Fayetteville school officials enlisted the help of a national celebrity to teach students about leading healthy lifestyles.
Jared Fogle, known across the nation as "the Subway guy," visited Owl Creek School in Fayetteville Tuesday morning and encouraged students to eat healthy and be active.
"I used to weigh over 425 pounds," Fogle, 31, said.
He now weighs about 195 pounds and stands 6 feet 2 inches tall. He brings an old pair of 60-inch pants to his appearances to show what kind of clothes he used to wear.
Fogle's lecture is just one of the Fayetteville School District's healthy lifestyle initiatives aimed at helping children make smart choices early in their lives.
The district has a committee called the Coordinated School Health Initiative that oversees programs which promote healthy living among students. The committee is made up of school employees and volunteers.
Some of the schools' efforts include listing health tips in the school newsletter and "Nutrition Nuggets," a flyer that includes information about nutrition, committee member Carol Stone said.
Lisa Jenkins, director of school food service, said the district has made a conscientious effort to offer more fruits and vegetables in recent years and cook lowfat meats when that option is available.
The department tries to purchase local fruits and vegetables from the Fayetteville Farmers' Market when the food is in season.
The schools also adhere to state guidelines on portion sizes with its menu items.
The school district emphasizes staff fitness by providing an in-house fitness center that its employees can join. The center is located on the north side of the Fayetteville High School campus in the old Boys & Girls Club building.
Stone said to her knowledge, Fayetteville is the only district in Arkansas that offers such a fitness program.
During his presentation, Fogle told students he was a business management and marketing major at Indi- ana University in Bloomington, Ind., 11 years ago when he began to lose weight. Living next door to a Subway restaurant, he adopted a diet that consisted of eating low-fat sub sandwiches from Subway twice a day.
He made other changes to live a healthier lifestyle, such as walking 30 minutes a day. He eventually lost 245 pounds, he said.
"It clicked. It started to work," Fogle said. "I lost 94 pounds over (the first) three months."
Fogle suggested students drink more water, eat more fruits and vegetables and cut down on foods and condiments high in fat, such as mayonnaise.
He said learning to enjoy things in moderation will make a huge difference to one's life.
Fogle said many of the bad habits and bad decisions that contributed to his weight gain began in elementary school.
"Before I knew it, my weight started going up and up," Fogle said.
Fogle said he was an active and average-sized child until around the third and fourth grades, when he began devoting too much time to watching TV and playing video games. This happened in conjunction with developing a love of junk food.
"I know what it's like to be tempted to play video games too long," he said.
He eventually got to where he couldn't even fit into his school desk, he added.
Fogle said he travels more than 200 days a year doing speaking engagements like his appearance at Owl Creek School.
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