Mention the diet that relies on eating sandwiches in place of two meals a day and people will instantly recognize Jared and the Subway Diet. Now, as Paul Harvey would say, it’s time for the rest of the story. Read further for a brief history of the subway diet.
Jared Fogle was a student at Indiana University who earned his living at an adult video store in order to pay his way through college. His weight reached 425 pounds thanks to sitting around all day in class and at work munching on snacks. Needless to say his weight and health situation had become critical. Jared wanted to find a way to lose weight.
He tried and failed with many diets because he had too much time and too much temptation to cheat. But then he found a Subway shop near his dorm. Without knowing it he was inventing the Subway diet. He immediately stopped eating breakfast while walking the 1 mile to Subway for lunch and dinner a sandwich, baked chips and a diet soda. Now instead of a 10,000 calorie per day with no exercise lifestyle, he was eating only about 900 calories while walking 6 miles every day. For Jared the yet named Subway diet made 245 pounds disappear in the span of a single year.
How did Jared become a nationally recognized figure? A friend of Jared’s, who worked for the University newspaper, ran into him. This buddy barely recognized Jared, so he decided to write an article about his amazing weight loss. Men’s Health magazine picked up the story as part of an article about weird diets that work.
A subway franchisee in Chicago brought the story to the attention of his advertising people who talked to Jared to make certain it was legit. When the Chicago guys tried to get funding from the national advertising agency for a campaign, they were told it would bomb, so they funded it themselves for a local run in Chicago.
The campaign around the Subway diet became huge. Soon Jared and the Subway diet were in all the national media, including a guest stint on Oprah. Now it was the national agency’s turn to ask about running the ads around the country.
The Subway diet has worked for a lot of people. But keep in mind that Jared’s extreme program of calorie cutting and extreme weight loss are, in general, potentially dangerous. His plan of cutting calories and adding exercise are well known facts that lead to weight loss and a healthy life style.
