Should I eat McDonalds?

Hey Hon! Hang in there! Just a few thoughts for you;
1) Several years ago, I picked up happy meals for my kids. I put them on top of the fridge, and forgot about them!! 1 MONTH later, I cleaned the top of the fridge and there they were~and let me tell you, besides a "slight" molding on the bread, and a little shrivling of the fries, there was NO CHANGE!!! This is when I said, No thank you to Micky Dees~there's so much junk on that stuff that it doesn't even bio-degrade when I leave it sitting alone??! No way in HAYLE am I putting that in my kid's bodies, or mine.
2) Your body still has a "memory". It's remembering what it got from the fries, the grease, the fat. You're "craving" it because it knows that it can actually get some kind of nutrition from those things~such as they are. So, it tells you to eat it and it will tell you to eat a lot of it because, frankly, there's not much nutrition there~and since your body is needing a certain amount it's gonna get it somehow. If you've decided that fast food is not the direction you want to be going in, then you'll need to re-train your body. Don't let the body tell you what to do. You tell IT. And if you fuel it with good stuff (the stuff that the body's Maker made) then your brain will begin to "recalculate". And you'll actually start "craving" grapes, apples, cheese, nuts, veggies, etc. It takes time, don't forget that this is what you've set out to do. You could do something like: eat McDonalds ONLY on Fridays, etc......but frankly, I don't encourage you to use something bad for you as a reward. You'll just be conditioning yourself poorly, and setting yourself up for failure for when you've met your goal. The idea is to be free of the bondage of your body controlling you, and anything promoting that will not be the wrong thing to do.
3) My kids are grown now, and in February the oldest son left for Afghanistan. Guess what? Can he get convenience food? Can he zip into a drive thru? Or does he just go hungry if his meals aren't planned out? So, my husband and I decided that, in this way, we would identify with our son. It's easy to forget them, really~but they don't forget us. And they cannot simply do these things. It's kind of a fast of sorts, a little bit spiritual actually. And it helps me to remember to pray for him, and the rest of our troops who are there to protect "our way of life", so I'm wanting to make sure my "way of life" is worth protecting.

With this kind of focus, it really didn't take long to completely remove fast food as an option, I know this for myself. God's blessings!!!

I eat there almost daily. Being a single guy it is a challenge for me to always eat at home. Typically I have a Large Light Lemonade and an Ice Cream Cone as a daily snack. For breakfast sometimes I get their fruit and yogurt parfait or their new Oatmeal with Fruit. Once a week I treat myself to a Daily Double if I have been really good that day and fries without salt. If it is in your calories and it doesn't impact the other things you are monitoring such as salt and fat then it should work. It has worked for me so far. I am down 24 pounds as of today! : )

Ok. Dude. This might be TMI but I REALLY want to encourage you to find other ways to eat. Buy a table top bbq and some ground beef and make your own at home. It's a million times healthier. The reason I say this is because my brother ate there daily as well....and he passed away at 24 from a heart attack. His veins were completely clogged. I wish my brother had found other ways to get food, too. Please.

My 21 yr old skinny skinny cousin ate there daily- sometimes twice a day. He almost died one day when his body went into major diabetic shock. No one knew he became diabetic because he was so skinny no one thought to check. It was from the terribly unhealthy diet. He was driving when it happened also, so it was twice the risk. Not worth it!

YES YOU SHOULD!! NO ONE SHOULD EVER GIVE UP MCDONALDS. EVER. :happy:

Work it in.
I myself eat whatever I want everyday, if it fits in my calories then I do not feel bad.
The only caution is sodium levels, but hey you only live once!

I like that you are planning for it, which means you aren't impulse eating at McD's.

One of my weaknesses is potato chips. I don't eat them every day but if someone told me I had to give them up forever, I'd never succeed. I DO plan for them by weighing them and putting them in baggies. Even if it's a half or quarter serving, I'm going to have my chips! :happy:

Mickey D's is another weakness for me, and I will have that too if I plan for it.

I say do it! :bigsmile:

Yeah, why not? Make it fit into your daily calorie allowance.

^^^^^ why not exactly

I eat there almost daily. Being a single guy it is a challenge for me to always eat at home. Typically I have a Large Light Lemonade and an Ice Cream Cone as a daily snack. For breakfast sometimes I get their fruit and yogurt parfait or their new Oatmeal with Fruit. Once a week I treat myself to a Daily Double if I have been really good that day and fries without salt. If it is in your calories and it doesn't impact the other things you are monitoring such as salt and fat then it should work. It has worked for me so far. I am down 24 pounds as of today! : )

Ok. Dude. This might be TMI but I REALLY want to encourage you to find other ways to eat. Buy a table top bbq and some ground beef and make your own at home. It's a million times healthier. The reason I say this is because my brother ate there daily as well....and he passed away at 24 from a heart attack. His veins were completely clogged. I wish my brother had found other ways to get food, too. Please.

My 21 yr old skinny skinny cousin ate there daily- sometimes twice a day. He almost died one day when his body went into major diabetic shock. No one knew he became diabetic because he was so skinny no one thought to check. It was from the terribly unhealthy diet. He was driving when it happened also, so it was twice the risk. Not worth it!

It's really not. My brother was exercising as well. Its such a shame. Really, don't eat at McD's daily. Please stop.

As long as it fits into my calorie budget I eat it. For example, this mornings breakfast was a king sized Reese's. Not the best choice, not a daily choice...but the right choice for me this morning. I think that you have to make peace with whatever you choose. I've been a avid calorie counter for years and I am not on here to lose weight so maybe my rules don't work for someone else, that's ok. Like you said, you're looking to make a lifestyle change, so do what works for your life. Whatever you choose, I hope you have a great day.

I'm really craving it! Hahaha

If I do choose to have it, it won't be until tomorrow for lunch (planning ahead!). I'll just have a small chips and a McChicken burger with no mayonnaise, and I can easily fit it into my calorie intake (1,250).

I'm torn between my "within calorie goal = okay" mentality (as I want to live like this forever, a lifestyle change) and that little voice in my head that's like "NO. People on MFP will hate you because you're trying to lose weight and eating junk! BAD" Hahaha

I suppose this also applies to other areas of my diet... should I work in some chocolate/treats every day into my daily intake? I think that as long as its within my target calories its okay, but that just can't be right! I can't possibly lose eating junk....can I?

To eat McDonalds or to not? That is the question...

No one will hate you!

But...for me, I don't really believe in planning on cheat days like that.If I have a craving for something unhealthy, I don't believe in giving into it.......I believe in breaking the habit so I stop the cravings.

I look at food as fuel I'm putting into my body to get to my goal....if it doesn't help me get to that goal, I try to avoid it. I think that if it's an issue for you that you really really crave McDs....maybe now is the time to train yourself to NOT crave it.

Reward youself with something wholesome - try something new - you're worth it!

She's not rewarding herself. :huh:

1) Several years ago, I picked up happy meals for my kids. I put them on top of the fridge, and forgot about them!! 1 MONTH later, I cleaned the top of the fridge and there they were~and let me tell you, besides a "slight" molding on the bread, and a little shrivling of the fries, there was NO CHANGE!!!

Ah. I love when this is brought up as an argument against McDonald's. Most any food -- even the exalted organic variety -- will behave the same under the right conditions.

I invite you to read this article, documenting a experiment with this phenomenon: http://aht.seriouseats.com/archives/2010/11/the-burger-lab-revisiting-the-myth-of-the-12-year-old-burger-testing-results.html

The Conclusion

How do you think beef jerky is made?

So there we have it! Pretty strong evidence in favor of Theory 3: the burger doesn't rot because it's small size and relatively large surface area help it to lose moisture very fast. Without moisture, there's no mold or bacterial growth. Of course, that the meat is pretty much sterile to begin with due to the high cooking temperature helps things along as well. It's not really surprising. Humans have known about this phenomenon for thousands of years. After all, how do you think beef jerky is made?

Now don't get me wrong—I don't have a dog in this fight either way. I really couldn't care less whether or not the McDonald's burger rotted or didn't. I don't often eat their burgers, and will continue to not often eat their burgers. My problem is not with McDonald's. My problem is with bad science.

For all of you McDonald's haters out there: Don't worry. There are still plenty of reasons to dislike the company! But for now, I hope you'll have it my way and put aside your beef with their beef.

No Don't do it! McDonalds doesn't even serve real food!! Gross!! I stopped eating there over a year ago and have never looked back. Don't miss it one bit! It just makes your body sick when you eat it. YUCK! Splurge at home. You can make all kinds of nummy food that tastes AMAZING and is still good for you because it's not processed. Like I love to have home made tacos. It's my favorite and I don't feel guilty eating it either.

1) Several years ago, I picked up happy meals for my kids. I put them on top of the fridge, and forgot about them!! 1 MONTH later, I cleaned the top of the fridge and there they were~and let me tell you, besides a "slight" molding on the bread, and a little shrivling of the fries, there was NO CHANGE!!!

Ah. I love when this is brought up as an argument against McDonald's. Most any food -- even the exalted organic variety -- will behave the same under the right conditions.
.......<edited>....
the burger doesn't rot because it's small size and relatively large surface area help it to lose moisture very fast. Without moisture, there's no mold or bacterial growth.
....<edited>......

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Ah! I disagree!!!

The poster said the bread barely molded and the fries didn't either.....

I buy organic bread all the time and it molds pretty fast compared to the non-organic bread I buy. In my house, the rule is organic bread stays in the freezer, and non organic bread can stay on the counter.

You may be right that smoking and making jerky is a decent preservative that is natural (as is some other things, like dehydrating, freezing, jaming, canning, and even some spices can prevent bacteria growth) but that doesn't explain why the bread doesn't mold. Or the french fries.

I think the poster's point is still valid.

No Don't do it! McDonalds doesn't even serve real food!!

What is it -- imaginary food? :huh:

Yes, it's imaginary. As were the 84 pounds I've lost while still eating McD's/pizza/KFC on occasion.

Maybe the naysayers are all crabby because of their too-strict, organically-grown, no-fun daily routine: http://www.syracuse.com/have-you-heard/index.ssf/2012/05/organic_food_attitude.html

Ok, so here's the deal. I am a reformed fast food addict and I say no to McDonalds. What I have found is that even the healthy choices at fast food joints are loaded with calories and sodium. The last time I ate at McDonalds, it left this greasy feeling in my mouth and this heavy feeling in the pit of my stomach which my body promptly ejected! If you gotta eat out, make it subway.