Posted on 02/19/2005 11:02:55 AM PST by freedom44
Les Sayer hasn't cheated on his McDonald's-only diet. Not an apple, an orange, a cantaloupe or grapes in 17 days. Sayer, a teacher at NorQuest College and Metro Continuing Education, wanted to drive home the point to students that Morgan Spurlock's documentary, Supersize Me, was an opinion piece. He said he could eat McDonald's food for a month and lose weight, not gain it.
"The main reason for doing this is because my students thought (Supersize Me) was an objective piece," the 39-year-old Sayer said yesterday.
Sixteen days into the diet, Sayer says he's lost 13 pounds - he's down to 222 pounds from his 235 - and his blood pressure has dropped to 134/73 from 136/88.
His secret? One hour in the gym doing cardiovascular exercise and weight training five to six times weekly.
"The big surprise for me was the blood pressure."
Sayer has steadily chowed down on Big Macs, Bacon and Egg McMuffins and Chicken McNuggets.
"The magic here is in the exercise," he said. "The average Joe doesn't exercise."
Sayer said he's not being paid by McDonald's nor is he affiliated with the fast-food giant. But he said he has caught a lot of flak for taking on the diet.
"Some people are upset because they think I'm pandering to a huge, large corporation," he said.
"It's not McDonald's food that's unhealthy. It's the lifestyle you lead."
Sayer said the main message is that you should eat and enjoy a variety of foods as long as you exercise.
Ruth West, a registered dietitian at the Grey Nuns Hospital, said people who want to lose weight should be eating a variety of foods to benefit from all nutrients.
West said Sayer is likely expending more energy than he's consuming.
Yeah, but if liberals were to admit that, then the responsibility on obesity would be on individuals, not the despised large corporations. Can't have that now, can we?
Great story...
He'll never teach in the Ivy League with that attitude.
Wow! More sanity on the net! If this keeps up, we may be on our way back toward a sane society.
Wonderful how this man is talking the talk and walking the walk. He is doing the same thing the early scientists did: Demonstrating objective reality.
You're having a better time at dieting than I am. I started exercising 2 wks ago and back on portion control eating. Went to emergency room last night on something unrelated. My blood pressure has risen. The nurse was alarmed. It was 204/90!! I have what they call the white-coat-symdrome. I think it's time to quit exercising...LOL
His idea was good, but he lost me with the blood pressure drop ... duh, down two points?
You could take your blood pressure 5 times in a row and have way more variance than that.
I went to an afterhours clinic. I had to wait an hour an a half. The doctor was cranky and spoke with a heavy accent. I was worried about my condition. My blood pressure was 179...both the doctor and nurse warned me I was on the verge of sure death.
I assured them my blood pressure was fine.
As soon as I got home and saw my DP and my dog, I took my blood pressure. It was 118.
This statement gets the award for dumbest quote in the article. This is the only way that you can lose weight.
Of course, you'd still be healthier without the high-calorie, high-fat diet; and a little less excersize.
Well, yes, it was subjective.
I thought there was something wrong with the doctor used in the movie to explain the guy's medical results. He looked to me like he was hung over and seeking approval. But, that's just my opinion.
Same article by the same author [published in different paper] was posted yesterday: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1346285/posts
exactly because that is the key to keeping healthy,
expending more calories than you consume
however, it would still be better to not just eat McDonalds and I would like to see someone try the same thing and just stick to McDonald's lower fat items, like salads and wraps
but the teacher is trying to prove a point, that Supersize me, whilst a great idea, is only showing one perspective....
That may be, but their food is still not good for you. There's nothing wrong with eating there maybe once or twice a month, but you shouldn't eat that junk everyday. And I'm not talking about just McDonald's.
Well, no s**t, Sherlock! You just proved the point made in "Super Size Me."
SSSSHHHHHH! Don't let the secret out!
Blood pressure is measured be 2 values: Systolic (the larger number) and Diastolic (the smaller number). As in "120/70". Saying your blood pressure is "118" is like saying your vision is "20". A meaningless value.
A drop in Diastolic pressure is the more significant change. The professor's change in blood pressure was dramatic.
One Big Mac (with cheese) contains about 700 calories. You burn about 500 calories an hour, walking. An average walking pace is about 3 miles per hour, so you have to walk about 4.5 miles to burn off the calories from a Big Mac.
So, the point of "Super Size Me" was that eating at MacDonald's is fine as long as you exercise?
Or was it that "If you eat more calories than you burn, you will get fat?"
Rumor control has it the the point was "Evil corporations conspire to make people unhealthy."
I haven't seen the film, so perhaps you could enlighten us as to which of the above is closest to being correct.
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