Matt Tuckey is a writer from Oldham, England. He covers celebrities, night life, Manchester, fitness, creative writing, social media, psychology and events. Some of this may, in some way, help others. Or maybe it'll just entertain you for a while.
Unfortunately, I have neither the willpower not the willingness to waste food, so throughout the month I’ve – on occasion – eaten only a can of tuna and an apple, as Bale reportedly did daily. But usually my sole meal has been something else – freezer food, soup (until it went off), or roast dinners at my mum’s weekly. The weight is not particularly dropping off. I started at 86.2kg. I was 79kg this morning. 78.1 yesterday morning. Considering how little I’m eating, and how much skipping I’ve done, I can’t understand how this weight is staying on me. I dunno if the 2 kilos of peanut buter I've mullered through have anything to do with it.
On Tuesday, I’ll have been doing this Machinist Diet for a month. After that, I’m tempted to just fast it out until I hit 72.2kg.
2 weeks ago I started this Machinist Diet: an attempt to eat like Christian Bale did in preparation for his role as an anorexic insomniac. My goal isn't to look like him - it's to hit 72.2kg.
It’s taking a lot longer than I thought, although it’s really starting to hurt now. Yesterday I just had tuna and apple for lunch, with no other meal all day. Then I blasted through circuit class as best as I could. This morning I did pump, sauna and steam. I’m about to eat again now. I’m still 82.4kg, a very minor reduction considering how little I’ve eaten and how much exercise I’ve done. Both my skipping ropes snapped on Thursday, so I bought 2 more, much sturdier this time.
One thing I’ve noticed on The Machinist Diet – you don’t have to clean the kitchen anywhere near as much. Hardly any food prep or consumption happens in it.
I still have a load of soup to eat, plus stuff in my freezer. I’m out of milk, protein drinks, cheese and eggs.
Oh, also, I watched all the (very interesting) extras on The Machinist DVD.
Last Saturday I described this insane diet basted on Christian Bale’s efforts to prepare for his role in The Machinist.
The problem with a diet like this is that we all have food in our cupboards, fridges and freezers, and there’s no point it going off. So you might as well eat it. And that’s what I’ve been doing: with one meal per day, munching through the eggs, bread and other perishables. I also had made a huge pan of vegetable soup. I had some ingredients for a recipe, so I bought the remaining goods and cooked that too. I’ve actually got loads of non-tuna-and-pineapple stuff still to go. Furthermore, my mum – who doesn’t yet know I’m doing this project – invited me round for a curry. This absolutely stuffed me. When you're only eating one meal a day, it takes a long time to use up.
Soon, though, it will be just a can of tuna and an apple as a daily meal - as confirmed by the director below...
I watched The Machinist, and understood it a lot better this time. I’ve also watched the commentary track, in which director Brad Anderson clears up a few of the more confusing plot points. I totally forgot Michael Ironside and Jennifer Jason Leigh were in this.
I started this at 86.2, went down to 83.2 and am currently back up at 85.9. Teething problems. I’m steadily skipping it off. Watch what happens this next week.
In 2004 Actor Christian Bale took up the titular role of The Machinist, a factory worker with insomnia whose interactions – possibly hallucinations – with other people drive him to the brink of insanity.
I saw it in probably 2006. I enjoyed it but didn’t understand it. I made a plan to watch it again, but then life got in the way.
20 years later, I’ve managed to get my hands on the DVD and bargain basement price, and it includes some extras.
At the time I watched it I was probably in the best physical shape of my life, doing Muay Thai and weights, and eating my mum’s excellent cooking. There was definitely no need to lose any weight. In 2010, however, I moved out, and under the lacklustre care of social services, I spiralled. I had no idea how to cook, shop for food or budget. The abs went within weeks, and never came back. At the time I moved out I was 68kg. Over the years, I spiralled up to 90kg. I managed to diet down to 72 a couple of times, but I’m currently 86.2.
So. I need to lose exactly 14 kilos. 72.2kg is the weight I know I need to be to fit into my 30” suit trousers. The fastest way I can imagine doing this is this what I understand Christian Bale did to achieve that gaunt physique.
Pretty simple really: a can of tuna and an apple every day.
This might be a terrible idea, but the reality is a working kitchen usually is already stocked with a load of food. If you try these diets, you risk letting the food go off, even if it’s in the freezer. These projects can take longer than you might expect. So, for the moment, I’ll alternate between eating a full meal a day, and eating a can of tuna and an apple a day. I’ll do this until the rest of the food runs out. But essentially, cans of tuna and bags of apples will be all I’ll be buying until I hit the target weight. In the meantime, I’ll watch the whole of the DVD, plus other media, and use a skipping rope until the weight comes off. I’ll try to keep up with gym classes, but I expect I’m going to have to reduce the weights a bit.
Fighting the cravings and sticking to the plan is the tie-in to psychology. The mental task of committing to the diet is probably harder than the physical effort of moving when incredibly hungry.
I’m getting drunk tonight, but after that… it begins.
