Kimberly Garrison: Healthy, effective dieting: Best way isn't the Subway

JARED FOGLE, the celebrity fitness model and Subway sandwich chain spokesperson, appears to have gained weight. According to recent reports and photos, he's packed on as much as 50 of the pounds he said that he lost eating mostly Subway sandwiches.

The Subway Web site describes the Jared Fogle diet as: coffee for breakfast; a 6-inch turkey sub with a small bag of baked potato chips and a diet Coke for lunch; and a foot-long veggie sub and diet Coke for dinner. (No cheese or mayonnaise on those subs.) He also walked 1 1/2 miles a day.

In less than a year, with 700 Subway sandwiches consumed and many miles walked, he celebrated an initial weight loss of 245 pounds.

This may be impressive to some, but this diet approach lacks in two areas: balance and sustainability.

I'm not surprised that he has gained a few pounds. Losing weight eating primarily Subway sandwiches is boring, probably unhealthy and absolutely impossible to maintain.

But it is a good gimmick - so good that other fast food chains (currently a $230 billion industry) are coming up with their own "weight-loss success" spokespeople.

Perfectly timed for New Year's resolutions, Taco Bell is giving Subway and Jared a run for their money with the introduction of Christine Dougherty and the Taco Bell "Drive Thru Diet" campaign. According to the ad, Christine lost 54 pounds in two years by eating low-fat "Fresco" items at Taco Bell instead of her usual fast-food fare.

The commercial is clever, but it also states that Christine reduced her food intake to 1,250 calories a day and exercised. It says that the Drive Thru Diet is not a weight-loss program and the products aren't diet food.

You may notice that ad campaigns like Taco Bell's are providing a little more detail about how customers have achieved miraculous results using their products. All this honesty comes by way of new FTC rules for endorsements and testimonials that have been affectionately nicknamed the "Jared rules." (Yes, as in Subway's Jared.)

Not hip to that?

Well, the Federal Trade Commission has set new guidelines to temper the drastic endorsements and testimonials some companies use. Just adding the tag line "results not typical" is no longer enough.

But, even with all the qualifiers, you may still be wondering if a "fast-food diet" could work for you?

When was the last time you ordered from the low-fat, low-calorie menu at your favorite fast-food restaurant - or your favorite three-star dining establishment, for that matter?

"These campaigns can be very misleading," said Mike Bishop, clinical psychologist and Executive Director at Wellspring, a leading weight-loss treatment facility in California. "At Wellspring, we recommend avoiding fast foods because choices are limited and most fast-food restaurants are not conducive to weight loss."

Bishop knows the challenges of weight loss and weight maintenance - he lost more than 80 pounds on the Wellspring plan.

"There's really nothing revolutionary in weight loss in the last 20 years," he said. "Earn your calories. No pills, no powder, no shakes, or exercise gizmo can circumvent that. Nobody can debate that counting calories, keeping track of what you eat, works!"

Bishop also recommends keeping a food journal, exercising and wearing a pedometer.

I agree.

So, do yourself a favor and don't get suckered into the latest fad of so-called "healthy" fast food. The calories may be low, but so is the nutritional content.

Sure, you should be able to eat an occasional fast-food meal without serious consequences. But eating at fast-food restaurants is not your secret to permanent weight loss.

As I've said before, good food is not cheap and cheap food is not good. Ultimately, the Subway diet and its imitators are just another disappointing fad.

Kimberly Garrison is a certified personal trainer and owner of One on One Ultimate Fitness in Philadelphia (www.1on1ultimatefitness.com). E-mail her at

kimberly@1on1ultimatefitness.com. Her column appears each Thursday in Yo!