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After watching the documentary Super Size Me, my husband and I never looked at fast food in quite the same way. In the film, director Morgan Spurlock eats nothing but McDonald’s for 30 straight days. A five-year-old’s dream. He went to McDonald’s three times a day, sampled everything on the menu, and “super-sized” his meal whenever the cashier suggested it. The Academy Award-nominated film follows the drastic effect this McDiet had on Spurlock’s health and well-being. In just one month of his experiment, he gained 24.5 pounds, experienced terrible mood swings, lethargy, high cholesterol, and signs of liver disease.
Now I understand no one in their right mind goes to McDonald’s every day for a month straight. But how many times do you eat fast food per week? How do you measure up against today’s average American who eats four or more meals away from home each week? One out of four Americans will eat fast food today, and 43 percent of those people will choose the industry leader, McDonald’s.13
During the movie, Spurlock showed how the fast-food industry has contributed to a Super-Sized Nation, changing the way Americans eat with large serving sizes and meals of hamburgers, fries, and Cokes. In 1970, Americans spent 6.2 billion dollars at fast-food restaurants. In 2004, that number rose to 124 billion—20 times as much.14
Fast food is good business—that’s why you’re sure to pass several conveniently located fast-food restaurants whenever you drive just about anywhere. Within only five miles of my home in San Diego, there are 13 McDonalds, 10 Subways, 10 KFCs, 7 Burger Kings, and 5 Taco Bells. Talk about convenient.
My friend Chelle Stafford knows the dangers of hitting the drive-through too often. Her story was featured in the March 2009 issue of Women’s Health magazine. I hadn’t seen her in more than 20 years, so imagine my surprise when I saw her picture in Women’s Health as a weightloss success story. After three babies, six miscarriages, and a hysterectomy, she was going through a hard emotional time. Her weight shot up to 178 pounds. Standing in a dressing room trying to find a New Year’s Eve outfit, she broke down sobbing. She couldn’t get into a size 16, and there was no way she was going up a size. So the day after New Year’s, she signed up with a personal trainer.
One of the first orders of business was starting a food journal. Chelle was instructed to write down everything that went into her mouth, and her eyes were opened. “I was eating fast food—McDonald’s, Taco Bell, whatever was handy—sometimes three times a day. And this was every day of the week. My salt intake was the biggest shock. I wondered why I hadn’t had a heart attack yet.”15
She decided to slowly ditch the drive-through. Her fast-food visits became less frequent: first once a day, then once a week, and eventually she could flip through her food journal for weeks without seeing fast-food entries.
How did she kick the fast-food habit? She credits her secret weapon—an Igloo Playmate cooler. “I cook healthy meals on Sundays and pack one each weekday, so there’s no excuse to hit the drive-through,” Chelle said. Her strategy and dedication paid off. In five months, she dropped three sizes.
Remember McDonald’s catchy slogan, “You deserve a break today”? Chelle had to learn how to have breaks without French fries and hot-fudge sundaes. Instead, she went on walks, picked up a new book, or went to the gym. By radically improving her diet and exercising five times a week, she reached her goal weight in one year and ten months, dropping a total of 55 pounds. Plus she’s free of the inhaler she used to need every day. That’s the kind of break she really needed.16
Maybe you’re not a fan of fast food, but you have children or grandchildren who are. That’s no surprise since corporations spend over 15 billion dollars a year on marketing and promotions to get kids to beg and whine for fast food.17 From a child’s perspective, a fast-food restaurant equals a playground, a cheeseburger, fries, soda, and a toy. To please our kids, and maybe even to feel young ourselves, fast food is a cheap, easy, and fun night out. But with childhood obesity sharply on the rise, buyers beware.
Am I saying that fast food is completely evil and that you and your family should never darken the doors of a fast-food chain? Picking up an occasional burger, taco, pizza, or piece of chicken isn’t a problem, but making it a regular habit is. Just look at this list of some of the worst fast foods according to AOL Health (www.aolhealth.com). As you look through these delicious but unhealthy choices, keep in mind the daily recommended allowance of fat is 65 g and sodium is 2400 mg:
• Quiznos Tuna Melt, large: 1760 calories, 133 g fat, 2120 mg sodium
• McDonald’s Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese: 740 calories, 42 g fat, 1380 mg sodium
• Taco Bell Grilled Stuft Burrito (beef): 680 calories, 30 g fat, 2120 mg sodium
• Wendy’s Bacon and Cheese Baked Potato with all the toppings: 550 calories, 22 g fat, 1080 mg sodium
• Subway Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki footlong: 770 calories, 9 g fat, 2290 mg sodium
• Baskin-Robbins Large Chocolate Oreo Shake: 2600 calories, 135 g fat, 263 g sugar, 1700 mg sodium
• Dunkin’ Donuts Reduced-Fat Blueberry Muffin: 450 calories, 10 g fat, 670 mg sodium
Oops. I’ve ordered the Subway Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki sandwich without realizing how much salt was in it. Of course there are healthier options at Subway (try the eight-ounce Minestrone Soup and Grilled Chicken and Baby Spinach Salad with Greek vinaigrette). The problem is once you’re inside the doors of a fast-food joint, it’s easy to cave in and order a bacon cheeseburger with fries and a soda.
If you’re meeting friends at a fast-food place or stopping by after church, check out the restaurant’s nutritional guide online before going. All the fast-food chains post their menus on their websites with nutritional values listed. Decide what’s the best option for you (what sounds appealing and isn’t among the worst offenders on the menu) and stick with the plan.
Maybe you eat fast food regularly with coworkers for lunch, or you hit the drive-through more than once a week on your way home for dinner. Now is a good time to consider a fast from fast food. When you replace the sugary, fat-laden, fast-food meal with a healthier alternative, your body will thank you for it.
In Richard Foster’s book, The Celebration of Discipline, he writes about the discipline of fasting. “Fasting reminds us that we are sustained ‘by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God’ (Matt. 4:4). Therefore, in experiences of fasting we are not so much abstaining from food as we are feasting on the word of God. Fasting is feasting.”18
So the next time you crave a value meal at your favorite fast-food place, remember the catchy phrase “fasting is feasting.” By skipping unhealthy meals, you will be feasting.
Thought for Rejuvenation
How many times per month do you eat at a fast-food restaurant?
Which fast-food restaurants do you frequent the most?
Choose your favorite fast-food place. Go to that company’s website and look up the nutritional information for one meal you’ve ordered before. How many calories? How much fat? Sugar? Sodium?
Do you need to take a fast from fast food? If so, write down your commitment (for example, In the next month, I will eat fast food only twice):