Popular Fad Diets: The Subway Diet

Jared Fogle popularized the Subway Diet when he lost 245 pounds while chowing down on a Subway sandwich, twice each day, almost seven days each week. If we can believe the media buzz on Jared, he was transformed himself from an obese couch potato, weighing 425 pounds to a fit 180 who took daily walks … all while eating at Subway.

Jared’s Subway Diet Menu

While a college student (Indiana University) Fogle, in his incarnation as Obese Jared, dropped by a Subway and ordered a sandwich. Thinking it was quite yummy, he established a routine:

Breakfast: none

Lunch: a Subway sandwich with a diet soda and baked potato chips

Dinner: a Subway sandwich with a diet soda and baked potato chips

Since he walked from his college apartment, and ate nothing but the menu above, naturally he began to lose weight. Subway has a "light" menu and so his calorie count dropped to about 900 calories per day with his sandwich meals. And he ate nothing else.

Result? According to Jared Fogle, he lost 100 pounds in about three months, which is an amazing achievement for sure.

No one can seriously claim that eating fast food is a healthy menu, especially when many fast food meals are greasy burgers & fries, washed down with a high calorie soda or milkshake. And the Subway diet menu is definitely not a healthy one. It’s way too monotonous and leaves out entire necessary food groups. Still, as a short-term diet, especially for a person as young as Fogle, it’s a better alternative than weighing in at a monstrous 425.

When the Subway chain heard about his story, he was featured on commercials everywhere as the man who lost 245 pounds, which is surely an impressive achievement no matter how it’s achieved. He was spokesman for the Subway diet "light and healthy" line. This fad diet has faded somewhat since the Subway chain no longer promotes Jared Fogle. Still, it’s an interesting footnote in dieting history and the Subway diet manu definitely improved his life – and perhaps the lives of many others.