In the 2004 documentary Super Size Me, late filmmaker Morgan Spurlock ate McDonald's three times per day for 30 days to document the effects to his physical health and psychological well-being. Now, a similar feat is being attempted by an influencer who is attempting to eat McDonald's for 100 days, but to prove that he won't gain weight.
Self-described food critic and competitive eater Zach Zona, who goes by "Zona Eats" on TikTok and Instagram—where he boasts 48,000 and 22,000 followers, respectively—began his mission back in late November. Though, unlike Spurlock, it's unclear whether Zona is eating McDonald's for every single meal, or if he supplements with healthier food on off-meals.
But now, over 40 days in, he shows no sign of slowing down, and in fact, seems to enjoy meals from the fast food chain as much as ever. Late Sunday, Zona marked the 40th day of his diet by throwing down with a Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese and a McCrispy Deluxe in his car.
"Gotta get this down, it’s a real late one today," he told his followers before making short work of the two sandwiches.
It's unclear how his progress with the weight part of his challenge currently stands. On Dec. 14, 18 days into the diet, Zona provided an update using his home scale in that he had actually lost four pounds. However, less than a week later on Dec. 21, he weighed in again to report that he was up a pound, but attributed it to working out.
"Gained one pound but that's only because of the gym progress, not the McDonald's," he explained in the video.
In Spurlock's film, by the end of his experiment he had claimed to have gained nearly 25 pounds and a 13 percent body mass increase, as well as increased cholesterol, fat accumulation in his liver, mood swings, and sexual dysfunction. However, years later he admitted to drinking copious amounts of alcohol while filming the documentary, which may have attributed to at least his liver abnormalities.
It will be interesting to see how Zona feels when he concludes his own experiment, or at the very least, whether he'll ever be able to look at McDonald's ever again in his lifetime.
