People trying to lose weight at McDonald's

I think that movie was very biased against McDonald's (and all fast food restaurants, really). People choose what they want to eat. You can have a salad and apple dippers (or hello....skip dessert!). You do not HAVE to have a gazillion calorie Big Mac and huge fries. Duh. The movie was thought-provoking, but I didn't like the message. People need to be responsible for themselves. It's just like the people that sue tobacco companies for "making" them smoke. Duh.
 
These projects have been taken by 2 people at totally opposite ends of the spectrum. The guy who did Supersize Me was a very athletic guy who followed an almost exclusively vegan diet (his live-in girlfriend is a vegan personal chef). Take someone in that great of shape with such a sound nutritional basis and pump him full of over processed junk and of course he'll have dire consequences.

This lady started out at over 200 pounds. Drop the calorie intake of anybody who weighs over 200 pounds and of course you'll see a weight reduction. How about someone in the middle? Or the average American eater who is overweight but perhaps not obese and who gets some, albeit minimal, exercise? What results would that person have? IMO these people have just used a product (McDonalds) to justify what ever point they wanted to make.

Lorrie
 
An important point that is being overlooked in this argument is that the film proved that junk food such as MacDonalds is addictive, so yes, the fast food chain does bear a burden of reponsibility for the obesity epidemic in this country.

The MacDonalds diet may work for the seriously overweight as the previous poster stated, but as the dietician reminded everyone, it still is not a healthy way to eat and would lead to sickness if followed for a lifetime. There is a dire lack of vitamins and minerals and fibre. Endless salad, comprising mainly iceburg lettuce, offers limited nutritional value. And french fries bear no resemblance to the potato and cannot be categorized as a vegetable.

Clare
 
Fitness Magazine actually provided a "Fast Food" diet and article by the woman who tried it. Here is the letter I e-mailed the magazine:

"I just received my latest issue of Fitness magazine, the September 2005 issue. While thumbing through to see if anything grabbed my attention right off the bat, I stumbled across page 112, "I Lost Weight On A Fast-Food Diet".

I had to read this to make sure there was plenty of information stating why this is a horrible idea. You never mentioned it. There were a few words here and there stating a few drawbacks but absolutely nothing that stated the reality...that if someone where to follow such a plan, they are putting their overall health as serious risk. Anna complains about feeling bloated and thirsty from all the sodium and even lethargic after only one day of following this dangerous way of eating but that is it!

If you are going to print such an article, the readers deserve to have another two pages of why this is such a horrible idea. There was little to no emphasis on the negative impact such a diet would have on ones cholesterol levels, blood pressure, no mention of diabetes or heart disease (#1 killer of women, by the way), not even cancer...the list goes on!

Let's not forget Anna admits to having a nutritionalist research numerous menus and to pick the best options for Anna to consume over the course of a week. The average Jane doesn't have that luxury! Even when we 'think' we are picking the healthiest options, we very well may be picking the absolute worst! I once bought a Market Fresh turkey sandwich from Arby's only to learn that it was 700 calories! A turkey sandwich! My point is, when your readers head out to try the fast food diet, they may be way off and picking the worst foods but with good intentions, making the whole plan even worse!

Let's say your reader follow the fast food diet exactly the way Anna does...it is still an extremely unhealthy way to eat and a horrible way to lose weight! Is that all that matters??? Weight loss and the numbers on the scale? Who cares if the weight loss comes at a cost to your health, right? Who cares about your arteries and your heart, no one sees them when your trying to fit into that little bikini anyway, right? That is the message from this very irresponsible article. The "Fast Food Weight-Loss Plan", as you labeled it at the top of page 115, is full of saturated fat, cholesterol, poor carbohydrate choices, poor protein choices...it's just awful and printing such an article in a FITNESS magazine sends the message to readers that eating this way is o.k.! It's the answer to their prayers! Why not just tell them "for even better results, choke down a pack of Dexatrim"! Might as well, if it's all about getting that number on the scale to go down, what difference does it make if it puts you in your grave faster?

For a while I had been questioning whether or not Fitness Magazine was a subscription I wanted to continue to renew and I now have my answer. You have proven that your articles do not revolve around leading a completely healthy lifestyle and you do not always offer accurate information and tend to leave out extremely critical parts of the equation. I have absolutely no use for such media. What a waste!

I feel so sorry for the women out there trying so hard but are still in the early days of being educated about how to live a healthy life...those that may follow this "Fast-Food Weight Loss Plan"...those women whom you actually influence. Lucky for me, I am far more educated and know that nothing worth having could come from this weight loss plan.

How could you be so irresponsible?"
 
Clare, I didn't see any proof that fast food is addictive. Just about everyone I know eats fast food some of the time, but nobody is addicted to it in the sense that they HAVE to have it. I think it's a habit, not an addiction. Let's face it, it's certainly easier for Mom to stop at the drive through on the way home from work, after picking up the kids from daycare and doing who-knows-what other errands. Making a healthy meal is not easy, especially for working moms. I know I'm guilty of letting my boys have fast food if I'm too tired to cook. But in our house, we dont' frequent the fast food restaurants very often, tired or not. If we do it's usually Subway which IMO is totally not the same as the Fried Food restaurants.

Anyway, I don't agree that the food is addictive; I agree that it's easy and habit forming, though.
 
Sarah,

I think your letter to Fitness was excellent. Bravo! A few months ago, I too decided to not renew my subscription anymore as I feel that the quality of their publications has been dwindling for some time.

It is so disappointing to learn that a fitness magazine is promoting a diet that does nothing more than create an unhealthy, unbalanced caloric deficit regardless of the consequences an individual on such a diet might suffer. High glycemic and processed foods can wreak havoc on your insulin levels and your overall health even if they are within you daily caloric requirements. Additives in these foods, the most common one being high fructose corn syrup is addictive and people who consume such foods daily do experience withdrawal (irritability, lethargy) when they stop eating such foods. Fast food places have also made it so much easier and cheaper to eat the crap they manufacture, thanks to all those dollar menus.

Whatever happened to promoting the idea that it is possible to eat healthily and happily? That's what a fitness/health/wellness magazine should be opting to do, instead of telling people that they can eat junk at every meal as long as they are watching their caloric intake.

Now I think I will write to Fitness too ;-)

Faiza-
 
Clare,
I don't recall (in the Supersize movie)any determination that the food is addictive. I think I would have remembered that part. Did you read that or hear it in the film? What about it was the addictive factor? Or was it merely that fatty foods taste better and folks are drawn to that sort of comfort food?

Sarah,
great letter!!
 
I remember him saying at least once something to the effect that he felt shaky and like he needed to eat a burger. . .

L
 
I have to agree with Pedmom on this one.
People in this country need to start taking some responsibility and stop blaming everything and everybody else for their troubles.
The movie Supersize Me.......I didn't bother watching it but from what I heard the guy completely gorged himself on the Mickey D's food and ate much more in total calories than that for which a normal person's diet calls.
People forget something basic---eating fats does not make you fat. It certainly does make for an unhealthy blood/body chemistry makeup.
Eating an overabundance of total cals compared to what you burn is what makes you gain bodyfat. Say the guy ate 3500 calories in burgers/fries every day for a month and gained weight. If you did the same thing with a pile of carrots, you'd get the same weight gain all things being equal.
The movie sounded very biased but in this day and age I am not surprised at that. There is a ton of junk science concepts out there that are causing people to just throw away their money on things that they are not getting any return on. Organic foods, colon cleansing, magic diet pills, diets in general, the list is endless. It's crazy.
 
If you notice at the end of Supersize Me, they do a littel recap about the dude that eats multiple Big Macs everday. His cholesterol is normal and he's lean. BUT...he never eats the french fries.

I ate the grilled chicken salads with low-fat dressing while I was trying to lose 15 lbs. and it was a great compliment to my diet. I eat a Quarter Pounder every week or two now and haven't had a problem with that. It gives me something to look forward to.
 
Hi Dani! What I found interesting was the fact that she's a construction worker far from being sedentary which the majority of people are. Still eating french fries & McD's hamburgers is still a very UNHEALTHY diet to have even if your eating 2x a week. So she went from 227 to 190 in 30 days. That strictly came from finally lowering her caloric intake. She's a construction worker so put out more calories than she was taking in. Most individuals who venture into fast-food places do it mostly for convenience their in a rush & wouldn't take the time to select something more nutritious. And for those salads, I just betcha their just using iceberg lettuce. I wish that people would STOP going to these ff places to finally put them out of business. Oh this woman made me mad! Kathy:D
 
I saw the movie and thought it was a great idea. It was not just "junk science" as he sited MANY facts regarding obesity in the US. He did it as an experiment to see what would happen to his body if he lived on Mcdonald's for a month. He did it because he knew that MANY people do eat fast food 4 or more times a week (and he had the statistics to back that up). Yes, he took it to the extreme for a short period of time but these people do this over the course of years or even a lifetime! And not only that but they allow and teach their children to eat this way as well. He did this to inform people that eating like this could be dangerous and detrimental to their health and the health of their children. He did this because Mcdonald's in particular does target children and just like smoking, eating high fat/high calorie food will negatively impact the health of children and possibly shorten their lives.

I applaud what he did and I hope that many people take in his true message. Nowhere in the movie did he state that people should not eat at Mcdonald's. His problem was with people (and there are a TON of them) who eat there all of the time without giving a second thought to their actions. His problem was with people who teach their children that eating like that is just a normal part of life. Believe it or not, many people are ignornant of what a healthy lifestyle consists of. I believe that this movie was made to educate those people about their choices. Yes, they should be able to make their own choices about what they want to eat, but at the least they should know what they are eating and what the side effects may be.

This movie gave a true example of what this lifestyle can do to a person, and if that gives even one person a reason to pause and think about these issues, then I think whatever money was spent to make this movie was well worth it!
Carolyn
 
>I have to agree with Pedmom on this one.
>People in this country need to start taking some
>responsibility and stop blaming everything and everybody else
>for their troubles.
>The movie Supersize Me.......I didn't bother watching it but
>from what I heard the guy completely gorged himself on the
>Mickey D's food and ate much more in total calories than that
>for which a normal person's diet calls.
>People forget something basic---eating fats does not make you
>fat. It certainly does make for an unhealthy blood/body
>chemistry makeup.
>Eating an overabundance of total cals compared to what you
>burn is what makes you gain bodyfat. Say the guy ate 3500
>calories in burgers/fries every day for a month and gained
>weight. If you did the same thing with a pile of carrots,
>you'd get the same weight gain all things being equal.
>The movie sounded very biased but in this day and age I am not
>surprised at that. There is a ton of junk science concepts out
>there that are causing people to just throw away their money
>on things that they are not getting any return on. Organic
>foods, colon cleansing, magic diet pills, diets in general,
>the list is endless. It's crazy.

I enjoyed the movie as an interesting experiment on this guy's part. But I agree with you. Every day it's some sort of quackery or gimmick...each product is THE BEST THERE'S EVER BEEN and of course, has *nothing* in common with the ten thousand other quack products or ideas that came before it.

Sparrow

___________________
www.scifichics.com
 
Hi Carolyn,
It was biased against McDonald's because he ate many more calories of their food than is recommended for a daily total cal intake. Or so I heard as I never saw the movie. This gives people the incorrect impression that if you eat at McDonald's at all, you will get fat.
Eating junk food doesn't make you fat. Overeating junk food makes you fat. Just like overeating anything makes you fat.
I'd be willing to bet that I could eat 3 meals a day at McDonald's using my normal total cals as a guideline, and I would not get fat. Now my blood chemistry would be shot to hell probably.....
I also cannot agree with blaming Mickey-D's for people getting fat just like we've blamed smoking on cigarette companies. I don't agree with either. People need to learn to say no and take responsibility for their actions. But that's just my opinion.
noi
 
I agree with Carolyn. Spurlock was only trying to illustrate a typical American diet, albeit exaggerating since there probably aren't many people who eat fast food 3x a day. But many people eat fast food several times a week, and over a period of time, there are negative effects. Of course anyone can lose weight if you eat under your daily calorie requirement; I can eat 1200 calories a day of M & M's and lose weight. But honestly, who goes to McDonald's to lose weight? Who goes to McDonald's several times a week and try to stay under 2000 calories a day (unless you're trying to prove a point)? Who wants to go there and tempt themselves with the burgers and fries, only to get a salad?

The average person trying to lose weight is more likely to stay away from fast food. Spurlock was only trying to realistically portray the average American's response to fast food. In no way am I suggesting that the individual is not responsible. In fact, you'd have to be living under a rock not to know how bad fast food is. So what the documentary was trying to do was educate people so that they are responsible for what they eat. If you insist on eating fast food often, then you do it at your own risk. I'll bet in many people's cases, though, they know how bad it is but they haven't made the commitment to really give it up.

McDonald's is only providing products for which there is a demand. Spurlock is telling people that if you insist on eating junk, then you can only blame yourself for the consequences.
 
I saw this lady on the Today Show when she was being interviewed. She admitted that while she lost weight, she found she could not "stay on it" which implied she was not happy, yet because she lost weight, decided to keep it up. When she did stop for a while the weight had come back on and that was when she decided to go back to her McDonald's diet.

The nutritionist who followed up stated that a person could lose weight eating only Snickers bars and diet Pepsi (or something to that effect) if they kept the calories down to 1000 a day, but doesn't make it HEALTHY. The nutritionist went on to talk about choosing a healthy lifestyle and all the descisions that entails. It is not as much about losing the weight as losing in a healthy way and eating what is good for you....clearly not sodium and saturated fats as a way of life.
 
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