McD habit: must I squash it?

Once you start eating clean, that stuff just makes you feel lousy.

This is the truth. I couldn't believe how I felt when I tried McDonald's (nuggets and some fries) after not eating it for at least half a year. I felt disgusting, my energy level plummeted, and my stomach and the rest of my digestive system mutinied. Dairy Queen's chicken tenders had the same effect.

Interestingly, Chick-Fil-A's waffle fries don't do the same. Dunno why.

You're an adult, and we aren't the food police. You have to work out what you can live with long-term. If that includes lunch at McD's that's up to you.

She is asking for advice, not the food police. Right place too if you ask me

And my point still stands. She has to decide what she can live with. We can tell her all the terrible things about McDs and encourage her to eat healthy, but the choice is ultimately up to her. She has to decide what she can live with or live without. If she decides that she can do without the fast-food she'll be that much better off, but if she ends up feeling deprived and resentful she might just chuck the whole thing.

She didn't ask if McDonald's food was good or bad, she asked if she has to stop eating it. I still say that's up to her.

Yeah sure, it's always up to the individual, but she was asking HOW bad it was. I get the impression that she had overlooked everything but the calories and a few people on here pointed out that calories were just part of the problem.

I think because of the advice of some, she is now in a better position to be able to make the choice to which you were referring. Just because she is an adult, doesn't mean she knows all about nutrician. I thought I knew a lot but only recently have I come to realise just how much sodium is in 'fast food'!!! My 320 calorie healthy chicken subway doesn't quite have the same appeal now that I know that it contains 880 mg of sodium - as much as everything else I eat in a day combined!!

Yeah, you're probably right. I'm likely reading more into the original post than there is.

While it's all about calorie deficit - crap is crap and that's junk food. Maybe try to cut back to once a week as a treat meal? Your body will love you for it:)

It's not even that BAD of food, compared to some of the stuff sold. People act like salt and preservatives and oil are rat poison. Most of us have no medical reason to worry about sodium, and never will. Oil is just another food. Preservatives are pervasive in the American diet, and are harmless and beneficial from a logistics standpoint (unless you're self-sustainable).

I love how we dieters go from totally abusing our bodies with food to treating it like its a fragile blown glass artifact that must have only the highest quality inputs at all times. :laugh:

Whilst you are probably right, I think if I made a promise to myslef to get rid of just the 3 things that were worst for me - McDs would be on the list

It's not even that BAD of food, compared to some of the stuff sold. People act like salt and preservatives and oil are rat poison. Most of us have no medical reason to worry about sodium, and never will. Oil is just another food. Preservatives are pervasive in the American diet, and are harmless and beneficial from a logistics standpoint (unless you're self-sustainable).

I love how we dieters go from totally abusing our bodies with food to treating it like its a fragile blown glass artifact that must have only the highest quality inputs at all times. :laugh:

Whilst you are probably right, I think if I made a promise to myslef to get rid of just the 3 things that were worst for me - McDs would be on the list

I don't eat it, either, but I have other vices. Much worse ones. :devil:

if it fits in your goals then why not? I do and I have fast food on occasion for the past 7 months of this and it has not hurt my loss whatsoever. It doesn't make me feel any worse, in fact I love it so it make me feel better.

For those that say it is bad, check their diaries and see how many have "cheat meals". Same concept except yours fits in with your goals.

This is slightly off topic....but for those that switch to aspertame because they think sugar is bad.....a great choice for a nicer tasting sugar is Coconut Sugar that comes from the nectar of the Coconut plant.

Information on the European Ramazzini Foundation’s study on aspartame:
The long term bioassay on aspartame conducted in the laboratories of the Cesare Maltoni Cancer Research Center of European Foundation of Oncology and Environmental Sciences “B. Ramazzini”, represents the largest, most comprehensive carcinogenicity study ever performed on aspartame, both in terms of number of rodents and dose levels tested. The study used 1,800 Sprague-Dawley rats (900 males, 900 females) of the colony used in the same laboratory for over 30 years. In order to simulate daily human intake, aspartame was added to the standard rat diet in quantities of 5000, 2500, 100, 500, 20, 4, and 0 mg/Kg of body weight. Treatment of the animals began at 8 weeks of age and continued until spontaneous death. A complete necropsy and histopathological evaluation of tissues and organs was then performed on each deceased animal, for a total of over 34,000 slides examined by microscope.

Results of the study demonstrate that aspartame, administered at varying levels in feed, causes a statistically significant, dose-related increase of lymphomas-leukemias and malignant tumors of the renal pelvis in female rats and malignant tumors of peripheral nerves in male rats. These results demonstrate for the first time that aspartame is a carcinogenic agent, capable of inducing malignancies at dose levels lower than the current acceptable daily intake for humans (40 mg/kg of body weight in the EU, 50 mg/kg of body weight in the US).

The first results of the European Ramazzini Foundation’s long term study on aspartame were reported to the Ministry of Health and to the Superior Institute of Health of the Italian government in April 2005. In mid-June, these findings were then communicated to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center of Columbia University, the National Cancer Institute of the US government, and the National Toxicology Program of the US National Institutes of Health. First results, "Aspartame induces lymphomas and leukemias in rats" were published in the peer-reviewed European Journal of Oncology June 2005, Vol.10, n.2, pp.107-116. Final results of the study, "First Demonstration of the Multipotential Carcinogenic Effects of Aspartame Administered in the Feed to Sprague-Dawley Rats" were published in Environmental Health Perspectives March 2006, Vol.114, n.3, pp. 379-386. Environmental Heath Perspectives is published by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, part of the US Department of Health and Human Services. Internationally, it ranks in the top two environmental sciences journals and top five public health journals.

A 2400+ page report, containing individual rodent data on survival and all pathological results (both benign and malignant) as well a complete statistical evaluation was delivered upon request to the Council of the Superior Institute of Health of the Italian Ministry of Health, EFSA’s Department of Food Additives, Flavorings, Processing Aids and Materials in Contact with Food, the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition of the United States Food and Drug Administration and the Bureau of Chemical Safety of Health Canada.

I find it's easier to lose weight when I change my taste preferences. I used to work at McDs and would have it on breaks since I was so poor, and it was cheap. I became really habituated to the taste. That's what was "good" to me.

Now I've cut out fast food except for on road trips, and it's yummy, but it's not my favorite. Good for a treat, but wouldn't want that on a regular basis. Yes, I could budget McD's to fit my calorie goals, but dieting is easier this way.

Google how McD's nuggets are made. I'm pretty confident this would cease the habit.

this broke my nugget habit a few years ago. google chicken litter or pink slime will make you think twice about fast food in general. however i also believe that you can treat yourself once in a while and if your vice is 6 nuggets then it is six nuggets

There's a McD right next to my office, and it's my go-to lunch place. I get a grilled chicken snack wrap and a side salad with the light Italian or balsamic vinaigrette. Periodically, I'll grab the southwestern salad. My wife enjoys the oatmeals, and once in a while I might throw in a fruit and yogurt parfait. I've found it's one of the most reliable places for nutrition and weight loss. That's for me--others may not like it, but I'm down 92 pounds so it's obviously doing well for me.

I had to cut fast food out entirely but I was eating a lot more than just a small order of nuggets and fries. Maybe get it down to a once of week treat? I would be more concerned about what's really in the fast food and how it's prepared than the sodium, honestly. It's truly up to you, if it's not having a negative impact on your loss then go for it.

I see no need to rid it completely. Try cutting it down to once or so a week.

I eat McD's semi regularly, i'd say twice a week. Some weeks more, some weeks less. Depends on my crazy work schedule. I certainly don't advocate it as a healthy choice, but it hasn't slowed my weight loss to any noticeable degree. It's all about your priorities -- are you just trying to lose weight, or are you trying to find a really healthy approach to eating? I know I am sacrificing some level of healthy eating for my fast food "vice", but it is a compromise I am willing to make at this point. I don't drink any alcohol, so I figure everyone has their vice/empty calorie splurge .

It's posin