Addicted to fast food.

Are you logging your fast food binges?

I recently succumbed to the cheeseburger/fries/shake combo from a local chain I Iike. But then I went home and looked up the nutrition, then logged 1600 calories for the meal. I cut back my dinner and also came under goal the next day to compensate.

I enjoyed the meal but I'm not going to make it a habit. Logging ALL the calories made me realize it can only be a treat and not a regular occurrence.

JohnnyPenso wrote: »

joemac1988 wrote: »

Who cares?? I am too. But, I only let myself have it about once a week. Just like eating one salad won't make you fit, eating one BigMac won't make you fat. To me, this is a lifestyle not a diet and that means I'm not going to eliminate anything I enjoy, I'll simply be balanced. Alcohol? Check. Burgers? Check. Pizza? Check. Fast Food? Check. Try to take it from me and you'll get cut.

If some of us had the level of self control to eat just a little fast food here and there we wouldn't be here. Saying, "eat just eat a little", while truthful, its not so easy to do to do for those of us that have trouble controlling our eating habits from time to time. Also, if you eat a little pizza every week, a burger or two, a few beers, some fast food, at some point a significant portion of your calories is going to be coming from these foods. At what point does your individual series of "balanced" choices make your overall diet "unbalanced" in favour of convenience foods?

Very insightful.



I also don't get the advices that tell a fast food lover to cook at home or plan. Some of the biggest advantages of fast foods is the luxury of avoiding cooking or planning (for me). You want fried chicken, you get it in 15 minutes. There's no way you can achieve that with planning and home cooking and no guarantee that you'll still have the joy of appetite.


That said, OP, if you care about your weight, you must make sacrifices. If you don't like planing, home cooking, it's still convenient to get read to eat foods from the supermarket deli section. Or eat hiking food like I do, eg. nuts, bars, cold pastries. Save calories for serious weekend eating.

I'm in the habitual behaviours camp to explain our relationship with food. And often strong emotional ties. I self medicated with food, not necessarily fast food but too much of others.

That said, sometimes I just fancy McDs (and always wonder why afterwards but that's neither here nor there!) and for me, when I'm getting my regular exercise in it's fairly easy to fit in one of the less extreme burgers and a small fries for about 900 calories. Is that a lot for one meal as a female losing weight? Sure. But I often intermittent fast so skipping breakfast still leaves me quite a lot to play with for dinner and a snack.

It's just not an every day thing. I do regularly eat other take aways and as above, they're not that hard to fit in and they all pretty much have decent macro and micronutrient profiles. Just because it comes from a window or delivery driver doesn't suddenly make it devoid of anything good.

Choices.

mrschwarten wrote: »

For all those saying fast food cannot be an addiction -- is there no such thing as a sugar addiction? A sodium addiction? If the OP goes out of her way, spends money, and consumes out of a deep uncontrollable desire, then it's an addiction. Not much different than a nicotine or alcohol addiction...just a different poison. Don't be rude by belittling her concerns.

Here's what I did to beat mine - I started small, by ordering a small french fry instead of a large (for example). When the fries were gone, I was done. I'd go and brush my teeth or something to really signify being done. It took some time and a lot of self control, but soon the small fry was satisfying! I did a sort of "step-down" approach, which worked great for me. I know people who do better cold-turkey: what method works for you in other aspects of life? Can you apply it here? (Also, what helped some was my beater car's driver window broke and wouldn't go down...it really discouraged drive thrus!)

I still struggle from time to time, and fortunately my husband is very supportive. Maybe you have someone you can rely on and talk to when cravings hit? It helps when I admit that I am struggling and can talk myself out of it.

Good luck, and know that you can do whatever you want to if you work hard! We're here for you!

It's not a chemical dependency. There may be some behavioral addiction involved, but that's a whole different thing than a chemical addiction and it's much easier to change a behavior than end a chemical addiction.

It's just natural to crave salt, fat and sugar. It is an evolutionary thing dating back to when food was much harder to get.

cwolfman13 wrote: »

endlessfall16 wrote: »

cwolfman13 wrote: »

I'll never understand the whole fast food thing...most of it barely qualifies as food. I can make anything at home that I can get in a fast food restaurant and it will be both cheaper and infinitely better tasting. What qualifies as a burger at a fast food restaurant is ridiculous.

The only thing I guess that would be similar to eating fast food regularly is Friday night pizza nights...but it's pretty high quality pizza from a local pizzeria.

Cheaper? Yes. Different tasting? Yes. Better tasting? Not so sure.

Eating fast food alot of time is like scratching a good itch. It's never better to wait and scratch it later.

IMO, food prepared with quality ingredients is infinitely better tasting than any slop you're going to get in at a drive up window...that's why I say that I don't get the whole thing...it's garbage...I think that *kitten* is vile and barely passes as food.

A nice juicy burger I grill out on the patio at home is going to be infinitely better than some thin piece of "meat" that somehow passes at a burger at a drive up window...just an example.

What he said

Well it is delicious do I don't blame you but you just need to change your habits and what you're used to

Are you eating fast food because you like the taste, or convenience? If it is the latter, there are some choices that can be better than others. You can make smarter choices either way, but curious was what the driving factor for you?

mrschwarten wrote: »

For all those saying fast food cannot be an addiction -- is there no such thing as a sugar addiction? A sodium addiction?

I don't personally think there is, no. (There are lots of threads on sugar "addiction" and normally it's foods that have lots of fat too, and specific foods while others with sugar aren't triggering at all. What there are are eating disorders and in some relatively rare cases eating addiction.) Also, fast food doesn't have an especially large amount of sugar anyway.

Now, it's definitely true that eating lots of sweet foods can increase desire/tolerance for sweet, and I know it's true with salt -- if I eat lots of salt I want saltier foods and if I don't they taste too salty (one reason I dislike fast food and really have since becoming an adult is I think it tastes kind of salty and greasy -- this idea that it's extra tasty is weird for me, what it is is fast and cheap).

If the OP goes out of her way, spends money, and consumes out of a deep uncontrollable desire, then it's an addiction.

She probably doesn't experience any of that. What determines if fast food restaurants are profitable or not is convenience -- people DON'T go out of their way to go there. For a dinner they are reasonably cheap (not especially healthy compared to a balanced dinner with vegetables, but not the worst thing in the world if you like it and fit it in, as an occasional thing). People generally DON'T consume out of a "deep uncontrollable desire," and they certainly don't keep eating and eating (unlike with alcoholics and booze where the amount consumed is the issue in large part, as well as making the choice to drink over important other things). Mostly people think "I'm tired and this sounds good and easy, I'll get it." It is of course true that what you eat often determines what you crave, but calling that an addiction is really lowering the bar on what an addiction is.

Anyway, it doesn't really matter what you call it, how to change habits is the question. For OP I'd advise having a plan, making having a homemade dinner easy and pleasant sounding. It's a lot harder to avoid the impulse to grab food you personally think is tasty (would never be fast food for me) if you have to choose between that and going to the store to shop and then cooking and your idea of a healthy meal is plain chicken breast with overcooked vegetables (and you don't really know how to cook or have a plan).

Focusing on practical things like that rather than this idea that it's uncontrollable because addiction seems more helpful.

(The things I mentioned may not be OP's issues, but we would need to know OP's issues.)

If it were an "addiction," eating the same basic foods at home should suffice, and I personally know I can make a delicious burger with roasted potatoes (and even add in salt and more gradually reduce the amount used) within my goal calories and macros. I'd make some vegetables with it too, though.

So even if is an addiction, seems not that hard to address.

I'm the same way too, but I usually modify the food once I get it, for instance I got a chicken burrito from del taco with no cheese or dressing, I ate everything inside except the tortilla and that satisfied my appetite and palate. I have many more examples, if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask me.

Go online and start reading the ingredients and calories. It's a real wake-up call!

Like most of us I have indulged in fast food for a variety of reasons, mostly convenience when taking kids to games and practices and work life got busy. A few years ago I decided to really get serious about eating better and started educating myself and reading labels. My oldest son (health nut) told me that I should "eat as well as I can afford". What that means for him (and now me) is to buy the best quality ingredients that fit my budget. Organic as much as possible, grow my own food as much as possible, and meat/eggs from local sources not factory farms. I stick with that as much as I can and I can tell my body appreciates the quality fuel that I'm putting into it.

Because I still like the convenience of take-out from time to time, I started going online and reading all the ingredients in the offerings at the major restaurant chains. Holy chemicals batman! SO many things I can't even pronounce and the calories are ridiculous. I used to think I could eat the grilled chicken from a big chain restaurant because it was healthier (not fried). Not so. They inject that chicken with lots of soybean oil and tons of other stuff to make it juicy and delicious. No thanks, I'll pass.

At this point, take-out has been narrowed down to a few restaurants with healthier ingredients - Chipotle, Panerra Bread, or my local Thai or Vietnamese restaurants. A nice bowl of pho is delicious AND low-calorie. A little high in sodium, but it's not a daily indulgence.

The only way I was able to stop eating fast food was to treat it like an addiction, and honestly I do believe it is.

Also for those who disagree I'm not saying you are right or wrong but there have been studies done on the brain and the same areas associated with the high from drugs light up from foods also. It's difiniative, but it definitely shows that we enjoy those foods so much that our reward systems are as excited as if we do drugs!

I don't have the studies nor do I care whether you believe me (a simple Google search will help you find them) but it really did help me quit my fast food habit to view it like this.

As someone who knows the feeling of real addictions after quitting cigarettes and alcohol the cravings I get for fast food are equal if not stronger for McDonald's Big Macs. To me it doesn't matter what the true identification of the cravings are, I needed to quit them altogether because I had no control over my consumption so I did what worked and followed the same regimen and mental strength that worked for my other addictions.

Different things work for different people, this works for me. I don't beat myself up if I slip up, because it's not a big deal if it happens... but I do take it a day at a time and work towards the best me I can.

spicyginger2006 wrote: »

You should go to your bookstore or library and check out "Eat This! Not that!" or "Cook this! Not that"... same author. Healthier versions of fast food to cook at home and swap out at the grocery store.

I love "Eat This Not That" book.. I didn't know about "Cook This! Not That"..thanks!

endlessfall16 wrote: »

cwolfman13 wrote: »

endlessfall16 wrote: »

cwolfman13 wrote: »

I'll never understand the whole fast food thing...most of it barely qualifies as food. I can make anything at home that I can get in a fast food restaurant and it will be both cheaper and infinitely better tasting. What qualifies as a burger at a fast food restaurant is ridiculous.

The only thing I guess that would be similar to eating fast food regularly is Friday night pizza nights...but it's pretty high quality pizza from a local pizzeria.

Cheaper? Yes. Different tasting? Yes. Better tasting? Not so sure.

Eating fast food alot of time is like scratching a good itch. It's never better to wait and scratch it later.

IMO, food prepared with quality ingredients is infinitely better tasting than any slop you're going to get in at a drive up window...that's why I say that I don't get the whole thing...it's garbage...I think that *kitten* is vile and barely passes as food.

A nice juicy burger I grill out on the patio at home is going to be infinitely better than some thin piece of "meat" that somehow passes at a burger at a drive up window...just an example.

If you specifically choose the garbage burgers, then it's garbage you get.

Frankly I like my popeyes fried chicken -- oh Tuesday discount! -- which I cannot replicate at home. I doubt anyone could. El polo grilled chicken is also great.

Just like anything in life, there's all sort of different qualities out there. I don't get the extreme mindset.

Wait, there's a Tuesday discount for popeyes?!

I'd say an enjoyment of fast food up to being habitual about cruising through the drive thru is not necessarily taste, but ease of access. 10minutes to get food handed to you, or 20-30 to cook and go through the fuss and have dishes. Plus French fries are tasty. And the hush puppies from Cookout. But I've learned to treat eating out AS a treat. Saves money, generally saves calories. You do get a lot of salt and sweets with the options available.