Man who spent 50 hours in China's weight loss 'prison' reveals strict rules he had to follow
A YouTuber who spent 50 hours inside a weight loss camp in China has revealed he lost 5lbs (2.3kg), and needed a rabies vaccination along the way.
Browney documented the experience in a video on his YouTube channel, opening with the words: “Behind me is a prison made for fat people. But the people here aren’t real prisoners.” Guests, he explained, pay to be locked inside so they are forced to lose weight.
The unexpected twist came on his second day, when a cat scratched him as he made his way to a workout.
“I didn’t know it was a stray cat. I just thought it was a cat from here,” he said, adding that he now needed a rabies shot.
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Browney was told staff wanted the cat removed immediately over the risk of it infecting people, and some residents were angry and wanted it killed.
He persuaded the boss to hold off, and the cat was taken to a hospital to be vaccinated before being returned.
What are the strict rules of China's weightloss camp?
The rules of the camp are brutal.
First, there is a minimum required stay of twenty-eight days. To ensure total control over the environment, outside food deliveries are strictly forbidden, and a warning note explicitly stated that the facility doors would be locked to prevent any outside intake.
The intake contract also outlined heavy restrictions on certain types of food and detailed an intermittent fasting schedule where all meals had to be consumed within a strict eight-hour window.
Attendance at breakfast is mandatory for everyone, a measure specifically designed to stop residents from skipping the meal as an unhealthy way to lose weight.
Daily life is heavily monitored; residents had to weigh themselves twice a day, in the morning and the evening, and anyone who failed to lose enough weight was forced to do extra workouts.
Finally, there is regular room inspections, noting that the consequence for any infraction would be a penalty of one hundred reps of specific exercises.
What happens inside China’s weight loss camp
Before any of that, Browney had to sign a rulebook written entirely in Chinese, and staff searched his bag at the door. He said two items slipped through: his electrolytes and a cheat meal.
Residents are weighed twice a day, in the morning and the evening, and anyone who misses their daily target must do extra workouts, Browney was told.
Meals are served in a single line at fixed times, and attendance is mandatory so nobody skips food.
Browney estimated the meals at between 350 and 450 calories each, compared with the roughly 3,200 calories he said he usually eats. He was also told residents follow intermittent fasting, eating within eight hours and fasting for 16. Smoking is allowed, with one staff member telling him there are no calories in it.
His room, number 410, had a bed and a bathroom where the toilet area doubled as the shower.
How much weight can you lose at a Chinese fat camp
Browney was told the minimum stay is one 28-day cycle.
Asked about the cost, he was given a figure of $400 with workouts, food and accommodation included, though the video does not make clear what period that covers.
One resident said he had lost 40kg (around 88lbs) after four and a half months, while a woman said she had dropped 15kg (around 33lbs) in three months.
Browney started at 183lbs (82.9kg) and said he burned 2,200 active calories on his first day.
He also ordered food in secret despite a no-delivery rule, a meal he put at around 1,300 calories, and said it left him only slightly heavier at the evening weigh-in than he had been that morning.
By the final weigh-in, after seven workouts in two days, he was at 177.5lbs (80.5kg), a loss of 5lbs (2.3kg).
“Yes, this place works. I mean, most of the weight I just lost was water weight, but there’s a lot of people working very hard here and getting really good results,” he said.
He added that people can get fit at home, but that for some the camp ‘might be the answer’.
Topics: Weight loss, China, YouTube, Fitness
Thomas Bamford