Jared Fogle, the man who lost over half his body weight by switching to a strict regiment of Subway sandwiches, has written a book. But Jared, the Subway Guy is not a diet book. Instead, its the story of Jared’s life, bundled with inspirational bullets.

Anyone who has ever been overweight will relate to many of Jared’s stories included within the book. There are stories about secretly eating alone, about being embarrassed in P.E. class, about having to weigh in the doctors office and about girls quietly snickering as he passes by in a lonely school hallway. As Jared’s weight skyrockets in college and he surpasses the 400 pound mark, he knows something must be done. The book chronicles his story and several of his diet attempts before he invents his own, now dubbed The Subway Diet.

As Jared frequently mentions, Jared, the Subway Guy is not intended as a diet book. In the book, Jared documents how he plummets from his massive 425 pounds down to under 200 in a short amount of time by switching to a steady diet of Subway sandwiches all while not exercising. Those looking to duplicate Jared’s success should also know that he was also taking in over 10,000 calories a day (more than enough for five adult men). At that point, Jared could have gone to eating a large pizza for every meal and still lost weight.

The books subtitle is Winning Through Losing: 13 Steps for Turning Your Life Around. At the end of each chapter, Jared offers inspirational advice that can be applied toward any goal or overcoming any obstacle, whether its weight loss or some other type of addiction. His advice is honest but sometimes over simplistic. Overall I had very few complaints about the book. My wife had hoped for more information about his life as a celebrity (the book ends around the time of his first commercial), and I had hoped for at least one before and after photo. Regardless, the book delivers what it promises — an inspirational story, and advice on how you too can get started down the right path.

The point Jared makes throughout the book is that there is no magic pill for weight loss. It’s not really about the sandwiches; it’s about finding your inner strength. Its about hitting rock bottom. It’s about knowing that you have the power to change your own destiny.

And that knowledge is tastier than any six-inch Subway Veggie Delight, believe me.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 14th, 2009 at 1:32 pm and is filed under Books. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.