McDiet Takes Man From 50-Inch Waist to 36

June 19, 2008 — -- Chris Coleson battled his weight for years, but when he had trouble sliding into a restaurant booth it boosted and fueled his desire to drop the excess pounds.

But rather than try conventional diets, which had failed him before, the then 276-pound Coleson opted for his own "realistic" solution in December: he'd only eat at McDonald's.

After six months on his McDiet, Coleson lost 80 pounds and dropped 14 pants sizes. His waist went from 50-inches to 36.

"I didn't make my goal of 185, but I've made some great lifestyle choices and I'll make that goal," the 42-year-old said on "Good Morning America today.

Coleson's goal was to hit 185 pounds by his wedding anniversary, which is Saturday. Today he only is five pounds short of the goal. His weight loss marks several major milestones in his life.

For the first time in seven years, Coleson said he is able to wear his wedding band.

"I put the ring on [my wife's] 40th birthday [in April]," he said.

It helped keep him motivated and so did the thought of his two children, eight-year-old Meghan and six-year-old James.

"I tried to pick small milestones," Coleson said.

Besides wanting to slimdown to his wedding-day weight, Coleson's supersized slimdown also was sparked by his family's history of heart disease. Heart disease killed his mother at age 62 and his father suffered a major heart attack at age 39.

"There were nights I'd go to bed and I worried I wasn't going to get up," said Coleson, who admitted his weight was due to overeating.

"I would literally sit at the refrigerator and just eat out of the refrigerator," he said. "I would attack the kids' school lunches that [my wife] had prepared the night before."

Coleson said he was eating 5,000 calories daily when he was at his heaviest. When he decided to get in shape he relied on a simple idea: "calories in and calories out — I figured it was a simple principle."