14 DAY TRIAL // Early in 2014, one science teacher from Iowa was making headlines all around the world after admitting that he’d been on an all-McDonald’s diet for the past 6 months, and contrary to what people had warned him, he’d actually lost a lot of weight.
The goal of the experiment, which was made possible with help from a local McDonald’s operator but without official endorsement from the company, was to prove that it’s not Mickey D that gets us fat, but the choices we make when we visit their establishments - or any other establishment of the kind, for that matter.
The teacher, named John Cesna, is now a brand ambassador for McDonald’s, the company reveals for ABC News.
“You can eat any food that you want to”
In total, Cesna lost about 60 pounds (27.2 kg) while on his McDonald’s diet, throughout 6 months. Considering his accomplishment, but particularly the kind of media attention it generated, it’s no wonder the company jumped at the chance to sign him as their ambassador.
Right now, Cesna still works as a science teacher, but he’s also getting paid for appearances on behalf of the company. However, he doesn’t appear listed as a McDonald’s employee, which helps him retain his credibility for his weight loss story.
“You can eat any food that you want to - but it's calories in and calories out,” he says of the unique diet plan he came up with. “Enjoy the food like they were meant to be.”
The science of an all-McDonald’s diet
If you were already making plans on what to order from your local McDonald’s the moment you’re done reading this, hold on just a moment: this might sound like the ideal diet plan for someone who simply can’t stay away from junk food, but it’s not as simple as it sounds.
It’s true, Cesna didn’t buy any groceries during the 6 months, eating breakfast, lunch and dinner at the junk food restaurant, but that doesn’t mean that he got to pig out - and lose weight to boot!
He ate about 100 items off the menu in all possible combinations, but he always read the nutritional information for each, calculating calories and making sure his daily intake didn’t top 2,000 calories in total, thus allowing him to lose weight. He kept an eye on other nutritional guidelines as well, such as salt and saturated fats content of the foods he ordered.
In addition to that, he also walked or worked out for 45 minutes a day, this way burning the extra calories and losing weight.
This doesn’t sound as much fun as it did initially, does it? The bottom line is that Cesna ate mostly salads and the lighter calorie items, which also happen to be the most expensive. He worked out regularly and he was being mindful of every morsel that passed his lips and entered his body.
Weight loss was to be expected. You could practically do this with any type of diet you want, and chances are you will be seeing similar results.