It has only been a few days after my proclamation that I will be abstaining from my favorite fast-food chain, McDonald’s, when a news story was released about Chris Colsen, who claims to have lost over 85 pounds by eating McDonald’s for every meal. What was his secret to losing weight while eating fast-food? He only ate McDonald’s salads, with the occasional cheeseburger (without the bun), and snacked on apple slices.
The positive story of Colsen’s weight loss while eating McDonald’s has been compared against the results seen in the documentary “Supersize Me”, written by Morgan Spurlock. In this documentary, Spurlock spends 30 days, three square meals a day, only eating and drinking items from the McDonald’s menu, supersizing his orders when asked. It is estimated that Spurlock consumed an average of 5000 calories a day. At the end of the documentary Spurlock had a 13% body mass increase and had begun experiencing mood swings, sexual dysfunction, and liver damage. It took Spurlock fourteen months to lose the weight he gained from the documentary.
Of course comparing the experiences of Spurlock to Colsen’s story can’t be done. Colsen claims a french fry never touched his lips and he only chose the healthy options on the McDonald’s menu, such as the salads, wraps and grilled chicken sandwiches. On average, Colsen consumed approximately 1400 calories a day.
Now, I would still say that even Colsen’s McDonald’s Diet, although successful in helping him lose weight, was likely not a nutritionally balanced way to eat. But for some people like Colsen, who struggle with counting calories, eating fast-food may help them to keep their calorie consumption under control. Of course there are other success stories of this type, like Jared who claims he lost 245 pounds eating two Subway sandwiches a day.
The bottom line is that not all fast-food is bad for you. But to avoid gaining a ton of weight and spiking your cholesterol you need to stay away from the fast-food evils – Burgers and Fries.
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