Fast Food SUCKS, I Never Knew

Terytha
Terytha Posts: 2,097 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Ugh.

I had a craving and some extra calories so we went to Dairy Queen for cheeseburgers for dinner. They were delicious, but I still felt a touch hungry after. I gave it around two hours to digest and went to get some exercise.

I felt/feel AWFUL. I'm bloated. I lack energy. I feel like I ate a bowling ball, I'm all weighed down in the middle. My workout was lackluster and I barely managed 20 minutes. Definitely not hungry now, rather I feel like I over ate.

Usually, if I eat something home made like chicken and rice or spaghetti, I digest in an hour or two and exercise feels just fine. But that fast food, I wonder if it's always had such a crappy effect on me. Anyways, lesson learned: exercise first THEN eat fast food.

Because you can pry my Wendy's burgers from my cold dead hands. ;P

Replies

  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,327 Member
    Never had that reaction to fast food.
  • corinasue1143
    corinasue1143 Posts: 7,464 Member
    Almost always have that reaction to fast food burgers, but still have an occasional Wendy’s junior bacon cheese.
  • MikePTY
    MikePTY Posts: 3,814 Member
    I do love me some fast food burgers, but I agree they don't tend to sit with me that well pre-workout. I do better with carbs and protein than I do with fats.
  • pierinifitness
    pierinifitness Posts: 2,226 Member
    I use the term anecdotal experience but will use “science experiment” in a play of words but in quotation marks.
  • zeejane4
    zeejane4 Posts: 230 Member
    edited May 2019
    I've eaten fast food/out 8 times this month so far, not including the 4 times I've also eaten at friends and families' houses. Haven't experienced anything like you're describing Op, is it possible you got food poisoning?
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,416 Member
    I understand your meaning. People will argue that the sky isn't blue if you write it on a forum.

    I haven't had a burger from a fast food place in probably ten years, my own homemade burgers are so much better. I decided since I have burgers rarely it's worth it to me to have it exactly like I want it.


    Now, walking past a Taco del Mar? If I'm hungry? That's gonna result in a fish taco or a pork burrito, and I'll take a nap after. :wink: I won't buy tortillas to have around the house because of palm oil and because I'll eat the whole package in two days, but I'll drop my ethics for one burrito.
  • texasredreb
    texasredreb Posts: 541 Member
    I've never developed a palate for fast food, but I do pinch an occasional fry or last bit of burger from my housemate. I eat greasy pizza weekly (usually one XL pizza split between two of us over the course of two dinners); and it doesn't affect me at all because it's within my deficit and I guess I don't react negatively to greasy food.

    Do you think your reaction was more cerebral (psychosomatic) than actually physical? Because you felt guilty? I don't know you and don't intend an insult by this line of reasoning...
  • psychod787
    psychod787 Posts: 4,099 Member
    Not a fan of many fast food burgers. I had one about a year ago... made me sick as well... loose stools... nauseated.... not the burger, but I think my stomach just did not like it.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    I don't do fast food beyond the occasional road trip (just not something I did even before caring about cals, nothing wrong with fitting in some fast food), but I've had a similar experience going out for burgers and fries (or even fish & chips) at a local pub type place. I've also realized that I sometimes experience it doing an indulgent dinner pre theater/concert, which is something I do occasionally (sucks to feel bloated and a bit messed up digestively afterwards in those cases). I've never done it before a workout so can't speak to feeling sluggish that way, but I can't see that it would help.

    I also cannot completely explain it, as I don't feel remotely guilty and have consistently worked in occasional more indulgent meals, and in theory higher fat should if anything overall help with digestion, even if the single meal is lower in fiber than usual (and it's not like I wouldn't have had fiber in other meals and the day before).

    For me, I think it's something about that amount of cals in one meal (or perhaps eating more than I normally would and that I wanted based on appetite alone), and the fat content vs. what I normally eat, but I again don't know the explanation in my case. But I think I understand what you are talking about.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    Terytha wrote: »
    Ugh.

    I had a craving and some extra calories so we went to Dairy Queen for cheeseburgers for dinner. They were delicious, but I still felt a touch hungry after. I gave it around two hours to digest and went to get some exercise.

    I felt/feel AWFUL. I'm bloated. I lack energy. I feel like I ate a bowling ball, I'm all weighed down in the middle. My workout was lackluster and I barely managed 20 minutes. Definitely not hungry now, rather I feel like I over ate.

    Usually, if I eat something home made like chicken and rice or spaghetti, I digest in an hour or two and exercise feels just fine. But that fast food, I wonder if it's always had such a crappy effect on me. Anyways, lesson learned: exercise first THEN eat fast food.

    Because you can pry my Wendy's burgers from my cold dead hands. ;P

    What were the calories from your DQ meal vs your chicken and rice or spaghetti meals? Sounds like you just overate.

    That said, I vastly prefer the taste of the burgers I make at home and stopped eating fast food burgers around 10 years ago.

    Every once in a while I will have a bite of my OH's BK or McDonald's burger. Homemade always wins for taste. He values convenience more than I do, and that is fine.
  • MPDean
    MPDean Posts: 99 Member
    cmriverside wrote: »
    I understand your meaning. People will argue that the sky isn't blue if you write it on a forum.
    The sky is violet, it's just our eyes can't see it.
  • Lillymoo01
    Lillymoo01 Posts: 2,865 Member
    The likes of McDonald's has often made me feel very average afterwards so fast food burgers have never been something I crave. However, In Australia, we have a chain called Grill'd. Give me one of those burgers any day of the week!

    My guess is that the saturated fat content and my stomach don't see eye to eye but I could be wrong about that.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    I haven't noticed negative effects of a fast food meal 2 hours after eating it. When I eat out I try to eat around the same calories (fat, protein and carbs) that I usually do that day. I prelog my food choices.

    I suppose it would be worth looking at if it was a vastly different amount of food, fiber, fat, carbs, sodium, protein that made you feel less good as well as timimg.
  • smoofinator
    smoofinator Posts: 635 Member
    glassyo wrote: »
    Terytha wrote: »
    Ugh.

    I had a craving and some extra calories so we went to Dairy Queen for cheeseburgers for dinner. They were delicious, but I still felt a touch hungry after. I gave it around two hours to digest and went to get some exercise.

    I felt/feel AWFUL. I'm bloated. I lack energy. I feel like I ate a bowling ball, I'm all weighed down in the middle. My workout was lackluster and I barely managed 20 minutes. Definitely not hungry now, rather I feel like I over ate.

    Usually, if I eat something home made like chicken and rice or spaghetti, I digest in an hour or two and exercise feels just fine. But that fast food, I wonder if it's always had such a crappy effect on me. Anyways, lesson learned: exercise first THEN eat fast food.

    Because you can pry my Wendy's burgers from my cold dead hands. ;P

    I like the surprise ending of your post. :)

    aumii7l8v4yi.jpg
  • RelCanonical
    RelCanonical Posts: 3,882 Member
    I usually have to suck down water like crazy after a fast food meal, as usually it's the high salt intake that takes me out and makes me feel sluggish. I'm usually fine if I get enough hydration.

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