The REAL WAY to Stop Eating Fast Food
By Tom Venuto
-“How could you eat that junk? It’s so bad for you!”
(nag, nag). “Don’t you know those fries will give you a heart attack?” (nag,
nag). “You have to stop eating all that fast food, it’s going to make you fat!”
(nag nag). “You have to eat more healthy food like fruits and vegetables -
they’re good for you!” (nag, nag). Your friends nag you, your family nags you,
your doctor nags you, the health newsletters, websites and magazines - they all
nag you, and of course, your personal trainer nags the heck out of you, to stop
eating all those BAD FAST FOODS. But does all that nagging you and bad-mouthing
the fast food industry really help anyone stop?
-It doesn’t look that way. The fast food industry is thriving, even in
the bad economy. The Chicago Tribune recently said that McDonalds is “recession
proof.”
-As one of only two companies to turn a major profit over the last year
(the other being Wal Mart), McDonald’s is laughing its way to the bank. In
fact, McDonalds plans to open 1,000 new stores this year.
-I was driving down Route 95 a few weeks ago and pulled over to use the
rest room at Mcdonalds on a Saturday morning (there’s a McDonalds conveniently
located immediately off almost every exit up and down the full length of
Interstate 95).
-The parking lot was full, it was standing-room only inside and the
lines snaked around into the seating area! You’d think Brad and Angelina were
there signing autographs or something. Nope. Just a regular weekend at
breakfast-time.
-I was shopping in Wal Mart the same week and I almost passed out when I
saw (smelled, actually) a McDonalds… INSIDE THE WAL- MART! Also, with lines.
-Yep. It looks like your friends and family’s nagging you to stop eating
fast food, and all the messages of the health and fitness industry to get
people eating more “health food” are not working!
-So what does work?
-The results of a new survey from the behavior and psychology section of
the journal, OBESITY (Feb 2009) provide some answers:
-Researchers at the University of Minnesota School of Public health
surveyed 530 adults about their attitudes towards fast foods.
-They found that people already know fast food is unhealthy. (like, no
kidding!)
-The primary reasons they eat it anyway are because of the perceived
convenience and a dislike for cooking! (I’d add another: they think fast food
is always cheaper than healthy food).
-So, said the
authors of this research paper, nagging people to eat more healthy food and
warning them that “fast food is going to make us fat and kill us” is not the
best approach.
-What’s
the right approach?
-Focus on teaching people how to make healthy eating fast, convenient
and easy, because those are the reasons people are choosing fast food in the
first place.
-So what’s holding us back from implementing or taking this advice?
-Well, I think
that most people can’t get over the ideas that they “just cant cook” or that
cooking is “too time consuming” or that healthy food “tastes like dirt” (as if
McDonalds is gourmet food!)
-That
said, I’m not going to nag you, scold you or try to scare you out of eating
fast food. I’m not going to lecture you about health food (not today, anyway).
Nor am I going to bad-mouth the fast food restaurants.
I’m going to
lead the new charge by showing you just how easy and convenient it is to eat
healthy and nutritious food and make it delicous.
-Here’s a few
meal ideas (for starters) to prove my point.
3-MINUTE APPLE CINNAMON OATMEAL
* natural oatmeal (like Quaker old
fashioned rolled oats)* natural (unsweetened) applesauce
* cinnamon
* for protein, serve with scrambled eggs or egg whites on side or stir 1-2 scoops of vanilla protein powder into the oats
-I eat this almost every morning. It’s faster, easier and cheaper than going to the donut place or getting sausage, cheese, bacon breakfast muffins at the fast food joint! (you don’t have to wait in line, either!)
10-MINUTE LAZY PERSON’S CHINESE STIR FRY
* Brown rice (I like basmati)* frozen oriental vegetables
* chicken breast, grilled (try foreman grill)
* bragg’s “liquid aminos” (or light/lo-sodium soy sauce)
-This takes 30 minutes, however, if you get a rice cooker and make a giant batch, you can have your rice on standby for instant eats and this will take less than 10 minutes.
-It doesn’t get much easier than that. (I like those chinese veggies
that come with the little mini-corn-on-the-cobs… reminds me of that Tom Hanks
Movie, BIG)
2-MINUTE BLACK BEANS AND SPICY SALSA
* black beans (15 oz can)* Medium or hot salsa
* 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
* 2 cloves garlic or chopped garlic to taste
* salt and pepper to taste
-This one takes you all of 2 minutes to make. No cooking required! And it’s good! It’s vegetarian as listed above, but if you’re a high-protein muscle-head like me, just add chicken breast or lean ground turkey.
-Best part:
this is all inexpensive food! Oats, rice, beans… doesn’t get much cheaper than
that - buy your healthy staples in bulk and the cost per serving is probably
less than mickey D’s! (yes, even the “Value” meals)
-This means
that my way of eating makes you more muscular and leaner… so you can look hot
wearing very little clothes this summer… and be healthier… and save money too.
-Train Hard, Eat Right, and Expect Success!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
TOM VENUTO is a
fat loss expert, lifetime natural (steroid-free) bodybuilder, independent
nutrition researcher, freelance writer, and author of the #1 best selling diet
e-book, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle: Fat-Burning
Secrets of The World’s Best Bodybuilders & Fitness Models (e-book) which teaches
you how to get lean without drugs or supplements using secrets of the world's
best bodybuilders and fitness models. Learn how to get rid of stubborn fat and increase
your metabolism by visiting: Burn The Fat, Feed
The Muscle.
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The Muscle
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