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Fast food and obesity
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At 112lbs and being a regular costumer of McDonald's, Hard Rock Cafe, and Starbucks, I can say that people really need to stop blaming everybody else for being fat.
Like... you can eat fast food or have your super caloric coffee without getting fat as long as you plan around it, and don't care that much about macros.5 -
What kind of crappy salad would I make that would rival a big mac fries and coke??? One with a pound of bacon?
Not even...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/11/portion-sizes-salad-calories-ingredients_n_2719726.html0 -
Suddenly I'm interested! If it's gonna be *that* tasty, I might make the indulgence and use your salad recipe on an intense gym day. So a certain amount of bacon, some kind of cheese, and... ? *gets out note pad*1 -
Suddenly I'm interested! If it's gonna be *that* tasty, I might make the indulgence and use your salad recipe on an intense gym day. So a certain amount of bacon, some kind of cheese, and... ? *gets out note pad*
Houmous, edamame beans....1 -
I do love hummus. I have never put it in a salad. I eat that with raw veg or pita. My salads at home are usually the veggie part of a meal. Suppose I eat 4 oz of chicken breast and half a cup of rice, and then my veggie is a salad that has leaf lettuce, tomato, raw onion sliced, some bell pepper, cucumber, and 2 tbsp light dressing (so the dressing comes to about 80 cal with the brand I like) and the salad itself is not gonna be over 100 cal in the veggies. It looks like people are throwing in tons of fruit, cheese, mayo, (blerg, mayo in salads?) and bits and bobs of fried stuff and high cal meat. If I were going to splurge I would put some crumbled bacon and some bleu cheese in there and probably some other stuff depending what looked good in the produce section.
Also, I legit do feel sick if I eat fast food. When my system is totally unaccustomed to it any more, and then I go on a road trip and eat fast food because I forgot the protein bars/fruit/portable noms, BLARRRRGH! It probably doesn't help that I'm pushing 50. I'm not so adaptable any more. I have trouble even just eating "normal" stuff at restaurants because I am unaccustomed to the heavy fare. I do much better with a 6 inch turkey sub (not doused in mayo) and water than a burger/fries/soda though. Not gonna feel sick in 30 minutes.0 -
I do love hummus. I have never put it in a salad. I eat that with raw veg or pita. My salads at home are usually the veggie part of a meal. Suppose I eat 4 oz of chicken breast and half a cup of rice, and then my veggie is a salad that has leaf lettuce, tomato, raw onion sliced, some bell pepper, cucumber, and 2 tbsp light dressing (so the dressing comes to about 80 cal with the brand I like) and the salad itself is not gonna be over 100 cal in the veggies. It looks like people are throwing in tons of fruit, cheese, mayo, (blerg, mayo in salads?) and bits and bobs of fried stuff and high cal meat. If I were going to splurge I would put some crumbled bacon and some bleu cheese in there and probably some other stuff depending what looked good in the produce section.
Also, I legit do feel sick if I eat fast food. When my system is totally unaccustomed to it any more, and then I go on a road trip and eat fast food because I forgot the protein bars/fruit/portable noms, BLARRRRGH! It probably doesn't help that I'm pushing 50. I'm not so adaptable any more. I have trouble even just eating "normal" stuff at restaurants because I am unaccustomed to the heavy fare. I do much better with a 6 inch turkey sub (not doused in mayo) and water than a burger/fries/soda though. Not gonna feel sick in 30 minutes.
I love taco salad, and I make it a lot. I cook down bell pepper, onions, and mushrooms, add it to spinach, chicken, and I call it a day with some salsa (ok, like a lot of salsa) for dressing. It clocks in relatively low at about 450 calories (with almost half of those due to the chicken). But, depending on my calories for the day, I'll add some shredded cheese and guacamole (a 100 cal snack pack). I also used to enjoy black beans and corn on it. Nothing in that salad is particularly crazy, but if I add everything, it's more like 800 calories. And growing up, taco salads were topped with fritos...2 -
I do love hummus. I have never put it in a salad. I eat that with raw veg or pita. My salads at home are usually the veggie part of a meal. Suppose I eat 4 oz of chicken breast and half a cup of rice, and then my veggie is a salad that has leaf lettuce, tomato, raw onion sliced, some bell pepper, cucumber, and 2 tbsp light dressing (so the dressing comes to about 80 cal with the brand I like) and the salad itself is not gonna be over 100 cal in the veggies. It looks like people are throwing in tons of fruit, cheese, mayo, (blerg, mayo in salads?) and bits and bobs of fried stuff and high cal meat.
Yeah, even a simple Greek salad, you have cheese, olives and olive oil. Salads can be pretty scary sometimes, that's why I trust a burger more than a salad as the "safe choice" calorie-wise if I had no access to nutrition info.2 -
The series Superfat to Superskinny was one. At least I think thats what it was called.
They took obese UK people over to the US and had them see Americans homhad been obese for years, were undergoing surgery and all the problems like, wheelchairs, special medical teams and beds for the obese etc.
It did seem to help th UK people get the motivation to lose weight before it got any worse.
To me, that's a pretty clever use of people's innate tendency toward stereotyping and tribalism to achieve a positive (ish) propagandistic end.
The implicit "they" live like gluttons to their horrific end, vs. "we" can be better than that - kinda genius.
It would not have the same effect to use bad examples in the UK, though they doubtless exist. That chart on page 1 of this thread puts UK very near US in obesity/overweight percents (that doesn't clarify degree of obesity, of course - but still).
P.S. I'm a USA-ian from birth. I'll bet using some other nationality we stereotype as "unhealthy" would have a similar impact here.2 -
before mfp, i honestly didn't know the calorie content of most foods. Shortly after joining I went to lunch with a friend to a salad/soup place we like. I had cesar salad & when i got home i logged it in & couldn't believe how high the calorie was, cause of the dressing they already have mixed in. Now a days if i want a hamburger, which i love, I make the patty at home & if i do use bread i use the thin bread with 1 tbl of lite mayo, lots of onions. It taste good0
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lisamerrison wrote: »The problem is that you are right CI/CO but unfortunately we live in a world where everything has been supersized!
No they haven't, as shown by the fact that you have to supersize the McD's meal for it to be supersized. You can still get small fries and a regular burger. (I almost never eat that kind of fast food, but I stopped at Culvers this summer and got a burger and small fries for a lunch not much more than my normal lunch calories -- around 500 or so. This was after 5 hours biking hills, so I felt I probably could have justified more, actually.)The least calorific main meal would be six chicken nuggets with no dip (boo!), a garden side salad and a bottle of water or a medium black coffee, which would result in a man consuming 10.4% of his daily intake and a woman chowing down 13% of her recommended daily average. For me, I can think of far more foods that would fill me up and be less calorie dense which means that I am not going to go hungry. chicken nuggets and a garden salad from Maccy D's - who does it!!
Why would you want to limit lunch or dinner to 13% of your recommended intake? My goal is around 1600-1700, and I usually have 500+ calories for at least one of those, maybe both depending on breakfast and whether I snack (I often don't snack at all, so meals can be larger or I have some kind of dessert after dinner). And my maintenance is a lot more than 1600-1700 -- doing that I can have a dinner out over the weekend for a lot more if I want. (I wouldn't waste them at McD's or KFC, but again, personal preference.)1 -
On the “conspiracy”: Fast food places sell what they sell because people show that they want to buy it. Periodically, the chains add “healthy” menu options. If these sold well, they’d continue selling them, and create additional ones.
More often, those drop off the menu, or are modified into a more calorific form (crispy chicken on your salad, anyone?) in order to garner adequate profitable sales. Even the chains that position themselves (sometimes) as healthier, like Subway, tend to have calorie/richness/portion-size creep of their overall menu over time.
On “education” (broadly): I was certainly taught about nutrition in school, and got fat anyway (without much fast food BTW – I’ve been vegetarian for 42+ years). Nutrition information is widely disseminated; ignorance is a self-deluding choice.
In the US, product labels use a 2000-calorie daily goal as their basis, and are pretty clear about it. That level doesn’t work for everyone, of course, but it does imply that a 1500 calorie meal can’t routinely happen 2 or more times a day for most of us.
What further should be done? I don’t think we yet have the technology to inject a healthy calorie goal directly into people’s brains.
Culture: Besides restaurant portion-size increases (dramatic) and increase in “eating out” since my 1950s-60s US childhood, there are other major changes. Back then- Most people were not routinely eating/snacking in their cars.
- Virtually no one carryed giant cups/bottles of soda, sweet tea, etc., with them through their day.
- The bowls/plates on average were smaller. (I recently replaced some standard salad/cereal/soup bowls I bought back in the 70s/80s: The smallest ones I could find (“dessert bowls”) were at least 1/3 larger than the ones they replaced (unless I wanted to buy custard cups, which, by the way, are 25% larger in the smallest-size current incarnation compared to the earlier ones).
Over time, “healthy” food categories migrate to become higher in sugar/fat/calories/salt, because our collective dollars say that’s what we want. Granola bars, for example, have always been pretty carb-y and calorific for their nutrition. But they haven’t always been candy bars by another name. Originally, most were whole grain & sugar/honey plus maybe nuts. Then they added chocolate chips. Those sold better. They added caramel-y stickum or marshmallows to them. Those sold better yet. And so on.
Similarly, “unhealthy” foods have progressively become more extreme. Pizzas got thicker crusts, and things like “meat lovers” and “cheese lovers” and “cheese-filled crust” were added. Burgers got doubled and beyond, bacon added, everything got supersized and breaded and deep-fried. Why? Because our collective dollars say we want that.
Bottom Line: Marketers of all types are not stupid. They give us what we want, based on how we mass-vote with our money. Yes, they advertise the heck out of it. But they’d do that for actual “healthy” things if we proved we wanted them.
Pogo said it best: We have met the enemy, and he is us.10 -
The bowls/plates on average were smaller. (I recently replaced some standard salad/cereal/soup bowls I bought back in the 70s/80s: The smallest ones I could find (“dessert bowls”) were at least 1/3 larger than the ones they replaced (unless I wanted to buy custard cups, which, by the way, are 25% larger in the smallest-size current incarnation compared to the earlier ones).2
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lemurcat12 wrote: »lisamerrison wrote: »The problem is that you are right CI/CO but unfortunately we live in a world where everything has been supersized!
No they haven't, as shown by the fact that you have to supersize the McD's meal for it to be supersized. You can still get small fries and a regular burger. (I almost never eat that kind of fast food, but I stopped at Culvers this summer and got a burger and small fries for a lunch not much more than my normal lunch calories -- around 500 or so. This was after 5 hours biking hills, so I felt I probably could have justified more, actually.)The least calorific main meal would be six chicken nuggets with no dip (boo!), a garden side salad and a bottle of water or a medium black coffee, which would result in a man consuming 10.4% of his daily intake and a woman chowing down 13% of her recommended daily average. For me, I can think of far more foods that would fill me up and be less calorie dense which means that I am not going to go hungry. chicken nuggets and a garden salad from Maccy D's - who does it!!
Why would you want to limit lunch or dinner to 13% of your recommended intake? My goal is around 1600-1700, and I usually have 500+ calories for at least one of those, maybe both depending on breakfast and whether I snack (I often don't snack at all, so meals can be larger or I have some kind of dessert after dinner). And my maintenance is a lot more than 1600-1700 -- doing that I can have a dinner out over the weekend for a lot more if I want. (I wouldn't waste them at McD's or KFC, but again, personal preference.)
I'm also confused why one of on average 2-3 meals a person has should be less than 13% of your intake.1 -
The_Enginerd wrote: »The bowls/plates on average were smaller. (I recently replaced some standard salad/cereal/soup bowls I bought back in the 70s/80s: The smallest ones I could find (“dessert bowls”) were at least 1/3 larger than the ones they replaced (unless I wanted to buy custard cups, which, by the way, are 25% larger in the smallest-size current incarnation compared to the earlier ones).
We just registered for our wedding earlier this year. We went to a ton of stores; for me the deciding factor was finding a cereal bowl that wasn't ridiculous and the set had a "snack" bowl that would work for gelato and ice cream.3 -
moderation is the key. no bad foods, just bad habits5
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TavistockToad wrote: »
Suddenly I'm interested! If it's gonna be *that* tasty, I might make the indulgence and use your salad recipe on an intense gym day. So a certain amount of bacon, some kind of cheese, and... ? *gets out note pad*
Houmous, edamame beans....
Exactly. Avocado as well (for me).0 -
Suddenly I'm interested! If it's gonna be *that* tasty, I might make the indulgence and use your salad recipe on an intense gym day. So a certain amount of bacon, some kind of cheese, and... ? *gets out note pad*
LOL. Again, it comes down to your definition of crappy. One of my favorite salads at Wendy's has very little bacon (I believe it does have some). I get it with the homestyle chicken breast and use the barbecue ranch dressing. If you get a full one, it is pretty dang caloric, but also very tasty to me. I've also made some salads at Ruby Tuesday's that are pretty caloric. My salads may be crappy to you, but they are tasty to me, even with no bacon.0 -
lisamerrison wrote: »The problem is that you are right CI/CO but unfortunately we live in a world where everything has been supersized! A McDonalds Meal, or KFC for that matter comes in at a lot of calories. The recommended daily average calorie intake for men is 2,500, and for women it's 2,000. This means if I waltz into a McD's for lunch and order a Chicken Legend with medium fries and a milkshake, A man would be consuming 51.4% of his recommended daily calories. For a me, a woman, the percentage would rise to 64.25%. Which means it don't leave a lot for breakfast and dinner.
The least calorific main meal would be six chicken nuggets with no dip (boo!), a garden side salad and a bottle of water or a medium black coffee, which would result in a man consuming 10.4% of his daily intake and a woman chowing down 13% of her recommended daily average. For me, I can think of far more foods that would fill me up and be less calorie dense which means that I am not going to go hungry. chicken nuggets and a garden salad from Maccy D's - who does it!!
yeah but entering mcdonalds and ordering food from the menu is a choice. If you are trying to argue that it is not a choice but the only option for the empoverished then what exactly is your suggested solution? I mean grocery shopping and cooking you can make healthy meals for less money so its not just about money. If it is about time and money then are you suggesting some sort of goverment subsidization of home cooked style meals provided in a convinience sort of way?
I don't fault McDonalds for existing..McDonald's exists because a heck of a lot of people choose to go eat there.
I avoid McDonalds...but mostly because I think their food actually tastes pretty crap. I love me some Panda Express or Taco bell though and I continue to eat it even if I am losing weight (my diary is open, wouldn't take long to find examples of that). Its a choice and I for one am for having choices.
If McDonalds was literally the only way to acquire food then okay perhaps we need to take a hard look at it and what it offers...but it isn't so we don't.1 -
TavistockToad wrote: »Packerjohn wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »Packerjohn wrote: »
'good' or not is a different matter, but eating mcdonalds doesn't make someone obese... eating too many calories does.
Understand, that was why my example was of a 1500 calorie + lunch. A Big Mac, side salad (light on dressing) and Diet Coke not so bad. It's how much one eats. And I would be pretty sure most people know the 2 Big Mac lunch in my example is too much.
so a long distance cyclist or runner who has burned a couple of thousand calories cant use those calories on McDonalds as a refuel...? 1500 cal lunch is not 'too much' for everyone.
Late to the thread, but it's definitely too much for people who never walk any further than from their sofa to their car.0 -
TavistockToad wrote: »Packerjohn wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »Packerjohn wrote: »
'good' or not is a different matter, but eating mcdonalds doesn't make someone obese... eating too many calories does.
Understand, that was why my example was of a 1500 calorie + lunch. A Big Mac, side salad (light on dressing) and Diet Coke not so bad. It's how much one eats. And I would be pretty sure most people know the 2 Big Mac lunch in my example is too much.
so a long distance cyclist or runner who has burned a couple of thousand calories cant use those calories on McDonalds as a refuel...? 1500 cal lunch is not 'too much' for everyone.
Late to the thread, but it's definitely too much for people who never walk any further than from their sofa to their car.
Then they should order less off the menu, save some money.4
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