Pass the fries, mom! A science teacher proves that it’s ok to eat fast food everyday…as long as you watch the calories!
John Cisna didn’t plan to become a dieting super star or some kind of weight loss coach. All he wanted to do was teach kids about making logical (and healthy) choices. John, a high school teacher and coach in Iowa, became the subject of a classroom project to see if you could eat McDonald’s and still be healthy.
I caught up with John as he visited St. Louis on a speaking tour, and found out that part of his inspiration for an all McDonald’s diet was to disprove the 2004 film, Super Size Me. You might remember that in Super Size Me, independent film maker Morgan Spurlock ate nothing but McDonald’s for 30 days…and got fat. John likes to tell his audiences that it’s our choices that matter–Spurlock consumed an average of 5000 calories every day! So naturally, he gained weight.
John said that most people only remember that Spurlock got fat eating McDonald’s, so they believe that fast food must be bad for you. They don’t remember the massive quantities that Spurlock ate! Naturally, if you eat more calories than you can burn off, you’ll gain weight. But what if you stick to your healthy choices? What if you only eat 2000 calories, watch the fats, get enough protein and do a little exercise on the side? What happens then?
So John volunteered to be a guinea pig for three of his biology students as they planned 90 days of McDonald’s that strictly followed the FDA nutritional guide lines–and stayed within the recommended 2000 calorie diet for an average adult. They choose McDonald’s as their food source because it was convenient for the experiment, and McDonald’s website has a handy nutrition guide they could use to track their teacher’s diet.
John admitted he needed a lifestyle change anyway. At 55 years old and 280 pounds, he was overweight and out of shape. He was once a college athlete, and though he coach high school sports, somewhere along the line, his love of food got the better of him.
After 90 days of carefully planned fast food John lost around 30 pounds! A check up with his doctor found that he was not just losing weight, but getting healthier too! So he let the kids continue to plan his McDonald’s diet for another 90 days. He ate 540 McDonald’s meals during the experiment.
John lost a total of 56 pounds, caught the attention of national media and McDonald’s. The fast food giant has since made him their healthy choice ambassador and is sending him around the country to speak to students about good nutrition. They’ve also helped him turn his story into a documentary, which John hopes to get into every school library!
He likes to tell students that no food is bad. If you like chocolate cake, then eat chocolate cake–just don’t eat the whole cake! No food, not even greasy fast food, is evil. You just have to make the right choices! And that’s a tip we should all take to heart.
And if you’re wondering, he didn’t just eat salads! He said a typical day would start with Egg White Delights and oatmeal for breakfast, a salad at lunch, and a value meal–yes, with fries–for dinner. He stuck to diet soda to keep the calories in check, and drank plenty of water. His students worked him through the whole McDonald’s menu, and he never skipped the special sauce! The key was keeping the day under 2000 calories and meeting the FDA nutritional guidelines.
