Congratulations to Jared, the Subway guy, on ten years of successful maintenance!

His story is in an article in today's Washington Post: Subway's Biggest Loser

Rena Wing, one of the directors of the National Weight Control Registry, had this to say:

(emphasis added)

I never thought of myself as a "triple digit loser" before!

Thinking some more about Jared ...

... what's interesting to me is that he broke several major diet "rules", yet here he is, ten years later, maintaining a 200+ pound weight loss. Which just leads me to conclude that the "rules" may not be so right after all!

Rules Jared broke:

1. He kept his calories very low. He started at 1500 calories per day, which most people would agree is very low for a man weighing over 400 pounds. We have female members here who weigh less and eat far more calories per day.

2. He lost the weight very fast. In the first month, he lost 30 pounds and by the end of three months, he was down 94 pounds. That's far more than the "safe" rate of 1 - 2 pounds per week.

3. His diet had no variety. He literally ate the same thing every day.

But it worked and he's kept the weight off for ten years. So much for "rules" predicting maintenance success.

Hmmm... a triple digit loser? No, can't say I ever thought of myself (or any of us here) in those terms either. But gosh, when you think about it that's A LOT of weight we've lost. Pretty outstanding if I do say so myself.

I never realized Jared was over 400 lbs. Talk about outstanding! His story really is something. It was an interesting read. Thanks for sharing.

As far as his breaking some major rules, just goes to show you, when you're really determined to do something, anything "works". I know for sure though, that for me, his solution could not have been mine. It's not the repetiveness of his food that would have done me in, it would be eating only the 2 meals. I couldn't do it. I wouldn't do it. And there's no need to.

I say, good for him. His done outstanding - 10 years!!!! Good for him. And on top of it, he's made himself quite the career. More power to him!

Wish we could get him here at 3FC.

Okay, now I've been thinking about Jared some more. A lot in fact.

I still firmly believe that the "safe" rate of weight loss, 1 -2 lbs per week, does not pertain to the morbidly obese. Although his was REALLY speedy, but then again, he's a man, but still. I wonder though, when "they" speak of "safe", is it because they think if you lose quickly that you are not getting enough nutrients? I think that's what it may be. But when you used to eat sooo much and now for the first time, you're eating a normal amount & getting in your required amount of nutirents, you are creating a huge deficit, hence the quicker rate of loss.

As far as his repetiveness, I will say that I eat a lot of the same foods, but most certainly not to his extreme. I love to cook, probably because I love to eat good food and I am willing and able to cook. And of course I have a family. But hey, he was a college student. I'm pretty much thinking he's not doing too much cooking. What he did makes a lot of sense, for him that is.

It really is good to hear of a big loser maintaining their weight for so long. I think it's great that he's out there and people get to hear his story.

Robin, can you tell me more about what you mean by you don't think 1-2 lb is good for the morbidly obese? I'm curious because everyone around (incl. my doctor) is saying, don't lose too fast etc....but I'm tending to disagree. When I eat right and exercise I am losing weight "too quickly" by the industry standard of only 1-2 lbs. per week. But, heck what am I supposed to do? Eat More?? According to fitday - I need to eat 2700 calories to lose 2 lbs. per week. (that's not including any additional calories burned by exercise). Sorry, but that is just too many calories!!! I like to aim for 1600-1800. Is there another thread somewhere that covers this?

Thanks,
Ginger

Ginger, I didn't say that I don't think 1 -2 lb is good for the morbidly obese. I think 1 -2 is absolutely wonderful in fact.

What I did say is it and what I meant is that when you are morbidly obese, from everything that I have seen and heard, the weight DOES come off faster and with no negative affects (hey, that's one of the advantages of being mobidly obese ), provided of course you are eating enough calories and taking in enough nutrients. I really think, and I am no doctor or expert on anyone or anything, though quite frankly I don't think most doctors know exactly what to do with and how to treat the morbidly obese sadly enough as far as weight loss goes, the reason for the caution of to lose no more then 2 lbs per week is so people don't eat too few calories and therefore get too few nutrients. But again, when the morbidly obese starts eating properly, provided that they are indeed getting the proper nutrients, they are creating a bigger deficit then average sized people, so therefore the weight comes off faster. And that's okay. So I think that the caution to not lose more then 1 - 2 lbs per week is to safeguard and rightfully so, against people using "extreme" measures (too few calories/nutrients to lose weight.

Boy, what a repetive post. Fitday is great for tracking calories. But all their calculators are well, not as great, IMO. Anyway, if you are happy with what you are doing, then more power to you! Nothing beats trial and error and figuring out what works for you. You are doing great. Congratulations on your weight loss and I wish you continued success.

Granted my theories are my own with no studies to back it up.

I agree that the 1-2 lb limit is probably not valid for the morbidly obese. I also think it is probably too high for the normal weight losers. I set a 2 lb/wk goal for myself when I was obese, 1-1.5 when I was overweight and now I consider 1 lb the upper limit for me. It makes me sad to see healthy weight people being upset that they cant hit 2 lbs per week.

I think it is also a matter of weighing risks and options. Jared may now have to maintain his weight on a lower calorie level than he would have if he had eaten 2000 calories and lost the weight slower. However, the health risk he was at, losing the initial weight quickly was probably the most beneficial to his health. He didnt have time to lose it slowly, and for many people it is easier to make radical changes than "small incremental" changes that are always touted (There you go Meg.."rule" # 4 that he broke). Nothing is a better motivator than success...that is why maintenance is so hard...it requires small changes and a redefinition of success to something a little less gratifying.

While the thought of eating subway twice a week let alone twice a day makes me shudder...I do think this is something to remember when people are struggling with being used to a level of non cooking convenience from fast food, that you dont HAVE to become a wholefoodgourmetmakeitfromscratch **** to be successful.

I heard a good rule to go by is aim for 1% a week. So for most people that equates to 1-2 pounds a week. For a morbidly obese person it would be more a week, I am losing about 2-3 puonds a week but that is right on par for my current body weight. Eitherway has seemed like a good rule for me to follow

I agree Meg Jared did break a lot of rules when dieting of course I probably wouldn't want to go that route just simply because of the sodium. Subway still generally has more sodium then most things you make at home, but hey if it works for him and he is healthy then good for him

Robin,

I totally get what you are saying..I didn't mean to imply you didn't think 1-2 lbs was good...I just didn't quite word that the way I intended! I completely agree with you that yes, the morbidly obese can lose weight faster with no side effects (which is why I am disagreeing with my Dr. about rate of weight loss) because I firmly agree too that most Dr.'s aren't quite sure how to cope with the morbidly obese.

Thanks for your kind words! I have just started using fitday and learning it's ins/outs. It was great for the wake-up call that I was in fact eating too many calories and hence why I stalled in March, and so far it's keeping me motivated to keep track of what I am eating. I hoping for a more successful April!

Cheers,
Ginger

Gotcha Ginger. But yeah, it's a shame there aren't more Drs or professionals who are more capbable of guiding the very overweight. Unless of course they're recommending Weight Loss Surgery. So, I guess we're on our own for the most part . But we'll get there - and stay there. We'll show those doctors a thing or two, won't we ?

Sounds like you're on track for a great April!!! Accountability, setting our limits, tracking our food intake (calories) is SOOOO very vital. Keep at it, just keep going. Remember, we've got some Drs. to show a thing or 2 to.

And ennay, I couldn't agree with you more. While I think losing 1 - 2 lbs or even more is perfectly reasonable and attainable (if so desired) for the morbidly obese, I think that number IS quite a reach for the "average" (whatever THAT means) loser.

Very rapid weight loss can have side effects like hair loss, gallstones, and heart problems like mitral valve prolapse. How fast is too fast, is still in debate.

Jared's success is phenomenal, and I'm not trying to diminish it in any way, but part of the reason he may have been so successful despite "breaking the rules," could very well be the celebrity status he received as a result. It cannot be discounted anyway.

"by the end of three months, he was down 94 pounds"

Holy... WOW!

I also agree on the 1% thing. While I only lost about 2.5 a week most of the time it's because I was closely monitoring my deficit. You probably should be monitored by a doctor more closely though. I expect to see my loss slow down a bit as I reach the last 1/3 of the weight.

The Gallstone thing isn't just from losing fast / VLC diets it's more so VLC diets with very low fat or so my doctor told me anyway. I had them from previous weight loss attempts which is why I choose to stick around 2lb a week and make sure I had healthy fats in there. They didn't come back this time so far and it's been almost a year.

I think it's great he kept it off this long. We are all overweight for different reasons so it doesn't surprise me that breaking rules works for some people. Although I do have to say that if he ate the same thing every single day he most likely has some nutritional deficiencies, but he's probably also a lot healthier in general then at 400+... trade off I guess...

Does anyone remember when Jared was first recognized by the media, before he was an official spokesperson for Subway? Subway sent out a press release and included a statement by Subway's dietitian stating they did not recommend his method of weight loss, and pointed out how they wished he had eaten more food, including more vegetables.

We had linked to the press release for a long time so everyone could read it. However, they removed it after deciding to cash in on Jared's diet.

No, but it CAN help!

I have read Jared's book twice. It is a good read, if you can overlook the commercialism (product placement, whatever you want to call it). I get jealous at times, wondering what was it about my journey that made me successful, that could make me some money out of it?

Enough of that. The reason he has been successful at keeping the weight off, in my opinion, is he is in the spotlight. While we may have our friends, family, co-workers cheering us on, he has a nation. He has a public image to uphold. His face is plastered all over the Subway stores. He is a motivational speaker, and does the commercials. He can't afford to put the weight back on.