Fast Food vs. Healthy Food They Supply What You Demand

Darrin, back with Starting Over Online Coaching!

Let’s look at eating from a different perspective.  A lot of people who are making an effort to watch their weight do so by trying to make better restaurant choices i.e., “I’ll go to Chick-fil-a instead of Burger King, or Subway instead of McDonald’s”.  You’re probably thinking that’s a step in the right direction right?  Actually, that’s wrong.  Are you really making healthier choices, or do you just assume that you are? 

Many people think that simply choosing one type of fast food restaurant over another to will aid in their quest for fitness.  The problem?  You still have to account for how the food is prepared, and what’s in it.  Fast food restaurants are in business to make money, which they can’t do if no one is buying.  Their goal is to make the food taste good for the lowest cost possible, so things like sodium, fat, and sugar are often added to your favorite foods at very high levels, without your ever knowing.  Many chains have given in to public pressure and are now making the nutritional information about their menus available upon request, but make no mention of the artificial flavors, colors, fillers, and preservatives that are also commonly used. 

Which is more likely to be a topic of discussion and garner more interest; a new fast food chain opening in the neighborhood, or a healthy foods grocery store?  How many grocery stores do you see in a one mile radius compared to fast food restaurants?  It is a lot simpler to go through the drive thru on the way home than the produce section on the way to your pots and pans.  If you’re not using the pots and pans, there are no leftovers to take to work the next day for lunch, so what do you do?  Make a quick run, and besides, the “dollar” and “value” menus make it a little easier, don’t they? 

When you prepare your own food, you control what goes into it, thereby controlling what goes into you and your family.  Baking and broiling are better than frying.  Low-fat ground turkey and chicken are better than red meat.  Herbs and spices are better than salt.  It is also important to know how the food you consume was tended to before it went to market.  How many hormones, antibiotics, and pesticides were used on the ingredients in that sausage egg and cheese biscuit?  You know all this, right?  Well, what are you getting in the drive thru? 

You can’t help how you were taught, but you can help what you learn and what you do from this point on to change your life and your health for the better.  No one is saying there won’t be an occasional drive thru in your life.  The trick is to make it the exception rather than the norm.  It may also encourage the “suppliers” to answer the “demand” for healthier options.