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Lawrence resident changes eating habits

Man continues to eat fast food but now has a healthier life.

By Danae DeShazer

Thursday, March 8, 2007

Daniel Fisher, reformed fast food junkie, proved that he didn’t have to eat less to lose weight and improve his health.

Fisher, 29-year-old Lawrence resident, participated in Local Burger’s documentary study, “Localize Me.” He ate every meal for 30 days at Local Burger, a restaurant that serves all-organic foods that are healthy and fast. By changing the quality of food he was eating, Fisher cut his cholesterol in half, lost 20 pounds, and increased his testosterone levels by 150 percent.

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Contributed Photo

Daniel Fisher

Hilary Brown, owner of Local Burger, 714 Vermont St., decided to put a positive spin on the Morgan Spurlock documentary “Super Size Me,” which showcased the negative effects of eating fast food.

With her own documentary film crew, Brown launched “Localize Me” to show how easy it was to change a person’s health with a small change in their eating habits.

Starting January 25, Fisher met Brown at Local Burger for three meals a day. Fisher tried everything on the menu — favoring turkey wraps and the Greek salad — only drank water or vitamin water, and always had dessert with his meals. Brown said she wanted to make sure he wasn’t going hungry.

Fisher used to eat most of his meals from fast-food restaurants. Brown said Fisher was still eating the same amount of food as he was used to. A regular meal would often consist of three Chipotle burritos in one sitting or a Double Quarter Pounder with cheese meal with extra Double Cheeseburgers from McDonald’s.

“Fast food is addictive,” Brown said. “All those types of foods that you find at the middle of the grocery store raise your blood sugar quickly. Once you get them out of your diets, they don’t taste good anymore. It starts to taste really bizarre.”

After Fisher completed the study, he said his friends took him to Chipotle to celebrate.

“It tasted good, but the next day I did not feel so well,” Fisher said. “I just felt lethargic. I could just feel it sitting inside of me.”

David Dunlap, family practice physician and supervisor of the study, said people don’t normally make these types of lifestyle changes on their own. An average person could not have produced the results in 90 days that Fisher produced in a third of that time, Dunlap said.

Dunlap said the changes in Fisher’s health would improve his quality of life. A decrease in blood pressure and cholesterol would lower the risk for a heart attack, even in young people.

“I have seen patients who have had heart bypass surgeries at age 18, because of problems with their cholesterol,” Dunlap said.

Dunlap said Fisher’s increased testosterone levels following the study would increase his energy levels, muscle strength, and sexual potency.

Brown said that Fisher’s insulin level decrease was most important for his health. She said she chose Fisher from six other candidates because he was a Native American with immediate family history of diabetes.

“The incidents among Native Americans with diabetes are exceedingly high,” Brown said. “The American fast-food standard destroys their health. Daniel was headed for diabetes himself.”

Fisher said he was going to continue eating at Local Burger, until he reached his ideal weight of 200 lbs. He then wants to coach the next healthy hopeful.

“I was a guinea pig, but if we did it again, we’d have better results,” Fisher said. “I can help out the next person by being a support system and exercising with them.”

Brown sent the footage of “Localize Me” to the Sundance Channel for a possible airing on their show “Big Ideas for a Small Planet.”

Kansan staff writer Danae DeShazer can be contacted at ddeshazer@kansan.com.

— Edited by Mark Vierthaler

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