Hahaha, I get the question in the title a LOT. Yes, I really eat that. That really was my breakfast one day last week. I do not eat things like this all the time of course, but on occasion, yes I eat McDonald’s food. It is not bad, it is not good. It is food. I also had a big ass ass salad for lunch, veggies and cheese for snacks, a small ass salad, some veggies and a steak for supper that night. Oh and a a sip of everyone’s mixed drinks to!
Food is not inherently bad or good. The words good and bad are labels we put on food and it is easy to slip into the thought of good and bad food. Hey, no judgement here. I was a food snob for a while myself. I would say never eat a candy bar again or never drink soda or always find an alternative to the bad food. Being a food snob was one of the only tools I had at the beginning of my lifestyle change.
It worked for a while and I thought it was helpful and kept me on target, but in actuality what would happen was that I would “eat clean” for weeks and then cave in and binge on “bad food” and beat myself up about it. Not necessarily junk food either. Just things that I considered off limits because they would not be good for weight loss. It was usually just for a meal or a treat. Oh, or a cheat day if the program I was on told me to have a cheat day.
I would eat whatever it was and then feel guilty as hell about it and make sure that no matter what, I would work it off at the gym the next day. The programs I followed would also tell me to make sure I got a hella workout in on my cheat day. It was a vicious cycle and I did it for a couple of years. I would punish myself for eating something I should be enjoying. And seriously. Just the word CHEAT gives us negative feelings! I mean cheating is bad right??
I am very fortunate, that I was able to break this cycle and learn to live a life without feeling the need to label food bad so that I will not eat it, and to give myself enough grace and compassion to understand that if I do have a few items that are not the greatest choices I could make that there is no need to “punish” myself afterwards and either restrict my diet for a week or workout extra hard or extra long to compensate. I just go on with my day and eat the way I normally do on any other day. No fuss no muss, no restriction, no extreme workout….unless it is already on the schedule 🙂
The only “restriction” I put on myself is to that I do not eat foods that make me feel like crap afterwards….or if for some silly reason I do break down and eat something that makes me feel like crap, I know that I will have to deal with the fallout later without complaint because I already knew beforehand what it would do. I will tell you though, after keeping a diary of what certain foods do to me later, there are some things that I seriously avoid that in the past I would not think twice about eating.
How the hell did I do this?? Well, I will tell you. Nutrition/food and the way we utilize it on so many levels fascinates me. I wanted to stop obsessing over food and fat loss, so over the last few years I have made a point to do lots of research reading books, articles, scientific studies, health and wellness websites and blogs learning as much as I can about nutrition/food trying to figure out how others quit the binge and/or yo-yo diet cycle. There were two websites that kept pulling me back over and over. Metabolic Effect and Precision Nutrition. I am so grateful to have found both of these resources going through the rabbit hole that is the internet. I have soo much respect them. They helped me get out of a really bad place with my nutrition. Seriously, click both those links and check them out. Follow them on FB and IG. They are so educational and down to earth and just plain freaking fantastic!
Finally, after lots of time and energy spent on research and learning about myself, I bit the bullet and invested in Precision Nutrition’s Certification course. I plan on doing the Metabolic Effect cert at a later date. See, I went through some down and dirty crap during my transformation that seriously messed with my mind and my body and I never want anyone else to have to go through any of it. I want to help other learn to mindfully eat without guilt or regret or restriction and without having to label foods as good or bad or off limits (except for allergies and food intolerance) so they can just enjoy life with one less thing to stress about. Our biggest stress around food should be in having to decide which item we want more, not what we can or can’t have.
I have spent countless hours at many of the most popular fast food chains learning about their menus, what they serve and the nutritional value of my favorite items so that when I do need to eat out at a fast food place I can choose the items that will satisfy my hunger, my taste buds and not make me feel bad. So yea, I eat that crap 🙂
But I also eat lots and lots of good stuff to. I am working on giving away an updated version of my FastFood Recipes very soon. You will be hearing lots more about that over the next little while. If you are interested in it, go ahead and sign up for my newsletter. My tribe will automatically get their copy 🙂
My favorite meal at McDonald’s is what you see above. Egg McMuffin with mustard, parfait and 2 large coffees!
I also love Wendy’s. I usually get the Chicken Caesar Salad with Grilled Chicken instead of the fried and a small chili…..with extra chili sauce and the keychain frosty! Best $1 ever spent!
I eat subway at least once a week and my favorite is the Rotisserie Chicken Salad or Sandwich with spicy mustard and ALLLLLLLL the veggies.
Have you ever been or are you a food snob? What is your favorite fast food meal? let me know in the comments!
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Suanna