Supersize Me discussion

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abr25
abr25 Posts: 179
in Health and Weight Loss
I just viewed the documentary "Supersize Me" about the man who binges on McDonalds. WOWWWW what an interesting film.

I thought I would start a thread to maybe discuss some of it?

What do you all think about the ending result (for those who have seen it)?

And what about the school nutrition part? I thought this was really interesting because so many schools today are severely lacking in nutrition. I mean FRENCH FRIES for lunch??

Lets talk :)

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  • mstanley
    mstanley Posts: 121 Member
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    I am a teacher, so I know a little about the school lunches. In Texas we have guidelines for their meals. They no longer have fried foods. Even french fries are baked now. We also can't have coke machines unless they have diet drinks, fruit juices, or water. The kids can no longer sell candy for fundraisers either, though some people have found loopholes for some of that. What I see though is that when the kids want junk they get it. They either bring it with them to school, or after school they go to the store across the street and buy it themselves.
  • FireMonkey
    FireMonkey Posts: 500 Member
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    Sounds like British Columbia. Sometimes I think the convenience store owners got together to convince the government to replace the usual junk in vending machines with more expensive "healthy" junk, not only in schools but all government operated or funded services. When I look at the nutritional information on some of those "healthy" granola bars I'm not impressed, and they taste like hamster pellets for twice the price of "unhealthy" granola bars from Safeway.

    Sorry about the thread drift but this is a topic that annoys me every day at work - not that I'm using the vending machines a lot, maybe once or twice a month.

    I saw the movie when it first came out but to me it only confirmed what I had already known. Personally I've never eaten at McDonalds but I do occasionally have fast food. It's a complex cultural phenomenon, starting in childhood when going out for fast food is a treat. And sizes have increased something fierce even since my kids were little. Who needs a 64-oz coke?
  • mstanley
    mstanley Posts: 121 Member
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    I try to stay away from McDonalds too, but my daughter is addicted to the toy in the happy meal. Usually I'll just buy the toy for her so that we don't actually have to eat there. It doesn't help that there is a McDonalds in Wal-Mart, so she is constantly checking to see what toy is in the happy meal.
    At school, the kids no longer have vending machines. However, we still have a snack bar that isn't as healthy as the cafeteria, and I'm not sure how they get away with that. I think because our snack bar is located outside away from the cafeteria that they have a little more leeway, but I'm not sure if that's right.
  • mrd232
    mrd232 Posts: 331
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    The last time I was at our town's high school to see my niece in a school play, I took a look at the new "healthy" vending machines...

    Organic fruit juice...30 grams of SUGAR per bottle.
    Pita snacks...delicious refined carbs.
    "Healthy" organic potato chips and pretzels
    Fruit snacks and fruit leather...MMM more sugar.
    Protein bars containg, yep you guessed it.
    Trail mix containing candy.

    and...

    No bottled water.

    And the district made a big financial push to be more "healthy" by getting these machines as well as an ala carte snack bar in the cafeteria offering even more sugary goodness. The only argument being "BUT THEY'RE LOW FAT!" Same as the menu. All low fat, but plenty of yummy refined carbs available. Oy vey. I cry for my tax dollars.
  • mstanley
    mstanley Posts: 121 Member
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    In Texas the rule on drinks is that you can have carbonated beverages only if they are diet. You can have sugary fruit juice drinks if it is not carbonated. Some of those fruit juices are way worse than non-diet sodas when it comes to sugar content.
  • rtmama
    rtmama Posts: 403 Member
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    I just finished watching it on Tuesday.

    FYI, it's playing for FREE over on hulu.com

    here is the link:

    http://www.hulu.com/watch/63283/super-size-me

    I started out listening to his audio book first (Don't Eat this Book) which I found extremely interesting. I picked it up at my local library and saved it on my iPhone so I could listen in the car.

    Sure I knew McDonald's was horrible, but it really surprised me to realize how bad our kids eat at school. I really hope things are changing! It's really sad how obese our nation is!

    Anyway, another scary part was how bad his health ended up by the end (actually middle) of the month.

    And I hope I am not ruining the end with a spoiler for anyone, but it only took a month to gain all that weight, but it took him double the amount of time to lose it! and that is because he was so dedicated and in shape before.

    Think of what it's doing to someone that has been eating this stuff for years!!! It's really scary, because you know it's not going to change any time soon!

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