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The Beginning
I am not absolutely in love with fast food. I will eat it occasionally, but I do not like to eat it all the time. I think that a large majority of it is too salty, too greasy, and overall too unhealthy. I know there are some people out there that love to eat at fast food restaurants multiple times a week and even in a day. My plan is to challenge myself to go out to a fast food restaurant for one of my meals for five days straight and see if I can create and compare some new opinions. -
Day 1
Today, I went to Happy Wok. I bought chicken with mixed vegetables with steamed rice. It tasted pleasant; however it was drenched with sauce. I felt tired afterward, but had a decent amount of motivation to still do what I needed to do for the rest of the day. Cost: Less than $7. Calories: I couldn't find the exact nutritional information, but I'm guessing somewhere about or a little below a thousand. -
Day 2
Today I went to McDonalds for breakfast. I purchased a biscuit with egg and a fruit and yogurt parfait. The parfait was light and not overly sweet, the biscuit had a nice consistency, except for the layer of grease within my mouth afterwards. I was hungry about 2 hours afterwards also. :( Cost: Less than $5. Calories: Parfait- 160 Biscuit- over 300 -
Day 3 Part 1
Today I went to Sharks Fish & Chicken. I bought a Philly steak and fries. Cost: Just over $5. Felt extremely sluggish and wanted to immediately go to bed. Calories: I couldn't find nutrition information either, but it's more than likely well over a thousand. -
Day 3 Part 2
Today I also interviewed a friend, Zach. He loves fast food and goes out to eat at McDonalds quite a bit. I asked him why he went to eat at McDonalds so much and he responded, "Well, number one it tastes good, two it's really convenient especially with working nights, and three it's cheap. Plus I really enjoy the fountain pop." I can totally see where he is coming from, but I have yet to completely turn a new leaf over my opinion of this matter. -
Day 4 Part 1
Today after dinner, I went to Dairy Queen. I purchased a small cookie dough blizzard. Less than $4. Calories: Over 800. It tasted good, just like any other ice cream, but over 800 calories for a small! Wow! -
Day 4 Part 2
Today I also interviewed another friend, Kayla. She doesn't go to fast food places as often. I asked her how often she ate at a fast food restaurant and she responded, "Once a week, if that." I then asked why she does not go as often and she replied, "Because it is not good for you. It's spending money either way. I can just go to the store and buy healthier food instead." Much agreed, plus then a person can get more say of what goes into his/her food. I need to try and stop being so biased! :/ -
Day 5 Part 1
Today, I went back to Happy Wok for dinner and bought the same thing as the first day. By this point, the grease was not as completely terrible to me, but after I finished the meal I was completely lethargic. -
Day 5 Part 2
At this point, you may be thinking why didn't you just go to subway for each of the 5 days. Yes, I could have done that. They do have some healthy options and provide nutritional information right there on the napkins, however, I thought it would be more interesting to try the more "not as healthy" places to see how much it could affect how I feel. -
Day 6 Part 1
Today I reflected upon the last few days. On the down side, I felt tired, bloated, and hungry more often. I didn't feel comfortable in my own skin. My intolerance for the salt, grease, and excess sugar did go down. I did not technically love it, but it was not as gross as before. I also discovered that I became hungrier faster. I was not able to feel full as long, which made me want to eat more. I also, unfortunately gained a little weight, because of excess calorie consumption. :( -
Day 6 Part 2
The positives I found were that I spent a little less than $30 dollars for 5 days and I usually spend a little over $100 for 2 weeks. So, it would have evened out and have slightly even cost somewhat less. I also found that it really is convenient because you do not have to clean up the mess and you have the food you want almost instantly. -
Day 6 Part 3
Having such a strong opinion, I figured I should do some research, because I'm not completely oblivious to the fact that not all fast food chains are all entirely terrible. I went to McDonald's website and found that they are now adding more nutritional information on their products, which I think is good because it helps consumers' awareness. Also, they are now trying to shift to advertise more of their healthier options, like apple dippers, oatmeal, and milk, especially for the youth. :) Yay! -
The End
I weighed my pros and cons and still came to find that I still am against eating out so much. I do have a slight better understanding of why people do it though. I can see that it can be cheaper, and that it is quick, and that the taste is not as noticeable once a person eats enough. Your body actually starts to crave it a bit. After doing this, I thought of an idea to challenge some people I know that hold the opposite opinion of my own and do the opposite of what I did and see how they feel.
