Healthy Hollywood: Fab Food Friday – Jared’s A Weight Loss Champ!

Remember this guy? Jared Fogle (a.k.a. the Subway Guy) shot into the pop culture stratosphere with his mind-boggling 245 pound weight loss.

He took off the pounds in one year with his now iconic Subway diet.

“It is surreal. Every year that goes by it is harder to remember what it was like to be unhealthy. The first couple of years you appreciate every little thing you’re doing, like fitting into the backseat of a car. But, as time goes by, it becomes normal, but I know I can’t take it for granted,” exclaims Jared to Healthy Hollywood.

Healthy Hollywood caught up with weight loss phenom at a Subway restaurant in New York’s Times Square, where he was celebrating 15 years of keeping the weight off. The 6-foot-2 Jared now weighs a healthy 200 pounds. It’s certainly a far cry from the 400-plus he weighed as a college student at Indiana University.

“I know if I’m not careful the domino effect could happen where you start to put on a few pounds and then a few more. You have to realize [healthy eating] is for the rest of your life and that’s how I approach it. Phase one was losing the weight and phase 2,3, 4 and 10 are as things change in your life – like family or children situation – all those things can mess up as far as staying healthy,” Jared explains to Healthy Hollywood.

Life hasn’t certainly changed for Jared. He’s gone from an obese college student who lived on a diet of junk food, including a 15-a-day soda habit to a super successful (his net worth is a reported $15 million) Subway spokesperson and weight loss inspiration. Now 35, Jared is also married and a father to a 20-month-old son. He and his wife have another baby on the way. “I think people relate to me. They see themselves in me. Plus, the fact the commercials were in living rooms, people liked my story and thought if Jared can do it; I can do it too.”

Jared’s weight loss triumph began as a fluke. The then overweight college kid decided to put himself on a diet of two Subway sandwiches a day and quit drinking regular soda. “I think it’s sort of cool to say ironically it was all the fast foods – the burgers, the French fries, the pizza and the burritos that put the weight on, but I just put it on its head. I still ate a full service product that allowed me to lose the weight.”

Jared travels the world giving weight loss lectures to inspire adults and children to lead a healthy lifestyle. He still eats Subway a few times a week, but the real trick is learning to eat in moderation and exercise. Now, he hopes his story will set an example for his son. “Third grade was when I started putting the weight on. It was a sedentary lifestyle. It was the junk food. I want to make sure he learns from my example and what I missed out on because I was so heavy.”

This summer, he and Subway are launching Jared’s Journey, a social media initiative in which Jared will share the stories of six well-known celebrities, including sportscaster Erin Andrews and actor Armie Hammer, and their path to a healthy lifestyle. Check it out here.

— Terri MacLeod

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