It’s enough to make Gidget, the Taco Bell Chihuahua, roll over in her grave (RIP July 21, 2009). Desperate to both cash in on the Resolution Weight Loss Fervor, and fearful that the Fervor may cut into their market share for the first six weeks of the year, Taco Bell has inflicted Christine, the TB Weight Loss Heroine, on an otherwise unsuspecting public. According to the company, Christine, 27 years old, lost 54 pounds by eating at Taco Bell 5-8 times per week, selecting items off their Fresca menu which replaces certain high calorie ingredients with lower calorie ones. But fear not– it’s still the same burrito.

Taco Bell is quick to say that this is not intended as a weight loss program, though they use the word “diet” repeatedly.

My opinion: it reminds me of my friend Cathy who went on the frozen yogurt diet our sophomore year of college. SHe lost a lot of weight by only eating frozen yogurt. Weight loss? Yes. Because she is altering her caloric intake. Healthy? No.If you cut your caloric intake you will lose weight– in the short run. But the only healthy means of weight loss is creating a life style that can carry you for…..well, a lifetime. The people who repeatedly go to Taco Bell will start to move away from the Fresca menu because the other options are so readily available, though I am sure that hasn’t occurred to the marketing department at Taco Bell. They are only interested in a healthy America.

It also reminds me of the old “parrot” skit from Monty Python. Guy walks in with a dead parrot, store owner denies it’s dead. You can say the fast food is healthier but that still don’t make it healthy.