I was sitting in the break room last week, saddened by the fact that my coworkers were heading to an amazing restaurant and I chose to stay behind and eat my salad, whole wheat pita and hummus. A lady walked in who works part time for one of the other companies in our building. She had a happy meal from McDonald’s and was telling another lady that it was on her weight watchers list. Now I am in no way knocking WW. I know that it is a great program and TONS of people have had successful results. However, do you really think you are doing your body any favors by eating a happy meal? That is the third time I have seen her with one in the last few days. I can see doing it every now and then, everything is OK in moderation. Yet it makes me wonder, has she not seen all the horrifying pictures of what that burger and fries look like after 5 days….15 days….90 days? It looks the the day you bought it! If that isn’t terrifying enough, I don’t know what is.
My nephew received Fruit Loops while we were waiting for our food at Baumhauers a few weeks ago. My husband pointed out that he read an article recently that stated that Fruit Loops and many other foods we consume are illegal and not sold in other countries because of the harmful ingredients that it is made of. If you click the picture below you can read the article. It really makes me wonder why we have FDA at all. I feel they are probably being paid off by companies to accept the garbage they put in our foods that is probably killing us. Why would other countries ban it? There has to be a good reason!
I think that it is not only important to worry about how many calories you consume in a day, but what those calories are. Yeah something might be fat free, but what replaced that fat? Sugar free equals all kinds of harmful chemicals in your body.
While it is not always easy or convenient to eat whole foods, nor is it friendly to your wallet all the time…..I still think it is something you should try to do most of the time. I feel the same way about Lean Cuisines and other frozen meals that are loaded with sodium and other crap. Plus, they all taste the same to me…which just sort of freaks me out!
There are lots of healthy options when bringing your own lunch, and you can think outside of the normal sandwich. There are lots of different ways you can prepare salads, add fruit or grilled chicken, change up the dressing and toppings that you use. Pita bread and hummus is always good, or veggies and hummus. I enjoy a good soup whether it is hot or cold outside, just watch your sodium content on it. Whole wheat pasta salad or couscous salad pairs well with other items. Bringing left overs from dinner the night before is always easy. Annie’s makes great frozen food if you need something quick and convenient every now and then. Cottage cheese, yogurt, fruit, string cheese, peanut butter and celery are great add on items if you need something more. Please leave me a comment with some of your lunch ideas, I can always use more!
Has anyone else out there found that eating real foods without preservatives and a bunch of stuff you can’t pronounce is helping in your journey to become fit and healthy?
I feel the same way about McDonalds. I have a friend who is doing her own happy meal experiment and I think that thing is like four years old now. It’s NAS-TAY. I mean, every now and then I’ll get a 90’s nostalgia kick and want McDonalds french fries and sweet and sour sauce but really only once every year or two. We won’t touch most fast food restaurants in town.
Cereal on the other hand? My total weakness. I had a bowl of fruit loops last night. I wish the FDA would just crack the whip and make the companies stop putting all this stuff in our food because clearly, I have no self control when it comes to avoiding Red 40.
I have a hard time avoiding Red 40 as well! I think it is good to treat yourself every now and then to things…but it is scary that some people don’t even realize what all is in our foods.
Definitely agree with all of this!! Our minds trick us into thinking that certain foods aren’t “that bad” when in reality, they’re the reason we die at such young ages and we suffer from diseases that include the heart, lungs, liver, and whatever other body part! It’s a tragedy really! I had no idea about the fruit loops, but it just goes to show how uninformed our nation is! 🙁 Very sad… Thanks for sharing and I’m so proud of you for hanging back at the office and sticking with your healthy options!
I both agree and disagree. I think lack of moderation and exercise are the biggest problems. Yes, a lot of us ate Happy Meals in the past, but we also ran around and played outside for hours every day…our parents had to yell at us to come inside. These days, more people are spending those hours in front of a computer or TV.
I think it helps, but it is hard. Life now is so busy all the time that it is so much easier to get the items that are quick and good. It takes dedication to eat clean. I have to say though, my sister has lost almost 40 lbs by changing her eating to all clean and running. It does work!
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I feel the same way about McDonalds. I have a friend who is doing her own happy meal experiment and I think that thing is like four years old now. It’s NAS-TAY. I mean, every now and then I’ll get a 90’s nostalgia kick and want McDonalds french fries and sweet and sour sauce but really only once every year or two. We won’t touch most fast food restaurants in town.
Cereal on the other hand? My total weakness. I had a bowl of fruit loops last night. I wish the FDA would just crack the whip and make the companies stop putting all this stuff in our food because clearly, I have no self control when it comes to avoiding Red 40.
I have a hard time avoiding Red 40 as well! I think it is good to treat yourself every now and then to things…but it is scary that some people don’t even realize what all is in our foods.
Definitely agree with all of this!! Our minds trick us into thinking that certain foods aren’t “that bad” when in reality, they’re the reason we die at such young ages and we suffer from diseases that include the heart, lungs, liver, and whatever other body part! It’s a tragedy really! I had no idea about the fruit loops, but it just goes to show how uninformed our nation is! 🙁 Very sad… Thanks for sharing and I’m so proud of you for hanging back at the office and sticking with your healthy options!
I both agree and disagree. I think lack of moderation and exercise are the biggest problems. Yes, a lot of us ate Happy Meals in the past, but we also ran around and played outside for hours every day…our parents had to yell at us to come inside. These days, more people are spending those hours in front of a computer or TV.
I think it helps, but it is hard. Life now is so busy all the time that it is so much easier to get the items that are quick and good. It takes dedication to eat clean. I have to say though, my sister has lost almost 40 lbs by changing her eating to all clean and running. It does work!