????33年前簡?費爾茨加入麥當勞的時候還只是負責炸薯條，當她快要55歲那年，她已成為這個快餐連鎖集團的美國總裁。她說，“有天醒來后我對自己說，‘天啊！我怎么變得這么胖了？’”

????與她掌管的14,000家麥當勞連鎖店的上百萬顧客一樣，費爾茨也是在不知不覺間長胖的——“每次10磅：10磅，10磅，10磅，然后突然間，我看了看自己，不禁驚呼，天哪，我重了90磅。我怎么長這么胖了？”

????誠然，麥當勞一直是評論家們公認的美國肥胖問題的罪魁禍首，但是費爾茨堅持認為她本人發福的根源不是食物，而是缺乏鍛煉。“我不怎么運動，”她承認，“整天除了上班，就是回家睡覺”。

????費爾茨在財富（Fortune）最具影響力女性名單中位列第25名，并不怎么引人注目：她在印第安納州的小城鎮文森尼斯長大，來自于一個有8個孩子的家庭，排行老七。小時候她一直很纖瘦，并夢想著長大了當一名修女，后來又憧憬著當一名律師。但她隨后結識了她丈夫，早早地結了婚，生了個女兒。23歲那年，在開車去參加建筑公司秘書招聘面試的路上，她上麥當勞喝了一杯可樂，碰巧看見了“招聘”的牌子。其實，那是費爾茨第一次在麥當勞用餐。由于囊中羞澀，她和曾是空軍的丈夫從未在餐館吃過飯。

????由于一時心血來潮，她接受了麥當勞的工作，時薪2.65美元。上班第一天晚上回到家，她大哭一場——“糟透了”。后來公司把她從煎炸部調到了前臺做客服。“不要因為某件事或某個人而放棄，”她說。由于在工作上恪盡職守，在領導風格上平易近人，勵精圖治，她在公司一路平步青云。

????一直以來，由于在工作上太賣力，她很難抽出時間去大學深造或保養身體。直到有一天，在約見了一位營養師之后，她才下決心向肥胖開戰。“一開始，我主要是在健身房的跑步機上練習”，她說，只要有走道的地方，就能健身，“我并沒有請教練。”

????她開始加大飲水量，不喝汽水，即便是無糖汽水。費爾茨每天仍然都在麥當勞用餐，只是和過去相比，吃的種類不同，份量也更少。早餐是麥當勞的燕麥粥或雞蛋麥氏松餅或水果和酸奶凍糕。她在伊利諾伊州奧克布魯克辦公，辦公室附近有一家麥當勞，這也是她午餐的地點，午餐菜譜通常是烤雞三明治或芝士堡，并搭配少量法式薯條和冰茶。

????晚餐不在麥當勞吃——工作之余她也有自己的生活。通常，她會點通心粉，她常說，“我是西紅柿干酪沙拉的粉絲。這是我一直以來最鐘愛的一道菜”

????健康飲食為費爾茨帶來了健康，也造福了公司。全新的食品比如冰沙和燕麥粥幫助公司擴大了客戶群，同時也帶來了更豐厚的利潤，公司股價也在近期升至歷史新高。與此同時，麥當勞上周宣布，旗下店面將為開心樂園餐（Happy Meals）搭配水果或蔬菜，并減少薯條的分量，這意味著“公司為迎接重大轉變邁出了第一步”，費爾茨說。

????費爾茨重視培養年輕人，她認為自己的經歷是“有志者事竟成”的寫照。那么這個月即將年滿56歲的她又會在盤算什么新的目標呢？那就是10月9日的美國銀行（Bank of America，BAC）芝加哥馬拉松。雖然在2月份之前她連1英里（1.61公里——譯注）都沒跑過，但是費爾茨目前正在積極備戰。周日，她在給我的郵件中說：“上周末我跑了13.1英里”，她繼續寫道，“太熱了（有90華氏度——32.22℃）。我花了3小時12分才跑完。所以近期跑奧運賽事是沒戲了…但是我堅持跑完了 ”

????Jan Fields, who started at McDonald's 33 years ago cooking fries and is now the fast food chain's U.S. president, was soon to turn 55 when, she says, "I woke up one day and said, "Oh my God, how did I gain this much weight?"

????Like millions of her customers at the 14,000 restaurants she oversees, Fields added her weight gradually--"10 pounds at a time: 10, 10, 10 and all of a sudden, I looked and I said, 'Oh, my God, I've gained 90 pounds. How did I ever do that?"

????Of course, McDonald's tops critics' hit list for compounding America's obesity epidemic, but Fields insists that her own culprit wasn't food but lack of exercise. "I didn't exercise," she confesses. "I worked all the time, went home and went to bed."

????Fields, No. 25 on Fortune's Most Powerful Women list, has always been easy to underestimate: The seventh of eight children raised in tiny Vincennes, Indiana, she grew up skinny and dreamed of being a nun, then a lawyer. But she met a guy, married young, had a daughter, and was driving to an interview for a secretarial job at a construction company when, at 23, she stopped at McDonald's for a Coke and spotted a "Now Hiring" sign. It was, in fact, the first time Fields ever ate in a McDonald's. She and her husband, who had enlisted in the Air Force, were so poor that they couldn't afford to eat out.

????Accepting a job on a whim and starting at $2.65 an hour, she went home that first night and cried -- "a disaster" until they moved her from cooking fries to serving customers at front counter. "Never quit over one thing or one person," she advises. Rising rapidly through the ranks, she was propelled by a remarkable discipline and a down-home, inspirational leadership style.

????Along the way, Fields was working so hard that she never had time to get a college degree or take care of herself. Until she visited a nutritionist and committed to do something about her weight gain. "I started with going to the gym and getting on a treadmill," she says, noting that all you need is a walking path to begin a fitness routine. "I didn't hire a trainer."

????She started drinking a lot more water. And no soda, not even the diet kind. Fields still eats at McDonald's every day--but different foods and smaller portions than she used to. Breakfast is McDonald's oatmeal or an Egg McMuffin or a fruit and yogurt parfait. Lunch, at the McDonald's next to her office in Oak Brook, Illinois, is usually a grilled chicken sandwich or a cheeseburger, with a few French fries and iced tea.

????Dinner is not at McDonald's -- she does get away from work. Typically, she has pasta, or, she says, "I'm big on tomato mozzarella salad. That's my favorite all-time food."

????The focus on healthy eating has been good for Fields -- and the company. New products like smoothies and oatmeal have helped expand McDonald's customer base and profits, and the stock recently reached an all-time high. Meanwhile, McDonald's announcement last week that its restaurants will serve fruit or a vegetable with Happy Meals and cut the portion size of French fries signifies "our first step toward creating serious change," Fields says.

????Fields, who loves to mentor young people, contends that her story proves that people "can do anything that they can set their mind to." And what, as she turns 56 this month, is she setting her mind to next? The Bank of America (BAC) Chicago Marathon, on October 9. Though she never ran a mile until this past February, Fields is now training vigorously. On Sunday, she emailed me: "This past weekend, I did 13.1 miles," she wrote. "It was so hot (got to 90), it took me 3 hrs and 12 minutes. So I will not be qualifying for any Olympic trials any time soon...but I made it "