A fitness fanatic has hit back after haters slammed him for proving you can still eat ‘unhealthily’ and lose weight.
Sam Vaughan, an online coach, and personal trainer, recently took part in the “double cheeseburger challenge“, where he ate the equivalent of a double cheeseburger every day for three weeks, and still lost weight.
Posting the video to TikTok(@samveept ), the video amassed over 87,800 views, with users labelling the challenge “stunning”.
Managing to shift six pounds, the 27-year-old chowed down on normal meals, maintaining a calorie deficit, while still treating himself to a cheeky Maccies.
“This challenge is to show people that you can include food like McDonald’s in your diet and still lose weight.” Sam, from Brighton, told NeedToKnow.co.uk.
“The idea started with a comment I received on a video I made, showing how you can eat bread and still lose weight (a common misconception that bread is fattening).
“The comment said that “it was stupid… it’s like saying if you eat a McDonald’s burger a day you will still lose weight…stop saying stupid stuff”.
“So I said “Challenge accepted” and set out to do the double cheeseburger challenge.
“With at least one of my meals being a McDonald’s double cheeseburger, I made sure the rest of my meals were high in protein and were nutrient-dense meals, keeping me full for the majority of the day.”
Sam started his fitness journey at 16 after spending most of his time playing video games and unhealthy snacks.
Receiving a set of weights for his birthday, he gained the confidence to join his local gym, and the rest is history.
Despite finding the challenge “easy”, Sam found his body reacted to the challenge, with the increased salt intake causing some side effects.
He found himself waking up with headaches and drinking more water than usual.
Sharing the clip on TikTok, he gained over 2,200 likes, leaving social media users divided.
Users lapped up the challenge video and commented their views on the controversial challenge- but some people were divided.
Ben commented: “Interesting.”
Another user said: “13% sugar in each bun”
Jason wrote: “As long as it’s within your daily calorie intake you’ll always lose weight.”
“Dude you have no weight to lose,” Trevor commented.
Stephen added: “I lost 6.5 stone during lockdown without cutting anything out of my diet.”
“They’re tiny. Not sure what you are proving here,” said James.
Sam added: “This challenge was extreme but it was necessary to create awareness around the following: that you can’t eat food like McDonald’s and still lose weight.
“Would I recommend living off McDonald’s absolutely not but that doesn’t mean we should demonise it.”
