Fast food is a mass-produced food and typically very convenient!
Fast food it’s prepared and served quicker than traditional foods…
Dear Friend,
Fast food is pre-prepared or packaged food with low nutritional value.
Yes! Fast, easily prepared processed food served in snack bars…
And restaurants as a quick meal or to be taken away.
We’re all seeing and feeling the massive effects of obesity…
Do you eat fast food when you’re sad or happy?
It’s now a growing (classified an epidemic) problem all over the world.
In the USA, 32% of adults are overweight.
That’s an estimated 160 million Americans either obese or overweight.
Nearly three-quarters of American men.
More than 60% of women are obese or overweight…
Is this because people eat too much fast food?
And only 29% do enough regular / daily exercise…
Fast food is often made with cheaper ingredients…
Processed high fat meats, refined grains, added sugar and trans fats.
Instead of nutritious ingredients such as lean meats, whole grains, fresh fruits, and vegetables.
Do you feel fast food should be banned?
So…why is fast food unhealthy…
Because fast food is high in sodium, saturated fat, trans fat and cholesterol.
Probably, it isn’t food you would want to eat often.
Eating too much over a long period of time can lead to multiple health problems such as high blood pressure, heart disease and obesity.
Research shows junk foods can damage your liver…
Because high levels of trans fats are found in a number of fast foods.
Research has shown this causes build-up of fats in the liver.
In turn, this could affect liver dysfunction.
And could over time lead to type 2 diabetes.
When you eat a variety of healthy food choices, your body gets a steady supply of glucose which helps to maintain insulin sensitivity.
What are the effects of junk food?
Fast foods side effects include fatigue and lack of energy; since these foods contain little amount of proteins, vitamins and minerals.
Obesity; higher intake of fat and sugar lead to decreased intake of healthy food choices, thus leading to obesity.
If you’re grateful and happy, you probably won’t eat fast foods.
Like super-sized bag of chips, would you?
Here’s an inverse relationship that holds true for many people:
When life stimulation is up, junk food consumption is down.
When life stimulation is down, junk food consumption is up.
Have you noticed this?
When we have a thriving and challenging career, engaging relationships, exciting hobbies…
Plenty of physical activity, adequate time outdoors, volunteer activities and so on.
That’s what we crave for it’s life’s stimulation.
When we don’t have connection with activities occurring in life…
Our job is boring, family is bumming us out.
And we don’t have anything to get excited about…
We get into a habit where we can escape with fast food.
If we turn to food for stimulation once in a while.
Well, it’s probably not a big deal would you agree?
The fact is using food for comfort and continual stimulation…
This perfectly describes the daily habits and living for some people.
And it’s the non-nutritious stuff creating stimulation, broccoli or lentils.
Okay, it goes much deeper…
So you’ve thought about the life stimulation/overeating thing.
Great. Now the really fascinating aspect is what happens next.
What happens after you realize you’re eating lots of junk food as a response to life’s stressors or challenges?
The truth is for most people…
When they realize they’re eating lots of non-nutritious food, eating in response to head hunger, lacking life stimulation, feeling horrible…
And getting unhealthy/gaining fat, what do they do?
Typically they begin to focus more on the food (or exercise).
They begin to diet again…
And they count calories, weigh food, read more about nutrition, etc.
Some even run on the treadmill to burn calories.
Facing reality, in most of the cases it is this.
The problem isn’t fast food or is it…
The problem is how they approach their life.
They lack those engaging daily activities and relationships.
Those are thoughts and activities which feed us in many ways.
If we fill up with life’s stimulation, we don’t fill up on fast foods.
It’s like someone with depression…
They’re taking mood elevating medication without getting to the root of their problem.
While the medication might help to temporarily feel a little better…
Long-term the problem will expand and persist unless it’s addressed.
Have you ever been on a really stimulating or unique vacation?
Or do you remember starting a new year at school or career?
What about the first few dates with someone you really like?
You likely forgot about food, except when you’re actually hungry…
It’s classic stimulation.
When people are stimulated with new thoughts and activities.
New experiences and places, we don’t rely on repeated pantry visits.
Did you know there is a formula to calculate what you eat?
It called the Awesome Food to Fast Food Ratio (AWFFR)…
Before I open my case of Tarot cards and predict your future…
Here is some feedback direct from binge eating clients:
“Food can be a quick fix for any emotion. I struggle with this. Outside of morphine to dull my emotions, I’ve found the only thing that consistently works is exercise.”
“In society, our self-worth is often tied to our physical appearance. Take someone who eats for emotional reasons because they are dissatisfied with life. Well, if they become even more dissatisfied with life because of their physical appearance, they’ll eat more and the cycle continues. Getting out of that is extremely difficult. Some of us have (for the most part) and others can’t see the end.”
“Even though I never track my physical activity or food intake during ‘busy’ times, like going on a trip, I always seem to lose weight during those times, no matter what I’m eating. I think it’s because I’m in a new space and excited about being there, just living in the moment.”
“I think the hardest part is admitting to yourself that your current lifestyle is not stimulating enough, especially when it involves a job that you may be bored with. Many people look for diversions (e.g., TV, entertainment, food, drinking). It’s one thing to ‘count our blessings’ and remind ourselves that it could always be worse, but I think we need to go beyond that to truly feel stimulated each day.”
Unfortunately, I’ve seen this type of situation on repeated occasions with clients who undergo gastric bypass…
They undergo a life-altering surgical procedure…
And they’ll go right back to complaining about everything.
This includes the new lifestyle for months on end.
But by the time 1 year post-operation rolls around.
Sadly, they are starting to gain weight again…
Why? Because food was never the problem.
It is their mental attitude and approach to life’s problems which manifested themselves via eating.
If this is the case, they’ll always end up turning to food again, no matter how small their stomach is.
Think surgical intervention is the magic bullet?
STOP and think again.
Don’t be shocked or surprised if it’s your mental attitude to life, not your diet and the food you eat.
And for now, I’ll leave you with this thought…
I remember chatting with a binge eating coaching client after 3 months of working through her problems.
Initially, before we even started, she was discouraged in her life.
And was not making progress or achieving goals.
One weekend before our first coaching session…
Anyway that period in her life was very challenging and emotional.
So, I asked her to think about why she was eating fast food?
Fast food didn’t match up with her values and goals.
She answered this question with a very insightful response.
Basically without any hesitation she just told me flat out…
She was eating fast food each day at work because she hated her job.
She found her job very boring and tedious.
She was just trying to get through the day.
To do that, she relied on artificial stimulation from junk food and soda.
That was her pleasure for the day…sugar, candy, snacks and soda.
That’s a big insight…right?
Going on a diet plan isn’t gonna do much for losing weight or solving her bingeing and overeating problems…any faster!
Please just ask yourself this one question:
If you struggle with binge eating or compulsive overeating, have you figured out the true root of problem?
Does your fast food consumption automatically go down in proportion to how stimulated/satisfied you are with your life?
Feel free to share your thoughts and comment below, thanks…
Fast Food
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