Say, 'the Subway Guy' and most Americans will immediately think of Jared Fogle, the guy who lost over 200 lbs. eating nothing but Subway and coffee for one year. Weird, certainly. A pop culture icon, possibly. A joke, most definitely NOT.
I had the pleasure of speaking with Jared on the phone a couple of weeks ago. For those who don't know his story:
Jared was a 6'2", 20 year old college student at Indiana University who weighed 425 lbs and wore a size 60 pant. He had been overweight since the age of 8. Up until that point he had been a regular active kid, he played little league and basketball...he can trace the weight gain back to receiving the gift every 8 year boy dreams of--Nintendo. Within 1-2 years Jared was completely inactive, no longer involved in sports, and engrossed in the video game culture of of the day, all the while hooked on 24-7 junk food.
Jared's breaking point came when he was diagnosed with some heavy duty health conditions. He was diagnosed with Sleep Apnea and Edema and was told he may not live to see age 35. It was literally a 'do or die' situation. For a couple of months Jared made half-hearted attempts to lose weight, but struggled with the discipline and plan to fit into his lifestyle. Subway was right next door to Jared's apartment, and he ate there frequently. After seeing the 7 sandwiches under 6 grams of fat, he thought he'd give it a try, after all he hadn't been successful with anything else.
What exactly Jared ate:
Breakfast: Coffee
Lunch: 6-inch turkey sub, tons of veggies, including hot peppers and a bit of spicy mustard. NO mayo, or cheese. He also had a bag of Baked Lays potato chips and a diet soda to drink.
Dinner: Footlong veggie sub. NO mayo/cheese. Diet drink.
In 3 months Jared literally had lost 94 pounds (he lost a middle school kid in 3 months!). This success inspired him to keep going, after had lost about 100 pounds he added a daily walk. And in just less than a year he reached his goal of weighing 190 pounds. Yeah, you read that right, Jared Fogle lost 235 pounds in less than one year.
So, he lost the weight and instantly became famous, right? WRONG-O. Jared would have just been any other 'former fat guy' had it not been for several serendipitous events...it went something like this: a guy who knew Jared wrote an article for the college newspaper about Jared's weight loss, which was seen by a alumnus from Indiana U. who included the story in an article he wrote for Men's Health about, "Crazy Diets that Work", from there some regional guys from Subway in Chicago read the article and set out to tracked down Jared to do a regional commercial, national Subway wasn't interested at first...well, you know the rest....
The real story isn't just about the weight loss, because really, with all the surgeries and options available these days most people can find a way to lose weight....keeping if off becomes the real 800 pound gorilla in the room. The fact is, Jared has maintained his weight loss for ten years now. TEN YEARS! I asked Jared how he has stayed motivated all these years and he told me initially it was a fantasy, a dream goal to someday be under 200 pounds, as he saw more and more success (through becoming less and less of his former self) he was motivated to work harder and obtain and maintain that healthy weight. Today his greatest inspiration is meeting other people and hearing their stories and the successes they have achieved with their own weight loss. Hearing the successes of real people he has met everywhere from Oprah to Larry King to Montel to the guy on the street keeps him going.
I also asked Jared what it really was about Subway/ the Subway diet that made it work for him...he told me he felt like he needed something easy yet disciplined, something he had 'utter control' over. With the diet there were no uncertainties, no guessing games, he knew down to the exact calorie what he was consuming each day. As he put it, it was 'easy discipline'--it tasted good, it was fast food, it was easy and it made him 'feel like a human being.' Even today Jared still eats at Subway a couple of times a week.
You may not have known this, but Jared travels up to 200 days a year! For those of you who have never lived out of a suitcase, well, there's a reason those suitcases are so big and a reason they invented seatbelt extenders on airplanes (living 'on the road is hard, and fattening unless one is very astute)...yet Jared has learned how to stay in control and live at a very healthy weight. According to Jared the number one thing he does is 'keep his portions in line', he doesn't deny himself food; for instance Jared says if he wants steak, no problem, but he will only order a lean cut and a 6 oz. cut at that, not 14. What's sad is that many restaurants will parade their 14 oz. cut as their petite cut...but that's another story for another day... Jared's other eating tips are to always pay attention to the quantity of food you are eating, order your dressing on the side, try to avoid fried food, and just make sensible decisions. If he is struggling he can always find a Subway and he knows just what to order.
Jared's workout routine has not strayed much from the days of the diet. He still tries to get in a daily walk, but he said he had to be honest, that he has found it's much easier for him to control the food than to stick to a demanding exercise routine. Today he still weighs around 190 pounds, like anyone he may go up or down a couple, but he gives himself only a 5-7 pound limit. He does not regularly weigh himself, but goes instead by clothing fit, making sure to stay in his slim cut size 34 pants.
These days, Jared, who recently divorced, spends his days working on his life's passion--fighting childhood obesity. In fact, he has recently set up a foundation, The Jared Foundation. It's a nonprofit that works to fight childhood obesity. Their main thrust is to develop programs with measurable results geared toward elementary school children (ages 6-12).
Jared knows something about working with kids, one of the opportunities he's been afforded these past few years has been to visit hundreds of schools on behalf of Subway Restaurants, giving talks on fitness and healthy eating. Currently he is traveling the country on a Tour de Pants. No, he's not training for the Tour de France, he's actually showing off a real-life pair of size 60 pants he use to wear. The purpose of the tour is to recognize that Jared has kept the weight off for 10 years now with the hopes of inspiring others to join him in a healthy/healthier lifestyle. The pants will be retired to a museum at the end of the tour (they are looking at the American Pop Culture Museum now--maybe Jared's pants will be wedged between a pop rock exhibit and Prince's raspberry beret).
Speaking of it being 10 years of keeping off the weight, I asked Jared how it felt to see himself featured in a commercial during the Super Bowl, being congratulated by some of the countries most-recognizable, top athletes? He said it was one of those moments that's a little more than 'surreal'! Which makes me wonder how he felt the other night on Saturday Night Live? In case you missed it, I have the video embedded on an earlier post, SNL Micahel Phelps Diet. Jared was featured in a 'commercial' for the 12,000 calorie/day Michael Phelps Diet, perfectly offering his critique, "I know a little something about diets...and this diet sucks, a FOOTLONG"! He rocked it! Way to go Jared!
Jared also wrote a book a few years back that I have provided the Amazon link for below. If you would like more information about Jared's real passion, fighting childhood obesity, please click on this link for The Jared Foundation.
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