Losing weight by only eating McDonald's

(I'm not saying you should or that this will be healthy but just trying to explain that weight loss can be done with whatever YOU feel like eating as long as you stick to your calories)

So yesterday we sat at McDonald's and I logged it and found out that although its high in calories I still have calories left to eat. I thought to myself that I could eat just McDonald's (giving that I stay within my daily calorie needs) and still lose weight.

Needles to say the people I were with looked at me funny and said I don't know what I'm talking about because they saw "Super Size Me" and said he gained weight (If I remember correctly, I never saw him stick to a certain amount of calories)

But a teacher In america proved my point for me by only eating McDonald's for 90 days and loosing weight!

http://www.food24.com/Restaurants-and-Bars/Teacher-loses-over-15-kilos-on-a-90-day-McDonalds-diet-20140106-2
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Replies

  • jigsaw_me
    jigsaw_me Posts: 616 Member
    Yes you can - calorie deficit = weight loss

    Weight loss doesn't necessarily = healthy ...

    I wouldn't want to do it ... I am not sure I could get a single Maccas meal down let alone eat nothing but ..
  • Charloo1990
    Charloo1990 Posts: 619 Member
    Totally i agree. I occasionally treat myself to a McDonalds if i really fancy it and i log it. I say everything in moderation. If i'm logging i generally get a medium fries (330cals) and a cheese burger (295cals). It's not the end of the world and i've still lost weight in the past regardless. Not gunna lie, i love Maccy Ds but obviously would'nt go every day, it's a treat when i do.
  • Dewymorning
    Dewymorning Posts: 762 Member
    I once had a project in university which involved defining nutritional complete meals using the MacDonalds menu.

    Yeah, it is possible, but I won't be volunteering to give it a try. :P
  • TheVimFuego
    TheVimFuego Posts: 2,412 Member
    Sure you can drop weight but would you want to give that corporation that much money in exchange for inferior nutrition?

    I'd rather gain a kilo and feed myself to be honest. :)
  • _Zardoz_
    _Zardoz_ Posts: 3,987 Member

    Needles to say the people I were with looked at me funny and said I don't know what I'm talking about because they saw "Super Size Me" and said he gained weight (If I remember correctly, I never saw him stick to a certain amount of calories)
    Supersize me was about them pushing to up portion sizes and macdonalds claim that you could healthily eat macdonalds every day. It was nothing to do with calorie counting. So yes of course you could eat MCD everyday and lose weight. Yes you would be thin but there is a huge difference between thin and healthy
  • sianquin
    sianquin Posts: 86 Member
    I have the odd Mcdonalds and track it aswell.

    I had a good look at the menu first and decided a chicken sandwich meal has less calories than some of there salads and deli's so i usually get that. I still class it as a cheat meal tho, wouldn't want to eat it everyday.
  • alc212
    alc212 Posts: 124 Member
    Odd, but I kind of did it.
    When I was at my lightest, I pretty much lived on Coke, Cheeseburgers, Fries, Orange Tic Tacs, "V" energy drinks, coffee and cigarettes.
    Now I was not healthy, or fit; but I was nearly 20kg's lighter than I am now! No way would I be able to do it again though
  • mhasita
    mhasita Posts: 93 Member
    You should watch the documentary "fat head" is a direct reply at "super size me" and the guy loses weight eating at Mc.Donalds all the time but at a caloric deficit.

    Is very amusing.
    And fact is: the guy was healthy when they finished the documentary, so eating Mc. Donalds all the time doesn't have to clog your arteries if you make the right choices of foods.
  • Jkn921
    Jkn921 Posts: 309 Member
    I said to someone yesterday that as long as you're in a calorie deficit it doesn't necessarily matter what you eat - but he said it does as losing weight is 90% diet and what you eat regulates your metabolism...
  • JcMey3r
    JcMey3r Posts: 431 Member
    You should watch the documentary "fat head" is a direct reply at "super size me" and the guy loses weight eating at Mc.Donalds all the time but at a caloric deficit.

    Ill see if I can find it, sounds interesting
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    this thread makes me want mcdonalds for lunch!!!!
  • jerber160
    jerber160 Posts: 2,607 Member
    seems like every time I treat myself to Mac's I suffer. I feel nauseous for at least a half day afterwards. I'm not used to that any more. so the immediate gratification really isnt worth it for me. then again.. a bacon egg and cheese biscuit sounds real good today. buuutttt, i looked it up. 610 cals for a biscuit and hash browns leaves about 790 cals for the rest of the day. that's not happening.
  • eldamiano
    eldamiano Posts: 2,667 Member
    What a pointless post.

    So advocate losing weight with McDonalds but not advocate it for the health deterioration? How about there is more to life than a processed burger anyway?
  • jkestens63
    jkestens63 Posts: 1,164 Member
    What a pointless post.

    So advocate losing weight with McDonalds but not advocate it for the health deterioration? How about there is more to life than a processed burger anyway?

    Actually I find it interesting. There is a long-standing debate oncaloriesin/out vs nutrition/exercise as the way to lose weight. This post gives points to the former.

    And how about getting off your high horse? No one said they live for the burger. And some of us have managed to do quite well still incorporating some processed food in our diet.
  • eldamiano
    eldamiano Posts: 2,667 Member
    What a pointless post.

    So advocate losing weight with McDonalds but not advocate it for the health deterioration? How about there is more to life than a processed burger anyway?

    Actually I find it interesting. There is a long-standing debate oncaloriesin/out vs nutrition/exercise as the way to lose weight. This post gives points to the former.

    And how about getting off your high horse? No one said they live for the burger. And some of us have managed to do quite well still incorporating some processed food in our diet.

    Never owned a horse. Sorry to disappoint...

    By the way, I dont have anything against processed food but it is common sense that eating it day in day out, night and day is not going to help. 'Some' processed food was not what was discussed earlier in the post. In fact if you look on some of my other recent posts I state that I am against specific diets and still ate a burger, pizza, fried chicken etc. when I was losing weight. Sorry to disappoint again....

    Still, there is more to life than a Big Mac and so why should eating McDonalds every day be encouraged as the only hope for people? Is dieting really about bring people down to eating within such a micro-environment?
  • TheVimFuego
    TheVimFuego Posts: 2,412 Member
    What a pointless post.

    So advocate losing weight with McDonalds but not advocate it for the health deterioration? How about there is more to life than a processed burger anyway?

    Actually I find it interesting. There is a long-standing debate oncaloriesin/out vs nutrition/exercise as the way to lose weight. This post gives points to the former.

    And how about getting off your high horse? No one said they live for the burger. And some of us have managed to do quite well still incorporating some processed food in our diet.

    Indeed, all food is processed in some way, there is nothing wrong with mixing it up nutritionally.

    The whole militant 'clean eating' thing is way more weird for me than someone who chucks in a happy meal occasionally.

    Supersize Me was ridiculous, Fat Head was a good counter (and one I enjoyed at the time, even bought the Wheat Is Murder t-shirt) but still ultimately still ridiculous because it got co-opted by the whole low carb thing and pretended that calories didn't matter if you just chucked the bun. Hey, guess what ...they do. It ain't the breadly insulin that makes you porky.
  • Julesbait
    Julesbait Posts: 190 Member
    Now I want a McRib.
  • LouSmorals
    LouSmorals Posts: 93 Member
    I pee at McDonalds. They have food too?
  • RhonndaJ
    RhonndaJ Posts: 1,615 Member
    Really it's not just about McDonald's.

    I think the point is that you can eat ANYTHING, so long as you do so keeping in mind calories and nutrition.

    People always seem to see the word 'McDonald's' and lose sight of the big picture.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    What a pointless post.

    So advocate losing weight with McDonalds but not advocate it for the health deterioration? How about there is more to life than a processed burger anyway?

    I guess the point went right over your head, which is you can eat McDonalds and maintain a calorie deficit…

    From a macros point, you probably could not eat mcdonalds every day and hit your macros…but from a calorie deficit point it makes sense….
  • NataBost
    NataBost Posts: 418 Member
    (I'm not saying you should or that this will be healthy but just trying to explain that weight loss can be done with whatever YOU feel like eating as long as you stick to your calories)

    So yesterday we sat at McDonald's and I logged it and found out that although its high in calories I still have calories left to eat. I thought to myself that I could eat just McDonald's (giving that I stay within my daily calorie needs) and still lose weight.

    Needles to say the people I were with looked at me funny and said I don't know what I'm talking about because they saw "Super Size Me" and said he gained weight (If I remember correctly, I never saw him stick to a certain amount of calories)

    But a teacher In america proved my point for me by only eating McDonald's for 90 days and loosing weight!

    http://www.food24.com/Restaurants-and-Bars/Teacher-loses-over-15-kilos-on-a-90-day-McDonalds-diet-20140106-2

    He stayed within 2000 calories AND walked 45 minutes a day. He also ate things like the Egg White Delight, oatmeal and salads. I did see the occasional small fry as well. You could Substitute "McDonald's" for "Burger King" or "Subway" as well. But he was staying within a certain caloric intake and exercising. He even said, "I wanted to do the OPPOSITE of SuperSize Me" on the Today Show this morning.

    It's math.
  • handyrunner
    handyrunner Posts: 32,662 Member
    this thread makes me want mcdonalds for lunch!!!!

    this!
  • All I know is that the last time I was on a diet/exercise regimen about 5-6 years ago, I didn't touch McDonald's for about two months. I decided to go one day and get two dollar menu items. I was twitching within ten minutes (I guess from all the junk going in) and felt horrible for a few hours after.

    I'm not touching the stuff this time.
  • Greytfish
    Greytfish Posts: 810
    Yes you can - calorie deficit = weight loss

    Weight loss doesn't necessarily = healthy ...

    I wouldn't want to do it ... I am not sure I could get a single Maccas meal down let alone eat nothing but ..

    ^^^^ Yep. The trans fats alone are pretty atrocious. It won't make you look fat on the outside though....
  • Amadbro
    Amadbro Posts: 750 Member
    What a pointless post.

    So advocate losing weight with McDonalds but not advocate it for the health deterioration? How about there is more to life than a processed burger anyway?

    Actually I find it interesting. There is a long-standing debate oncaloriesin/out vs nutrition/exercise as the way to lose weight. This post gives points to the former.

    And how about getting off your high horse? No one said they live for the burger. And some of us have managed to do quite well still incorporating some processed food in our diet.

    What's there to debate? Calories in Vs Calories out is science in its basic form. A calorie is a unit of energy, nothing more, nothing less. If you do not expend a surplus of energy through means of activity I.E. moving, breathing etc it will be stored. If you are in a deficit and the energy demands of the body are greater then intake, energy must be pulled from a stored source.

    Could you point me to one of these "long standing debates" please (preferably a controlled study). I'm intrigued.
  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
    In b4 the toxins.
  • bid1130
    bid1130 Posts: 56 Member
    I eat the Chicken snack wrap @ McDonalds several days for lunch. It seems to be about the lowest calorie fast food that is quick and easy.
  • _TastySnoBalls_
    _TastySnoBalls_ Posts: 1,298 Member
    I can go for an egg & cheese Mcgridlle right now

    ETA: fast food chains don't make people fat, it's their poor decisions
  • fruttibiscotti
    fruttibiscotti Posts: 986 Member
    You should watch the documentary "fat head" is a direct reply at "super size me" and the guy loses weight eating at Mc.Donalds all the time but at a caloric deficit.

    Ill see if I can find it, sounds interesting

    The movie documentary is available for free on you tube. It's based on Tom Naughton fast food experiment.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,329 Member
    Fat Heads documentary did something similar. Only fast food for 30 days keeping to a specific calorie goal. He lost weight and his health markers improved IIRC.