A man from Philadelphia, USA set out to eat 40 whole chickens in 40 days. Now, at the end of his self-imposed challenge, he says with relief, “My body is ready to be fixed.”

Alexander Tominsky, 31, became known as the “Philadelphia Chicken Man”. He said in an interview that the promise to eat a chicken a day came from a feeling. “I keep saying that, but it’s the truth. It was the right thing to do,” the man told Canadian radio station CBC.

The original plan involved 30 days of feeding the bird, but he said he knew he could manage a few more days. “It was something in my subconscious. On the 30th day, since I didn’t feel a lot of pain, I went up to 40,” he says.

To complete the challenge, he invited friends and followers to an event last Sunday (6), where he ate his fortieth and final whole chicken. According to the American newspaper The New York Times, he was initially able to eat the bird in 20 minutes. Over time, however, it took him two hours to finish each meal. It was usually his only food during the challenge.

Consequences

As he told The New York Times, Alexander lost about 7 kg during the 40 days. Nutritionist Marissa Meshulam told Popsugar that while eating this way “may not be dangerous in the short term, it’s definitely not healthy.”

She emphasizes the importance of a balanced diet that includes different types of food. “Our bodies are made to eat all the macronutrients every day – protein, fat, and carbs. If we only ate rotisserie chicken, we would survive on fat and protein, but not real carbs,” Marissa says.

“Our gut health depends on carbohydrates (especially fiber) to survive. Lack of fiber in our diet can negatively affect gut health,” the nutritionist pointed out.