Is fast food really THAT bad?

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  • bradphil87
    bradphil87 Posts: 617 Member
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    OP have you ever seen Super Size Me?

    It's a must.

    Come on. He ate it for 3 meals a day for 30 days. That is A LOT different (and not comparable) to someone who eats it once in awhile. Good grief. I don't even eat fast food and your post is plain silly to me.
    Have you ever seen "downsize me" a guy eats only McDonald's for a month and loses weight and bf% and his blood work is fine after the month. The reason being: he ate a reasonable amount of cals, and he worked out. It's a good watch.
  • Sharyn913
    Sharyn913 Posts: 777 Member
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    In the past, I would take the approach "as long as it fits into your calories" but I've gotten to the point that when I eat it, I feel nauseas afterwords. The food is high in sodium and the macros are horrible. Very little protein and all fat. My husband unfortunately lives on this food. He always needs a quick lunch and will have fast food on average of five times or more per week. I took him to the super market and told him to get whatever he wanted. I will wake up earlier to make him a lunch to take! Lets hope it works!
  • DanaDark
    DanaDark Posts: 2,187 Member
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    Fast food really is THAT bad for you, really. Here's a link to an article about a study done on 52,000 Chinese residents with regard to fast food consumption. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120702210214.htm.

    The Chinese population is seeing a higher level of diabetes and heart disease with the recently greater proliferation of Western style fast food availability.

    This article pretty much just sums up that you really should NOT consume fast food. Would you rather eat fast food of be healthy?

    No mention of caloric intake values in relation to the control group. Also mentions reduced daily exercise in the study group. Both are MAJOR factors in considering their conclusion, which they made no extra mention of other than in their listing of methods.
  • amandainez08
    amandainez08 Posts: 87 Member
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    I personally don't eat McDonald's anymore mainly because it made me sick once I ate it after starting my diet. I get sick after eating many fried foods since I haven't been putting them in my system. I still love their french fries, though! I am a Taco Bell girl. I still get something from there every now and again. But in your case, I would say it all depends on how you feel after eating it. I made the mistake of eating fried seafood Saturday night and I felt AWFUL afterwards. If it was good for you, you wouldn't feel like poo after eating it. So if you don't feel like getting up and exercising or doing housework, etc. just because you ate fast food, I wouldn't do it again. It obviously is doing something to your body to make you feel like that. Like someone else said, they do contain a lot of sodium as well, so you'll be more likely to retain water for the next day or so. If you have to do fast food, choose a healthier option, like a grilled chicken sandwhich or a salad. (Personally, I don't like fast food salads...not fresh enough.)
  • myukniewicz
    myukniewicz Posts: 906 Member
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    When I look fast food I think...
    - WHAT is in it??
    - WHO prepared it??
    - HOW did they prepare it??
    - WHEN was it prepared??

    If you can't answer those questions... then really WHY would you eat it? I like to know what is in my food (what ingredients, preservatives), who made it (because who knows what they did to it, maybe Joe at McDonalds had a bad day and wants to take it out on your food), how they prepared it (did they add lots of extra fat??? ) and when (was it made a minute ago? or an hour? or more?).

    Obviously I DO eat out, and I obviously can't answer all those questions every time either, but when I run through those questions in my head it makes me do a double take and usually I make smarter choices when I am out in the end.

    Good luck!!!
    ★Melissa
  • spikefoot
    spikefoot Posts: 419
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    Maybe I am a conspiracy theorist... but I believe that there are fast food labs out there that put a lot more thought and study into the fast food menu (and ingredients) than we could imagine.

    I used to eat it all the time, I rarely do now, I don't trust it and I do not trust large corporations for the most part..

    IMO McDonalds is one of the most powerful forces in the world when it comes to peoples poor health. I don't think you get that way by trying to take care of peoples health first.

    Just my opinion of course but from a business perspective I don't see how it can't be questionable.

    I do stop by every now and then for one of their ice cream cones or coffee so I am not all anti fast food. ;)
  • Meggles63
    Meggles63 Posts: 916 Member
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    you may be within your caloric goal but fast food doesn’t offer any nutritional benefits, so i wouldn’t recommend making it a habit. maybe once a week is a fair amount? When I eat fast food I order a kids meal and water. Soda is wasted calories (to me at least) since you don’t really taste what you’re drinking when eating. And smaller portions = less calories.
    Srsly??? no nutritional benefits whatsoever???? You gotta be kidding!
  • YouAreTheShit
    YouAreTheShit Posts: 510 Member
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    Yes, it's that bad.

    It would be best for your health if you could give it up altogether.

    That's hard to do. But if you can, you should.
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
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    You are doing it right.
  • GnochhiGnomes
    GnochhiGnomes Posts: 348 Member
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    Yes, in frequent amounts. If its a once a month thing than no.
  • Swissmiss
    Swissmiss Posts: 8,754 Member
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    Please look over your daily diary to see if the other meals are healthy. Take it all into consideration.
  • Phaedra2014
    Phaedra2014 Posts: 1,254 Member
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    i realize that fast food isnt entirely healthy, but its not intended to be eaten on a daily basis either. my weakness is mcdonald's fries sadly. the other day i had a fish sandwich, med fries and med diet dr pepper from there which added up to 760 calories, 87 carbs, 37 fat and 20 in protein.

    i was still able to remain within my daily goals in MFP. so should i stop eating there even if it doesnt put me over my daily limits? does it do some other unhealthy things that MFP just doesnt keep track of?

    It's what goes into making it that is really not good.
  • XXXMinnieXXX
    XXXMinnieXXX Posts: 3,459 Member
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    I've really learnt a calorie is not just a calorie. Make it an occasional treat! X
  • Bobby_Clerici
    Bobby_Clerici Posts: 1,828 Member
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    It's junk food.
    Not healthy. Let's not make fast food into something it is not.
    Nobody goes to McD to get healthy.
    We eat fast food, because it is tastes FABULOUS!
    I love going to McD, KFC and the rest...you bet!
    Life is to be lived.
    Just know what you're eating, and if it fits in your daily calorie goal, treat yourself from time to time.
    I lost 78 pounds eating well. Check out my diary; I EAT WELL!
    No need to be a food Nazi to see results.
  • KyleB65
    KyleB65 Posts: 1,196 Member
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    Start tracking your sodium intake.

    Average healthy intake per day is around 2500mg. If you have any issues with high blood pressure this drops to 1500 mg or less.

    I bet that your McD's meal hit close to your whole day's allotment.
  • olee67
    olee67 Posts: 208 Member
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    There's really only place I'll go in a pinch for fast food and that's taco bell. I'll get a steak burrito supreme without the sour cream and a side of black beans or some crunchy tacos... When I say in a pinch, I mean, A HUGE PINCH. The Sodium is high (about 1,000mg per burrito), but, it leaves me enough room to eat clean the rest of the day.
  • IsleEsme
    IsleEsme Posts: 175 Member
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    everything in moderation! If you are good with having your Mc'd food and you know you've worked out and it fits in your calories for the day than why the hell not? Go for it. Life's to short not to revel in what you really really like once in a while.
  • becki1815
    becki1815 Posts: 51 Member
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    I'm not about to tell you that you can't ever have it, you've had plenty of advice here. But for me, I used to be a frequent fast-food eater and I rarely eat it now, 70 pounds lost.

    1) It doesn't taste as good anymore, all I can taste is the salt. McDonald's filet o'fish used to be a favorite.

    2) I feel like crap afterwards. I do Zumba multiple times a week. If I had fast food that day, I can feel it in my workout, I have less energy and can't move as quickly. You can't tell me that's a coincidence.

    3) I'm afraid (for me), that I'll get back into habits that were impossibly hard to break the first time, I can't go back there again.
  • BABetter1
    BABetter1 Posts: 618 Member
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    Stop and think for a moment. Haven't you ever wondered why a hamburger from a fast food place has more fat and calories than a hamburger cooked at home? I did. That's how I found out that most fast food places are using the lowest, fattiest quality of meat they can legally sell. It's mostly hoof meat (not the actual hooves, but the meat within, which is mostly fat). Hoof meat has higher levels of E-coli in it. :sick: This is also the reason it has to be gassed with ammonia to kill the bacteria in it. You won't read "ammonia" in the content because it isn't considered an ingredient since it is used for "processing" the meat. Don't believe me? Do your own research. I haven't had a fast food hamburger since long before I began my lifestyle change and joined MFP. I found plenty of other foods to keep me fat. :laugh:
  • puffidredz
    puffidredz Posts: 119 Member
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    to answer some questions here, i got it because i didnt feel like cooking and i was also craving the fries! at first i was going to jus get a salad from Wendys so i did a nutrition comparison on their web site and found that their salads had as much calories as their 1/4 lb burger! so i immediately struck that from the list. so thats when i did the nutrition count on McDonalds web site and made sure what i got wasn't over my intake goals.

    prior to a few days ago, i haven't eaten at McDonalds in probably about 3 months, if not more, and the last fast food burger i had was at Rally's more than a week ago before i started doing MFP; i just started MFP about 4 days ago. and before that burger i hadn't had a fast food burger in several months. i stopped eating fast food burgers because like someone else mentioned earlier it made me feel bloated and lethargic and makes me want to vomit. i had gotten the Rally's burger because they used to be good but when i had that Rally's burger it just made me feel gassy and bloated too. so i guess i won't be eating there anymore either.

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