Fast Food Bashing

MinnieInMaine

I agree with this, but I have to admit that I am not always satiated with fast food. :frown:

This is what usually saves me from the occassional McD's cheeseburger craving (definitely my favorite!). At 300 calories, it's going to fit nicely into my daily budget but I know it's not going to be as satisfying as say...a homemade tuna salad sandwich and a banana. Same amount of calories but way more bang for the buck, at least for me.

adrian_indy

What's up with the legions of people on these sites that so despise Fast Food like McDonalds? Did you all just figure out that it was bad for you? I knew that when I was at my heaviest. I just didn't care. I also like how they have to try and convince themselves and everyone else that it doesn't taste good. Really? Is that how they became a successful business, with bad tasting food? Sounds like people are in denial to me.

I love the Mc Donalds cheese burger, always have, always will. I know it's bad for me, that's why I don't have them as often as I used to, and I make sure I don't eat a bunch at one sitting. Moderation. But it always cracks me up that the weight loss warriors on here who so decry a cheese burger with 300 calories in it are silent on things like alcohol. If only cheeseburgers gave us a buzz!

Exactly!

Yeah? But 1 shot of alcohol is good for the heart. I'm good through 2054.

Ha!

MrsHyland

I know there is better tasting food out there, but part of the Fast Food equation is the convience. Trust me, if they could figure out a way to make fast food BBQ RiBS that tasted great and could be eaten in the car easily, I would be all over it. Until, it's cheese burgers.

This is how I feel as well. I had class last night and didn't have time in the morning to make myself something for dinner. I went to McDonald's because it was on the way and I could eat it in the car. Rather than ordering a regular meal, I got a happy meal. Small portion therefor less calories and still filled me up. There will always be fast food because people need easy. It's a part of life. It's just up to us to adjust and modify to fit our lifestyles.

And if you don't like fast food, whatever. I don't think the original post was meant to be antagonistic or rude as some seem to have taken it. He was just making a valid point that in moderation, things are ok. Everyone has their vices, it's dealing with them appropriately that is the challenge.

solpwr

Health is determined more by your weight, activity, and genetics than by what you eat. Just as eating "unhealthy" doesn't mean that you will be unhealthy if you are normal weight, are active, and have good genetics.

This is a great statement right here. The body can utilize lots of things put in it.
I would add that "moderation" is a very healthy thing for the mind and body. A glass of wine once in awhile is good for you. A periodic indulgence is great for the mind, and can be healthy for the body and its processes.

But sometimes people take something they've read and formed conclusions about, turn those into beliefs, and then adhere to those beliefs with a blind, almost religious, credulity. That often happens regarding diet, nutrition, and exercise. Speaking for myself, I've done this at times. No one is immune to this tendency. Happens a lot regarding fast food, sugar, flour, processed foods, alcohol, etc.

wanderlust3

Speaking as someone who feels a bit queasy at the thought of eating a McDonald's Burger, I think I can explain why people say fast food "doesn't taste good." You're right, of course -- it DOES taste good while you're eating it. But if you habitually eat really healthy food, particularly if you have a sensitive stomach, fast food can do a number on how you feel whether you eat 200 calories of it or 2,000 calories. If you KNOW with absolute certainty that you are going to be sick as a dog as soon as you finish eating it, the stuff becomes pretty unappetizing. Ever gotten the stomach flu just after eating a meal that you really liked, and it just didn't taste right to you for a long time afterward? The same principle's at work here -- it might be all in your head, but you still can't enjoy it. So, no, I don't think people are in denial when they say "fast food doesn't taste good," they're just expressing a complicated aversion in a simplistic and easy to explain way. Either that, or they're speaking in terms of comparisons, the way people say Hershey's chocolate "doesn't taste good" in comparison to Lindt chocolate.

That said, I agree with you that a cheeseburger every now and then certainly won't kill anyone, and a person can become overweight by eating too many calories of healthy food just as easily as they can by eating too much fast food. Moderation is a great way to look at it.

Laura_Ivy

I went for like 4 years without eating fast food really and it had me running to el bano within 20 minutes of eating it. Tastes so good but made me feel horrible. Now my body has acclimated to eating out again so it's no big deal.

kateroot

If I'm gonna eat a burger, I'd much rather support a local burger joint with MUCH better tasting food. Fast food isn't the devil or anything, but it's cheaply produced food that, in my opinion, pretty much tastes like crap.

hollyeverhart

I have always found fast food nasty. Cheap, bad quality, plus I am vegetarian, even before I was I couldn't stand it. I don't have to 'convince' myself of anything I just plain don't like it. When other people eat it around me the smell repulses me, I like quality food that you make at home out of good ingredients. Not saying everything I eat is healthy because I love sweets/bread sometimes but if I am going to eat a lot of calories its going to be in a good dessert or a pastry from my local farmers market, not a disgusting fatty cheeseburger made from low grade meat made by some person I don't know in a dirty fast food place. If that makes you think I am a snob or something thats fine, but I have never had a weight issue or been considered fat at all...I just want to be thinner because I like the way skinny looks compared to normal size & I like having a way to track the food I eat. I am not trying to offend anyone, I just think a lot of people that are dealing with a major weight problem probably got that way from fast food.

servilia

Funny but I find a way to fit it in my cals if my husband happens to want to have that once a week, without getting overweight. It's about portion control people.

_Timmeh_

<

---

admitted fast food junky, well not any more...but in the past.
Mcdonalds is good hangover food.

tameko2

LOL I like their cheeseburgers too...must be the pickles! It certainly couldn't the fat laden meat patty with cheese. o_O I take full responsibility for my fatness! ( is that a word?) I got fat because of inactivity, poor food choices and being a horrible couch potato.

no its totally the hot ketchup and little pieces of onion

Elizabeth_C34

I just don't find it filling or satisfying anymore like I used to. I started getting really into cooking in the last 4 years, and it's been great.

Really though, moderation is the key to eating out no matter if it's fast food or not. Sure, if you eat McDonald's 3x per day for the rest of your life, you are going to get sick, be malnourished, and feeling pretty crappy. If you eat junk food once a week or less, it's not nearly as big of a deal.

tameko2

I am not trying to offend anyone, I just think a lot of people that are dealing with a major weight problem probably got that way from fast food.

Nope, not me. I got that way from AMAZING delicious sit down food. In fact I ate a TOTALLY VEGAN and "Super Healthy" lunch yesterday that was probably like 800 calories. If I'd had their yummy lavender lemonade and a vegan dessert too it would have been awesome but ridiculously high in total calories for one meal.

Overeating is THE cause of obesity. Fast food promotes overeating, but you do not HAVE to overeat at fast food, its just that they constantly offer you fries and a coke with everything. Plus oooh look, jalapeno poppers!

I still eat fast food on my diet - its inexpensive and convenient. The difference is that before I would have gotten a western bacon cheeseburger with chili cheese fries and a root beer, and now I have a bbq chicken sandwich with no mayo, no fries, and water.

Ruby11222

I'd rather make a yummy burger at home that I can feel good about eating. I don't just want to lose weight, I'd like to do it the healthiest way I can. That's just me.

I have severe side effects from eating McDonald's, half way through a burger my heart starts to go crazy and I have to stop eating and lay down. I also get a severely itchy scalp.

I haven't eaten it for nearly a year and don't miss it at all, I do however, miss the convenience.

I still eat Subway from time to time, and don't get the same reaction from that.

There's no doubt McDonald's tastes good, I always preferred Burger King though

I guess what I ask myself about threads like this and the whole Diet Soda debate is, why are our bodies SO addicted to these foods? CHEMICALS?

In my opinion, and not pushing on anyone else, I think we eat more than enough chemicals in healthy foods, why is it so awful to NOT want to eat more of them, in highly concentrated forms?

chrisdavey

I don't eat fast food because it's bad for me. :bigsmile:
































edit: there's another 2 on the end that the pic cut out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5CTtedxMRo

midwifekelley2350

tastes good but don't eat it very often because it makes me feel like ****! i do like wendy's fries better than mcdonalds though

brendacs21

I love pizza and never in a million years would i give it up! Now i order 1 slice and combine it with a salad. I savor every bite! Oh yes and special occasions i eat what i want w/o feeling the least bit guilty. i mean they only come around once in a while!

rockerbabyy

I am not trying to offend anyone, I just think a lot of people that are dealing with a major weight problem probably got that way from fast food.

not me. i got fat from over eating - we almost never went out to eat when i was a kid, yet i was fat by the time i was 11.

Apacheskicass

Lol I love me some Taco Bell

MissesForrester

MFP needs a "like" button!

wanderlust3

For the record, I don't like fast food either -- it makes my stomach rebel and I don't think it tastes nearly as good as homemade -- but I think you're kind of missing the point here. Nobody is arguing that it's right to subsist on a diet of fast food all the time or to "treat your stomach like a trash can" and fill it with empty calories. They're just saying that if you happen to like mcdonald's burgers or KFC chicken or french fries or soda or whatever, it's not the end in the world to treat yourself on a rare occasion, just as it's not the end of the world to indulge in slice of homemade apple pie that's loaded with sugar and butter and white flour once in a while. Ultimately, overeating is what makes people gain weight. Fast food is certainly bad for you and has little nutritional value, which encourages overeating, but fast food will not make you overweight unless you eat too many calories. And eating nutritional, healthy food WILL make you overweight if you eat too much of it. Obviously it's preferable to eat the right amount of calories AND get them from food that has nutritional value, but a greasy cheeseburger every now and then won't kill you.

servilia

I don't eat fast food because it's bad for me. :bigsmile:
































edit: there's another 2 on the end that the pic cut out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5CTtedxMRo

Awesome!! :laugh: No wonder you're so fat! LOL

Victoriav99

I had KFC For dinner at 640 calories AND I'm still under my 1200 calorie goal. I did make better
choices though. I had corn on the cob and grilled chicken, BUT i had to have my buiscuit and mashed potatos and gravy. YUMMY Dinner

fudog

For me it just doesn't get any better than a double quarter pounder w/o cheese. Prior to MFP I've been known to eat 2 of 'em at a time (not simultaneously mind you but in one sitting). I wholeheartedly agree with moderation.

StatutoryGrape

For me it just doesn't get any better than a double quarter pounder w/o cheese. Prior to MFP I've been known to eat 2 of 'em at a time (not simultaneously mind you but in one sitting). I wholeheartedly agree with moderation.

Royale with cheese.

I generally make pretty good choices if we go for fast food, mostly because I don't like red meat and avoid burgers (and I have a hard time finishing a sandwich and fries, so I eat smaller amounts). We're cutting back, though, because it's cheaper for us to eat at home than to go out.

CoraGregoryCPA

"Just as eating "unhealthy" doesn't mean that you will be unhealthy if you are normal weight, are active, and have good genetics." Seriously? Genetics you cannot control, so that shouldn't be thrown in the sentence. Even thin athletic people can have heartaches. If you eat unhealthy, then you have a very good chance of being unhealthy. Not that there is anything wrong with that. If the baby's ugly, then the baby's ugly.

I got very overweight from eating fast food. But I ate it 3 times a day, if I could. After losing weight, I realized the fries at McDonalds weren't the same as when I was 4 with my toy. They changed the oil. They changed the timing. They change everything about the good old fatty fry, because some complained that they had gotten fat off of it. I stopped eating and craving it because I realized the fry I wanted doesn't exist anymore. Now they have fresh hamburgers, instead of the old ones that would sit in the bin for hours-yummy! I'm sorry but I miss the old mcdonald type food!

It's hilarious how the ones bashing fast food are overweight from what..............................eating healthy food? Or eating higher calorie foods that are supposedly healthier than fast food?
So let's get this straight: Would it be better to be healthy and normal weight and eat fast food on occasion or better to be overweight and eat healthy all the time?

Health is determined more by your weight, activity, and genetics than by what you eat. Just as eating "unhealthy" doesn't mean that you will be unhealthy if you are normal weight, are active, and have good genetics.


A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Johnny_Castle

I *&^*^&% love Mcdonald's!!! I love everything on their menu but I haven't had anything from there for a long time. When I'm actually eating the food is so good that I literally feel like I'm in heaven. The bad part comes after eating. I always get stomach aches and feel like crap both physically and mentally.and it's not just the calories and all the saturated and trans fats in their food that are the problem. The big Mac sauce alone for example contains so many different chemicals...the bread alone like 30...it's crazy...you can go to their website and read the ingredients in their food yourself...I think the most I'm gonna go there from now on is like twice a year or so.

mideon_696

I don't eat fast food because it's bad for me. :bigsmile:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5CTtedxMRo

you like you were farked afterwards!!! I dont think i'd be able to beat that.

epona_mus

People are free to eat whatever they want, but I'll never understand how anyone with any conscience could support a corporation like McDonald's. If you want a burger, there are many places to get one that aren't involved in the level of exploitation and gross misuse of resources that McDonald's is.

bcattoes

IMO calling what they serve at McD 'cheeseburgers' is a stretch of the imagination. Health aspects aside, most fast food just tastes bad. Really bad. And McD tastes worse than most. It barely even tastes like food. I just don't see why anyone would want to waste calories on that crap. I know why people waste calories on alcohol.