A man in Rhode Island has claimed that eating Chick-fil-A salads helped him lose more than 130 pounds.
Tom Carroll shared that for the last two years, the popular fast food chain has unexpectedly shaped his weight loss journey.
“Does it sound it sound crazy to eat one thing every single day from a restaurant? Yeah, it does. But to me, it was vital” Carroll, who’s based in Lincoln, Rhode Island, told local NBC news station WJAR on Sunday (February 2).
He explained that a concerning series of health scares, including a visit to the emergency room due to chest pains, prompted his decision to make life changes. At the time, he weighed 360 pounds.
“I knew I never wanted to have a night like that again,” he explained. “It was awful, terrible. And I knew I never wanted to put my wife through that again.”
One evening, during a regular trip to Chick-fil-A with his wife, Carroll opted for the Spicy Southwest Salad for the first time.
“I was almost blown away with how good it was,” he recalled. Since that visit, he’s had the same salad every day for the past two years. As a result, he’s now lost 132 pounds.
“I have my lunch salad from Chick-fil-A and then I have my homemade version of that salad for dinner,” he added.
As a dedicated customer at the fast food restaurant near him, he’s become friendly with some of the workers who’ve supported his weight loss journey.
“It's all just worked out awesome,” he explained. “I can't thank them enough.”
However, it isn’t just the salad that has helped Carroll lose weight. He’s also made some serious changes to his diet, including cutting out alcohol entirely.
As noted on Chick-fil-A’s website, the Spicy Southwest Salad comes with slices of grilled chicken breast served on a “fresh bed of mixed greens.” The dish — which is 680 calories – also includes grape tomatoes, blends of Monterey Jack and Cheddar cheeses, roasted corn, black beans, poblano chiles, and red bell peppers.
Following his two-year journey with the salad, Carroll wrote a Substack about his experience, titled: “Chick-fil-A Saved My Life.”
In the post, he celebrated the fact that he’s been able to keep off the 132 pounds he’d lost as of July 2024.
He also shared in the post that he’s developed a regular workout routine.
“For the first time in a very long time, I felt like I had a long life ahead of me,” he wrote.
