Jared told me about his struggles with weight problems since barely a teenager, and ballooning to 425 lbs. in college. Jared tried to find many other means of gaining his health back, when suddenly, Subway was there at the right place and the right time, literally. In college, his apartment was right across the streets from a Subway restaurant and one day, he saw an ad for Subway’s “7 under 6″ – (grams of fat) and “the stars had sort of aligned for” him.

Believe it or not, his inspiring story is only just starting. After ten years of keeping the weight off successfully, in 2008, Jared Fogle will be officially retiring his size-60 pants in his “Tour de Pants” – an awareness campaign with Subway and the Jared Foundation to help eliminate childhood obesity.

Here is the second part of that phone interview.

KIDS HEALTH: So, now, these days you are always traveling because of the Jared Foundation and Subway’s “Tour de Pants”. How do you keep the weight off?

Jared Fogle: You know I still eat Subway a couple days a week. I have just learned to eat in moderation I guess more then anything and I try to exercise when I can, although some days it is easier then others.

KIDS HEALTH: Do you still have temptations of over eating?

Jared: Oh yeah. Definitely. I think it is definitely in my blood still. You know it is just something I have to make sure I keep a grasp on and realize that that is probably going to be there forever like that. But hey that is life. I think the biggest as far as keeping weight off is that you have to look at it as it is a constant cycle. Losing the weight is phase one but then keeping it off is phase 2, 3, 4,5,6 all the way up you know. So, I think you really have to approach it like that and realizing that the goal is not losing the weight. The goal is definitely keeping the weight off and that is a continuous goal.

KIDS HEALTH: So, tell me more about the Jared foundation.

Jared: Well, it is a non-profit group that I created a couple years ago in Indiana initially to combat childhood obesity and to help literally do something about childhood obesity and develop programs and disperse grant money to various programs. This year, through my 10 year anniversary me and my friends at Subway, we are going to be able to launch a big campaign coming up and encourage people to donate to the foundation over this year period. Our goal is to hopefully raise a million dollars by the end of the year and a big chunk of the money is going back to schools across the country in the form of grant money to develop wellness programs for their own schools. What we are looking for is some creative ideas. So, hopefully through all these grant applications we will have a chance to see some really neat ideas and some productive ideas and ideas that actually work. Something that really do encourage kids and make if fun for them.

KIDS HEALTH: And these are for the schools to come up with, right? The schools have to come up with these programs.

Jared: This is one part of the foundation. The other part we are working on this section called “Parents in the Know” which is just trying to really educate parents. Part of the web site will be devoted to parents allowing them to really find out more on what they can do for their own kids. I think education is critical for everybody, not just the kids but for the parents, for teachers, for everybody involved in a kid’s life. Just knowing what is healthy, what is not so healthy… We are also developing a section of the web site where families can go to get information on how to go out to pick good choices when you are going out to eat, whether it is breakfast lunch or dinner. How do families make good choices where it can be an enjoyable experience. Obviously eating out as a family is great to spend time together. It is nice, no one has to cook that way but at the same time if you are not careful you can end up eating the wrong kinds of food very easily and way too much of it. So, we are going to really try to have a section dedicated to providing information on some advice for going out to dinner and what not as a family.

KIDS HEALTH: Now, many overweight kids are in the lower socio-economic bracket, where a $1 burger is a lot cheaper and bigger than a healthier meal. And these kids have no online access. Is there a place for them at the Jared Foundation?

Jared: Well I think so. This day and age you have to find a way to get to a computer, whether it is at a library, or at a school. I mean you may not have a computer in your own home but I think most people can find a way to get to a computer through a pop up service building of some sort. This is what we are focusing on so we can make the biggest, do the most good and reach the most people through the web.

KIDS HEALTH: Okay. Well thank you so much again, Jared. You are certainly an inspiration to us and to everyone. And it’s not just even people who are trying to loose weight but also to keeping the weight off and staying healthy.

Jared: Absolutely. It is a constant battle but something that we all need to address.

KIDS HEALTH: I hope to get in touch with you again and follow you through the Jared foundation. I will certainly be on the look out this year.

Jared: Absolutely. I appreciate it very much. Thank you so much.

                                        ****

Let me just tell you how nice it was to talk to Jared Fogle. He had a really friendly voice that made one want to keep talking to him. Before this interview recorded, I had a lighthearted conversation with Jared and I asked him two questions –

Kids Health: So… Do you still play video games?

Jared: (Laughter) Yeah. Not very often now because I travel a lot. But I also think the kids these days will beat me!

Kids Health: (Laughter) Well, like I said you’re an inspiration. If not with gaming, I think you would definitely give the winner of the Biggest Loser a run for his money!

Jared: (Laughter) Thanks. I try to be an inspiration. (Laughter)

                                         *****

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Post from: Blisstree

Jared Fogle of Subway fame talks to Kids Health Notes, part 2

You all know JARED FOGLE, the Subway restaurant guy who lost 295 lbs. in one year by eating Subway sandwiches!

In 1998, he was 425 lbs. at his heaviest (see size-60 pants!), but within a year, he went down to 190 lbs with this Subway meal plan: a lunch that included a six-inch turkey sub (no oil, mayo or cheese), a bag of Baked Lays® potato chips and a diet soft drink, and for dinner, a 12-inch veggie sub.

The year 2008 marks Jared’s 10 successful years of keeping the weight off. I talked to Jared over the phone and was inspired by his story and honesty.

Kids Health Notes:  Hi Jared, thanks for letting me talk to you. So according to your bio, you were 425 lbs. in college. Have you always had weight problems all your life?

Jared Fogle: Yes. Well, I guess not my entire life but from age 7 or 8 onward, I was heavy. It started out just a little bit and then it became a lot more and then a lot more and before I knew it, exponentially it was increasing. I would say probably I was obese by 6^th grade. By the time I entered high school I would have definitely been considered morbidly obese by that point.

Kids Health: What unhealthy habits were you into that made you obese at such a young age?

Jared: I think for me it was combination of several things. When I turned 8 years old, for my birthday I received my very own Nintendo video game system and just quickly became almost addicted to it, I guess if you want to call it that. And just unfortunately all the sports I used to play got replaced by me just wanting to watch TV all day long and play video games all day long. I just did not want to change and unfortunately my weight went up and up. I wanted to move even less and less because it became more and more difficult to move.

Coupled with that my eating habits started to change as well by late in elementary school to the point where I was eating a lot more junk food and starting to even sneak fast food from my parents. And I would say I think it became a vicious cycle where the more I ate, the less I wanted to move because it was harder to move. The less I would move the more bored I became, and the more bored I became the more I wanted to eat.

Kids Health: Are you the only one in the family having this weight problem?

Jared: Yes I really was. Yeah. That is the sad part. My dad is actually a family physician, so I grew up fairly educated on what I should and should not be eating and I just never unfortunately took his advice to heart.

Kids Health: They must be very happy to see that you are now healthy.

Jared: They are! My dad and mom were up literally up at night worried sick about me. Especially through high school into college when I was at my heaviest. He saw it first hand in his other patients, he knew what I was up against and I think it really scared him.

Kids Health: But in college you did try to lose weight, right? What other things were you doing before Subway?

Jared: Yup. Oh, I tried everything. I tried making my own food at home but I was not much of a cook so that was sort of difficult. Again, to be honest that was a lot of work and when you are over 400 pounds like I was, that can sort of be daunting even after you cook a meal. So, that did not really work. I tried the liquid shakes where you drink a liquid shake for breakfast and one for lunch and then you try to eat a normal dinner but I was so starving by the time dinner would come around that I would just pig out. I even tried microwaving low fat dinner entrees out of the freezer but I thought they tasted so bad I could not stand them and just fell off the wagon each time I tried.

Kids Health: Were you doing any physical activity? Like were you in sports?

Jared: No, not at that point. By the time I was in 7th grade or so I stopped exercise pretty much completely. I mean I definitely dropped out of all the sports I used to play. Every year that went by it seemed like I exercised less and less.

Kids Health: And when you were in college, did you have other health problems?

Jared: Yes. I developed sleep apnea in a major way where of course I had so much fat around my neck that when I would sleep at night the fat would literally crush my wind pipe and I would have trouble breathing through out the night and I would wake gasping for a deep breath.

Kids Health: Did you go to a doctor? Well you probably saw your dad…

Jared: You know I did not, actually because I refused to. I hated the conflict it would cause because he would always get on me about wanting me to lose weight and I did not want to deal with it. So, to be honest …I know this sounds really scary…I did not go to a doctor all of high school and most college until I started to lose the weight because I just refused to hear what they had to say.

Kids Health: Wow, that is scary. Now, when exactly did you start the subway diet?

Jared: I started it in March of 98. I was technically a junior although I took 5 years to graduate so it was my 3^rd year that I lost the weight.

Kids Health: What was the hardest thing to do when you started on subway?

Jared: It was really tough at first. I think the hardest thing was just getting used to eating a lot less calories and a lot less grams of fat. You know I was used to eating so much before this. It was just really, really tough especially those first couple weeks for my body to adjust to eating a lot less and to deal with it.

Kids Health: But, if you were to eat a foot long Subway, there’s probably not a lot of calories in it but it’s still a heavy meal.

Jared: Not really…it is all relative. I think it is all in comparison to what you are used to eating. You know I was used to eating 5 or 6 plates at the Chinese buffet. I was eating over 10,000 calories a day at my heaviest. So to go from eating 10,000 plus calories a day to eating 1,500 calories a day, this is the lowest taking in approximately with subway sandwiches and the baked chips. It was a pretty good shock to my system initially but I went into it knowing that it is going to take sacrifice, it is going to take commitment, it is going to take being focused and I am going to have to deal with it.

Kids Health: So in college, you had gradually gotten to that point where you wanted to change and Subway was there.

Jared: Yes. I always say the stars had sort of aligned for me and I think it was a combination of really, really wanting it more then anything but also finding the right mechanism for me to do it and the mechanism for me was Subway sandwiches. It was something I really believed in, it was something I enjoyed eating anyway. I felt I had control. I mean, there are a lot of things that played into it that allowed me to have success I think.

Kids Health: When did you start getting active again?

Jared: Well I started walking, once I lost the first 100 pounds. I mean I was so heavy, you have to realize that just walking next door to Subway was an effort at first let alone trying to actually do some real exercise programs. But once I got those first 100 pounds off or so my body was not aching as much anymore. I was not as winded anymore and I think I could finally start to just do basic walking. You know about a half hour a day 45 minutes a day and that definitely helped.

Kids Health: And when did you loose the first 100 pounds?

Jared: It took me just under about 3 months to loose the first 94 pounds.

(Amazing, isn’t it! Tomorrow, I’ll share part 2 of my interview and you’ll see how Jared is doing these 10 years. Plus he’ll also talk about what he is up to these days.)

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Post from: Blisstree

Exclusive Interview: Jared Fogle of Subway