What to eat at fast(junk) food restaurant?

Triathlon Forum
1

Hi, does anybody knows a good article or has some recommandation about what to(and not) eat in junk food restaurants? For exemple, burger king, mcDo, Subway, Harveys…(I live in Quebec city and unfortunatly we dont have any Taco bell but we have Ashton if you know it) Are asiatic fast food good(noodles, chicken, vegetables) or most of them fry it so much and in so much oil that it’s not really good?

My problem is that I work hard and train hard so I dont have much time (and interest, and discipline…) in cooking so I often end up taking lunch in fast food restaurant and sometime dinner (shame on me). I’m still trying to change that but…

Here’s what my menue look likes:

5AM or 7 if I dont swim: drink (1 egg, 1 banana, yogourt, some strawberrys and skimmed milk)

after the swim : endurox

10AM orange or apple, and a bagel with extra low fat phiddellphia cheese

noon – often junk

15h fruit

after training – usually pastas (quick and easy) if the training was hard, endurox right after.

So I’ve put more into this tread than I intended to but I thought that you might had some interesting comment on my “diet”. But the question remains what are the best choices at the fast foods I named. By the way, someone as to stay realistic, I wont ask a big Mac without the sauce! But I can eat something else.

Richard

2

Richard,

I once read that “I don’t have time” translates into “I value something more than that so I choose not to do it”. You need to look at what you value and decide if your health, prevention of disease and avoidance of trans-fatty acids falls high or low on your scale of things important in life.

For me, what goes into my body is of highest priority. The crap at fast food restraunts is killing more people that smoking in this country (USA) now. We have kids coming down with adult onset diabetes at 10 years old and heart disease at 14 years old because they eat so much fast food crap at school and home too.

If I HAD to choose, I go with Subway sandwiches over the Chicken McLigaments every time. Pass on the mayo, add some spicy mustard and load up on the veggie choices.

You could also be loading up on extra calories if you overuse Endurox. I only use endurox after a particularly hard workout or a long training day. I just don’t feel the need to use it after a 60 Minute swim or Spin workout. Others may differ in this regard, but that’s what’s so grat about this place, we can agree to disagree.

Cheers,

Dave

3

Thank’s for the answer Dave.

I have to say that I totally agree with your “I don’t have time” translation. In my case, I value my reading and sleeping time more and actually, the problem is not really that, it’s more that I have to find a routine, a plan for my nutrition so I dont have to think after a hard training session of what I should do for my next day lunch. At that point, I know the answer will be restaurant which translate to fast food. I’m presently trying to find what I want to eat that I like and that would be good on my body. I will than make a plan on when I buy the food I need and when I cook it. Still, I know I will still go once in a while to fast foods because I like it and also because it’s a social thing with my co-workers. So once there, I’d like to make some better choice.

About the Endurox, I kinda agree but I think I use it alright. My swim is usually at 5h30 and last for 90 min and I recover a lot better for my evening training (and my work) when I take it. As for the evening, it depends on the intensity and the duration. I mostly use it after a long run or ride.

Richard

4

You should take a basic cooking class. Community colleges sometimes offer them in the evenings and some are directed at bachelors or people who consider themselves too busy to cook.

Once you learn how to cook you’d be surprised how fast, fun and economical it is to eat at home rather than eating McJunk at fast food joints.

Trust me, if you’re a single guy, being a decent cook will impress any potential woman in your life far more than being able to do a sub 10 hr. IM.

There’s no such thing as healthy junk food despite the advertising claims. It’s all garbage. I would agree with Karma, that the best of the lot is Subway.

5

Read “Fast Food Nation” by Michael Slosher (SP?) and your fast food dilema will be over. I was looking for a catalyst for me to cut down or stop eating fast food. I read on the post about “what are you reading now” and someone recomended that book. I was a fast food junkie. I went though a drive through at least twice a week. Since finishing the book last week I haven’t stepped foot in any fast food joint. Take the time to prepare and eat fresh foods and simply stay away from most if not all processed food.

6

Two suggestons:

Number one is the Santa Fe chicken sandwiches at Burger King. Those things are fantastic. The bread is OK, the rest is excelllent. Five grams of fat, 350 calories. Add in a diet coke and you have a meal. They must put something on their salads though since they do not agree with me.

Second, Subway chicken sandwiches. Their bread is excellent and you build the rest of the sandwich to order from fresh ingredients… You can get a salad version of this as well. The Gerad ads are effective because they are largely true.

Of to BK.

7

If you just can’t make the time for home-cooking, there are some healthy alternatives out there:

http://www.healthchecksystems.com/ffood.htm

Try cutting back on fast food gradually and cooking simpler meals, including grilled/broiled chicken beasts, turkey burgers, steamed vegetables, etc. Eventually you might realize that the meals you cook yourself have much more taste-potential than their fast-food equivalent. Obviously, you already know that some oils, high salt, saturated fats BAD…and most fruit, veggies, pasta GOOD…

Good luck.

8

I don’t want to pick a fight, but I think the dangers of fast food are over-rated. Sure, too much of it will kill you but who wants to live forever? I am assuming that most readers of this forum are active and healthy. As such most should be able to enjoy a good, greasy burger now and then. I remember a small triathlon a few years back, I won (big fish, small pond). Afterwards they served fruit and bagels. A few hours later I felt weak and had a headache. I made my way to BK for a Bacon Cheeseburger, ate it and faster than you can say “'mad cow” I’m cured.

9

Wow, as far as I am concerned this is a great thread. My eating habits are incredibly bad. Detroit was just named “Fattest City in the U.S.” by Men’s Journal magazine. I think a big part of the reason is eating habits like mine. Someone on this thread said they were a “fast food junkie” because they ate fast food two times a week. Sorry my friend, that doesn’t even qualify as “junkie”. I am a 3 time a week McDonald’s, two time a week Taco Bell addict. Last night at 2:30 AM I was in a Coney Island place downtown eating between writing web copy and editing photos in photoshop.

I always hoped that if I didn’t eat fries at McDonald’s and just stuck to a quarter pounder without cheese I might be OK. I know there is a ton of sodium but beyond that, how bad can it be? Taco Bell doesn;t seem too bad as long as I stick to regular tacos. My cat eats half of what I bring home anyway. She loves the stuff.

I hate cooking and cleaning up. I’m pretty anal about keeping my house clean so I don’t like to mess up my kitchen. If it isn’t spotless I wig out. Must be a military thing. I think rotten eating habits are a military thing too. I mean, we had, like four minutes to eat. I went to a school where they taught us to eat tomato slugs and ants! When MREs with hot sauce are a treat, you have hit bottom. I still eat MREs in an adventure race.

I’m a hopeless case. I can make waffles though!

10

I read Fast Food Nation also, and can relate to never wanting to set foot inside again. But sometimes, like last week coming home from a family ski trip, it’s just what was available in limited travel time. I tried the salad option and was pleasantly surprised. It wasn’t as good as I could make at home, but the greens were reasonably fresh and the dressing comes on the side so you can control the portion. At Wendie’s (don’t know if they’re all over North America or not, so sorry for the arcane reference), they have a Taco Supremo Salad, which is a big serving of quite good greens along with a side of chili, some salsa, sour cream and tortilla chips. I poured about a third of the chili portion over the greens, dumped on the salsa, skipped the sour cream and gave the chips to the kids, and had a really good and filling meal for 3 bucks. Also at Baja Fresh (again, I don’t know what their ntaional coverage is, I’m in the SF bay area), they now have a whole bunch of what they call Lifestyle Choices, which appear to lean heavily toward an Atkins-style low starch approach, but at least they listed the macronutrients so you can make better choices. The salads again looked like good optioins, with chicken or fish providing the protein. I came away from this thinking there may be a way to survive fast food restaurants without completely blowing off training or proper eating. For what it’s worth.

11

I, too, find it hard to avoid fast food. I allow myself subway (lowest fat), but that is the least appealing to me. And I also like Taco Bell. I allow myself as much taco bell as I want, as long as I stick to the chicken soft tacos.

12

I agree with you on that. My recovery meal after a race as always been a Big Mac Meal with a cheese burger. Whatever the studies says, that’s what is best for me (at least psychologicaly). Even if I’m close to the wall, it seems to get me back on track. I agree that my muscles most be sorer the day after but so what, my race is done…(héhé). When I’ve read the 25th IM anniversary book, there was that story of a guy who stopped to get a big mac(don’t remember who) and had to admit that I almost done the same thing in a marathon but I did not have any money on me! By the way I think there’s an ultramarathon in the state where they serve burger and beer at the aid station!!! Looks fun but I think I would pass on the beer.

I’ve always had a thing for fast food and I’m lucky enough that it doesn’t change my shape. Ok, I know I would probably be better with a good nutrition but still, there is nothing obvious there. I might finish in a better time but I might not feel nor look better.

Still, I want to change that bad habbit…

I’ll sure check “Fast food nation” and pezdoctor, thank’s for the link.

Richard

13

Tom said: "I don’t like to mess up my kitchen. If it isn’t spotless I wig out. Must be a military thing. "
More of a triathlete-compulsive-obsessive-type thing I think… I have no fondness for the military despite several years in and around CSI, but I too detest a dirty kitchen (house). My wife loves to cook, but isn’t long on cleaning, so I get to spend quite a bit of time on KP… fair trade though, the meals are wonderful…

I’m not eating in mickey D’s or any other fast-food-beef place - not until they start using organic beef, or the USDA gets its act together and does something to stop Mad Cow…

14

Richard,

I’ve had a little time now to digest (no pun intended) the thread more and have a more that may help you.

By your geographic location, you probably do not have any In-N-Out burger chains near you. If I did have to stand up before St. Peter and confess my sins, a double-double with cheese after a long race would come up right away. In-N-Out uses only fresh ingerediants and there is not a heat lamp or microwave in the place! Looking more carfully at your day to day food choices, you’re not doing too bad, but maybe you are going a bit extreme on the super low fat stuff. If you are working out hard, eat some fat and you won’t be mentally driven nuts for a burger (fat craving) as badly.

I’m an industrial Hygenist by training (no, it’s nothing like a dental Hygenist) and there is a famous quote by the “Father of Industrial Hygiene”, the Greek philosopher Pericelcus. He said, “Everything is a toxin, there is nothing that is not a toxin, it is the dose that determines the toxicity” Too much ice cream will eventually kill you too! So don’t beat yourself up too much about an occasional meal of meat by-products.

I too have read Fast Food Nation and find it well worth reccomending. If you want to go a step further try reading “Diet for a new America” by Tom Robbins (heir to the Baskin Robbins fortune who gave it up because he couln’t stand how the dairy industry treats cows). It’s pretty stongly written and researched to the nth degree.

Finally, one last tip. When my wife and I cook we always cook for 4, packaging up two meals for lunch at the office the next day. You may also see if an enterprising teen in your neighborhood with a knack for cooking would like to earn some extra $$ cooking and freezing cassoreles and soups for you!

May the force be with you!

15

At Wendie’s (don’t know if they’re all over North America or not, so sorry for the arcane reference),<<<

Hardly an arcane reference about Wendy’s … trust me - they are everywhere… I ate at a Wendy’s in Jakarta, Indonesia a year ago October on a business trip. The big shops - McD’s, BK, Wendy’s - they are EVERYWHERE in the world these day’s … hell, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a Mar’s lander photo showing the lander driving through a McD’s drive-thru!!!

My opinion’s on the fast food nation … obviously it would be best not to plan your meals around which one you will drive thru tonight, but every once in a while, it’s not such a bad thing. The key is more to watch the “portion” sizes. Jeez, who the hell needs to SUPERSIZE any fast food meal (the three patty burger, the extra large fries and the 64 oz drink). Hell, I’m about to have a coronary just thinking about that. Case in point … I have a 20oz Dr Pepper at my desk. Looking at the label … it’s 100 calories per serving with 27g of suger per serving. Okay, not a big deal EXCEPT the bottle contains 2.5 servings!! So it’s really 250 calories and 67.5g of sugars!!! Ask yourself when was the last time you bought a 20oz drink (pretty much the regular size these day’s) and just drank one serving???

Basically, as a society, we eat too damn much. Fast food or not. Do your best to make sensible decisions when you do eat out (primarily) and keep up your training and you should be fine for the most part.

Dennis

16

Go to men’s health site and use the recipe finder.

Make 4 times the amount of the recipe, store the extra. eheat it when hungry. Healthy food, low prep time.

Incredibly simple. Hint: It cooks while you read, or do laundry, or play with your kids, or whatever. You don’t actually have to stand there and watch it cook. Heh Heh.

Sandwiches are quick, easy and mostly healthy (depending what type and what you add to them).

There is nothing worthwhile in a fast food restaurant. If you go to a fast food restaurant, enjoy the grease and fat, and do eat guilt-free. But, do it once every 2 weeks or once a month (even better).

The “I have no time” is pure BS as it comes, no matter how you slice it. If excuses were money , the world would be full of billionaires. We all have the same 24-hour days to work with. I work (teacher), spend time with son & wife (priority #1), work more at home (lesson plans, grades, etc), train, cook, get my own clothes ready (iron, etc), and blah, blah. What I don’t have time for is TV, reading as much as I’d like, etc. I cook and work (get the stuff ready for the next week at school) at the same time … after my wife and son have gone to bed.

It DOES come down to priorities. It DOES come down to time management. People can say whatever they want, but it DOES come down to what they CHOOSE to do with their time. Time is wasted more than money.

I love it (sarcasm) when people that I work with that are without kids or a spouse, nor own a house claim to have no time (and complain about it), as if I a husband/father/home improvever, triathlon, etc … as if I want to hear there “no time” story. My advice to folks like that is to never leave mom’s house, it only gets worse, and the days only get shorter.

Chart your 24-day activity for a couple of weeks and see where your time goes. Food prep should take no more than hour a day (total), and other things CAN be don simultaneously. See what you can remove from your daily schedule and see what can be done simultaneously.

17

If you must frequent a fast food joint, check out this site (although the accuracy cannot be guaranteed):

http://www.dottisweightlosszone.com/restaurants.html.

18

Asian food can be the healthiest out if you’re into low fat etc. Steamed rice and vegetables. Tandoori chicken etc. Some of the meat might be stirfried but then you need some fat in your diet and it tastes good.

19

If one must eat out, Subway, no mayo, easy on the cheese, and Taco Bell (bean burrito) are the best bet. A salad and baked potato at Wendy’s just doesn’t cut it for me.

For the single guy learning basic kitchen skills, a George Foreman grill is the greatest. Grill chicken breasts, lean steaks, whatever, with seasonings, even just salt and pepper, store them in the refrigerator or freezer. Add a baked potato, rice, noodles, etc., and you have meals you can have at home and at the office (most have microwaves for employees now). A rice cooker is also a must-have. Don’t forget your greens and fruits, five a day total!

Ask friends to pass on simple, four or six ingredient recipes that serve four (average) people. You have dinner, and a couple of lunches there. I always try to make extras for leftover lunches and dinners but with two growing boys in sports, the leftovers have become rare. Some of my sons favorite recipes are the ones that were the simplest ones to make.

Also, as was mentioned earlier, basic cooking knowledge is darned sexy!!

20

Well, that’s because you are in the USA that you can get away with it.

Here in Europe (Switzerland), if I say I go to McDonald’s once a month I am considered a complete fool, and I’m going to die in the next 10 years.

Maybe exaggerating a bit, but not much.