Gary Skaleski, the Wisconsin counselor who came up with nose-clipping (= eating food with your nose closed, especially with a swimmer’s nose clip), has tried eating all his food that way:
The last time I wrote to you I had started gaining again and not following the SLD as I should have been (off and on). However, since then I have been eating everything, all day long, without tasting anything (even coffee, diet soda)-avoiding [flavor] completely, but eating well. After a couple of days, the appetite suppression came back with a vengeance and am losing again.
What was the most interesting was the difficulty I had starting this, and the sense of loss/regret and avoidance I had to doing it, and not being able to [smell] anything. While I recommended this procedure for others, I avoided it myself. But now I am on day 3 of [flavorlessness] and am doing well. . . . Interesting new needs come up-need for something crunchy, something smooth tasting, etc. . . . does help one focus on the feeling of different foods while eating, as well as becoming more sensitive to real hunger feelings (amazed at how much taste runs one’s eating).
He believes, as do I, that this may be useful in extreme cases. Let’s compare gastric bypass surgery (GSB) and eating like this (NC, for nose-clipping) on several dimensions. Dangerous? GSB: very. NC: no. Reversible? GSB: no. NC: yes. Adjustable? GSB: no. NC: very. You can do it every other day, for example. You can nose-clip some foods but not others. Cost? GSB: $20,000 or more. NC: $5 (swimmer’s nose clips).