Fast Food

brendalyne
brendalyne Posts: 497
edited September 29 in Food and Nutrition
My daughter told me about a documentary she'd seen called Super Size Me. So, if you want to know what would happen if you ate nothing but fast food for an entire month, check out this out. Filmmaker Morgan Spurlock does just that and embarks on the most perilous journey of his life. The rules? For 30 days he can't eat or drink anything that isn't on McDonald's menu; he must wolf three squares a day; he must consume everything on the menu at least once and supersize his meal if asked.

Of course I hope no one actually eats ALL of their meals at McDonalds, but I think it still makes an important point, that you are what you eat!

Here's one little excerpt from the link below: After five days Spurlock has gained almost 10 pounds (4.5 kg) (from 185.5 to about 195 pounds). It is not long before he finds himself with a feeling of depression, and he claims that his bouts of depression, lethargy, and headaches are relieved by a McDonald's meal. One doctor describes him as "addicted." He has soon gained another 8 pounds (3.5 kg), putting his weight at 203.5 lb (92 kg). By the end of the month he weighs about 210 pounds (95.5 kg), an increase of about 24.5 pounds (about 11 kg). Because he could only eat McDonald's food for a month, Spurlock refused to take any medication at all. At one weigh-in Morgan lost 1 lb. from the previous weigh-in, but it was hypothesized by a nutritionist that he had lost muscle mass, which weighs more than an identical volume of fat.


Here's the link giving a synopsis of what happened in just one month of eating unhealthy fast food meals: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0390521/synopsis

Replies

  • tamiesue2
    tamiesue2 Posts: 149 Member
    Wow, I just read that. Not only did he gain weight but the emotional rollercoaster was tremendous.
  • Erykah3584
    Erykah3584 Posts: 324 Member
    I saw that! He looked and felt aweful!!
  • marie_2454
    marie_2454 Posts: 881 Member
    My mom had to watch this for one of her nutrition classes, so I watched it with her...all I can say is WOW and gross...
  • gisellybean
    gisellybean Posts: 8 Member
    I've seen that! But there's also something where someone tried the same thing, but only eating the healthy options and still maintaining an active lifestyle.. and they were fine. It shows how important it is to make good decisions... it's not just 'fast food' in general! :]
  • cherubcrnp
    cherubcrnp Posts: 717 Member
    I watched that documentary too....and yuck, yuck yuck. He felt miserable and gained all that weight. Healthy choices do make a difference,
  • Super Size Me is a good little film, but it's sadly far from scientific research. It would be nice if we could actually see someone do something like this without an obvious agenda and desired result. Calling his film a "documentary" is like calling the red-faced, screaming pundits on the nightly cable news channels "journalists".
  • jhardenbergh
    jhardenbergh Posts: 1,035 Member
    He didn't strilctly just eat McDonalds, he would never share his food diaries with anyone and there was another documentary that I highly recommend called Fat Head. The filmaker proves that there was no way he could have eaten all of the calories he consumed at just McDonalds. At least not going by the rules that Morgan Spurlock was suppose to be following. Like only supersizing when asked.

    I do agree though too much fast food is not good for anyone, but there are healthy options out there. The guy in Fat Head did a strictly McDonalds diet for a month, and I think he lost 18 or 20 lbs, can't quite remember and also improved I think all of his blood work numbers.
  • jhardenbergh
    jhardenbergh Posts: 1,035 Member
    I've seen that! But there's also something where someone tried the same thing, but only eating the healthy options and still maintaining an active lifestyle.. and they were fine. It shows how important it is to make good decisions... it's not just 'fast food' in general! :]

    It's called Fathead, he didn't only eat the healthy option, but at times would opt out on the bun and stuff like that.
  • bean6344
    bean6344 Posts: 26 Member


    Of course I hope no one actually eats ALL of their meals at McDonalds, but I think it still makes an important point, that you are what you eat!


    Believe it or not, some people do. $.99 burgers are cheaper than almost any other "easy and quick" option.

    Its a great movie. Sure it is not a hard hitting journalistic documentary, but the man has very good intentions. The part about public school menus is perhaps the best and most disturbing part of the doc.
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