Eat fast food for a month, drop five pounds?

by Mary Kearl (Subscribe to Mary Kearl's posts)
May 8th 2008 3:45PM

Categories: Diet & Weight Loss, Nutrition & Supplements

That's what Credit Suisse restaurant analyst Keith Siegner did for all of April 2008 and somehow managed to lose five pounds. Yep, that's right, he only ate at fast-food chains like McDonald's, Wendy's, Subway and Domino's for 30 days straight. But unlike Morgan Spurlock, of 'Super Size Me' fame, he actually lost weight.

His diet consisted of about 30 chicken sandwiches, 27 salads, and 14 burgers, amounting to a total of 52,020 calories, 1,534 grams of fat, including 472 grams of saturated fat, 142.3 grams of sodium and 3,165 grams of protein, reports Markets-Hub.com.

That's a lot, but Siegner really did lose five pounds as well as lower his LDL (bad) cholesterol by 36 points. Plus, his overall cholesterol dropped by over 20 percent and his blood pressure declined.

How did he do it? He apparently controlled his portions and ordered off kids' menus.

Siegner says he took in an average of 4,755 milligrams of sodium a day, double the amount suggested by the government's Dietary Guidelines for Americans, reports Bloomberg, but on the plus side, he also averaged 47.5 daily grams of fat, 27 percent less than the recommended maximum daily allowance.

I wouldn't recommend his diet, but I guess it's true that as long as you stay away from the more outrageous fast-food items, there really can be some healthier, better fast-food choices.

Comments (49)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)

Nova11 5-08-2008 @ 6:09PM

Wendy's is the best!! I love that you can substitute french fries in your combo with a side salad, baked potato or a small chili. I have given up french fries, so when my little guys want some Wendy's...i can still eat there too and not overdo it. :D I can't see losing 5 lbs eating it for 30 days though....did Siegner exercise as well? Sounds kinda crazy!

beeery 5-10-2008 @ 8:15PM

Wait a second - this is VERY misleading. The very first sentence should mention he ate from KID's MENUs. It's bad enough there's fat epidemic going on in this country; you don't need to give people justification for eating the garbage and 'super-sized' crap they push.

jessi 5-10-2008 @ 8:25PM

This guy should make a film like that moron Spurlock did! Any person with connected brain cells would know that if you actually order, and then eat the large sizes you are going to gain weight, raise your cholesterol, and generally ruin your body. I cannot believe that idiot made a movie blaming the food industry for the nation's obesity problem, instead of putting the blame on the people who eat enough for 3 or 4! He is as bad as those stupid "parents" who tried to sue McDonalds because their kid is fat; of course it is not their fault for letting the kid eat junk everyday!

donna giamo 5-10-2008 @ 10:11PM

You are what you eat my dear. Genetically modified, antibiotic and hormone laced foods fried in rancid saturated fats create bodies that only resemble the human form.

Jarvinot 5-10-2008 @ 11:50PM

Actually everything you said was the point of the spurlock movie "super size me", well he put blame on both and critisized the people who sued the food companies because of their obesity. So you might want to go search, learn, and remember all of the facts before putting presuppositions of a movie that you most likely did not see.

Dina 5-10-2008 @ 8:37PM

a serving of french fries should be the kids size french fries from most fast food restaurants. There is no reason to eat a large order of fries, even the medium is pretty absurd. I haven't eaten at a fast food restaurant in over a year and I plan to keep it that way. If i'm going to indulge in high calorie/fat laden food its going to be something thats worth it, not frozen fries and chicken or burgers.

cj 5-10-2008 @ 8:37PM

Actually, since l started to eat ( because of my job now) McDonalds more and more, l lost 2 lbs !!! in about one month. l never have time for breakfast so l eat at about 2pm and am full for a long time, in the evening all l have room for is a soup or something light. PS. 1 big mac and 1 cheeseburger. No fries, diet drink

Cragar 5-10-2008 @ 8:41PM

I have been eating fast food for over 20 years and I weigh 150 lbs. Fast food is about 75% of my diet. The
key is not to super-size every thing you eat , fast food or not or you will become super-sized.

Most people who are overweight are because they don't burn off the calories they take in and become couch potatoes.

Lance Armstrong would eat over 6,000 calories while training.

Don't blame the food , blame yourself.

pkdarnall 5-11-2008 @ 12:46PM

Cragar: As you age, growth hormone goes to zero and your metabolism slows. You will eventually need to give up soda, ice cream, shakes, malts, deserts, all fried food and mayonnaise. I order burgers with no mayo or mustard, extra lettuce and extra tomato. I like it with black pepper and a little bit of ketchup. Otherwise, I don't eat fast food. I exercise daily and at 57, I weigh less than ten pounds more than 40 years ago. Look in the mirror every day and ask yourself: do I look good enough to go without a shirt in public? If not, eat salads and take the stairs plus maintain daily exercise regimen. Good luck.

naymalvin 5-10-2008 @ 9:10PM

fast food is just a name given to those eateries that process your order in a timely fashion...and offer similar foods as sit down restaurants. Burgers, fries, shakes, nuggets. Labeling fast food as unhealthy is no different from labeling restaurant food as healthy...it depends on what you order and how much you eat. Fast food chains get a bad rap...it's the consumers who are responsible to order and eat healthily.

Jan 5-10-2008 @ 9:30PM

uh, does anyone know that fat weighs less than lean muscle mass???? So....you could feasibly put on fat, and lose WEIGHT.

Serly 5-10-2008 @ 10:03PM

'...fat weighs less than lean muscle mass????'

Thats actually not true; muscle is denser than fat, but a pound of muscle is equal to a pound of fat.

Unless people are gaining fat and loosing muscle mass at the same rate, it doesn't work that way.

ron 5-10-2008 @ 9:41PM

They opened a Quizno's here in town about 2 months ago.I used to go to Burger King about 3 times a week.I started going to Quizno's & stopped going to BK when Quizno's opened & I have lost 7 lbs. so far. :-)

JEREMIAH 5-10-2008 @ 9:56PM

this data is not very acurate normal americans do not eat more chicken sandwiches and salads than burgers!

dave 5-10-2008 @ 9:59PM

The guy did something unusual. He used his brain when choosing what he ate. It is pretty bad when we have to tell people what they can and cannot eat because they don't have the mental means to figure it out themselves.

LittleLuLu 5-10-2008 @ 10:01PM

HARDY'S CHARBROILED HAMBERGERS ARE THE BEST !!!!!!!!!.NOTHING LIKE EM

LtCurry 5-10-2008 @ 10:03PM

Quizno's has some of the worst sandwitches as far as Fat and Salt content. I agree they are good, but there sandwitches rate alwas in the top 5 for trans fats and cholesterol raising junk in them. And one Sandwitch has upwards of 5,000 calories in a 6 incher. I forget, i just read the label after i purchased it, LOL./ But they sure taste good, so you are screwed no matter aht you do.

balullu09 5-10-2008 @ 10:09PM

it said he ate subway, and at other fast food places. did anyone else ever think that he probably pretty much just ate subway, which is much healthier than mcdonalds, burger king, or wendy's. especially if you get no cheese or mayo.

donna giamo 5-10-2008 @ 10:12PM

It's not quantaty it's quality my dear. What kind of shape are your organs in? How many wrinkles do you have? Did your diet trigger your cancer genes yet? Real "fresh" food was designed by nature to maintain the health and wellbeing of our body and mind. This is about all the essential vitamins, minerals and enzymes required for health and longevity.

george 5-10-2008 @ 10:15PM

I hate these stories and all of you dudley do-rights who bash fast food restaurants all the time. But , I gotta tell ya I quit eating lunch which 75% of the consisted of 2 Mcd's dbl cheeseburgers , and cut back on my dinner portions and I have lost about 35 lbs in less than 3 months. Oh yeah I cut way back on sodas and tea too.

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