http://www.freep.com/features/food/mcdonalds11e_20050711.htm July 11, 2005 BY VICKI CHENG RALEIGH NEWS & OBSERVER There are many reasons Merab Morgan decided in April to eat nothing but McDonald's fast food for 90 days. There's her weakness for the Filet-O-Fish, slathered with tartar sauce and cheese. And there was that documentary, "Super Size Me," which she thought insulted the intelligence of fat people by implying that they couldn't resist the offer of a gargantuan portion for a few cents extra. But mainly, the 35-year-old Henderson, N. C., woman concocted this unorthodox diet for herself -- she's memorized the calories in almost every menu item, and limits herself to 1,400 calories a day -- because it fits her life. At a cost of $9 to $11 for three meals, the single mother of two can afford it. She travels throughout the Raleigh area working construction jobs, and she has never failed to find a McDonald's somewhere. The whole process of ordering and eating a meal takes maybe 5 minutes, and she mostly eats in her car. Sometimes she hits the drive-through only once, ordering enough food to last the whole day. "It's kind of like the poor man's diet," said Morgan, who has tried Weight Watchers and Atkins but failed because of the time and money those plans required. She logged onto www.eDiets.com but lied to the computer about her weight, then gave up when a chicken recipe called for ingredients she didn't have at home. Since April 22, when Morgan launched her diet with a Sausage Burrito and a medium Diet Coke, she's lost 33 pounds, putting her at about 195 pounds. At 5 feet, 9 inches tall, she's dropped from a size 22 or 24 to a size 15. The size 2X and 3X T-shirts she used to wear look like dresses on her. And despite her friends' fears about skyrocketing cholesterol, she feels great. Barry Popkin, director of the Interdisciplinary Obesity Center at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and a professor of nutrition and public health, has studied the relationship between large fast-food portions and the obesity epidemic. Eating only at McDonald's isn't healthy, he said. He worries that Morgan will need more vitamins, minerals, fiber and dairy. But on the plus side, she's doing a good job of limiting her calories and, consequently, she's losing weight. "She's created, for her lifestyle, a very smart diet," Popkin said. "The moral of the story for every person is, you've got to work out a plan that fits your lifestyle. ... I really admire her restraint. The problem is, it's a lifetime issue." Morgan dreams of becoming the McDonald's Corp.'s Jared Fogle, the Subway weight-loss poster boy. She figures she might as well find a way to make some money from the experience. So she's been faithfully documenting her diet, stapling receipts in a spiral-bound notebook and propping up her Sony Handycam on the dash, filming herself at each meal. She's been courting the attention of local newspapers and TV stations, inviting reporters to her home and to the McDonald's/Citgo gas station in Henderson, where she picks up many of her meals. Still, she knows about McDonald's Unsolicited Idea Policy. "We love you, my public. But unless you're a franchise owner, we appreciate all your good ideas, but keep them to yourself," Morgan paraphrased. Morgan's goal is to lose 40 to 60 pounds. By Day 67, she had lost 33. Nothing at the restaurant is off limits, although she's only eaten french fries twice -- you're better off eating two cheeseburgers, she said. It hasn't been easy. She'd been consuming about 3,500 calories a day, and cutting that down to a third left her feeling hungry for the first few weeks. Morgan doesn't have a recommendation for others who might want to try the diet. "I think other people should do what works for them," she said.
Sweet holy-moly. Can you imagine what this woman was eating before that she is getting healthier by switching to McDonald's!
The article says it all, she never gets fries and most likely drinks diet soda. The meals aren't healthy in the nutrional sense if you do it that way, but it significantly reduces the amount of carbohydrates, sodium, and saturated fats. If you keep the caloric intake at a reasonable level and avoid things like fries, sodas, and cookies/sundaes/etc there is no reason you shouldn't lose weight eating McDonalds. You'd better be taking a multivitamin though.
As if everything at McDonald's is unhealthy. I eat at Wendy's for lunch almost every day now. I eat the same thing so often that they usually have it ready for me as I get in line : Fruit Bowl + side salad w/ low fat honey mustard.
McDonalds used to publish a healthy eating pamphlet. Gave you breakfast, lunch and dinner suggestions. Of course they suggested the salads and healthy eating items, which, in reality, no one ever orders. The big knock on their food (and all fast food) is the salt. But...man...if you ever want to be turned off eating...limit yourself to the McBlahh menu for 90 days. No wonder she's losing weight!
Well of course if you restrict your body to 1,400 calories a day, you'll lose weight. Duh. That doesn't mean you're getting the nutrients and vitamins you need. Stupid ****ing woman.
I thought this, too. There's a difference between... a) using a short-term fix to lose weight b) changing your eating habits to be healthy, fit and in good shape. Usually people like this woman fall off the diet and balloon up bigger than they were before.
After watching Super Size Me, how can she even eat that crap. I mean that Dude was killing himself in just 30 days.
Stupid woman my foot, you don't think there is a tiny chance if she can drop some more weight there might be a lucrative Mickey D's endorsement in this?
I'm on the DJ Tanner "skip dinner and pass out after 30 seconds of running on the stairmaster" diet...
Eventually she'll run out of fat soluble vitamins and look like an old 50 year old hag with liver problems. We're rooting for your 15 minutes, stupid girl.
How can she eat that crap? Damn I don't know about you, but after watching that horsesh!t documentary I got a craving for a two hamburger combo. Damn good. And that documentary was horse**** because there ain't no dumb**** in this country that goes to McDonald's 3 times for 30 days. Yes a lot of people go there waaaayyy more than they should (see above), but the documentary was an overhyped, skewed view of an overhyped obesity 'epidemic' that is 'plaguing' this country. Or maybe I feel that cuz I'm 6'1" and 135lbs, haha. Well I sure know where I'm going for dinner tonight!
