Forget Ozempic and Protein Shakes — Sardinemaxxing Is the Internet’s New Health Craze

At nine o’clock on the second night, I weighed myself for the second time that day. That hadn’t been the plan. I’d intended on just one weigh-in each morning for the three days of the diet and however long afterwards it took to get back to my starting weight.

But that morning’s number had unsettled me: 1.15 kilos down in a day. I assumed it was still moving 12 hours later based on how I felt and wanted to know how much. Another 450 grams gone.

By the next morning, after 48 hours of eating nothing but tinned sardines, I had lost more than two kilos – around 4.6 lbs. As someone with a high metabolism, dropping weight was nothing new. And I had experienced losing water weight after eliminating carbs in the past. But this time it felt severe.

So, two days into a three-day sardine fast, I committed one of the worst sins of immersion journalism – I quit of my own accord. I did, however, try to hold onto the mental benefits I had sought out and found.