September 2011- During his visit with students at Gateway Math and Science Preparatory Middle School, Jared shared his personal story of eating poorly and ballooning up to more than 400 pounds.  He also attributed his weight gain to lack of exercise, especially watching too much television and spending too much time on the computer and playing video games.

Jared explained that he realized in college that he had to do something drastic.  He lived only 10 steps from a Subway restaurant, and began to eat healthy Subway sandwiches for lunch and dinner every day.  He also switched from drinking regular soda to diet soda or water, and walked at least 30 minutes a day.  He immediately began losing weight and didn’t stop until he shed more than 200 pounds.  To emphasize the drastic change, he showed the Gateway students the 60-inch waist pants he wore when he weighed more than 400 pounds.

After losing 245 pounds, Jared was selected to star in Subway commercials, and has continued to serve as the face of Subway for the past 13 years.  He travels more than 200 days a year sharing his story with school children and promoting healthy eating habits and exercise.