'Super Size Me' Be Damned
 

I woke up this morning and thought one thing, "I want to eat a f*cking Big Mac."

It has been such a long time that I have eaten at a McDonald's willingly. I went for a couple of years without eating there and then was forced to do so when I was in an area that had nothing for lunch but McD's. That last visit had me eating a Filet-O-Fish that was so awful that I couldn't make it past two bites. I ate the fries and was on my way.

This morning was different. I HAD to have a Big Mac. So, for lunch I did.

Ralphie and I were pretty good about not eating fast food (except the occasional In-N-Out) and I was content with that. Now that we've split, I said Spurlock (the 'Super Size Me' dude) be damned, I'm eating a Big Mac. I could made the decision without a committee meeting (you know, the spouse back-and-forth about where we should eat and where we should never eat) and I just did it.

And you know what? I liked it. I enjoyed it. Yes, I couldn't eat many fries, yes the drive-thru was a nightmare, yes I feel 1% guilty for doing it, but you know what? Too freakin' bad. I did it. And as I type with greasy fingers on my new unpaid for laptop, I'm alright with that. I don't know if I'll be back there again, but for today I am happy.

To heck with guilt. If that Spurlock guy was here right now (or even the guy who wrote 'Fast Food Nation') I would wipe my greasy fingers on his shirt.

:D :evil:

Good for you!!!!!

I think that the point of Super Size Me is not to convince everyone to avoid it completely, but to at least limit it to a reasonable, infrequent treat. Yes, your liver will turn into pate if you eat at McDonalds ninety times a month. But if you eat it once every three months you're probably not going to die from overburgerexposure.

Unless you eat the fries. After watching "The Smoking Fry" special feature two years ago, I still haven't eaten any McDonald's fries. (Burgers, either, since I don't eat meat. I have had an occasional shake or yogurt parfait.)

LSPE ~ I hear ya. But this has more to do with me doing what I want to do than Mr. Spurlock's doco. But I hear what you're saying... :)

Uh oh.. GC is geting rebelious! :p Preach brother!

I had my yearly McRib Sandwich last week. I can only eat about one a year but gosh I do love the one I consume.

I had a Big Mac the other night - but that was before I got my Fat pen to log it in my food diary...

Hmmmmmm.... McRibs.......

I managed to have 4 this year (about the only time I go to McD's is at McRib time).

I had a supreme breakfast sammich from Jack in the Box on the way back from Vegas. It was like an orgasam in my mouth.

I ate at McDonalds a few weeks ago for the first time in about 4 years. Man was it good but boy did I feel sick after. On a more positive note, Happy Meals are again in boxes. :D

You GO girl!! :)

I am just struck dumb by the entendre potential in this post, my wit is temporarily short circuted...

Yeah, it's amazing what Dial up will do to your wit.:p

Is this the porn thread?

Porn and food go naturally together.

Go to even the finest restaurant, with the best quality food, and eat every last bite of the portions THEY give you (including dessert if offered, just as Spurlock always upgraded or got a side if asked) for every meal and see how good you feel.

It's all about moderation and paying attention to how much of what your body needs/can handle.

The same goes for Porn... of so I've heard...:cool:

I don't know. Many of the top restaurants I go to have very reasonably sized portions and I rarely leave feely like I overate (and generally I do have an appetizer, entree, and dessert) like I do at mid-level restaurants.

The better the restaurant, the smaller the meal, and the more satisfied I am with it. Macaroni Grill, Olive Garden, and Cheesecake Factory have to offer quantity in place of quality. Boulevard and Aqua, not so much.

OKay, you're right about top top end. But there's a level between Olive Garden and Boulevard that (and it's more prevelant with Italian places it seems) does have better food and does guarantee that I go home with a doggy bag.

But my overall point is that (mind you I haven't seen SSM, so I'm not speaking from a place of particular authority) it's as much portion size as food quality that's at issue, and the former is something that one has complete control over (i.e., don't supersize, don't get the fries, don't eat every scrap of food they give you, don't get 3 refills of your 64 oz. drink, etc....).

I'd say that SSM was equally about portion size and food quality. The most impactful part of the movie (for me) was not the McDonald's overeating stuff but the scenes of schools feeding children crap (not so much too much crap, but just crap in the first place).

But yeah, eating the (billion calory and fat gram) salads at Cheesecake factory three meals a day would probably not be any better (and possibly worse for you) than eating McDonald's three times a day.

Of course, that was true too of the dinners we made at home when I was a kid. But we only ate that way one meal per day. Breakfast was nonexistent (except on Sundays) and lunch was school provided or a sandwich at home.

Why do I get the feeling that the big mac was incidental not integral?

Yes, they do have 815mg of sodium.

Oh hell, Ken and I went to McD's immediately after watching SSM, because we started craving it. Heh. :D

I hate movies that show "too much of this is a detriment". Um, too much of ANYTHING is detrimental. It's like a friend of mine who showed me "how bad Pepsi is", because this guy substituted his entire water intake for 2 weeks with Pepsi and tore up his insides. Um, duh. Hell, if he did that with organic orange juice, he would have torn up his insides much quicker, due to the acid. That doesn't mean orange juice should always be avoided.

Another friend of mine read "Fast Food Nation", and told me to never eat another hamburger, because there's ecoli/poop in the meat. Yet, she buys organic fruits and veggies grown in natural fertilizer (which does contain ecoli/poop), and only uses water to wash them off. :rolleyes: At least the meat is getting cooked.

I've always been from the school of thought that moderation is key. And anything in mass quantities is bad.

I like the quarter pounders better.


Oh, this isn't the porn thread ??



(Actually I DO like the quarter pounders better, because of the tendancy of the big mac middle section to floop out of the burger while biting into it. - Quarter pounders stay put.)

There's poop in everything. There's poop in you. There's poop in me. It's poop, people. I sense a Lebo M song.

My take-away point from Fast Food Nation (yes, that was a pun, Aussies) was that the animals and the meat industry workers are treated terribly. I don't wish to support those who are taking advantage of them.

You and I may feel differently about this, that's fine. You do as you like. I just don't like supporting companies with which I disagree on such a basic level. I avoid fast food if at all possible. Thank goodness for the Whole Foods prepared section when I'm exhausted but hungry.

By the way, Pepsi is bad for you. I wish beverages would stop using corn syrup. It confuses your appetite and messes with your blood sugar. Natural sugars are more easily processed. Of course, as you've all said, moderation is key.

I was laughing so hard and agreeing with you on this one about certain foods...but then I realized that it really could be taken another way...but this is a food thread.

I love Big Macs. We rarely eat them. I think I've had one this year. Amazing because we used to eat out so much.

Twenty five posts and no mention of McNuggets??

I've never eaten a Big Mac, but about twice a year I'll hazard the McD drive through for Chicken McNuggets and the best fries on the planet.

I read Fast Food Nation, which does go into horrifying detail on McNuggets, and I still eat them. That really demonstrates how tasty they are.

You go, GC. We're all sinners here. :)

I'm glad they closed the McDonald's near my work. I used to eat there far too often ... not because the food was so tempting, but because the price was. They offered a four dollar lunch compared to the ten dollar meal offered everywhere else.

Well, once I got up to two or three McMeals a week, I started to feel ill.


I have not really craved any of their food since, but I will stop in for a burger on the run once in a blue.


And yeah, that sucks about animals and food workers ... but - and yes this is a rationalization - if I refused to contribute to every business to which I object on a visceral level, I would have no choice but to become Amish.

I had pie tonight while watching The Biggest Loser.

I had just run 5 miles, that has to count for something, right? Right?

Jones soda is going to cane sugar! The green apple soda is already insanely tasty, I can't wait!

And I enjoyed every single gram.

As well as the hash browns, dr. pepper and side of curly fries. mmm Grease. Natures miracle cure. ;)

That's a really big selling point - last trip to the USA, all of our breakfasts in SFO (except one) were at McD's .... because they had a $1 breakfast menu - we were full on $2.00 each for breakfast.

That one other breakfast - corned beef hash, juice & coffee - cost $6.75

I like Jones--must try the green apple.

Now, if only I could find the watermelon.

Last week on the way from and to Oakland Airport with my mother, she decided she wanted to wash down her blood pressure medication at In 'n' Out Burger. I had never been before. I like the choices they give you: single or double, cheese or no cheese. No crusty over-seasoned chicken sandwiches. No let's-pretend-they're-healthy salads. And they grill the onions if you ask. Now that is a tasty burger.

In terms of guilt, since I'm basically a Sonoma diet whole grain kind of guy, I felt worse about the bun than the burger, but I went home and dilated my arteries with some Atkins-friendly scotch.

I gotta try Jones Turkey & Gravy Soda

Oh you must! It is definitely the best flavor of the bunch, and that's saying a lot.

If it cane sugar ye be after then ye best be setting course for Dublin, Texas. For thems be the only one still making the ambrosia know to you as Dr. Pepper with real cane sugar.

The less adventurous can skip the journey to the end of the earth and just order it direct from the website. A true purest like myself will insist on the bottles but you Eco fanatic SoCal'ers will be forced to order the cans unless you can get a friend from AZ to smuggle you in some bottles.

I looked at them once just to see if I can taste the difference (I can't really with the Mexican Coke that is easily available). But I'm not paying $50 for a case of Dr Pepper.

$50? Including shipping, a case is only $29 and even less if you buy in bulk. :)

I know I can taste a real difference between Dublin and standard Pep (I've actually had blind taste tests...) but of course peoples taste differ. To me all wine tastes like vinegar so I suppose your mileage might vary....

Well, $50 was just a "too much for soda" number I pulled out of my ass since it has been a couple years since I looked into. Though it sounds like prices have come down a bit (I remember the cheapest shipping charge being around $30), anything over $10 a case is in the "too much for soda" category. Especially since, no matter how good it is I shouldn't be drinking it anyway and when soda is in the house I end up drinking about a six pack a day.

Or you can just go to Galco's in Highland Park, and pick up some bottles, along with the cane sugar Coke from Mexico, and many other yummy goods.
If you don't feel like driving to Northeast L.A., just check out Galco's website.

Made with water from Mexico? Humm... I think I'll stick with the stuff from Dublin. However I do wish they had a taster pack of the designer root beers. My old favorite (Root 66) seems to have gone out of existence.

The water in the Mexican sodas is safe. I used to drink Mexican Coca Cola all the time, when I was able to get them from the roach coach at work. There is (to me, at least) a huge difference in the taste. Coke with cane sugar is much better.

This morning, I don't feel like eating a Big Mac. in fact, the thought kind of repulses me. Ah, so is the way of the dual cricket.

Now I need to think of something else to rebel about. Hmmm...
:D

Have some runny eggs and smoke while eating them.

I don't know why but we noticed after we all went to the park to walk/run/ride bikes everyone came back in through the kitchen for something, and not water.

And, my daughter and boyfriend sat and ate ice cream dripping with chocolate sauce watching The Biggest Loser.

By the way, I think that sort of sucked that they sent Adrian home for the reasons they did. She did poorly, didn't that mean it was good to keep her around? I know they were upset these people came on the show after losing the weight with their families but they still did it. Different strategies and when she came on the show it wasn't fair to expect her to just blend right in with their exercise programs. I wonder if they'll do this again next season?

Uh, back on topic....

Today I am going to rebel against my innerself and work my ass off cleaning and organizing...really....as the computer calls to me with its puzzles, message boards and pretty pictures of vacation ideas....

If you have a Wild Oats in your area, I highly recommend their hot and cold case foods. My gods, there's not a better deli around. They've got some fantastic salads and stuffed portobellos. I actually like them better than Whole Foods - they seem to get a little more "exotic" on flavors and such, so there's quite the selection. :)

That's largely why I make our own sodas as much as possible now. We've got a carbonator, and I make simple syrups with some raw sugar, water, and extracts. In fact, I have perfected Butter Beer, ala Harry Potter. :D But, I do have a regular coke or two per week as my indulgence. The rest of the time, I stick to iced tea and water.

I just hate it when having that occasional burger or coke causes certain people to "coach" me about how I shouldn't touch it, and I have had that happen often. I stopped going out to eat with a friend because I'd often order tea, lemonade, or that occasional soda with my meal, and she'd hound me that I should only be drinking water, of which I already do drink a good amount on a daily basis.

Preach it, sister! I heard that. That bugs. But then I have also been that person trying to get a certain someone on this board to stop smoking. So I guess I'm guilty of that a little... Hee hee.

Also, that's what bugs me about Trader Joe's and people who are dedicated to that store. They often preach about how evil Albertsons and Ralph's are... Ugh.
:D

I'm pretty dedicated to TJ's, mainly because it's cheap. But, that doesn't stop me from checking out the 10 for $10 deals at Ralphs. :)

mmmm trader joes.
mmm chipotle
mmmm food

Life is too short to not enjoy food [in moderation]

Damn. Why is there always a catch?

On the news last night there was a story about bacon being bad for you... if you eat it 8+ times a week. :rolleyes:

Screw moderation. A study just showed that a substance (resveratrol) found in red wine extended the lives of mice with high fat diets.

Of course, the other fact (some people are calling this a "catch", but damnit I call it a bonus) is that to get the amount of resveratrol that these mice were getting, you need to drink several gallons of wine per day, or take several hundred over the counter supplement pills per day.

So much for moderation!

Actually, you shouldnt drink anything with your meal as it dilutes your stomach acids and makes digestion take way longer than it shoud.


:p


Having said that, I always drink with my meals. Mea Culpa.

WTF??? Where did you hear that? It's like when a friend tried to convince me I should drink cold drinks in cold weather and hot drinks in hot weather. "Your body works to heat up cold drinks, so it doesn't help cool you down at all." Riiiiight. :rolleyes:

I swear, this world is just as filled with false fears as it ever was. Instead of fearing the wrath of multiple gods with personality disorders we now fear upsetting the health and wellness deities.

<shakes fist and gnashes teeth>

Read weight loss forums. A lot of them say this (drink water 30 minutes before you eat to supress appetite and don't drink while eating or some period afterwards).

No medical evidence for it though.

But there IS evidence that drinking cold water after meals will lead to cancer.

An Old Wife told the Tale. :p