McMardi Gras

WARNING: This blog post is not for the faint of heart or queasy of stomach. This past Saturday night, Jake (my roommate) and I embarked on a challenge. This challenge was epic, It was gigantic. It was really stupid. We ate fifty McDonald's Chicken McNuggets each in one sitting.

The idea came from McDonald's recent promotion of 50 McNuggets for $9.99. While watching the commercial we decided it would be fun to try and eat all fifty. Originally, there were more of us who wanted to try the challenge. In the end, it was just me and Jake. (PS- Thanks to Sarah for sitting through this and taking all the pictures. It takes a real friend to endure watching something like this in person.)

Here are all the McNuggets next to the sauces we ordered. Mark ordered 50 for himself but has ate them sporadically over the past few days. Smart man.

I think this picture marks the beginning of the challenge. Jake seems to be eating a McNugget, while I am texting someone. Guess I got off to a slow start.

Here I am eating McNugget #1. These were simple and carefree times, right here.

Jake was focused and tore into his first two boxes like a madman.

Since we started the challenge at about 1:45 a.m. I called upon my good friend Diet Coke to keep me going through the night. With all the boxes open, you get a good sense here of the mess we got ourselves into.

Jake made his way through the third box by trying out some of the sauces.

This McNugget was probably somewhere between #11-13 for me.

Soon enough, the weight of the challenge began to set in.

And it was not pretty.

After finishing my second box, I started to get my doubts.

I started to get sad, too.

So I decided to do some lunging...

...and stretching...

...and some twists. That seemed to help me get through the thirties.

Meanwhile, Jake's final box had brought him to the couch. Lesson #1 of the McNugget Challenge: The last box will always bring you to the couch (or worse).

Eventually, Jake arrived at McNugget #50 after just an hour into the challenge. (I was somewhere just past halfway at this moment.) On his face you can see the joy, the relief, the regret, the sickness. It's all there.

Here are McNuggets #32-33. I started eating them two at a time to get through the thirties.

Here is Jake, once he finished. A picture is worth a 1,000 words. I don't think I need to say much else.

Me with a mouth full of Nuggets, probably around the end of my fourth box.

Soon enough, the challenge sent me to the couch, as well. It got really late and Sarah went home so there are few pictures of my last box. That is a good thing. That final box was about as low of a moment as I had ever had. Each Nugget tasted like a poisonous sponge doused in grease. I needed three or four bites and a sip of water to get each one down. Somehow, I had to finish.

Finally, at 4:00 in the morning, there was only one McNugget left to eat. #50. That cursed wench. Did I savor it? No, I did not.

Here I sit with my prize. A golden wad of fat and cholesterol. I finished the challenge, and I suppose I feel semi-proud. But not really proud.

The five empty boxes of the finished challenge. My advice to you: DO NOT TRY THE MCNUGGET CHALLENGE!!! EVER!!!