Chris Coleson, a businessman from Richmond, VA told his wife he could lose weight by eating anywhere — even McDonald’s.
“I told her I could lose weight eating anywhere,” he said. “I told her I could do it eating at McDonald’s.”
So he did. By eating two meals a day (and only two meals) consisting of “wraps, apple-walnut salads and the occasional cheeseburger” Chris has lost 86 lbs since December.
Coleson told AdAge that he’s not interested in being the next “Jared,” but would like to encourage McDonald’s to build playgrounds where parents with disabilities can play with their children.
“I wasn’t disabled when I weighed 300 pounds, but it made me think about parents who are,” said Mr. Coleson. He currently “works closely with his local YMCA and the Wounded Warrior Project, which provides services to disabled veterans,” says AdAge.
Has McDonald’s Found Its Jared? [AdAge]
(Photo: meghannmarco )
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You know, I could lose weight by being anorexic in a Burger King – I think I’ve found my new profession!
Pretty sure most people will start losing weight if they ate only 2 meals per day….and their initial weight was 300.
And he didn’t even need laws banning the bad foods!
Good on ya Chris!
(I hope this isn’t some crappy viral marketing bs)
Already been done before. When “Supersize Me” came out, some other nutjob went the other way and built a menu out of McD’s foods which allowed him to come under 2k calories a day. Lost weight, same as this guy.
Less calories than you expend = weight loss.
You can lose weight eating chocolate cake, if you limit your total daily calories.
Since he ate salads and apple dippers and wraps, he was likely getting fiber, and protein along with fat. Not ideal, but through his menu selections, not nearly as horrible as it could have been.
omg you mean someone paid attention to the daily caloric intake???
i could go for some nuggets now. love those little cookie cutter chicken flavored balls of meat paste.
well if you weight 300+lbs, of COURSE a 1200-1400 cal diet would make you lose weight. I eat 1200 cal a day to maintain and i’m 125lbs.
The headshot accompanying the original article should have a warning on it. Yeesh.
Yeah 1200-1400 calories for an adult male his size is pretty much starvation. I’m guessing he didn’t drink sodas with his two daily meals. That definitely would have boosted the calories.
Eating two meals a day isn’t good for your body. You should be eating 5-6 small meals (300-400 calories) every 2-3 hours.
@qwickone: I havnt been 125lbs since 7th grade…then again, I’m 6’3″.
Anyway, I think he was moreso trying to prove a point against how GREAT subway is for diets. The subway diet doesnt harbor some secret that only exists in a subway sandwich.
Well, maybe it does have a secret, but I’m pretty sure it’s nothing to do with weight loss.
Unless you have a severe medical condition loosing weight uses a very simple concept-burn more calories than you take in.
Even if it’s cheeseburgers and fries;burn more than you take in.And starvation diets or extremely low calorie diets don’t work either.This guy said he only an occassional cheeseburger and 2 meals a day.That’s sctually pretty tough.
If you limit your eating too much your body will go into conservation mode doing exactly that slow down it’s metabolism to conserve calories since it thinks it won’t get enough.Probably a primal survival mechanism from when man was roaming as a hunter maybe days without a kill.
This guy sounds active which is good and in combination with his diet probably helped burn the calories/loose weight.
I don’t understand. How did he refrain from supersizing his fries and eating Big MAcs and drinking soda? Did this McDonalds not carry those options/items?
If you consider a 1,200-1,400 calorie per day diet anorexic, that may be your problem.
Viral marketing for McDonalds or a renewed push for calories on the menu?
I did some reasearch in low calorie McDonalds meals. You can pretty much drop the calories lower than the average home cooked meal if you just skip the Fries and Soda. If you think about it, a super sized soda will contain more calories than a standard cheese burgur. Even a small fries will almost rival the calories of a chicken sandwitch.
In fact, you can build very nutritious meals by replacing the Fries and the Drink, which is where most of the empty calories come from. Some alternatives I like are the Yogurt Parfait, Juice and Milk, Apple dippers, and Oat meal cookies.
@qwickone: I weighed 125…and then I went to college…
This man should publish a book about weight loss through lower caloric intake. He could make millions.
I hate to think what condition his body’s in. He’s basically starving himself, not just of calories, but probably also of vitamins and minerals. Unless he’s on suppliments or something, that would balance it out. I’d be worried about salt too. On the other hand he’s being entirely reasonable by suggesting that you can lose weight eating almost anything, if you do it right.
Warning: you may lose weight eating that much McDonalds, but you might grow a magenta goatee.
Hey, it could happen!
Most calories per dollar = Fried Pies
Mmmmm Fried Pies!!!
He didn’t mention he was bulimic
Take that Morgan Spurlock!
WTF is with his beard?
I could lose wait eating 1200 calories of pure bacon grease every day, as long as that is all I ate, plus my coat would be nice and shiny.
On the other hand, the way I like my Subway sandwiches, if I ate two of those a day every day I would definetly be gaining weight.
Ummm, diet soda? No calories. Sure, some might argue that the artificial sweeteners cause weird health issues in laboratory mice, but to be honest I really couldn’t give a (lab) rat’s ass.
This is the exception that proves the rule…
Can you loose weight by limiting calories… yes.
Will you be able to maintain it if you go off the diet..and eat the way you used to again? No.
In reality, his diet is neither ideal nor recommended. As other have stated, it is too low in calories for an adult male. Additionally, much of that food is processed, which robs it of many nutritional benefits. And finally, it is NOT representative of a diet the majority of Americans could ever stick to. Americans eat too much, and restaurants want to keep it that way…
@Sockatume: C’mon man! Scurvy is your ticket to quick weight loss!
@snoop-blog: Hi, if you were responding to my comment, I was using sarcastic hyperbole. Of course, someone could lose weight in any restaurant if one eats little enough.
I always stay away from fries and soda when I go to a fast food restaurant, and I very rarely go to restaurants.
Exercise is the real challenge. Most people wont do it, which is sad, because even a little bit is better than none.
@Dead Wrestlers Society:
I wouldn’t call it starvation. A 300 pound man on weight watchers is assigned 33 points per day, which, depending on fat and fiber content can be 1400-1700 calories.
I had no problems staying under 33 points at that weight. However, at 33 points, you could have 10 subway wraps per day. I doubt you could do the same with the ones they sell at McDonalds.
@Super1984: sarcasm is hard to detect, but too many other comments were echoing yours but being totally serious. I kinda thought you were, in fact i held off on submitting until I read more comments like it. Wow, the thought process behind blogging is serious stuff.
Jesse-Take that Morgan Spurlock!
That MOVIE wasn’t anything close to reality.It was more a what if?.First not everyone super sizes and second he actually LIMITED his exercise.If he had just walked more his numbers would’ve came out better-increased activity increases metabolism.I don’t even think there were enough controls for a valid scientific experiment.
@GenXCub: Doesn’t matter what *you’d* call it.
Dr. Christine Gerbstadt, a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association, called Mr. Coleson’s plan of 1,200 to 1,400 calories per day a “starvation diet.”
Is this not considered a re-post?
Anyways, yeah… what everyone else said.
I hope he took multivitamins.
Yes he lost weight but how did he feel?
This is why I stopped eating at restaurants years ago.
@sean77: sounds like someone at the american dietetic association is trying to drum up business.
1400 calories is not really unreasonable. it’s pretty low calorie restriction sure, but definitely doable. if you assume the guy burns 2,500 calories a day, he’s basically burning 2 pounds a week, which is about the upper limit of what healthy weight loss should be.
when i was cutting weight i aimed for 1500-1600 calories a day, and i’m 6’3 and was 240 pounds.
in fact, since i ate 5 meals a day of about 300 calories each, i actually always felt full the whole day.
@rellog: This has been my problem with diets for a long time. It requires a life change to maintain your weight lose and then your weight. Last August I took a 10 week course on proper nutrition and how to lose weight. Yes it is basically common sense but the course has helped me. To date, I have lost 65 pounds (started at 273) and I am still going. I am eating no more than 2100 calories and 73g of fat, most times it is much lower. Before I started I was probably eating around 3000 calories and 100+ grams of fat a day. I do not plan on going back to my old ways. And best of all, my young kids are eating much much healthier, so maybe they won’t have to “fight” with their weight for many many years.
I wonder how his cholesterol is . . .
—–
Before the 19th Century – the average adult consumed between 3000 and 5000 calories per day. It all comes down to how much work you do and what the food you are eating consists of. If it is just empty calories, hell yes you will gain weight.
A tube playset for disabled parents? This guy does know you’re not supposed to go in the play place with your children, right?
I don’t think I’ll ever lose weight eating at a McDonald’s. Every time I walk in I tell myself I should get the salad, but in the end what comes out of my mouth is “I’d like the #1 Big Mac combo, please”… ughh…
long as u skip stuff like mayonaisse and extra cheese, some of those grilled chicken sandwiches are not too bad. even the salads, just use half the dressing. its all about choices.
eating less is the only way. That’s why diet pills that curb your cravings like Slim-30, vegemax etc sell millions a year.
The lengths to which a husband goes to prove his wife wrong.
What an idiot. His fat ass lost weight because he cut his calorie intake, by what I can only assume, 5 times his old current daily intake and seems to think it’s because of McDonalds.
A fat person can eat all the McDonalds they want and loose muscle mass (loose weight), but they’ll just be a skeleton with fat layered on them.
What a noob.
@snoop-blog: It’s all cool.
I wonder if I tried this with my favorite place Jack n’ the Box if the would pay me? Or at least get me back out west for a while. 1400 calorie a day diet, and sunny california here I come.
What were you eating in 300 calorie increments to stay full all day? I know I can eat 300 calorie snacks (stuff that isn’t terribly good for me), and be hungry 10 minutes later. Did you bring bran muffins or oatmeal to work?