Fast Food Bashing

I agree with this, but I have to admit that I am not always satiated with fast food. :frown:

This is what usually saves me from the occassional McD's cheeseburger craving (definitely my favorite!). At 300 calories, it's going to fit nicely into my daily budget but I know it's not going to be as satisfying as say...a homemade tuna salad sandwich and a banana. Same amount of calories but way more bang for the buck, at least for me.

I know there is better tasting food out there, but part of the Fast Food equation is the convience. Trust me, if they could figure out a way to make fast food BBQ RiBS that tasted great and could be eaten in the car easily, I would be all over it. Until, it's cheese burgers.

This is how I feel as well. I had class last night and didn't have time in the morning to make myself something for dinner. I went to McDonald's because it was on the way and I could eat it in the car. Rather than ordering a regular meal, I got a happy meal. Small portion therefor less calories and still filled me up. There will always be fast food because people need easy. It's a part of life. It's just up to us to adjust and modify to fit our lifestyles.

And if you don't like fast food, whatever. I don't think the original post was meant to be antagonistic or rude as some seem to have taken it. He was just making a valid point that in moderation, things are ok. Everyone has their vices, it's dealing with them appropriately that is the challenge.

Speaking as someone who feels a bit queasy at the thought of eating a McDonald's Burger, I think I can explain why people say fast food "doesn't taste good." You're right, of course -- it DOES taste good while you're eating it. But if you habitually eat really healthy food, particularly if you have a sensitive stomach, fast food can do a number on how you feel whether you eat 200 calories of it or 2,000 calories. If you KNOW with absolute certainty that you are going to be sick as a dog as soon as you finish eating it, the stuff becomes pretty unappetizing. Ever gotten the stomach flu just after eating a meal that you really liked, and it just didn't taste right to you for a long time afterward? The same principle's at work here -- it might be all in your head, but you still can't enjoy it. So, no, I don't think people are in denial when they say "fast food doesn't taste good," they're just expressing a complicated aversion in a simplistic and easy to explain way. Either that, or they're speaking in terms of comparisons, the way people say Hershey's chocolate "doesn't taste good" in comparison to Lindt chocolate.

That said, I agree with you that a cheeseburger every now and then certainly won't kill anyone, and a person can become overweight by eating too many calories of healthy food just as easily as they can by eating too much fast food. Moderation is a great way to look at it.

If I'm gonna eat a burger, I'd much rather support a local burger joint with MUCH better tasting food. Fast food isn't the devil or anything, but it's cheaply produced food that, in my opinion, pretty much tastes like crap.

Funny but I find a way to fit it in my cals if my husband happens to want to have that once a week, without getting overweight. It's about portion control people.

LOL I like their cheeseburgers too...must be the pickles! It certainly couldn't the fat laden meat patty with cheese. o_O I take full responsibility for my fatness! ( is that a word?) I got fat because of inactivity, poor food choices and being a horrible couch potato.

no its totally the hot ketchup and little pieces of onion

I am not trying to offend anyone, I just think a lot of people that are dealing with a major weight problem probably got that way from fast food.

Nope, not me. I got that way from AMAZING delicious sit down food. In fact I ate a TOTALLY VEGAN and "Super Healthy" lunch yesterday that was probably like 800 calories. If I'd had their yummy lavender lemonade and a vegan dessert too it would have been awesome but ridiculously high in total calories for one meal.

Overeating is THE cause of obesity. Fast food promotes overeating, but you do not HAVE to overeat at fast food, its just that they constantly offer you fries and a coke with everything. Plus oooh look, jalapeno poppers!

I still eat fast food on my diet - its inexpensive and convenient. The difference is that before I would have gotten a western bacon cheeseburger with chili cheese fries and a root beer, and now I have a bbq chicken sandwich with no mayo, no fries, and water.

I don't eat fast food because it's bad for me. :bigsmile:
































edit: there's another 2 on the end that the pic cut out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5CTtedxMRo

I love pizza and never in a million years would i give it up! Now i order 1 slice and combine it with a salad. I savor every bite! Oh yes and special occasions i eat what i want w/o feeling the least bit guilty. i mean they only come around once in a while!

Lol I love me some Taco Bell

For the record, I don't like fast food either -- it makes my stomach rebel and I don't think it tastes nearly as good as homemade -- but I think you're kind of missing the point here. Nobody is arguing that it's right to subsist on a diet of fast food all the time or to "treat your stomach like a trash can" and fill it with empty calories. They're just saying that if you happen to like mcdonald's burgers or KFC chicken or french fries or soda or whatever, it's not the end in the world to treat yourself on a rare occasion, just as it's not the end of the world to indulge in slice of homemade apple pie that's loaded with sugar and butter and white flour once in a while. Ultimately, overeating is what makes people gain weight. Fast food is certainly bad for you and has little nutritional value, which encourages overeating, but fast food will not make you overweight unless you eat too many calories. And eating nutritional, healthy food WILL make you overweight if you eat too much of it. Obviously it's preferable to eat the right amount of calories AND get them from food that has nutritional value, but a greasy cheeseburger every now and then won't kill you.

I had KFC For dinner at 640 calories AND I'm still under my 1200 calorie goal. I did make better
choices though. I had corn on the cob and grilled chicken, BUT i had to have my buiscuit and mashed potatos and gravy. YUMMY Dinner

For me it just doesn't get any better than a double quarter pounder w/o cheese. Prior to MFP I've been known to eat 2 of 'em at a time (not simultaneously mind you but in one sitting). I wholeheartedly agree with moderation.

Royale with cheese.

I generally make pretty good choices if we go for fast food, mostly because I don't like red meat and avoid burgers (and I have a hard time finishing a sandwich and fries, so I eat smaller amounts). We're cutting back, though, because it's cheaper for us to eat at home than to go out.

I *&^*^&% love Mcdonald's!!! I love everything on their menu but I haven't had anything from there for a long time. When I'm actually eating the food is so good that I literally feel like I'm in heaven. The bad part comes after eating. I always get stomach aches and feel like crap both physically and mentally.and it's not just the calories and all the saturated and trans fats in their food that are the problem. The big Mac sauce alone for example contains so many different chemicals...the bread alone like 30...it's crazy...you can go to their website and read the ingredients in their food yourself...I think the most I'm gonna go there from now on is like twice a year or so.

People are free to eat whatever they want, but I'll never understand how anyone with any conscience could support a corporation like McDonald's. If you want a burger, there are many places to get one that aren't involved in the level of exploitation and gross misuse of resources that McDonald's is.