The Fast Food Mentality


Posted Nov 4, 2011

 

Fast food mentality is a crippling mindset in our world today… I want what I want when I want it and that usually means NOW! Our culture rushes here and there and eats on the go…then wonders why there is an obesity EPIDEMIC in the USA. Fast food packs in the calories and not the nutrition that is a fact that has been studied and proven. The fast food chains know this is true…look at the new menu items that TRY to look healthy…then look at the CALORIES and INGREDIENTS! Holy COW!! The Standard American Diet is SAD!!!

Here is the plain and simple truth….If you want to lose weight and be healthy…it takes time and it is a change of mindset…and it may go against the cultural norm. There are many diets out on the market. There are many diet products that are out on the market…NONE will give you lasting effect unless you commit to good nutrition that is balanced. Changing your diet, changes your metabolism and there are affects that happen with these changes. Here are a few…

  • Coming off high sugar causes increase in sugar cravings for a short period of time. Energy levels are reduced at first due to the artificial stimulant high sugar diets create. Giving up the Mt. Dew or other soft drink…the 3 o’clock candy bar… the sugary breakfast cereal that leaves you “starving by 10am”. Once the sugar has “left the building”…a new place of balance is achieved and the metabolism starts to draw energy from other places… this is a good thing!
  • Gas and bloating…painful at times, but many people mistake these effects for the result of healthy eating…and then they give up…going back to the fast food that has caused the traffic jam in the intestines in the first place! (At some point I will blog about the intestines…but not today!)
  • Dieting is starving me…the high calorie and fast food diets are made up of preservatives and fillers…getting those out of the body and out of the diet give the illusion that you are starving. Best practice when changing eating habits…eat smaller portions more frequently.

Tools for success in nutritional lifestyle change (AKA Dieting)… have a wellness assessment. Find out your body mass index, what your resting caloric intake should be and note your eating patterns/habits and stresses. Work with a wellness coach or partner with someone else to change these habits. Talk about it! What is working and what is not… this is a process…”slipping” or “cheating” are self defeating ideas. For me, if I want dessert, I will have it… no guilt. If I guilt myself about what I eat, I may end up stress eating or comfort eating. The most useful tool is change of mindset… this is a lifestyle change not a numbers game.

 

Finally, the scale can be friend or foe depending on how you look at it. My recommendation is to STEP AWAY from the scale. Notice how your clothes feel, what people are saying to you and where your energy is. These are the best indicators that you are on the right track. If you are seeking this change, contact me for your free wellness evaluation.

Blessings,
Beth