Okay...McDonald's...Yes, No, Sometimes?

ariamythe wrote: »

limetree683 wrote: »

I mean, should your meat cost less than your toilet roll?? Something's wrong here!

Pricing is an economic equation, driven by things like supply, demand, and cost to produce. Items are not generally priced simply to reflect their quality, and different economic factors drive the pricing of each. Toilet paper is not influenced by the price of beef, nor hamburgers by the going rate for wood pulp.

Most items are priced to reflect their quality and the cost it takes to produce them. I'm not trying to say that that the costs of the two items are related, I am saying that it is bizarre that meat can be produced in such an industrial quantity that living creatures can be sold cheaper than common house-hold items. The way meat is produced industrially is bad for the environment and bad for our health, as people as a whole simply eat too much of it as it is so cheap.

angella_jacobs93 wrote: »

Confession....I had McDonald's tonight (1 double cheeseburger and a 4 pc. Nugget w Water)...really pretty mad at myself for it. I was just wondering how other people approach fast food.

I get restaurant food/fast food once a week. I just plan ahead and make a choice that fits my day.
I might get a regular hamburger with a side salad instead of fries.
Today I am getting chicken strips, an unsweetened tea and having a spinach salad from home.

I tend to stick to Wendy's if I'm going to get fast food, since their salads are actually really good. But when I do go to mcdonalds, since my boyfriend actually likes their food, I tend to get the fruit and yogurt parfait. They don't have a salad I like, sadly. If I have to get something I can eat and drive, I've gotten the grillled chicken wrap before. High in sodium and preservatives, but fine in a pinch!

I rarely have mcds lol

Mc Donalds is perfectly fine as long as you don't pig out and bust your macros.

I usually get the Grilled Chicken and Bacon McWrap and a bottle of water.

Just be smart. There is no trick to it.

Sometimes. We'll go for the kids mainly, I try to do no more than once a week preferably less. More when we're traveling or moving.

Beast_Mode_Engaged wrote: »

I say no. Get a real burger that tastes good and good fries from a local joint instead.

I don't know, Five Guys Burgers and Fries is pretty good...

I find the food really un-satisfying and unappealing. But also - it was my knowledge of how foods are grown/produced/processed that got me to change my diet in the beginning. In other words, my weight loss began as a political choice.

But for you - if it fits in your calories go for it, I guess.

The problem with McDonald's or any fast food for that matter is trying to stay under my meal goals of no more than 400 calories per meal. About the only time I eat McDonald is if I can share a meal with someone else, I'll usually eat half a burger and half a small fry, If I cant share it with someone else then I'll simply throw it in the trash. The idea is not merely weight loss but retraining myself for a healthier life style and McDonald's highly processed junk food is part of the reason I got so fat and out of shape in the first place..

Now I do have 2 cheat days a week where there is no calorie budget and I can eat whatever I want. I learned early on that half the trick to weight loss was playing mental tricks on yourself. Just like a kid if you tell yourself you cant have something then you will simply obsess over it until you finally cave in. So I never tell myself I can't have something. My cheat days are Wednesday and Sunday, I simply tell myself that I have to wait for a cheat day, Well just like a kid I have a short attention span which usually means I'll forget about it come cheat day LOL!! But not always, there have been times I was out the door and down at I-hop for Pancakes before the sun was up on cheat day.

A year and a half ago I tipped the scales at nearly 300 pounds and wore a size 48 pants, My blood pressure was 160+ over 90+ my resting heart rate was in the 80's and wuld sky rocket past 100 just walking to the frig, Today I'm down over 90 pounds my son and I fit into the same 36 size pants, I'm just 1 pound shy of being under 200 for the first time in over 15 years, My blood pressure is 114/62 and my resting heart rate is 44 and I have to jog to get my heart rate above 125.

I lost all the weight by eating healthy, walking, Jogging and biking every single day. Most of it was walking every day I walk between 3 and 10 miles every day. I walk 5 miles 3 times a week 10 miles twice a week and 3 miles 2 days a week I mix in a bit of jogging in the walks and I do a 20 mile bike ride once or twice a month. The three mile walks are my recovery walks from the 10 mile hikes. The reason I mention this is that the half way point of my 5 mile and 3 mile walks is McDonald where I stop and get a cup of coffee. Stopping for coffee at McDonald's almost every morning has been a great exercise in will-power.

I'm in my late 50's and sitting there drinking my coffee in the morning I can see my reflection in the window. For the first time in 15 years my man boobies are gone and my chest is bigger then my belly and I have definition in my arms and chest, probably from the 150-200 push-ups I do daily in sets of 50. Watching all the fat people stuff their fat faces with McDonald junk is all the incentive I need not to make a habit of eating McDonald again. With that said my wife and I do occasionally split a 10 piece chicken McNugget, as the old saying goes "old habits die hard"

So to answer your question, should you feel guilty, Well that all depends on what your goals are, If you are looking for permanent weight loss then yes you should feel guilty. There is no magic bullet or pill for permanent weight loss it Permanent weight loss for most people requires a life style change which requires a lot of will-power, a life style which should be void of as much processed fast food as possible, again something easier said than done.

One more note. I've learned that when you crave something you probably do more harm deigning yourself that craving because chances are you will over compensate by eating to much trying to satisfy it.. That's what Cheat days are for, they are off the record so no guilt