Health and Weight Loss

The fastest way to lose weight is the same way you intent to keep it lost.

Even then you're far from guaranteed not to regain. But at least you'll have increased your chances.

I used to drive to the McDonald's drive-thru 2 to 3 times a day if not ordering in, eating out, or having "low calories meals" consisting of cans of chunky soup, salads (with the olive oil poured liberally to the tune of buying a bottle a month by myself) and a little bit of bread (like a loaf) or half (or more) of a family bag of tortilla chips. At McD's I would usually order two sandwiches and a large fry plus a full-sugar pop (upsized combo). I'm fairly sure it won't surprise you to know that I was pushing the high 290s (I'll never know if I did or did not hit 300 cause the analogue scale was neither my friend nor capable of measuring past zero.

I still go to McDonald's. Not as often because if I'm going to spend calories on a burger I prefer an A&W teen burger to a mcdouble or big Mac. And because I prefer to make my own stuff. But sometimes McD's is there and convenient. And I can get something to keep me going till I'm back home or at my destination. I still get the occasional small fry though I prefer to splurge on the 500 Cal A&W onion rings and quite often, especially in the summer, I get a vanilla cone.

Quite a few times actually I will go to a Starbucks and get a spinach feta and egg white wrap and then cross the street to get a vanilla cone from McD's. With or without a black coffee from either place. The two together hit around the 600Cal mark which for me, at maintenance, hits the point of moving from "starting to think about food" to "should be good to keep going for a few hours"

They are items I like well enough and have a caloric cost to satiation+satisfaction ratio I am good with. And I've selected them after trial and error and filtering through logging and determining what is worthwhile and what is not worthwhile caloric spending for me. I would much rather suck on a Lindt ball than have mayo or thousand Island sauce on my burger. So my house has Lindt balls and Ghirardelli squares and my burgers have ketchup and mustard 🤷‍♂️

And. Franky. I find the stuff I cook at home a much better value for the calories.

Are you eating you 5 to 10 portions of vegetables and fruits a day?

When you get in your car (if you're driving to fast food) try eating a bag of carrots or an apple (log it first too). Then order but order smaller sizes. Remove or exchange condiments that are not worth it to you. Ask yourself if you really want the large fries with the meal.

Eat that apple or an orange or a ??? or that one 250-300 Cal vanilla cone in Canada (given my car food scale was specifically chosen to measure vanilla cones, trust me when I say that the calories for the cones are closer to 300 on average regardless of the official position). Eat the apple or the cone and continue home. Then eat another apple while you warm up and log your food. Or skip the meal for a few hours if you're no longer that hungry and eat it later!

Work the problem to find solutions that will work for you. You're not powerless and you're not destined to forever order the supersize combo any time you walk into a fast food place 👍