WLS Success vs. Failure - ranting...
On a different board I was reading about somoene feeling anxious about WLS failure and in the same post she mentioned eating a McDonald's cheeseburger and small french fry for dinner.
*gets on the soapbox*
For someone who thinks McDonalds and fast food are works of evil I get testy about the subject. Especially when I hear somoene who is having weight issues trying to rationalize a McDonald's (or fast food) food choice.
I decided to do a nutritional breakdown of her McDonalds food choice of a cheeseburger and a small fry and what I consider to be a very quick and easy (and freezeable) meal consisting of chicken breast and broccoli. I was even surprised myself...
Here are the totals: Calories: 530, fat: 24g, sugar: 47g, carbs: 62g, protein: 17g, Volume: Cheeseburger 4 oz., Fries 2.5 oz.
Now lt's compare it to the equal volume of chicken breast and broccoli.
Calories: 195 Fat: 4g Sugar: 1g, carbs: 6g, protein: 33g, Volume: Chicken 4 oz., Broccoli 2.5 oz.
Frankly I was very shocked... I guess my perspective was even off considering how much food really comes with the McDonalds meal; a little hamburger and about 12 fries.
Here's my thoughts on the subject of success vs. failure. People who are successful have learned to make very smart food choices and new behaviors such as exercising, portion control, and how to deal with emotional hunger. WLS is only a tool and not a solution or cure. If people fail to learn how to use the tool properly then they will not succeed at the goal of permanent weight loss.
I honestly believe that if someone is still eating fast food after WLS then they are setting themselves up for failure.
Are their smart fast food choices? Not really. As with all "healthy" processed food there is always a trade off weather it's calories for sodium, fat for sugar, etc. In my opinion, it's the combination of genetics, fast food, and processed food that has gotten us to where we are today.
And yes, I am probably being judgemental.
*gets down from the soapbox*
*gets on the soapbox*
For someone who thinks McDonalds and fast food are works of evil I get testy about the subject. Especially when I hear somoene who is having weight issues trying to rationalize a McDonald's (or fast food) food choice.
I decided to do a nutritional breakdown of her McDonalds food choice of a cheeseburger and a small fry and what I consider to be a very quick and easy (and freezeable) meal consisting of chicken breast and broccoli. I was even surprised myself...
Here are the totals: Calories: 530, fat: 24g, sugar: 47g, carbs: 62g, protein: 17g, Volume: Cheeseburger 4 oz., Fries 2.5 oz.
Now lt's compare it to the equal volume of chicken breast and broccoli.
Calories: 195 Fat: 4g Sugar: 1g, carbs: 6g, protein: 33g, Volume: Chicken 4 oz., Broccoli 2.5 oz.
Frankly I was very shocked... I guess my perspective was even off considering how much food really comes with the McDonalds meal; a little hamburger and about 12 fries.
Here's my thoughts on the subject of success vs. failure. People who are successful have learned to make very smart food choices and new behaviors such as exercising, portion control, and how to deal with emotional hunger. WLS is only a tool and not a solution or cure. If people fail to learn how to use the tool properly then they will not succeed at the goal of permanent weight loss.
I honestly believe that if someone is still eating fast food after WLS then they are setting themselves up for failure.
Are their smart fast food choices? Not really. As with all "healthy" processed food there is always a trade off weather it's calories for sodium, fat for sugar, etc. In my opinion, it's the combination of genetics, fast food, and processed food that has gotten us to where we are today.
And yes, I am probably being judgemental.
*gets down from the soapbox*
(deactivated member)
on 5/11/09 1:03 pm - Houston, TX
on 5/11/09 1:03 pm - Houston, TX
it takes this passion to be a sucess...
gurl.....you are not a convert...you are a zelot....
gurl.....you are not a convert...you are a zelot....
Hey Kevin,
OK. You are a zealot, but you are also very right. I'm taking paralegal courses, and during last class the prof and students were making fun of a recent court case where an overweight man sued, in a class action, Wendy's, McDonald's, etc., for his health issues. I wasn't laughing.
For decades people died (and still do) because tobacco companies knowingly made cigarettes as addictive as possible. Fast food in the USA does very much the same thing. We live in a country with a bounty of healthy, amazing food choices. But where are they? Not at the drive-up, that's for sure. And the foods being pushed in their advertising are those that are the most harmful and addictive. People die. Companies profit.
Move over. I need some room on your soap box!!!
Jim
PS / Who'd have thought that choosing to eat chicken and broccoli was a political statement?!?
OK. You are a zealot, but you are also very right. I'm taking paralegal courses, and during last class the prof and students were making fun of a recent court case where an overweight man sued, in a class action, Wendy's, McDonald's, etc., for his health issues. I wasn't laughing.
For decades people died (and still do) because tobacco companies knowingly made cigarettes as addictive as possible. Fast food in the USA does very much the same thing. We live in a country with a bounty of healthy, amazing food choices. But where are they? Not at the drive-up, that's for sure. And the foods being pushed in their advertising are those that are the most harmful and addictive. People die. Companies profit.
Move over. I need some room on your soap box!!!
Jim
PS / Who'd have thought that choosing to eat chicken and broccoli was a political statement?!?
Hi Jim,
It's sad. Addiction to fast food is a very real thing. I haven't eaten fast food from the big four (McDonald's, BK, Wendy's, Taco Bell) for approaching four years. I can honestly tell you I still have cravings for fast food; McDonald's and Wendy's in particular. Like I said before, I think they are all incarnations of evil and despise everything they stand for yet every so often I crave them.
I have given this considerable thought. I would like to blame advertising but to be honest the only advertising I get for fast food is in the form of driving by the restaurant or billboards since I don'****ch TV or listen to broadcast radio. And when I do happen to catch a commercial that does not prompt the craving. They come at very random and unexpected times.
I equate fast food taste and experience to using illicit drugs. From what I understand (not self experience) when people use drugs such as heroin or cocaine for the first time the high is incredible. Yet when the person uses again they don't quite experience the same high and thus the chase begins. Each subsequent and larger use is chasing that original high thus leading to addiction. I believe fast food is the exact same thing. When you bit into a McDonald's hamburger for the first time it tastes great but the subsequent bites are not so tasty. So why do we keep eating it? We're chasing the original taste that formed the memory until like illicit drugs we become addicted. Research suggests chemicals in our brains are released causing pleasure and happiness as well... thus causing a form of high.
The fast food industry pays big money to make that first bite as great tasting and as memorable as possible. I believe they have achieved this because reasonable people know it's bad for them but for some reason they continue to eat it. I know there are exceptions to this rule but people usually eat fast food on an impulse and not a decision.
Anyways, I need to stop writing about this topic. LOL. I can keep going on and on.
It's sad. Addiction to fast food is a very real thing. I haven't eaten fast food from the big four (McDonald's, BK, Wendy's, Taco Bell) for approaching four years. I can honestly tell you I still have cravings for fast food; McDonald's and Wendy's in particular. Like I said before, I think they are all incarnations of evil and despise everything they stand for yet every so often I crave them.
I have given this considerable thought. I would like to blame advertising but to be honest the only advertising I get for fast food is in the form of driving by the restaurant or billboards since I don'****ch TV or listen to broadcast radio. And when I do happen to catch a commercial that does not prompt the craving. They come at very random and unexpected times.
I equate fast food taste and experience to using illicit drugs. From what I understand (not self experience) when people use drugs such as heroin or cocaine for the first time the high is incredible. Yet when the person uses again they don't quite experience the same high and thus the chase begins. Each subsequent and larger use is chasing that original high thus leading to addiction. I believe fast food is the exact same thing. When you bit into a McDonald's hamburger for the first time it tastes great but the subsequent bites are not so tasty. So why do we keep eating it? We're chasing the original taste that formed the memory until like illicit drugs we become addicted. Research suggests chemicals in our brains are released causing pleasure and happiness as well... thus causing a form of high.
The fast food industry pays big money to make that first bite as great tasting and as memorable as possible. I believe they have achieved this because reasonable people know it's bad for them but for some reason they continue to eat it. I know there are exceptions to this rule but people usually eat fast food on an impulse and not a decision.
Anyways, I need to stop writing about this topic. LOL. I can keep going on and on.
7-09
I have eaten at McDonalds and other places before. Hey, I have a 9 year old ..sometimes we do those things as rewards for good grades or whatever. But I always scan the menus and get the best thing, usually a salad. I get my fast food 'fix' for the month and she's happy. Other places like Wendy's have better choices ...baked potato, chilli, small side salad. Actually Wendy's chili was recommended by my NUT when I was on puree.
In another message board this lady keeps complaining she can't lose the pre-op weight because her emotional eating gets in the way and all she does is eat chocolate and ice cream. I finally told her (after she kept saying we were all unsupportive) that it sounded to me like she didn't want to change. I found out 15 days after my bypass my Grandpa had cancer and then for the next 6 months watched him slowly die. So yeah ..I know all about emotional eating and I told her that.
Yesterday I was in Target and made a wrong turn down an aisle - the candy aisle of all places. I even said out loud "damn, this was the wrong way to go" and the smell of chocolate was so over whelming. But I kept walking. It's not worth it.
In another message board this lady keeps complaining she can't lose the pre-op weight because her emotional eating gets in the way and all she does is eat chocolate and ice cream. I finally told her (after she kept saying we were all unsupportive) that it sounded to me like she didn't want to change. I found out 15 days after my bypass my Grandpa had cancer and then for the next 6 months watched him slowly die. So yeah ..I know all about emotional eating and I told her that.
Yesterday I was in Target and made a wrong turn down an aisle - the candy aisle of all places. I even said out loud "damn, this was the wrong way to go" and the smell of chocolate was so over whelming. But I kept walking. It's not worth it.
Most Active
Recent Topics
