A Rant About "Bad" Foods

Oh really?

And now I offer up some thoughts on fast food, processed food, soda and other junk in the American diet:

I saw a post on the Optifast Facebook page about an individual's desire for food that is "bad" for us. You know what I'm talking about: Fast food, food in the freezer section at the grocery store, chips, soda, candy, what have you. Anything sold at a gas station comes to mind. And what do these things have that make them appealing? It's easy. Sugar and salt. And eat too much of this and we're going to get sick. Heck, we get obese, unless you have a very high metabolism. Foods like these trigger the pleasure center in our brain, and we want more. This is why I think we are not necessarily "addicted" to the food but rather how these foods make us feel.

Let's face facts: Fast food is terrible for us. I had a chance to see the documentary Supersize Me last weekend, and I strongly encourage anyone who likes McDonald's to see it. It's about a man who only eats at McDonald's for 30 days, three meals a day, and if asked by the cashier if he wants to "Supersize It," he must say yes. You can probably guess what happens. Rent the movie if you can. It will change your perception of the fast food you put into your body and the effect it has on you.

Now, this is not to say I don't like McDonald's. On the contrary, I love Big Macs. Probably always will. But those evil sandwiches contain over 1,000 calories. Same with the burritos at Chipotle, a company also owned by McDonald's. If we eat them, we are going to get into trouble. The pleasure center gets going from the jacked up sugar and salt, and then it's off to the races. We will eat until the sandwich is gone (and maybe want another one) or to the point where we are stuffed.

Let's steer clear of this madness!

And that madness includes the frozen food section of the grocery store. Have you seen how large it has become? Now that damn near everyone is overworked and pressed for time, we have turned to these processed "quick fixes" for our meals. And in my grocery, the chips, soda and beer are right near the frozen food, so all you need to do is walk 50 feet from the entrance and stock up on everything. Fresh vegetables? Those are all the way on the other side of the store! Who wants to walk the extra steps? They are more expensive to boot, and preparation from scratch takes too much time, we reason. This is a big problem, people. The roots of America's obesity epidemic.

I think we must say to ourselves, "I'm not going to eat this junk anymore!" Say it and really mean it. We need to start allocating time for food preparation -- which does not have to be fancy and complex. Simple menus can taste just as good. And great meals can be whipped up in 30 minutes or less. We can break this trend of taking the "easy way out" and actually find that we like eating healthy. All it takes is being open to the possibility. Don't allow yourself to "yearn" for the bad foods you leave behind. Good riddance, I say. You harm me and I'm not going to allow that anymore.

Yes, the "bad" food is everywhere. But no one is forcing us to eat it. To rehash the 1980s slogan: Just Say No! It's all junk. We don't need it. And seriously -- do we really want it? Let's ponder this for awhile. It could just be we don't after all.