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>it doesn't seem physically possible for most adult men to consume 13 pounds of potatoes a day. I'm a large man and I think I'd burst or vomit before choking do

by astura 1y ago

>it doesn't seem physically possible for most adult men to consume 13 pounds of potatoes a day. I'm a large man and I think I'd burst or vomit before choking down that much, Presumably you aren't doing hard manual labor every day.

nradov 1y ago
Not every day now, but I've done enough hard manual labor to know that it wouldn't allow me to eat 13 pounds of potatoes. Seriously no one was eating that much on as regular basis.
- codeableconcept 1y ago
  If your diet is 90% potatoes and you do hard manual labor all day, you would absolutely need about 7 pounds of potatoes (2500 calories). I don’t think 13 pounds seems that crazy. I have sat down at a meal and eaten 3 pounds of potatoes before.
  - wafflemaker 1y ago
    A little off topic, but there is this joke: A Russian and American soldier meet during some peacekeeping mission/veteran fair and discuss which army is better. They go through weapons, the American really likes AK-47. They talk about training. They discuss the distributed vs centralized command. Finally the American says that they eat 5k calories per day. The Russian suddenly jumps up, points his finger at the American and starts yelling: "Liar! Nobody can eat that much potatoes!"
- ipsento606 1y ago
  13 pounds of potatoes is about 4600 kcals. That's in the range of what an NFL athlete consumes in a day.
  - nradov 1y ago
    The problem is digesting that quantity of food, not the energy content. Elite athletes typically eat some potatoes but most of what they eat is more nutrient dense. Seriously guys, get out your scale and weigh 13 pounds of potatoes. Could you really consume that much volume in a day without feeling sick? Let's do a reality check here.
    - schrectacular 1y ago
      I had a HS friend who was a serious swimmer (not quite Olympic level but he won state championships) and watching him eat was insane. He would eat about 3x of what we all ate. Like literally down 3 sandwiches while we had one. I think he was on a 6000 calorie a day diet. I believe the potato thing. It sure sits outside what I think I could eat, but having seen others do similar, it seems realistic.
    - kelipso 1y ago
      I do weightlifting and have gone through times where I do more weightlifting and less. The body just absorbs food when you do more work. Can't tell you the mechanics but it's way easier for me to digest more food when I do more weightlifting.
    - 0_____0 1y ago
      About 6 weeks into a cross country bike tour, I spent a rest day eating all day. I think I ate 4 massive burgers and a large supreme pizza. Probably somewhere around 6000 calories. A week prior, I ran out of food in the mountains. I finally got to a store, bought a loaf of bread, a pack of Oscar-Meyer bologna, a pack of cheese slices, two sodas, and a red bull. When I left the bench near the store, I had a few slices of bread left. When you put out incredible amounts of energy, you can eat a fairly incredible amount of food. I don't understand where the food goes, it really doesn't feel like you should be able to eat that much volume but you can.
      - nradov 1y ago
        Those foods you ate are all more calorically dense than plain potatoes so my point still stands. It's not about the calories but the total volume of food that the human gut can process in a day. Have you seen 13 pounds of potatoes?
- astura 1y ago
  >Not every day There's the difference. Once you spend every single day doing hard manual labor for years consuming potatoes for the majority of your calories then tell me 13 pounds is impossible. Sure, its impossible for you now, but that's totally irrelevant. An equivalent statement would be "it's totally impossible for a human to throw a baseball at 90mph, I tried for a whole week once and I only threw 40mph."
triceratops 1y ago
I thought human bodies adapt to strenuous effort and become more efficient over time. Meaning your average keyboard jockey might need 4000 calories per day if they become a manual laborer. But over time their body would adjust and they'd be able to get by on maybe 3000 calories.
- triceratops 1y ago
  That's a weird thing to be downvoted over. I didn't realize I was saying anything controversial.
- nradov 1y ago
  Human bodies don't adapt much to become more metabolically efficient. Some endurance athletes will gain a few percent after extensive training but the effect is small. For some activities there is a skill and technique aspect which impacts the amount of energy required. Like if a keyboard jockey literally doesn't know how to swing a pickaxe effectively then they're going to burn more calories digging a ditch compared to someone who's been doing it for years.
  - triceratops 1y ago
    > Human bodies don't adapt much to become more metabolically efficient https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-exercise-paradox/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-exercise-para... That's not what recent research indicates. The author has written a book about this as well. It's the key evidence behind the idea that you can't outrun your fork. To lose weight diet is the only way. Exercise gives you a nicer-looking, stronger body but it can't do much to make you shed fat.

by astura 1y ago

nradov 1y ago

Not every day now, but I've done enough hard manual labor to know that it wouldn't allow me to eat 13 pounds of potatoes. Seriously no one was eating that much on as regular basis.

codeableconcept 1y ago
If your diet is 90% potatoes and you do hard manual labor all day, you would absolutely need about 7 pounds of potatoes (2500 calories). I don’t think 13 pounds seems that crazy. I have sat down at a meal and eaten 3 pounds of potatoes before.
- wafflemaker 1y ago
  A little off topic, but there is this joke: A Russian and American soldier meet during some peacekeeping mission/veteran fair and discuss which army is better. They go through weapons, the American really likes AK-47. They talk about training. They discuss the distributed vs centralized command. Finally the American says that they eat 5k calories per day. The Russian suddenly jumps up, points his finger at the American and starts yelling: "Liar! Nobody can eat that much potatoes!"
ipsento606 1y ago
13 pounds of potatoes is about 4600 kcals. That's in the range of what an NFL athlete consumes in a day.
- nradov 1y ago
  The problem is digesting that quantity of food, not the energy content. Elite athletes typically eat some potatoes but most of what they eat is more nutrient dense. Seriously guys, get out your scale and weigh 13 pounds of potatoes. Could you really consume that much volume in a day without feeling sick? Let's do a reality check here.
  - schrectacular 1y ago
    I had a HS friend who was a serious swimmer (not quite Olympic level but he won state championships) and watching him eat was insane. He would eat about 3x of what we all ate. Like literally down 3 sandwiches while we had one. I think he was on a 6000 calorie a day diet. I believe the potato thing. It sure sits outside what I think I could eat, but having seen others do similar, it seems realistic.
  - kelipso 1y ago
    I do weightlifting and have gone through times where I do more weightlifting and less. The body just absorbs food when you do more work. Can't tell you the mechanics but it's way easier for me to digest more food when I do more weightlifting.
  - 0_____0 1y ago
    About 6 weeks into a cross country bike tour, I spent a rest day eating all day. I think I ate 4 massive burgers and a large supreme pizza. Probably somewhere around 6000 calories. A week prior, I ran out of food in the mountains. I finally got to a store, bought a loaf of bread, a pack of Oscar-Meyer bologna, a pack of cheese slices, two sodas, and a red bull. When I left the bench near the store, I had a few slices of bread left. When you put out incredible amounts of energy, you can eat a fairly incredible amount of food. I don't understand where the food goes, it really doesn't feel like you should be able to eat that much volume but you can.
    - nradov 1y ago
      Those foods you ate are all more calorically dense than plain potatoes so my point still stands. It's not about the calories but the total volume of food that the human gut can process in a day. Have you seen 13 pounds of potatoes?
astura 1y ago
>Not every day There's the difference. Once you spend every single day doing hard manual labor for years consuming potatoes for the majority of your calories then tell me 13 pounds is impossible. Sure, its impossible for you now, but that's totally irrelevant. An equivalent statement would be "it's totally impossible for a human to throw a baseball at 90mph, I tried for a whole week once and I only threw 40mph."

triceratops 1y ago

I thought human bodies adapt to strenuous effort and become more efficient over time. Meaning your average keyboard jockey might need 4000 calories per day if they become a manual laborer. But over time their body would adjust and they'd be able to get by on maybe 3000 calories.

triceratops 1y ago
That's a weird thing to be downvoted over. I didn't realize I was saying anything controversial.
nradov 1y ago
Human bodies don't adapt much to become more metabolically efficient. Some endurance athletes will gain a few percent after extensive training but the effect is small. For some activities there is a skill and technique aspect which impacts the amount of energy required. Like if a keyboard jockey literally doesn't know how to swing a pickaxe effectively then they're going to burn more calories digging a ditch compared to someone who's been doing it for years.
- triceratops 1y ago
  > Human bodies don't adapt much to become more metabolically efficient https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-exercise-paradox/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-exercise-para... That's not what recent research indicates. The author has written a book about this as well. It's the key evidence behind the idea that you can't outrun your fork. To lose weight diet is the only way. Exercise gives you a nicer-looking, stronger body but it can't do much to make you shed fat.