrients from the strict diet.

There are also risks of psychological harm as well, as people who attend weight loss camps may come to associate the highly restrictive and monitored environment with maintaining their weight loss, according to a report from the BBC.