The Master of Illusion Makes 105 lbs. Disappear

Penn Jillette has a ton of titles; magician, musician, juggler, inventor, comedian, author and actor, among others. Now, he can add successful extreme weight loser…yes, I realize that’s a contrived and awkward title, but work with me here.

Back in late 2014, Penn, who stood 6’ 7” and weighed 330 pounds, was informed by his doctor that his weight and poor diet was largely responsible for his high blood pressure, which briefly hospitalized him in December. Penn, who tends to take things to the extreme, to include his magic, atheism, libertarianism, and opinions in general, then made the extreme decision to adopt an extreme weight loss program.

He went vegan…no animal products, whole grains, added sugar or salt. He then cut his caloric intake from roughly 3,000 per day to 1,000. This extreme reduction in calories caused him to lose 105 pounds from December of 2014 to March of 2015. Do the math. That works out to a loss of almost one pound per day which most medical experts claim is an unhealthy and dangerous rate.

The fear with that type of calorie reduction is that, without supplements, which Penn eschewed, one is not providing the body with all the vitamins and minerals required to maintain proper health. By eating primarily raw fruits and vegetables, which Penn embraced, it is difficult to get the proper levels of iron, calcium, protein, and vitamins D and B12, again, without supplements. And without those essential nutrients, anemia, loss of muscle mass, osteoporosis, fatigue and memory loss could be the consequences.

Lastly, when one adopts such a drastic change in diet, maintaining that diet over the long-term can be a problem for most. That’s not to say that Penn will “fall off the vegan wagon” in the future, but the ride could become extremely rough moving forward. One’s dietary enthusiasm tends to wane as you face yet another day of leafy greens and citrus fruit…Mmmmmm, fiber.

While a healthy diet is essential for your well-being, both mental and physical, extreme diets should only be adopted in extreme circumstances under the supervision of a medical doctor or certified nutritionist. Remember, your body requires a variety of nutrients, and a balanced diet it the best way to ensure those dietary requirements are met. Make sure you don’t get too much of anything and enough of everything…no magic necessary.

MagicKitchen.com has delicious portion controlled meals that can help you lose weight in a more healthy, albeit less spectacular way.  We all don’t need to be as showy and flashy as Mr. Jillette, right?