Super Špek Me – man loses six kilos after month of Czech pub food

You might remember the 2004 documentary Super Size Me, where filmmaker Morgan Spurlock spent a month eating nothing but McDonalds; the film documents the drastic effects on his body and soul. There have been several attempts to emulate his experiment, the most recent here in the Czech Republic, when a man spent a month eating nothing but Czech food in pubs and restaurants…and lost six kilos. His diary has now been released as a book.

Luboš Bokštefl, photo: www.ct24.cz

Morgan Spurlock’s entertaining, disturbing and at times disgusting documentary inspired a number of copycat experiments, most recently conducted by Luboš Bokštefl, a middle-aged, slightly paunchy man who ate nothing but traditional Czech food - goulash, dumplings, roast pork and cabbage and so on - for a month, and kept a regular diary documenting the changes. The result is a new book parodying Spurlock’s experiment called Super Špek Me – špek being the Czech for fat. He spoke about it to Czech Television.

“It’s a parody in the sense that he ate in America’s favourite restaurant and I ate in the Czech Republic’s favourite restaurants. When people read the regular updates on my blog, they posted comments saying it made them want to go straight down to the pub and get themselves some Czech food.”

Morgan Spurlock put on 11 kilos and his cholesterol level went through the roof after eating at McDonalds three times a day, and says it took 14 months to lose the weight he’d gained. Luboš Bokštefl – whose weight and vital signs were closely monitored by a Czech doctor – says he lost six kilos, a somewhat suspicious result given the famous fattiness of Czech food. His doctor Lukáš Pollert told Czech Television there was actually a completely logical explanation.

Photo: archive of Radio Prague

“He promised he’d only eat in pubs. That means breakfast in the morning, lunch at noon, and dinner in the evening. When he ate at home or at work, he was constantly raiding the fridge. So – yes – Czech food does come out of this experiment looking good, after all, he lost six kilos. But it’s also about lifestyle. What we eat is a small part of it. What we do afterwards is pretty fundamental.”

Luboš Bokštefl admits that since the experiment he’s put on the pounds he lost in his month eating pub food. He is, however, now a published author, so that’s some consolation.