Stop The Junk Food

 

How is child obesity linked to fast food? This is a question that is often been asked. The fast food industry is a multi-billion dollar business that has had tremendous success over the years, therefore, it is fair to say that they are here to stay. The biggest reason is the convenience of fast food, it is ready “fast”, and – since we are in a hurry – nutritional value is compromised. Our lifestyles have changed over the years we live in a fast paced society. The fast food industry understands this which is why there is a drive through window. In most cases you can find a fast food restaurant within two miles of your home or work. You can’t blame the fast food restaurants for making themselves available it is good business. How is child obesity linked to fast food? Convenience.

 

Is child obesity linked to fast food because of nutritional value? You bet it is. Most of the foods served at fast food restaurants have been through a processing period. This process involves the mass production of food in factories that add artificial and natural flavors to ensure that the food tastes the same. As a result of this process nutritional value is lost. The finished product is high in fat, calories, sugar, salt, and lower in fiber. In other words, in one fast-food meal, you can consume almost as many calories and sodium and more fat than you should consume in a day. Since most fast food restaurants offer the option to “super size it” and the cost is minimal people eat more than they should. How is child obesity linked to fast food? Poor nutritional value.

 

Why is child obesity linked to fast food? There have been studies conducted on what children eat and where they eat. Surprising results indicated that fast food restaurants was the place of choice over 25% of the time. Knowing that fast food has little nutritional value could result in an increase in weight gain of upwards to 6 pounds a year. If children make fast food restaurants as their place of choice physical exercise needs to be incorporated into their daily routine. In order to burn off the amount of calories from a typical fast food meal one would on average need to walk 3 miles at 5 miles per hour. Thats a lot of exercise for the convenience of fast food.

 

Child obesity is also linked to fast food in advertisement. Fast food restaurants are notorious for luring children with toys included in meals. This is not the only form of advertisement targeting children. Television advertisement promoting fast food restaurants are aired during key hours of the day when most children watch television. Exposure to television advertisement influences their tendency towards obesity. Children are not equipped to understand the difference between commercial advertisement and information.

It’s Your Choice!

 

Fast food restaurants have made a gallant effort to address the obesity issue by offering healthier food choices. They are not going to stop their advertisement techniques or alter their main menu items. After all, this is how they became so popular and business is business. Choosing fast food restaurants is a decision that we make on an individual basis. Our children need to be educated on the dangers of unhealthy food choices and the long term effects of childhood obesity. We need to step up to the plate and do something about it. It isn’t going to be done for us. Is obesity linked to fast food? Ask yourself that same question the next time you are pressed for time and looking for the convenience of a quick bite to eat.

 

The Two Types of Food Nutrition is a hot topic that is discussed by just about every magazine writer, talk show host, fitness expert and guru in the industry. It seems like just about everyone can quote some scientific research, touting the benefit of eating one certain type of diet or another, or ramble on about the scientific reasons why some foods are better for you than others.

In my opinion, all of these scientific intellectual ramblings may actually be part of the reason why people still have a hard time eat healthy.

Let’s face it, when it comes to understanding what’s good for us and what’s not, “science” is confusing the heck out of us!

Because the science of nutrition seems to involve flip-flopping your opinions every other day, the best approach to eating healthy is to look at nutrition with the most simplified technique possible.

I call this technique the “good food, bad food” technique. In your mind think about what your current goals are, whether it is sports performance, weight loss, weight gain or overall health, identify your goals.

Once you have your goals firmly in your head, think of a food, any food.

Now ask yourself “Will this food move me closer to my goals or farther away from my goals?”. If you believe it will help you move closer to your goal, then eat it.

If you believe, it will actually move you away from your goals, then don’t eat it, or at least eat it moderately and in very small portions.

The key to this technique is that you have to believe that there are no “neutral” foods. It is either good or bad.

The main reason many people shy away from eating healthy is that they believe that nutrition is a very complex and confusing topic.

But when people stop thinking about their nutrition, they start eating whatever is put in front of them, and when we eat what is put in front of us, chances are we over eat, and eat the wrong foods.

However, when we simplify the problem down to “good food, bad food” it becomes very easy to “think nutrition”. It is not complex or confusing. It simply returns to very fundamental wisdom that your grandmother probably told you when you were a child. Gravitate towards fruits and vegetables and lean protein, and be weary of anything processed (generally foods that you buy in a bag or in a box).

So forget all the debates and all the fads. It doesn’t matter whether or not aspartame is good for you. Look at that diet cola and ask yourself if it will move you closer to your goals. If the answer is no, then go get a sparkling water, or green tea or any other drink that you think will move you towards your goals.

By following this principle, it makes it easier to “think” nutrition. Every time you put some food in front of you ask the simple question “good or bad” and then act accordingly.

You will find that by simplifying nutrition down to this simple equation you can make dramatic improvements in the way you eat, and avoid a lot of the confusion that is out there.

What image does it conjure up in your mind when you think of salads? 

Diets? Deprivation? Boring lettuce leaves again? Well, you’ll be pleased to know that it doesn’t have to be like that. Salads can help you lose weight in multiple ways? Think of salads of your best dieting buddies!

Salads eaten with every meal will increase your metabolic rate. This in turn will help you burn fat fast! But, you’ll be pleased to learn that there is another way in which salads can help you with weight loss, something you might not be aware of! Eating junk foods alone is not okay, but if you eat salads with junk foods, you will be able to offset any further weight gain!

You have probably tried almost all the available fad diet plans out there and still failed miserably and are beginning to wonder how salads can help you so much.

Junk foods are rich in acids and quite often contain a high percentage of salt. Your body binds these acids inside your body, neutralizes them and stores them as fat deposits inside your body!

Green vegetables such as salads contain a lot of alkaline which is the worst enemy of acids. When you eat foods that contain alkaline you help to cleanse your body of all the toxins that you have in the form of fat deposits. In this way you will see that you are able to shed all the extra pounds very quickly! The more green and leafy vegetables you eat, the faster you will lose weight!

Therefore it is important to always include plenty of salad with your meal when eating junk food and you will be helping yourself to prevent gaining any more weight!

That is not to say that you can eat as much junk food as you like, with salads, and not gain weight. What you can do is to choose healthier options. A filet-of-fish has fewer calories than a double cheeseburger; a diet coke is healthier than a regular coke. Fast food restaurants are starting to display the number of calories in each of their foods. So it is better to choose something that has fewer calories so you don’t feel as if you are depriving yourself.

Don’t forget to include as much side salad as you can but without a high calorie dressing on it.

If you seriously want to lose weight then junk foods should be restricted. Plan your meals so you are eating a healthy well-balanced diet then you can ‘treat’ yourself every so often to a fast food meal.

Doing it this way will help you to lose weight very quickly! Remember that the faster you lose weight, the sooner you can get the slim body you have always dreamed about!