So you’re trying to lose weight, the one thing you need to do is cut out fast food as much as possible.  But it’s easier said then done!

Not all fast food can be bad for you, provided you exercise a lot of self-control; and lets face it that is a tough thing to do for some of us (I know it was difficult for me).

I don’t entirely avoid fast food, however I do eat it sparingly – typically once per month and I watch what I do eat.

For example, though I love fast food – I opt for a veggie burger instead of a meat burger.  Instead of fries, I’ll ask for a salad or soup if available.  Depending on what I’m in the mood for, fast food could also mean something like a chicken and rice plate at a Lebanese place not too far from work or a beef donair with whole wheat pita instead of white and some extra veggies.

Pizza can also be good for you – but eat it in moderation!  Don’t order a large, and eat it by yourself!  Buy a personal size pizza or pizza by the slice.

If you want to avoid the bad fast foods – why not opt for a soup and sandwhich?  How about a sub?  When I initially lost my 100lbs in one year, I would eat subs almost every day.  I’d normally buy a foot-long sub and have them cut it in three.  My lunch would be one portion, and at dinner perhaps the remaining two portions.  Subs don’t do well the next day.  Also I usually had a veggie sub loaded with vegetables but I also added mayo to give it taste.

I found that eating fast food in extreme moderation helped satisfy my cravings.

But there are some foods that I would avoid – namely virtually everything FRIED!  Fried stuff is baaaad for you, no matter what.  A hamburger is somewhat better (but again, everything in MODERATION).

If you’re intent on eliminating fast food entirely from your diet, you could go cold-turkey or gradually decrease.  If you’re eating out 4x per week – cut it by 50% for one week, then the next week by another 50% (if you’re keeping count by the 2nd week you should only be going out once per week) and by the third week cut it out entirely.

Here are some quick idea for you…

1. Skip the fried foods, and go for a salad or pick a sub.
2. No cheese, please!
3. Ask for extras… veggies like lettuce, onions, pickles or tomatoes.
4. Stop the POP!  Ask for water!  I don’t like diet drinks, so just avoid them.  If you must have a soda, limit the size, don’t supersize it.
5. Milk is a nice alternative to pop!
6. Avoid the secret sauces – most sauces have a lot of fat.
7. Choose a hot sauce over ketchup if you will have fries, but if no hot sauce available moderate ketchup.
8. Supersize it!  NOT – please, if you’re already SUPER SIZE should you be asking to supersize the meal?  You might think it’s “cheaper” but the cost to your health is what you’re concerned about.
9. I’ve seen people order a kids meal, instead of an adult meal.  It’s smaller, and is still filling.
10. Grilled, baked and boiled are your friends – look for them on the menu.
11. Eat breakfast at home, make it good so a light lunch will suffice (don’t overdo breakfast).
12. Fast food or super market?  Consider this, a burger might only cost $5.00 – multiply that 3x per week and you’ve got $15.00 – buy $15.00 worth of groceries (bread, cheese lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes…) and you’ve got enough for probably 7-10 days!  Fast food is expensive, the supermarket isn’t.
13. Avoid processed meats – they are yummy but high in fat.  What are processed meats?  Things like hot dogs, salami, bologna, ham… you know, the stuff you find that always seems to be packaged in the most colorful packages and is screaming “convenience”.

Do you have any other ideas?  I would love to hear them!

Enjoy,

Mohamed

Technorati Tags: eliminate fast food, fast food, fast food frenzy, how to elminiate fast food from your diet

You can’t pretend to make lifestyle changes, if it involves going to fast food 3, 4 or 5 times per week.  You can’t pretent to make lifestyle changes if it does not involve some level or activity.

The math is simple – to lose weight your intake of calories needs to be at an level that will promote weight loss — at the same time, you need to burn those calories as well so that you enhance your weight loss.  Just because you eat less then sit on the couch, in front of the TV or on the computer — the pounds will not come off magically.  There is no magic formula, or pill.

Todays weight loss tip is this…

Break Up With Ronnie, Leave the King And Ditch Those That Are Making Fast Moves On You!

What I’m getting at, of course, is to drop the fast foods.

Lets draw up a breakfast menu from McDonalds.  I have use the Canadian site to obtain nutrition information for their products.  This information is freely available on the Internet through their website.

Breakfast Menu

I selected a small hot chocolate, Bacon & Egg Bagel and one Hashbrown – what may be a typical breakfast for someone on the go.

The total calorie cound is 850 calories, but more startling is the grams of fat in this meal – 39g which represents 60% of your daily intake!  Another stunning number is the mg of cholesterol, the saturated + trans fats (DV) and sodium at 225mg, 53% and 1,720mg respectively.

The amount of saturated fats in this meal is 10g and trans-fats is a modest .5g.

Now just to jog your memory:

• Saturated & Trans Fats – according to the World Health Organization:The relationship between dietary fats and CVD, especially coronary heart disease, has been extensively investigated, with strong and consistent associations emerging from a wide body of evidence accrued from animal experiments, as well as observational studies, clinical trials and metabolic studies conducted in diverse human populations…Saturated fatty acids raise total and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol…The most effective replacement for saturated fatty acids in terms of coronary heart disease outcome are polyunsaturated fatty acids, especially linoleic acid. This finding is supported by the results of several large randomized clinical trials, in which replacement of saturated and trans fatty acids by polyunsaturated vegetable oils lowered coronary heart disease risk. (World Health Organization, Population nutrient intake goals for preventing diet-related chronic diseases,5.4.4)

Some resources for you from the World Health Organization that talk about Saturated Fats:

• http://www.euro.who.int/HEN/Syntheses/obesity/20060713_10
• http://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/publications/facts/obesity/en/

In short Saturated Fats are BAD FOR YOU!

Some resources on saturated fats, and trans fats:

• http://www.fda.gov/FDAC/features/2003/503_fats.html
• http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/trans-fat/CL00032
• http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3045792

This is not to say that you would not get saturated fats from other sources, but if these fats are coming through normal cooking you have the ability to control how much is entering your diet – with fast foods you have no control.  Well that’s a lie, you do have control – STOP EATING FAST FOOD.

Now to be fair, McDonalds just announced that their cooking oil will be trans-fat free in the US and Canada – http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN2234307520080523 - this just appeared on the Thomson Reuters website.  Here is a brief excerpt of the story:

OAK BROOK, Illinois (Reuters) – McDonald’s Corp has switched to cooking oils free of trans fats in all of its restaurants in the United States and Canada, Chief Executive Jim Skinner said on Thursday.

 

The restaurants made the switch over the past few months, he said.

 

By the end of the year, McDonald’s pies and other baked goods will also be free of trans fats, Skinner told the company’s annual meeting.

 

Consumption of trans fats — often in the form of partially hydrogenated vegetable oils — increases the risk of coronary heart disease, according to health authorities.

But what about salt (or sodium)?  Sodium is needed by the body, however excessive amounts of sodium will contribute to high blood pressure.

According to the Mayo Clinic, 77% of the salt intake comes from processed and prepared foods.

So how much sodium do you really need?  According to the same story on the Mayo Clinic website:

Various organizations, including the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine, have published recommendations on daily sodium limits. Most recommend not exceeding the range of 1,500 and 2,400 milligrams (mg) a day for healthy adults. Keep in mind that the lower your sodium, the more beneficial effect on blood pressure.

In our sample breakfast menu above, we’ve already consumed 1,720mg of sodium — almost enough for the entire day in one meal!

Here is something else about sodium that I did not know:

Your kidneys regulate the amount of sodium kept in your body. When sodium levels are low, your kidneys conserve sodium. When levels are high, they excrete the excess amount in urine.

If your kidneys can’t eliminate enough sodium, the sodium starts to accumulate in your blood. Because sodium attracts and holds water, your blood volume increases. Increased blood volume, in turn, makes your heart work harder to move more blood through your blood vessels, increasing pressure in your arteries. Certain diseases such as congestive heart failure, cirrhosis and chronic kidney disease can lead to an inability to regulate sodium.

In order to effectively loose weight, and manage that weight loss over the long-term you need to make lifestyle changes — not diet.  Diets are temporary, whereas a lifestyle change is long-term and is an ongoing process.

One change you need to make is to slowly but surely eliminate fast food from your diet.  The only way to elminiate it, is to stop eating it.

Plan your meals in advance and prepare items at home the day or night before.  If you must opt for convenience foods, be aware of the contents of those foods so that you minimze your intake of saturated fats, trans-fats, and sodium.

By better monitoring what you eat, you can manage your lifestyle change for optimal weight loss.

We will be taking a break over the weekend, but will present to you with “50 Weight Loss Tips – Day 3″ on Monday May 26, 2008 where the topic of discussion will be “How To Satisfy Cravings Without Binging“.

There are many things that you can do to make a BIG impact to your life.  What have you done?  What will you try to do?  I encourage your participation to help you lose weight and to motivate other readers to do the same!

If you found this post valuable, please consider DIGGing it, STUMBLEing it or promoting it through other social media that you may be using.

Here is to Your Health,

Mohamed

Technorati Tags: diet, eliminate fast food, fast food, Weight Loss