Crash Diets

[Dbackfed]

Maybe you ought to talk to, say, your doctor? I would say he is more qualified than gathering opinions off of a reenacting site.
Mike Pearson

I definately agree with Mike on talking to a doctor if he needs specific diet goals. A doctor could recommend a specific diet and excercise plan to reach his goal. Further, a trainer could create challenging routines for assistance and motivation.
Having played football from high school through college, as well as being an assistant strength training coach for 7A football team for 3 consecutive years, it's hard determine what is needed for him to reach his ideal weight unless your friend finds out what he can handle before jumping into a training program.

[S.D.Swart]

Mr Stamp has it right. I have done a complete live change, and it works and works well. Am I still overweight? Yep, but not nearly as much as I was. Am I still losing? Yep and steady. To day starting in June 2011 I went from a 56 inch waist and over 300 lbs to 213 and a 42 inch waist. I still have 35 to 40 lbs to go to get back to my military weight. Not bad for a old pard of 51. I eat well, but like he states you got to stop eating all the fast food crap, and convience meals. Give me a excuse to refine my cooking skill too. Can't do anything about my age other than dye my facial hair to get out the gray, but at least I can attempt to look the part common man in a uniform.

[Dbackfed]

To day starting in June 2011 I went from a 56 inch waist and over 300 lbs to 213 and a 42 inch waist. I still have 35 to 40 lbs to go to get back to my military weight. Not bad for a old pard of 51..

Great job on what you've done so far. I hope you continue having success! I think more reenactors need to be active outside of a few weekends during the year. We should look the part of soldiers, no matter what our age is. Be active also helps prepare you for that intense heat during the summer, like at the 150th Manasas event.

[Rob Weaver]

If your weight and appearance are a problem for reenacting, then they probably are for your real life, too. This is one part of the hobby that has to be a lifestyle issue and can't be changed like putting on a new coat. When I realized that I had $1,000 worth of clothing that didn't fit anymore, and I couldn't afford new ones, I knew what I had to do. I got in shape. That was 8 years ago. I keep my weight below the Army weight for height standard and work out daily. Some times I even enjoy it.

[SackCoat]

Talk with your doctor about a weight loss plan. "Don't rush it"! No reenactment is worth illness or worse!

Joe Musgrove
24th Missouri Volunteer Infantry
www.24thmissouri.org

[LibertyHallVols]

Watch PBS's "Frontier House".

Among other things, it features a California desk-jockey who, by today's standards, would not be considered "obese". However, through the several months they were on-site with the Frontier House project, he was working physically every day. At one point, the wife became convinced that he had some "wasting disease" because of his weight loss.

However, upon physical examination by the show's doctor (a former USMC doc!), he declared him to be in perfect health, probably for the first time in his life! The comment was something like, "he's healthy for the first time in his life and he doesn't know how to handle it".

So...
Aside from being unhealthy, crash dieting does NOT simulate the physical condition of the Civil War soldier. If you really want to do it properly, excercise and/or do some sort of physical labor on a routine basis. Lose fat and build lean muscle. I would recommend against bulking up by "pumping iron", unless you're goal is to portray a blacksmith, or something.

From an authenticity perspective, crash dieting is a cheat... just like blow-torching your uniform to make it look trashed for "that veteran look".

What's next... Hardtack with baked-in "gummy maggots"?

[Chip]

Aside from being unhealthy, crash dieting does NOT simulate the physical condition of the Civil War soldier. If you really want to do it properly, excercise and/or do some sort of physical labor on a routine basis. Lose fat and build lean muscle. I would recommend against bulking up by "pumping iron", unless you're goal is to portray a blacksmith, or something.

Rough Numbers:

Basal Metabolic Rate of a 26 year old 5'8, 145lb man: 1650 Calories
Calories burnt over 10+ total hours marching (accounting for 10 minute breaks): 4500


Our forebears were in calorie deficit from very shortly after they got up in the morning! The basic daily ration, could not keep up with calorie expenditure. Certainly they put weight back on during down time away from active campaigning, but you can easily see how quickly it would have come off.

Some basic calisthenics (push ups, pull ups, squats) will give you plenty of resistance exercise. Then walk, walk, walk. The biggest weight loss I ever experienced was right after I finished college. I came home and went back to work landscaping a golf course. In 2.5 months with a few less beers and lots of walking behind a commerical mower, I went from 220 to 180. Best I've ever felt, and I could go to an event and not limp around for 2 days after.

[Dbackfed]

Rough Numbers:

Basal Metabolic Rate of a 26 year old 5'8, 145lb man: 1650 Calories
Calories burnt over 10+ total hours marching (accounting for 10 minute breaks): 4500

The series battlefield Detectives talks about the total number of calories needed by attacking and defending troops. It's astonishing to think of how many calories you do burn while by just walking.

[LibertyHallVols]

Sam,

There is a superb masters thesis by a student from UVA or W&L (I forget which) that made its rounds around the web a year or more ago. Have you read it? It addresses a number of the issues you mention, as well as looking at micronutrients (vitamins, minerals, etc.), all in the context of a typical 19th Century diet (rather than comparing to USDA recommendations, etc. that we are used to seeing today). A really good read that I'd recommend to anyone!

...anyone got a link?

[Chip]

John:

Yes I have and your are right, it is a fascinating read--Apologies, I was in a hurry to post, and could not find the link in my haste--but after a quick jump over to the A/C quickly to find the AHT Federal Campaigner thread:

http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/...paigners/page5

In the thread, the late Charles Heath goes into great detail about Macro/Micro nutrient needs as studied in the Thesis you mentioned. I thought I remembered it being attached to that thread:

http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/ava...vilWarDiet.pdf

A quick side note to emphasize the level of detail and of what great value Mr. Heath's work was (and still is) to the hobby. In the thread on the A/C he offers how he calculated rations and needs of the Western Brigade for the weekend, to include the Gettysburg Battlefield March. For those who were there it was SCREAMING hot that day and well timed Switchel near the end saved the day for many (I still remember exactly what that tastes like--but worked like a charm)

I pulled my bmr and calorie burn numbers from one of those "calorie calculator" websites, so I may be off by a few hundred in either direction, but the fact still remains, the original boys were burning endurance athlete levels of energy while they were in the field.