The go to reaction is to complain about how bad his diet must be. It's obviously not the best diet, but I doubt it's any different than what a lot of office workers grabbing their meals in food courts end up having, and it's a lot cheaper. The real problem is its only feasible if you live right by the Six Flags, which is I suspect why they can offer this.

It reminds me of the story of the guy who bought a refundable business class plane ticket so he could eat all his meals in the lounge and kept changing the ticket. He was caught eventually though.

https://nypost.com/2014/01/29/man-uses-first-class-plane-tic...

Yeah, I bought a house not far from a Costco. I don't hit the food court every day, but I pretty much only buy Costco gas.

I almost wonder if the schlep through the parking lot, into the amusement park and to the food stand, and back to the car every day offsets the bad diet. And if not, how many steps would do the trick?

You pose an interesting question, but OTOH exercise does not offset a poor diet. No amount of CrossFit is going to save you from a daily diet of gravy fries and chicken-fried double-double burgers.

I think exercise is more important than diet. There are many examples of people who literally only eat one food (often pizza) and doctors pronounce them surprisingly healthy. Athletes that need lots of calories often consume what would seem like a bad diet.

Said another way: "Short-sighted Man Attempts Extreme Money-Saving Measures At Expense of Years of Longevity and Inevitable Sky-High Medical Bills"

The food options at Six Flags Magic Mountain are actually more diverse than one would expect: https://www.sixflags.com/magicmountain/things-to-do/restaura...

This looks less diverse than my local mall food court was. The sushi is the only thing that sticks out beyond what you’d get at a diner.

I pretty much eat this exact diet so I’m not trying to judge, but it’s definitely not healthy

Sure. But the assumption is that his options are eating either funnel cakes or burgers, which is just not true.

All I could think of reading this was processed meat and colon cancer.

The article clearly talks about seeking out healthier options over time, such as salad.

Take it down a notch and call it 2.5 meals a week for $150/year. 115 cents a meal.

Food as a loss-leader does lead to funny math in a few other situations. Consider getting a $10 pizza at Costco every other week (which may be conservative or extreme depending on your lifestyle). You'd break even on an _executive_ membership over the course of a year, assuming the price of an equivalent pizza is ~$15 elsewhere.

> I mean it’s theme-park food so you can’t expect too much from them.

It doesn't have to be that way. Compare the range of restaurants at Tivoli in Copenhagen [1].

You can even spend $150 all at once, if you pick the set menu with basic drinks at Gemyse [2].

This is an extreme example, but American theme parks are missing a trick if the only options are fast-food style. With better options, mum and dad can eat in a nice restaurant, leaving the kids to take the rides.

[1] https://www.tivoligardens.com/en/mad-og-drikke/spisesteder

[2] https://www.nimb.dk/en/bar-og-restaurant/gemyse/menu

americans would also have a conniption at the thought of the kids being out on the rides without a parent present.

I'd rather spend a couple more years in debt but eat actual food. I have to respect the determination though, it's not easy doing something so bad for so long.

This is a great example of perverse incentives, although I'm not sure I'd want to put my body through that

Let know one say electrical engineers are not good at optimizing.

that's an N of 1...not of all EEs, let alone a majority.