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.

Supersized Slim Down

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."

Starting His McDiet

"I initially thought he was crazy," said Coleson' wife Patricia Sumner, on "Good Morning America" today.

But the 40-year-old came around when she noticed her husband getting slimmer and even tried it out herself. To date, she's dropped 30 pounds and someone called her "McFit" at her daughter's recent softball game.

Coleson lost his weight by regulating his caloric intake to only 1,400 calories a day. That's well below what doctor's would consider safe for a man his size.

Coleson said he was able to lose weight by avoiding the fast food restaurant's extremely popular French fries. He said he never had them once.

"I stayed away from the fries," he said.

What he did eat were the salads and on occasion he would integrate a hamburger patty on one.

"I might break it up and turn into a steak salad," Coleson said.

The Virginia man also would eat grilled chicken salads and sandwiches, walnut salads, and apple dippers sans the caramel sauce.

"[The wraps] were a favorite of mine," he said.

Though Coleson did say he began to get bored with meal plan until he noticed how well it worked for him.

Coleson regulated his caloric intake to a mere 1,400 calories a day — what most doctors would consider unsafe for a man Coleson's size.

In fact, Dr. Christine Gerbstadt, a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association, called Coleson's a "starvation diet."

Coleson also would skip breakfast on his meal plan and kept daily journal, as well as receipts from his exploit, both to keep himself on track and to prove to others that he had actually lost the weight with McDonald's.

Coleson also began exercising a few times a week, which he was not doing prior to the McDiet. In fact, he said he used to get winded after climbing four steps.

McDonald's has not released a statement about Coleson's triumph, but the company did tell ABC News "We applaud his efforts and his results."

Today is the last day of his Golden Archathon, which has lasted 200 days. To celebrate his new look and life Coleson changed his license plate.

The plate used to read "Old N Fat" and now it says "McFit."