A New Jersey man ate nothing but certain foods from a fast-casual chain for 25 days — an experiment that left him nine pounds lighter and craving a slice of pizza.
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that → eat → pizza
Tim Donahue, a 27-year-old Hoboken resident who works in advertising in New York City, documented his challenge as a modern-day spin on Morgan Spurlock's 2004 documentary "Super Size Me," he told Fox News Digital.
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he → work → Digital
But instead of eating McDonald's for a month, Donahue wanted to see what would happen if he exclusively ate at a chain on the opposite end of the fast-food spectrum.
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he → eat → spectrum
"I think it felt the furthest possible opposite of McDonald's," Donahue said of choosing Sweetgreen.
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Donahue → think → Sweetgreen
The idea also came from watching his health-conscious co-workers routinely order Sweetgreen for lunch while he showed up with fast food.
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he → come → food
"Everyone inside my office is very healthy, and they were getting Sweetgreen bowls every single day for lunch," Donahue said.
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Donahue → get → lunch
"I myself would go pick up a fast-food burger and everyone would razz and make fun of me."
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everyone → go → me
Donahue originally intended to make his experiment last for 30 days, but there was a practical problem.
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experiment → intend → days
"I wanted to do 30, but if you try to look at your calendar and try to fit [it into] any 30-day window, there was always a wedding, a work trip, a reason why I couldn't do 30," he said.
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he → want → 30
"I said, 'You know what, it's either going to get done with 25 days or I'm never going to it done.'
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it → say → days
"
His primary rule was simple: Whatever he consumed had to be available on Sweetgreen's menu, although he made an exception for black coffee.
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he → consume → coffee
And while Sweetgreen offers more than salads, Donahue tried to keep the experiment centered on its bowls.
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experiment → offer → bowls
By the third day, he said, there was little chance of turning back.
9 pounds down as a favorite emerges
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he → say → favorite
Donahue didn't begin the challenge expecting to lose weight, but by the end, the number on his scale had dropped by about 9 pounds.
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number → begin → pounds
He also found a clear favorite on the menu.
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He → find → menu
"I was rocking with the hot honey chicken bowl," he said.
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he → rock → bowl
"I was getting that all the time."
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I → get → that
Donahue said the variety made eating from the same restaurant for nearly a month easier than one might expect.
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one → say → month
The bigger challenge, he said, was arranging his life around the experiment.
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he → say → experiment
"The most challenging aspect of the project was not the food, it was the logistics," he said.
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he → say → project
Meals had to be planned around the store's operating hours.
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Meals → have → hours
Going out with friends meant skipping drinks and potentially bringing a salad along.
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Going → go → salad
Even dates with his girlfriend took a back seat.
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dates → take → seat
One thing Donahue doesn't recommend about his experiment today is the price tag.
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Donahue → recommend → experiment
"You can cook at home and make a salad at home and spend a significantly smaller amount of money," he said.
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he → cook → money
Donahue said he offset some of the expense by deciding not to spend money on alcohol or other restaurant meals during the challenge.
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he → say → challenge
But, he admitted, it was a "very expensive" project.
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it → admit → ?
"Out of pocket, this is not a sustainable thing to do over groceries," he said.
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he → do → groceries
Donahue also emphasized that Sweetgreen didn't pay him to conduct the experiment.
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Sweetgreen → emphasize → experiment
The company subsequently embraced his idea, Donahue said.
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Donahue → embrace → idea
"His video inspired us to launch our own 30-day Sweetgreen challenge," Nicolas Jammet, Sweetgreen's co-founder and chief concept officer, told Fox News Digital.
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Jammet → inspire → Digital
"We put out an open call for 30 participants to eat only Sweetgreen for 30 days and document how they feel throughout, and we already received hundreds of applications.
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we → put → applications
After 25 days of salad bowls, Donahue headed to his favorite neighborhood pizzeria.
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Donahue → head → pizzeria
"A cheese pizza after a month of salads was incredibly well-deserved," he said.
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he → deserve → salads
The sudden return to heavier food didn't sit particularly well.
"It did make me feel quite sick because it's a shock to your system," Donahue said.
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Donahue → sit → system
Despite dropping weight and saying he experienced benefits, including more energy, Donahue isn't presenting his experiment as nutritional advice.
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Donahue → drop → advice
He stressed that he isn't a doctor or nutritionist and didn't undertake the challenge to tell others how they should eat.
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they → stress → others
"The experiment was largely a fun filmmaking journey for me," he said.
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he → say → me
"I would never prescribe this to someone."
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I → prescribe → someone
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