How gross is fast food to you

I find it gross and don't eat it - with some exceptions, of course (poor planning, lack of time to prepare a meal, social situations) but when I do I try to choose something with healthier options.

For most fast food burger chains it's easy to stop eating there if you think about what you're actually eating - the food (especially the meat) really is nasty. The "meat" used at many fast food chains are leftover parts of animals - parts of many cows from large slaughterhouses and grinder operations. The way these animals are raised is inhumane to say the least, and the fact that I could have anything in my burger from cow intestines to actual beef is disturbing to say the least. A study done by R.P. Clayton and K.E. Belk in 1998 concluded that a single 4-ounce ground beef patty was made from, on average, at least 55 different animals to, at most, an average of 1082 animals (http://student.ccbcmd.edu/~mashkene/fastFoodNation/hamburgers.html). Gross. Learning where animals we eat in America come from, the inhumane ways they are raised and killed, the enormously harmful ways in which manufacturing animals like this affects the environment, and so on has me not only not eating fast food, but not eating meat or dairy at all. But I digress, I'm not trying to make vegans out of all of you and don't judge others who do eat meat and dairy - I understand, I used to eat it too!

McDonalds french fries are among the worst around. They are coated in sugar, which makes them more addictive than other french fries, and obviously sugar is one of our biggest enemies as dieters.

When all else fails, I look at my fitness diary and see how much sodium is in that vegan salad with no dressing that I got from Chipotle. All fast food contains very high amounts of sodium. Sodium causes water retention, which can slow weight loss. It also adds extra weight to my day to day scale readings because of the extra water I'm retaining. When I eat a full day of whole foods that I prepare myself, I eat barely any sodium. When my body isn't retaining water, the number on the scale can be down to 3 pounds lighter than if I'm retaining a lot of water. I know this is more of an instant gratification thing, but instant gratification helps me the most!

Some fast food is gross, and some of it is uber-awesome. Quick run down:

Arby's -- uber-awesome
Wendy's --- some good/some bad
McDonald's -- nasty/gross (the *worst* I've ever had)
Subway --- some good/some bad
Burger King --- gross
Dairy Queen --- uber-awesome
Sonic ---- mostly good with some items bordering on awesome
Taco Bell -- some good/some bad


To lump all of these together, as though they all have the same foods, same ingredients, is just ignorance, imo. I have worked at most of them and can tell you that all fast food is *NOT* alike.

I kind of find it interesting that quite a lot of people who still eat so called "fast food" and fit it into their eating plan seem to be the ones who are having the best results for weight loss :devil: just sayin! :bigsmile:

Odd, while I was reading through this thread I got the exact opposite opinion.

I don't think fast food has much to do with dieting success, personally. It could be argued either way. Some might say that you need to keep eating the food you enjoy so you don't get discouraged; others might think it's more difficult to meet macros with fast food in your diet, leading to higher consumption.

I did seem to notice that the people who enjoy fast food had higher starting weights (based on the tickers that were made visible). Perhaps that's why you noticed the better weight loss results?

Dunno. I've dropped 35 pounds in under 4 months, and I don't touch the stuff.

I know how bad it is.. I don't eat it regularly mainly because I am not as dumb as I was when I was younger wasting money on it..however I do enjoy it and I will indulge from time to time.

Make smart choices. If you aren't so concerned with sodium content, etc, a large Wendy's chili is like 310 calories. Salads without cheese are valid options. Subway is easy to stay low-calorie. I know when I have the munchies, all I want to eat is freaking taco bell. Sometimes there is just no avoiding it, and then I regret it the next day. Oh well!

I kind of find it interesting that quite a lot of people who still eat so called "fast food" and fit it into their eating plan seem to be the ones who are having the best results for weight loss :devil: just sayin! :bigsmile:

Odd, while I was reading through this thread I got the exact opposite opinion.

I don't think fast food has much to do with dieting success, personally. It could be argued either way. Some might say that you need to keep eating the food you enjoy so you don't get discouraged; others might think it's more difficult to meet macros with fast food in your diet, leading to higher consumption.

I did seem to notice that the people who enjoy fast food had higher starting weights (based on the tickers that were made visible). Perhaps that's why you noticed the better weight loss results?

Dunno. I've dropped 35 pounds in under 4 months, and I don't touch the stuff.

lulz

When I crave a Big Mac, I tell myself what I must really want is salt (sodium burger is what I call them). So I add some sea salt to something that is real food. When I logically break down what the Mac is, I realize it is garbage food. Do I really want to eat from the fast food dumpster?

I find fast food repulsive. I have not consumed it in five years. The cure for me.....looking at a line at Mcdonalds.....The place that had 10 people in line, and 9 were morbidly obese... Im not saying that is the case everywhere or that fast food is the cause of obesity; Im just saying due to my experience I found fast food was not innocent.

Nine out of 10 people in line at the grocery store are obese, too. Maybe you shouldn't shop there, either. :-)

Depends what grocery store! Thank you for the input:)

Every one I've ever been in.

Okay:) It looks as if your shopping places and mine are two different places. Thanks, and now I will move on to other post:) Have a nice day!

Wow. Where do you shop? They must have a no fat person allowed policy. I've shopped at Wal-Mart, Albertson's, HEB, Whole Foods, Sun Harvest, a variety of farmer's markets in a few cities/towns in Texas and California and I do run into quite a few "fat" people consistently, ranging from very chubby to overweight to obese.

So where do you shop? Maybe I can come by and break the fat person cherry there.

Watch Food Inc. and then read up on how they take the manure exposed scrapings left over after butchering the cow, put ammonia in it, and then make those fast food burgers that everyone loves. The NY Times had a very enlightening article about the ammonia in fast food and prison beef.

I avoid anything manure exposed. That's why I only eat live animals and avoid anything that's grown out of the ground.

I was shocked the other week when I ate a large combo at mc. Over 1000 calories. I did it only for the glass but next time I wont.