Subway Diet
The Subway Diet was brought into popular culture around 2001, after a young college student dropped 245 pounds in one year by eating at Subway twice a day. Jared Fogle is now called ‘The Subway Guy’ and is a popular spokesman for the company. His top weight was 425 and he says that his size was ruining his life. He could not do the things he wanted to do. He had pain is his back and knees. He got short of breath walking across the campus. While eating at Subway and reading their nutritional content brochures, the idea of this diet came to him.
Jareds new diet consisted of one six-inch turkey sandwich with a bag of chips for lunch, and one twelve-inch veggie sandwich for dinner. He did not include any condiments or cheese on the sandwiches. Essentially, he was only eating 1000 calories a day. He also admits to drinking a lot of diet pop.
After he dropped some of the weight he started a walking program. Later on, someone discovered his weight loss success and he was exploited to become an overnight sensation. He has been on talk shows, in the news, and he has made over twenty commercials for Subway. While they willingly took advantage of the publicity, Subway officially does not endorse this diet. The company openly admits that Jareds weight loss was due to portion size and calorie control and not because of the sandwich itself. They still use his weight loss to endorse their low fat subs. Now they even have friends of Jareds commercials featuring other followers of this plan.
Years later, Jared has maintained his weight loss by eating a regular diet that sometimes includes a sub. He is even campaigning against childhood obesity and is invited all over the country as a speaker. He says he carries his fat 60-inch waist pants around wherever he goes.
Many health writers are not impressed with the diet scheme. They say there is really nothing unique about it. He lost weight simply because he burned more calories than he ingested. His weight loss was also quite rapid. People who go through gastric bypass surgery often do not lose as much as he did in one year. Critics do not believe this type of weight loss is sustainable because it does not teach you how to eat a healthy, balanced diet including all of the food groups.
Bottom line, The Subway Diet is unbalanced. It does not include enough calcium, excludes fruit, and eliminates “the most important meal of the day altogether. We need calcium for the strength of our bones and teeth. We need fruit for energy. We need fat to feel satisfied. Besides, who wants to eat the same thing everyday for an entire year?
The great amount of weight Jared lost should be applauded, but this method should not necessarily be duplicated.
The Subway Diet is just one of the most popular fad diet, to go back to the main page click here, popular fad diets.
