Morgan Spurlock probably carefully calculated what his dietary plan at McDonald's would do to him when he began his documentary "Super Size Me." Fast food became the new evil that was to blame for America's obesity.
That's much easier than, perhaps, putting the blame where it belongs: on the eating, thinking human being who could plan meals and actually stop eating when necessary.
Now an AP report has found a woman who has actually lost weight eating at McDonald's.
Inspired by the documentary "Super Size Me," Merab Morgan decided to give a fast-food-only diet a try. The construction worker and mother of two ate only at McDonald's for 90 days — and dropped 37 pounds in the process.
It was a vastly different outcome than what happened in the documentary to filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, who put on 30 pounds and saw his health deteriorate after 5,000 calories a day of nothing but McDonald's food.
Morgan, from Raleigh, thought the documentary had unfairly targeted the world's largest restaurant company, implying that the obese were victims of a careless corporate giant. People are responsible for what they eat, she said, not restaurants. The problem with a McDonald's-only diet isn't what's on the menu, but the choices made from it, she said.
Apparently, Spurlock isn't quite as interested in documenting the truth as marketing himself into a better socio-economic class.
Spurlock, who turned his surprise-hit movie into a TV show on the FX network, isn't talking about Morgan or the many other McDieters who have criticized his film and found success losing weight by eating healthy foods off the McDonald's menu, said his publicist, David Magdael.
Morgan isn't the only one who lost weight either.
One person went so far as to make her own independent film about dieting at McDonald's. "Me and Mickey D" follows Soso Whaley, of Kensington, N.H., as she spends three 30-day periods on the diet. She dropped from 175 to 139 pounds, eating 2,000 calories-a-day at McDonald's.
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Article comments
1 - Mark Sahm
It's only natural that people want to blame the fast food for their lack of willpower.
But it really depends on metabolism and how much you work out: if you train like Lance Armstrong every day, you could eat the Spurlock-McD diet and really not gain that much weight since you burn everything off.
2 - Purple Tigress
I guess the problem then is that people are convinced they do work out like Lance Armstrong when they are eating.
3 - Mark Sahm
Most people would be shocked to learn how hard it is to really burned 500 calories off, even when they think they're working hard.
4 - Tan The Man
Blame Bush. Add this to an already long list.
5 - dietdoc
Purple Tigress writes: "I'm surprised that McDonald's isn't funding some of these people but perhaps, in the end, the hard truth won't market"
Reply: Then, the results would have that "Well, McDonald's funded it; sure it was going to have positive results!" cynicism. I think these anecdotes, and that is all they really are, carry more weight without corporate backing. [pun intended]
It does come down to a critical balance between intake minus output. They are a lot of individual contributing factors (genetcis, dietary fat content, BMR, etc.) and self-control is surely one of them.
Americans, by nature, always want someone or something to blame for everything.
Cheers,
Ron
6 - Victor Lana
I think this article is great because it shines light on a fallacy that WHERE you eat makes you fat. This is utter lunacy. WHAT you eat makes you fat.
So, you can eat in the finest restaurant in town and overdo it every day and become overweight.
Sensible eating involves moderation. This article proves that. Bravo!
7 - alienboy
I am also dieting but not the McDonald's diet as there are none readily available.
I use my own invention, the Tapas Diet, in which you can eat anything you want but only in Tapas dish sized portions.
It's not always easy to stick to though, as can be seen in my diet blog All I Ate Today
8 - Aaman
YOu're eating all over the food spectrum, I see, Alienboy - are you sure this diet wasn't designed by a 13-year old?:)
You should put up a graph on the right showing your weight change. Also, I assume you're checking all vital functions - weight alone isn't an indicator of health.
9 - Purple Tigress
Dietdoc:
I was thinking of all those Subway commercials, of course.
But who knows what will happen before the year is out!
10 - KYS
Since "Supersize Me" emerged there has been a great deal of water cooler discussion about how the fast-food market effects the low-income population. This is evidence that we all have choices, and we need to consider how they impact our heath. Education and personal responsibility
are the keys. Great post!
11 - Natalie Davis
I think both films can be beneficial. SSM shows the dangers of the average junk-food junkie's lifestyle. Me and Mickey D shows that making healthy choices from the items among the McDonalds menu -- opting to eat salads rather than Big Macs, say -- can offer benefits when combined with exercise. Sadly, there are those who don't realize that a Big Mac, eaten regularly, is just asking for a heart attack down the road. McDonalds isn't in business to worry about our waistlines or cholesterol levels. If people want 600-calorie sandwiches and the equivalent of three potatoes soaked in grease, they have the right to choose that, and Ronald and friends have the right to meet that demand. The responsibility for an individual's obesity clearly lies with the individual, who always has the option to choose something else.
Bottom line: If one wants to lose weight and eat under the golden arches, skip the fries, those wondrously crisp and salty missiles of death; pass on the soda and choose water instead; and take a walk around the park.
12 - alienboy
Hi Aaman,
Well, I was 13 once but this diet is just that of a normal person trying to get by.
I don't know how to construct a graph within a blog and don't think it would really be that interesting, but I weigh myself every Sunday morning and post it to the blog.
I don't monitor any other body functions as I feel my general health is pretty good, I just want to be a slimmer me.
13 - Purple Tigress
Alienboy:
As a diet journal, I don't think your blog does so well.
When I was dieting to lose 10 lbs., which for me was a lot of weight, I monitored:
1. Amount of each item
2. Calculated calories for each meal
3. Listed exercise for that day
4. Took vitamins
5. Made sure I had a helping of calcium-rich food each meal.
6. Made sure I had something high in vitamin C for each meal.
7. Force myself to have something high in vitamin A
8. Vitamin D takes care of itself since I was outside every day.
9. B vitamins were taken care of with whole grains.
10. I had low blood pressure and monitored my heart rate.
I was also cycling to school each day as well as taking a physical activity class.
You don't mention what kind of physical activities you are involved in.
Also a handful of crackers is sort of meaningless since it could mean anywhere from three to 10.
I actually posted something about dieting on my blog because I was so happy that Atkins had filed for bankruptcy and so tired of being questioned by dieters. I will probably post a revised version here later.
14 - Floris Vermeir
Sorry if that is already being said, but doesn't it depend on your genes, and things like that for a part as well ? I used easily to eat 4 mc chickens regulary and it doesn't make a difference.
It looks intresting to see both, and compare them.
15 - Natalie Davis
Genetics certainly can play a role, as can a person's metabolic rate. When I was 25, I could eat pretty much what I wanted and burn it off. That changed after I started having kids and after hitting middle age. Now it's all about boosting the metabolism. So I choose not to do the McDonalds/fast-food route -- one, because I'm not a fan (Asian and Middle Eastern fare are my things) and two, because the idea of a 600-calorie sandwich is, for me, a foolish one on most occasions. (And if I am going to indulge my once- or twice-yearly hamburger craving, it's gotta be a Cheeburger Cheeburger.)
16 - Purple Tigress
Genetics is one component, however, this does not explain why most Americans are overweight and why this trend is increasing. It also does not explain why Chinese in Shanghai and Beijing are overweight as well. They estimate 16 to 20 percent. They consider the main problem to be unhealthy lifestyles.
The trend is also found in developing nations, but it varies whether the obese are among the wealthy or the lower income.
Notice that Praween Agrawal of the International Institute of Population Sciences also blames fast foods.
I also saw a study on television about a research project where subjects were brought in supposedly to taste test different things like cookies and ice cream.The study subject was left alone and told to taste a cookie. Overweight and dieting subjects tended to take more than one cookie although surely one would have been enough. Further, in other test situations, they left the subject with a person who would continue to eat whatever food they were supposedly taste testing, such as ice cream. Overweight and dieting subjects tended to continue eating as long as the other person was eating or stop eating when the other person did. The normal weight who were reportedly not dieting stopped after eating the minimum. Their behavior was not dependent on the other person's behavior.
Their research pointed to habits and social behavior as another aspect that separates the overweight from the normal weight person.
17 - Open Opinion
The thing about people today is when they are sitting at a Fast Food place (like Mcdonalds) they say "oh look theres diets!". But what they dont get is they are getting tricked into buying something fattening by getting a deal on a large fry