--- title: Chick-Fil-A Diet: Eat Chicken Nuggets Every 3 Hours description: The key is eating chicken nuggets every three to four hours, the fast food restaurant says canonical: https://time.com/4201498/chick-fil-a-diet/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-31T16:46:12.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:29:29.741Z og:title: The Chick-Fil-A Diet Wants You to Eat Chicken Nuggets Every 3 Hours og:description: Hopefully you like chicken nuggets og:url: https://time.com/4201498/chick-fil-a-diet/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0943a1a329ed9da3/69887b79a988ca4a7c6b6602/chick-fil-a-diet-chicken-nuggets.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4000 og:image:height: 2250 og:image:alt: Operations Inside A Chick-fil-A Location As Restaurant Opens Manhattan Outpost In Northern Push og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Chick-Fil-A Diet Wants You to Eat Chicken Nuggets Every 3 Hours twitter:description: Hopefully you like chicken nuggets twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0943a1a329ed9da3/69887b79a988ca4a7c6b6602/chick-fil-a-diet-chicken-nuggets.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Chick-Fil-A Diet Wants You to Eat Chicken Nuggets Every 3 Hours > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=f5c4a8d7-aecd-4439-a95a-d3c9095964a5&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1) by [Maria Yagoda / People](https://time.com/author/people/) ## Maria Yagoda / People Contributor Jan 31, 2016 4:46 PM UTC  Chicken nuggets, french fries, and a fried chicken sandwich are arranged for a photograph during an event ahead of the grand opening for a Chick-fil-A restaurant in New York, U.S., on Friday, Oct. 2, 2015. Chicken nuggets, french fries, and a fried chicken sandwich are arranged for a photograph during an event ahead of the grand opening for a Chick-fil-A restaurant in New York, U.S., on Friday, Oct. 2, 2015. Michael Nagle–Bloomberg/Getty Images by [Maria Yagoda / People](https://time.com/author/people/) ## Maria Yagoda / People Contributor Jan 31, 2016 4:46 PM UTC From [taco cleanses](http://greatideas.people.com/2016/01/04/taco-cleanse-diet-recipes/) to [pizza diets](http://greatideas.people.com/2016/01/27/chef-drops-almost-100-lbs-eating-pizza/), a new generation of nutrition philosophies is proposing some unexpected ways to get healthy that, to our delight, feature some of our favorite junk foods. Now there’s yet another new diet _—_ well, it’s really more of a wellness plan _—_that suggests regular chicken nugget consumption. Unsurprisingly, [Chik-Fil-A](http://greatideas.people.com/2015/07/10/chick-fil-a-free-cow-appreciation-day/) has invented the plan. “Kick off the New Year by adding one healthy habit to your routine,” the fast food chain’s bags now read. “Here’s a good one: Eat smaller meals (like an 8-count pack of grilled nuggets) every three to four hours.” The fast food-based diet may even be more expensive than a juice cleanse: Buying 8-packs of grilled nuggets 6 times a day adds up to roughly $23.10 a day. And that’s not including the fountain sodas and cheesecake you’ll inevitably buy > [](https://twitter.com/rodger%5Fsherman/status/692412323873591296) Another huge problem with the diet: How could you ever, _ever_ go to Chik-Fil-A and resist buying waffle fries? Plus, choosing grilled nuggets over crispy fried nuggets would get old almost instantly. Despite the lack of vegetables and vital nutrients in an all-chicken-nugget diet, the nuggets themselves are actually pretty healthy at 140 calories and 3 grams of fat per serving. But we’re still left with some more lingering questions: Are you allowed to use dipping sauce? What are you supposed to do on Sunday, when Chik-Fil-A is notoriously closed? Regardless, we’re still open to a chicken-centric diet. If a chef can [lose 100 lbs. eating pizza](http://greatideas.people.com/2016/01/27/chef-drops-almost-100-lbs-eating-pizza/) every day, then anything is possible. _This_ [_article_](http://greatideas.people.com/2016/01/28/chicken-nugget-diet-chick-fil-a/?xid=socialflow%5Ffacebook%5Fpeoplemag) _originally appeared on_ [_People.com_](http://www.people.com) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4201498/chick-fil-a-diet/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4201498/chick-fil-a-diet/"},"headline":"The Chick-Fil-A Diet Wants You to Eat Chicken Nuggets Every 3 Hours","datePublished":"2016-01-31T16:46:12.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:29:29.741Z","description":"Waffle fries not included","url":"https://time.com/4201498/chick-fil-a-diet/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Food & Drink"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0943a1a329ed9da3/69887b79a988ca4a7c6b6602/chick-fil-a-diet-chicken-nuggets.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maria Yagoda / People"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0943a1a329ed9da3/69887b79a988ca4a7c6b6602/chick-fil-a-diet-chicken-nuggets.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Operations Inside A Chick-fil-A Location As Restaurant Opens Manhattan Outpost In Northern Push","caption":"Chicken nuggets, french fries, and a fried chicken sandwich are arranged for a photograph during an event ahead of the grand opening for a Chick-fil-A restaurant in New York, U.S., on Friday, Oct. 2, 2015.","creditText":"Michael Nagle–Bloomberg/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4201498/chick-fil-a-diet/","name":"The Chick-Fil-A Diet Wants You to Eat Chicken Nuggets Every 3 Hours"}}]}] ```