Lose weight today without moving?  Hmmmm… just drive your car and eat fast food?  HMMMM….

Remember Subway’s Jared Fogle?  Taco Bell is following Subway’s marketing success by feeding us yet another gimmicky weight-loss plan.  This time, instead of Jared, it’s Christine Doughtery who lost 54 pounds in 2 years by choosing Fresco items on Taco Bell’s menu.    

We want to challenge, does this diet really prioritize health?  How can a drive-thru fast food diet really be healthy and sustainable?  

Taco Bell states that the trademarked Drive-Thru Diet menu is “not a weight-loss program” (oh, then why are they marketing it as one?). Christine says that “she made other sensible choices” (does “other” mean foods outside of Taco Bell?  What are these “other” foods?), and also says that “these results aren’t typical” (then why the frequent commercials encouraging everyone to drive-thru Taco Bell as if weight-loss is guaranteed?).

Fresco Items – are these really weight-loss foods?

Don’t be fooled by Taco Bell!  Did you know that Fresco items are only 20 to 100 calories less than their normal items (Taco Bell writes this in fine print)?  Fresco simply means that cheese is replaced with salsa.  How did Christine cut 500 calories then?  The math does not add up.  How did Christine really lose the weight?  She must have made many, many, many other “sensible choices” outside of Taco Bell!  Hm…maybe she was eating most of her other meals at Earth Fare…

The real question is: Are Fresco items healthier?  No.  The Fresco Burrito Supreme Chicken is loaded with 1410 mg of salt — just 90 mg shy of the total daily recommended amount.  Also, with 25 mg of cholesterol, and 70 calories from fat, it’s not really providing a nutritional punch.  Take the Fresco Crunch Taco — half of its calories come from fat and it does not have enough protein to be considered a healthy, balanced meal.  In fact, none of the Fresco items offer a healthy, balanced meal on their own. 

Fun Activity: Find those veggies!

We do not want to undermine Christine’s success nor do we want to discount the fact that at least Taco Bell is trying to offer “healthier” options since fast food is generally known to be unhealthy and sometimes the only option (on road trips, for example). 

If Taco Bell is serious about weight-loss and healthy eating, why doesn’t it just get rid of its really unhealthy items like Volcano Nachos with 1000 calories and 62 g of fat?   

ANSWER: Taco Bell is being very opportunistic by marketing a weakly related weight-loss story around New Year’s.  After all, Fresco items have been on the menu for years now — if they help so much with weight-loss, why didn’t we hear about them earlier? 

Christine lost weight because she ate less and made sensible choices — NOT because she ate Taco Bell.  She could have lost weight eating double cheeseburgers as long as she kept her caloric intake to 1250!  But, weight loss is not just about calories, and health is not only about weight loss!  Success on the health journey should be about enjoying fresh/nourishing foods, feeling better, and getting stronger everyday.   

So, don’t believe the opportunistic marketing going on.  To lose weight AND feel better, eat fresh, and nourishing foods!