By Doug Peterson
First and foremost, this diet is tailored after the reality television show, Survivor. You don’t have to be a fan of the show to try the diet. If you are a fan of the show you will know that the contestants start on day one at their normal weight and by the end – those who survive – have lost a significant amount of weight.
The duration is 40 days. The rules are quite simple. You must survive on the food that you can find or catch outdoors.
You can have as much water as you want. You can cook with your own stove, microwave, grill, etc. (no campfires in the backyard please) and use whatever pots, pans, dishes, refrigerator, etc. that you need. You may also use whatever resources you have in order to obtain your food. For example, if you are trying to catch fish you can use whatever fishing equipment you have – or you may purchase any fishing equipment or tackle necessary – including bait (but you can’t eat the bait!).
Like the game of Survivor, you will provide yourself with a gallon allotment each of beans and brown rice at the start. You will be responsible to ration these items appropriately throughout the 40 days. Eat too much at the start and you will be left with very little at the end.
As a bonus, you will be granted periodic “Rewards,” similar to the Reward Challenges in the game Survivor.
Your Weekly Rewards
- After week 1 you will be rewarded with one pound of butter and rice seasoning. Make it last! This will help to spice up and flavor your foods.
- After week 2 you will be rewarded with a nori sheets and a big bag of dried figs. Well done - at the two week mark you'll really want something sweet and these figs will provide that for you. Not to mention the fiber and nutrition.
- After week 3 you will be rewarded with a loaf of bread and a dozen eggs. There are a variety of things you can make with these supplies so be creative.
- After week 4 you will be rewarded with. . . MEGABURGER! Go find (or make for yourself) the biggest, baddest, burger you can possibly imagine - with all the fixins. Add some fries and a big ol' beer if you'd like.
- After week 5 you will be rewarded with a meal of your choosing - ANYTHING! Treat yourself - you deserve it for surviving 5 weeks. Maybe try making a suckling pig (just a thought).
Hang in there – almost finished!
Occasionally, throughout the course of this diet you may take part in “Special Occasion” activities. Examples of these include birthday parties, holidays, celebratory barbeques, etc. When you find yourself in these Special Occasion situations you have a choice to make. You can stay the course and continue with your Survivor diet, or you can choose to invoke a “Special Occasion Reward.” When you do this, you can take part in that special occasion just like normal but in exchange, you must give up one of your weekly rewards. It can be one you’ve already earned (except for something already eaten), or a future reward.
Keep a log of your experiences during this challenge. It gets interesting.
That’s it. Can you stand up to the Survivor diet? Good luck.
