How gross is fast food to you
Replies
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In the last year I have eaten KFC, McDonalds, Burger King, Pizza Hut etc. I eat microwave meals pretty much on a daily basic. I have a take away chinese food / pizza about once a month.
But I also eat lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, chicken, fish etc. And get plenty of exercise
Personally I feel it's all about moderation. I could cut these out of my diet completely but I enjoy them and I can lose weight eating them. I gained weight by eating them too often and not getting enough exercise. I'm now losing and still get to enjoy them once in a while and fit them in to my daily calorie goals.0 -
A stumbled across a photograph of the "chicken" used in processed chicken products, like nuggets and strips etc, one day online. Now THAT was enough to put me off eating it forever. Shame I've always been more partial to beef-based fast foods. :grumble:0
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I not only dont buy fast food I even wash the fruit and vegetables I buy at the supermarket, I also rinse meat and fish and pat dry. Its not whats in the food or the nutrients, I just get horrible visuals of people in food processing units going to the toilet and not washing their hands and it makes me heave. My fridges, counters, sink, chopping board , rubbish bin is cleaned with an antiseptic spray every single day and nothing is kept past its use by date , mind you I have OCD lol . Everything is nuked/boiled and if I could soak it in dettol I would0
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Fast food makes me sick within an hour of eating it, except Subway.
I get this great idea that I'll just grab something right quick. Well that turns into a day of feeling awful.0 -
Unless you raise your own chickens, have your own cow, and grow your own food, you are always going to question the ingredients of what is in the package. Critics are everywhere looking to write a "New" and "Revealing" book or video... even if they have to make it up. Every single article and video has another one in rebuttal, it all depends on who is more glamorized or promoted on Netflix that gets the glory of the moment award.
Then, just when you think you are in control of your families food supply, your neighbor turns you into the EPA, USDA and any number of out of control alphabet soup agency because he doesn't like how tall your grass has gotten, the color of your siding, stopping you from using your well water or rain barrels, shutting you down and forcing you back into the controlled food chain.
Soylent Green is "PEOPLE"! Thanks Charleston Heston... you ruined it for me man. Bwahahahahaha0 -
I didn't take it out of context. You said you stopped eating it because 9 out of 10 people in line were obese, inferring that they are obese because they eat fast food and therefore, you would also become obese if you eat it (even in moderation).
Possibly, but Im not arguing for them..I stopped that convo a while ago because she was taking it out of context. I just wanted to clarify:)Haha! It is amazing how they misread my post. It was a personal experience that I had, not a generalized statement. I was simply answering the OP of why I don't like fast food. I actually did see 9 out of 10. Does it happen all the time...no (never said it did) but it was an experience that helped shape my view on fast food.
So then it's quite possible that someone else's experience could have been seeing 9 out of 10 people in line at the grocery store as obese as well?
So I stated that I have seen a very large number of people (and, really, at least one out of every three or more seem to be overweight in certain places) in a grocery store, so it must be because of the grocery store and I shouldn't eat anything from there, either. I was only following your logic.0 -
You must eat fast food, so my apologies for touching a nerve with my opinion and thoughts to the OP's question
I must have missed this. Was it directed at me?
No, actually, I eat very little fast food. And what I do eat is the occassional veggie and cheese sub (not from Subway, even!) or pizza once every six months or so. If I eat out, 9 out of 10 times it's a local Indian place. If I am on the road with other people and the only choice I have in the matter is a fast food place, either I don't eat or I get a small fry if I'm very hungry. My SO doesn't like to stop at a sit-down place when we travel, so sometimes I get stuck.
I'm a vegetarian, anyway, so there aren't many choices for me at those places. The last time I went into a McDonald's, I had a strawberry smoothie and nothing else. In April, after a night of serious drinking (something else I do about once every two decades or so), a friend brought me an egg white McMuffin and on my long drive home, I had some curly fries from Arby's so I didn't get sick.
Otherwise, I mostly at at home and I cook. I eat a ton of fruits and vegetables, too.
So, no, I don't eat fast food (or if I do, it's extremely rare and not my choice). But I also think logically and when someone says something silly, I have a tough time letting it go.0 -
Its definitely hard for me also...:noway:0
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The only thing I miss since going vegetarian is McDonald's fries. They fry them in beef fat. :-(you mean chemically lab made flavored flash frozen potato that is then fried in a mimic faux french process? hence its name "french fry"
Exactly, and they are delicous
Not in England...
I don't know why it would be different in England, but they still aren't vegetarian. From last year:
http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2104472_2104473_2104489,00.html0 -
I do not label foods as good or bad, if it fits into my day, I eat it.
Yep! I agree.0 -
The only thing I miss since going vegetarian is McDonald's fries. They fry them in beef fat. :-(you mean chemically lab made flavored flash frozen potato that is then fried in a mimic faux french process? hence its name "french fry"
Exactly, and they are delicous
Not in England...
I don't know why it would be different in England, but they still aren't vegetarian. From last year:
http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2104472_2104473_2104489,00.html
"Not vegetarian" and "fried in beef fat" are two different things. The fries are fried in a canola oil blend at the restaurant. There's a small amount of beef flavor used at the processing plant that initially flash-fries them.0 -
*sigh*
The only thing I miss since going vegetarian is McDonald's fries. They fry them in beef fat. :-(you mean chemically lab made flavored flash frozen potato that is then fried in a mimic faux french process? hence its name "french fry"
Exactly, and they are delicous
Not in England...
I don't know why it would be different in England, but they still aren't vegetarian. From last year:
http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2104472_2104473_2104489,00.html
"Not vegetarian" and "fried in beef fat" are two different things. The fries are fried in a canola oil blend at the restaurant. There's a small amount of beef flavor used at the processing plant that initially flash-fries them.
The change is a recent one, first of all. Second, my point was I can't eat them because I am vegetarian and THEY ARE NOT. That hasn't changed.0 -
Fast food makes me sick within an hour of eating it, except Subway.
That's purely mental.0 -
I've watched 'Super Size Me'... twice.
The first time i just assumed it was just because of the fast food he got so sick.
The second time, i payed more attention. The guy was OVEREATING to the point where he threw up!
If you do that with ANY type of food... even the healthiest kind, you are going to stress out your body/organs and get sick.
It would be interesting to see blood tests/health/fitness tests done on someone who ate only McDonalds for 1 month but ate within their calorie goals/macros. (Although they would probably have to supplement with a multi-vitamin to prevent vitamin/mineral deficiencies if they continued that lifestyle longterm)
I still don't eat McDonald's, but that's more because i'm gluten-free than any other reason... and too much risk of cross-contamination there.
That would be boring, because they would do very well. There's nothing special in McD's food that would adversely affect your health.
Hell, some guy ate almost nothing but Twinkies for a month. He lost weight and all his bloodwork improved.
I wanted to call BS on this so bad but here it is!
http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/11/08/twinkie.diet.professor/index.html
Amazing
"Haub's "bad" cholesterol, or LDL, dropped 20 percent and his "good" cholesterol, or HDL, increased by 20 percent. He reduced the level of triglycerides, which are a form of fat, by 39 percent."0 -
I've watched 'Super Size Me'... twice.
The first time i just assumed it was just because of the fast food he got so sick.
The second time, i payed more attention. The guy was OVEREATING to the point where he threw up!
If you do that with ANY type of food... even the healthiest kind, you are going to stress out your body/organs and get sick.
It would be interesting to see blood tests/health/fitness tests done on someone who ate only McDonalds for 1 month but ate within their calorie goals/macros. (Although they would probably have to supplement with a multi-vitamin to prevent vitamin/mineral deficiencies if they continued that lifestyle longterm)
I still don't eat McDonald's, but that's more because i'm gluten-free than any other reason... and too much risk of cross-contamination there.
That would be boring, because they would do very well. There's nothing special in McD's food that would adversely affect your health.
Hell, some guy ate almost nothing but Twinkies for a month. He lost weight and all his bloodwork improved.
I wanted to call BS on this so bad but here it is!
http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/11/08/twinkie.diet.professor/index.html
Amazing
"Haub's "bad" cholesterol, or LDL, dropped 20 percent and his "good" cholesterol, or HDL, increased by 20 percent. He reduced the level of triglycerides, which are a form of fat, by 39 percent."
For another data point, here's my lipid profile for the past several years:
In 2004 I weighed 210 lbs. Today I weigh 143 lbs. During this entire time, I've eaten fast food an average of probably 6-7 meals per week. I've had ice cream or some other "naughty" food almost every day this year.
I started off with borderline high cholesterol. Low HDL, high LDL, high total. Today everything is optimal. This is all due to shedding fat, preserving lean muscle mass, and exercising.
Turns out that your body doesn't care whether that piece of grilled chicken came in a box with yellow arches or from the local organic farm. It's just protein and a little fat either way.0 -
Just so you know, McDonald's stopped using beef fat for their fries in the late 1980s. Now they use hydrogenated oil, equally bad for you.
The only thing I miss since going vegetarian is McDonald's fries. They fry them in beef fat. :-(you mean chemically lab made flavored flash frozen potato that is then fried in a mimic faux french process? hence its name "french fry"
Exactly, and they are delicous
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=70313840 -
Where does that meat come from?0
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Where does that meat come from?
No, thats not strawberry soft serve. Its Meat -->
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Where does that meat come from?
No, thats not strawberry soft serve. Its Meat -->
What you see in that picture is basically pureed ground beef. 100% nutritionally equivalent to ground beef, because that's what it is.
And, oh by the way, McDonald's doesn't actually use that in any of their products anyway.0 -
I dont care too much for it, but if im in a place where there is nothing and I mean nothing else at all to eat I will eat it and just choose the healthiest option on the menu. That being said I do eat out sometimes with my hubby, its just nice to not be a freak about every single thing I eat. 0
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Try eating a cold burger. Yuck!!!0
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Well, when I was pregnant, I had horrible, terrible morning sickness and the smell of fast food places and the idea of eating the food (which I had enjoyed quite a lot prior to that) turned my stomach and even now, 19 years later, it still turns my stomach.
But I'm guessing that won't help you.
Also, I don't think a fast food burger has any fewer nutrients than one you make at home. Just sayin'.
Lol. I'm 25 and my mom still can't eat stuff she got sick on when she was pregnant with me. It's crazy.
Sometimes I think I want fast food. Then I eat it and it's unsatisfying. Plus, I work at a fast food place and all the grease and grossness is turning me off to it.0 -
I like fast food, but it's too high in sodium for me and honestly, I would rather spend the calories on other foods. Unfortunately, on a road trip recently, we went through McDs and I ordered a small chicken burger and small fries, and within an hour of eating it (and all the next day) I had stomach cramps - and other.. issues o.O. I blame this, in part, on having been almost a year since my last McDs food experience - I suppose I blame lack of grease tolerance for the unpleasant 24 hours after the meal. It sure puts me off from wanting to find out if I am right about my theory or not ^,^
In short, I dont care about what they do to the food, I worked there a long time ago, I already knew all the crap and yes still ate there a LOT. Too much, really. Now all I care about is the sodium and calorie numbers, and neither are appealing to me.0 -
Fast food makes me sick within an hour of eating it, except Subway.
That's purely mental.
Why would you say that? Fast food often makes me sick as well. My son too. I love it; it does not love me.0 -
Not really an issue for me cause I find the smell of most fast food places really off-putting. I do have some exceptions though - I really like Chipotle and Jimmy Johns. Generally a bit healthier and fresher, but still can have some off-the-charts calorie counts!
Have you watched Supersize Me? That was pretty disturbing in terms of the effects on someone's health of eating McD's 3 times a day.
Try to remember the fact that it's not the food that is necessarily delicious - it's all the additives and MSG and salt and other crap that they put in it which makes it taste that way.
I truly believe that if you avoided it for a full month, you would start to see it, smell it and taste it more accurately.0 -
It's crazy! I can't stand certain smells, either -- like popcorn and buttered noodles and certain perfumes.Well, when I was pregnant, I had horrible, terrible morning sickness and the smell of fast food places and the idea of eating the food (which I had enjoyed quite a lot prior to that) turned my stomach and even now, 19 years later, it still turns my stomach.
But I'm guessing that won't help you.
Also, I don't think a fast food burger has any fewer nutrients than one you make at home. Just sayin'.
Lol. I'm 25 and my mom still can't eat stuff she got sick on when she was pregnant with me. It's crazy.0 -
Fast food makes me sick within an hour of eating it, except Subway.
That's purely mental.
Why would you say that? Fast food often makes me sick as well. My son too. I love it; it does not love me.
Because it's nonsensical. Even at a single restaurant, the vast variety of foods offered don't all have some magic ingredient in common that would make someone sick. "Fast food" isn't a single thing - it can be a grilled chicken salad, a steak taco, french fries, a bean and rice burrito, a double cheeseburger, whatever.
"Fast food makes me sick" is a purely mental thing because there's zero biological plausibility to the idea.0 -
MrsFowler1069
Joined Jun 2013
Posts: 21
So...I have mixed feelings about this. I think largely the best answer came early on in the thread....in having a healthy relationship with food, we can choose to eat something that wouldn't be the best choice for a steady diet and still be aware that it needs to fit into our overall plan. Moreover, I think it's important that we do exactly this sometimes - at least for me. If I really thought I had to live on nothing but Brussels Sprouts forever and never touch another french fry, it would only guarantee that at some point I would be beating myself up for failing. Luckily, I don't have to make that choice.
However, there is much to be said for attempting to choose "mostly" higher quality foods, striving to be not just thinner, but also healthier. It's not all just about 'calories in, calories out' in the big picture if this is what a person is working toward. So - yes - an occasional cheeseburger or whatever...? Heck yeah, if that's what today is calling for. But don't let the wily lil things take over!
My sense from the OP, though, was more that he already knows this, already struggles with his idea that the food is 'gross', and pulls in almost against his will. So then the question becomes.....why? Is it just a habit to replace, an emotional crutch, leaving himself hungry or without other options at the wrong times....? Maybe it's just as simple as keeping a bag of something else in the car. Guess you need to answer that one yourself, OP.
This is my experience. For years, I gave in to the cheap and easy fix and developed quite a liking for fast food. I gained a ton of weight. The dollars still added up. I developed high blood pressure, painful back and foot problems, and more. I was able to do less with my daughter (for whom I also was setting a less than stellar example) and with my husband. Fast food wasn't the only contributor, but it was certainly high on the list.
And I still like it. I don't, though, actually eat it very often - because at the end of the day, I feel better about that choice and about my progress in the other direction. A couple of years ago, well before it was about weight loss, I began cooking at home a lot more and remembered how much I liked doing it, realized anew how much cheaper it was in the long run, and reveled in learning how to make dishes that my family and friends loved. Still, though, office lunch runs were pretty common, and they still added up.
Now that I have begun to work toward losing weight and being healthier (just since the beginning of June, but I have lost 30 lbs, so I'm pretty excited about that), it's easier to say no because I don't want to waste my other efforts, but at the same time, I'm not going to beat myself up (much lol) if I choose that for a meal or a treat or for a convenience that fits into that day.
I will say this....when I have it, it does seem to have lost some of it's shine. lol I can't tolerate as much of it and sometimes I find that I don't feel well physically afterward. The awareness of how much of my calorie 'budget' I've used in one fell swoop isn't encouraging. It's all just a little....meh....
And, frankly, I like the feeling of taking back my power, because I totally remember being the exact same spot, leaving work saying, "I am not going to stop at ____ today," and then pulling in on auto-pilot anyway. And I knew the same things you do. Maybe, when it's all said and done, the question isn't about how gross it is, but how well and how much of it fits with what you want in your life. But I bet you already know that, too.
Perfect response, quoting so it doesn't get lost.0 -
Have you watched Supersize Me? That was pretty disturbing in terms of the effects on someone's health of eating McD's 3 times a day.
That wasn't about the effects of eating McD's 3 times a day. It was about the effects of massively overeating, sometimes to the point of puking, every day.0 -
A lot of the comments I've seen have to do with indigestion following eating fast food. I have a problem with some non fast food restaurants in the way they treat their meat and salads. The tenderizers on the meat and the solutions to promote shelf live of salds upsets my stomach every time. So it's not necessarily the curse of fast food.0
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