1500 Calories Per Day: The Nazis Thought it Was Plenty, Too

I'm just throwing out a quotation from a book called The Taste of War: World War Two and the Battle for Food because of how shocked I am to read about the number of people who wasted away to skin and bones in Germany during WWII on 1500 CALORIES A DAY, which many of us have been brainwashed into thinking is a sufficient amount of food to be eating in a day while training, even when not dieting for a contest (or to lose fat).

The quotation below talks about workers, so we're talking people in a deficit from activity (like women in contest prep), but I've also discovered that German people who were not in work camps, for example women who were working clerical jobs or nursing, ALSO wasted away on 1500 calories per day (and then many were repeatedly raped by their liberators at the end of the war, but I digress). Everyone in the country, not just people in the work camps, was skin and bones.

In 1942 Göring told leaders of the occupied countries "The Führer repeatedly said, and I repeat after him, if anyone has to go hungry, it shall not be the Germans but other peoples." Below the normal rationing system, a second tier of food allocation operated for non-Aryans. From 1939, Jews were charged an extra 10% for food and were only allowed to shop after 4 p.m., when most food shops had run out of stocks. By 1942, Jews were not allowed to buy meat, eggs, or milk. A similar starvation policy was applied to the mentally ill and disabled living in institutions, particularly to children. But these policies did not work when applied to people who were expected to work for German industry. The 6.5 million industrial workers brought in from the east were each only allowed 1500 calories a day, but it soon became apparent that few could not carry out physical work at that level. Speer wanted the rations to be improved, pointing out that two workers on 1500 calories could not do the same work as one worker receiving 3000 calories. But this request came up against Nazi ideology. "It would be politically unthinkable to improve the diet of these subhumans...".

More (from Wikipedia's Morgenthau Plan entry for efficiency):

In early 1946 U.S. President Harry S. Truman finally bowed to pressure from Senators, Congress and public to allow foreign relief organization to enter Germany in order to review the food situation. In mid-1946 non-German relief organizations were finally permitted to help starving German children. During 1946 the average German adult received less than 1,500 calories a day. 2,000 calories was then considered the minimum an individual can endure on for a limited period of time with reasonable health.

Ladies, if you think a sub 1000 calorie contest prep diet is okay, followed by a 1500 calorie per day offseason, please rethink your thinking. If you're being coached or otherwise advised by someone who thinks this amount of food is okay, fire that person's ass NOW!!

If you're abusing yourself in this way for whatever reason, think of what these low calories did over time to people on war rations.

Sacrifice and Work Ethic

There's no denying the work ethic of those dieting/training to the point that they're "able" to compete; however, there's a huge difference between the character of those who "suffer" and those who "sacrifice."

Among those in the physique world are those who don't seem to enjoy anything. Not dieting. Not training. All you hear is the endless complaining of how tired, hungry, bitchy, anti-social, blah blah they've become. They're imprisoned by what the pursuit is doing TO them. And you'll also witness the sour grapes of those who don't place well when they feel that because they "worked their asses off" the hardest and suffered the most, they should be getting the trophy.

The mindset my Coach has dealt with among physique competitors (and yo-yo dieters, anorexics, bigorexics I'm assuming) is bizarre, and I'm guessing it's not as common among the general population or even among other athletes as it is in the bodybuilding/fitness world.

The self-discipline you see among those who rise above matyr status is something I used to refer to as "having one foot in Heaven." I know that's a bit too religious for some, but this was an observation I made in childhood, and I didn't know any other way to describe what I could sense in these people. They just seemed above the pettiness and struggles in which so many of us spend our lives.

I don't need to examine my work ethic. I need to examine my character. I am always watching, and I've too long been cheating myself, half-assing the self-discipline I've sought for so long.

There's more to the equation than work. There's the whole notion of sacrifice. Sacrifice, willingly and joyfully made--not choosing to suffer--is where I need to change my attitude. For me it goes back to the infantile ego. Children need rules, boundaries, limitations to keep their infantile egos in check. Many adults never get beyond needing these external limitations.

The sacrifice needs to be made for its own sake. Nothing more, nothing less. Why? Not to impress some panel of judges or win a trophy or get a contract, but because it is right and true to master the infantile ego and allow your true Self to transcend.

The Perils of Figure Competition

Somtimes it's good to take stock of where we're going and where we've been. As I approach another contest season, I'm ready to avoid fixing what ain't broke and improve, improve, improve. Not only physically, but most importantly mentally and spiritually.

Thank God I have a Coach who understands this game so well. Here's a quote from a forum thread I've been reviewing (these words are mine):

You've got to KNOW, before you even weigh in or step on stage, that you are bringing your best, satisfied with the integrity of your journey THUS FAR.
A show is not the END, it's just another stepping stone on the path.

It's crucial if you want to grow from the experience to accept the judges' decisions for what they are, an external assessment of who has "the look" at a very precise moment in time. Judges decisions have NOTHING to do with who worked the hardest, who suffered the most, who is the most "together" on game day. It's just feedback and subjective opinion. Sometimes it's favorable to you, sometimes it's favorable to someone else. Put too much stock into it, and you risk horrible post-contest blues and depression, even if you win the damn trophy!

Sure it's easier said than done. But life is so much better when it's about the journey, that everyday pounding of pavement like Paula says, rather than about some fleeting moment of victory on stage. Then there are no failures, only experiences.

I've already won or lost the day before the show. I know what I've done to get there, and the rest is icing. I haven't been first place at every show I've competed at, but I've never lost.

Read the complete thread here:
http://forums.scottabel.com/showthread.php?t=3340

I've been accused of making fun of the female subject of the above thread by some severely fearful competitors suffering from their own form of figurematyritis, as well as varying degrees of metabolic damage.

Well, if you're a competitor (and you don't have to be a figure gal), read the thread and judge for yourself.

And please accept my blessings for a safe, fun, and empowering competitive season!!