25,000 Big Macs

[4th and Long]

Man Eats His Meat-Mentous 25,000th Big Mac

Wisconsin Man Stays Healthy Despite Love Of Sandwich

FOND DU LAC, Wis. -- A Wisconsin man has made gastronomic history by finishing off his 25,000th Big Mac.

On the anniversary of his very first Big Mac, Don Gorske, of Fond Du Lac, Wis., donned his McDonald's gear and ordered the momentous sandwich before a crowd of reporters and photographers.

"I should try to look my best, right?" said Gorske.

He finished the burger in 16 bites, just as he ate his first Big Mac 1972, when his love affair for the burger began. The 57-year-old said McDonald's was the first place he drove when getting his first car. When he asked the owner for a good sandwich, he suggested the Big Mac -- for better or worse.

"It's the best thing I ever ate in my life," said Gorske.

He ate a total of nine on that May day, but said he has cut down to one or two recently.

Gorske, however, is not a Whopper fan. He said a friend once gave him $5 to eat the Burger King flagship sandwich. He ate it, vowed "never again" and spent the money on Big Macs. His Big Mac fixation found him a spot on the movie "Super Size Me," which didn't paint a glowing picture of the fast-food giant.

People are scratching their heads over more than his love of the very specific burger. Despite the sandwich's 576 calories and 742 milligrams of sodium, Gorske remains thin and healthy.

"I had my cholesterol just checked a couple weeks ago and it was 156. That's the third time I had it checked. In 1997, it was 158 and in 2003, it was 140. I mean, there's nothing showing me my cholesterol is going up," said Gorske.

A nutritionist said he is certainly the exception to the rules of healthy eating.

"It's not something we would encourage because the calories are so high. Over 500 for one sandwich -- that's a lot for most people," said nutritionist Janine Bamberger.

Gorske's love for the sandwich reaches all the way to his basement, where he keeps most of the 25,000 boxes or receipts for the Big Mac.

His wife -- yes, he has one -- said she stands by her man no matter how many Big Macs he eats.

"Yeah, I think it's weird," said Mary Gorske. "But that's OK. It's a good weird."