‘BigMac Coach’ eating his way to weight loss
56-year-old TikTok sensation documents progress on 100-day McDonald’s-only challenge
You’ve probably heard of the 2003 documentary “Super Size Me,” in which a man tried to eat only McDonald’s for a month to show the impact the fast food industry can have on our health and wellbeing.
But have you heard of exclusively eating fast food to lose weight? Kevin Maginnis, known as the “BigMac Coach,” is doing just that.
The 56-year-old who lives in Nashville, Tenn., has become a TikTok sensation for documenting his challenge in which he’ll eat McDonald’s for 100 days in an effort to prove that eating less matters more than what you’re eating when it comes to weight loss.
Starting in February, Maginnis has been limiting his meals to three a day and cutting each portion in half to reduce caloric intake. He doesn’t count calories or study the nutritional content of his meals; he just eats what he feels like from the McDonald’s menu, while opting to order water instead of pop.
His initial video racked up more than two million views on TikTok and he has found a fairly consistent audience on an app where controversial weight loss methods have gone viral in the past.
Recently, a diabetes drug was being heralded by users as a “secret” to weight loss.
By Day 27, Maginnis announced he was down 25 pounds from 238 pounds. He said the plan isn’t meant to be long term.
“Should I eat fast food for the rest of my life every day? No, no one would agree with that,” he told the Star. The 100-day challenge is meant to kick-start a habit of reducing overconsumption in his regular life.
But to Robert Ross, a professor in Queen’s University’s school of kinesiology and health studies, this challenge “reinforces our maniacal focus on body weight as a means of managing people with overweight and obesity.”
Ross explained that reducing energy intake will naturally lead to weight loss, but a healthy diet and exercise are also important to avoid a rebound in weight gain and other health indicators.
One, perhaps unexpected, outcome Maginnis said he has observed is improved blood work since undertaking his challenge.
“My triglycerides (a type of fat that circulates in blood) were out of control, now they’re back to normal ranges. My LDL cholesterol has dropped by 50 points,” Maginnis said. He also noted that he arm wrestles as a way to stay active during the challenge.
But that might not be a sign that Maginnis will consistently improve.
Regarding Maginnis’s blood work results, Ross said that reducing caloric consumption can normalize cardiometabolic risk factors, but these tend to rebound or plateau over time if the contents of what you’re eating are unhealthy.
When asked about weight loss interventions in the medical field such as bariatric surgery, Ross said it is “a viable alternative for morbidly obese people.”
“What I would question is the method of lifestyle intervention that he’s chosen to follow,” he added.
“This gentleman is adopting a negative energy balance in a bizarre, unhelpful way,” Ross concluded.