MARCIA
Vegetarian wife. (NY Post: Chad Rachman)
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If you want a big example of how not to eat, just take a look at City Councilman Leroy Comrie, his wife told The Post.
The super-sized Queens Democrat seeking a ban on McDonald’s Happy Meal toys is himself a cautionary tale on the consequences of scarfing down too many Big Macs, Marcia Comrie said.
“He doesn’t do it in front of me — he knows it’s the bane of my existence,” she said of her 335-pound husband’s fast-food-devouring ways. “But the results are there for anyone to see.”
EDITORIAL: COUNCILMAN, HEAL THYSELF
Fast-food restaurants would be forced to yank toys from any kids meal with more than 500 calories, under the bill Comrie introduced yesterday — a measure he says will steer children to healthier options and help them avoid his fate.
Comrie’s wife, 54, a vegetarian who “does yoga and watches every morsel” she eats, said the councilman eats healthy at home but cheats when he’s out.
“He’s not averse to healthy eating,” she said. “He actually enjoys when I make him a wholesome breakfast, and he likes when I cook him tofu.
“But by lunchtime he could be having spare ribs — or a Big Mac.”
Comrie, 51, who counts Slurpees among his weaknesses, once shed 100 pounds eating a diet of nothing but salads and water, said his wife, a writer.
“Unfortunately, no man can live on salads and water alone, and he ends up going in for those quick meals — which I hesitate to even call meals.”
The councilman’s weight has fluctuated over the years, but the toy-ban bill is important to him because he knows that “once you lay down a foundation of bad eating habits as a child, it’s very hard to shake them,” she said.
Councilman Comrie, a father of a teenage son and daughter from St. Albans, doesn’t disagree with his wife.
“I’m a fast-food aficionado,” he said. “My typical lunch is getting something from Popeye’s or McDonald’s.”
Always on the go, and often on the road around his district and to and from City Hall, Comrie said he chooses meals he can eat while behind the wheel.
“Fast food is really the main option in my district, but when I’m by City Hall, I hit salad bars,” he said. “I would love to be home at 5 o’clock and to be able to sit down for a healthier meal, but my job doesn’t allow it.”
Growing up eating tons of fast food, Comrie says he developed bad habits he “continues to struggle with.”
Additional reporting by Sally Goldenberg