Dear Fast Food Chain Restaurant
I am not here to talk about the obesity epidemic. I am sure you have heard enough about it.
You have been crucified for your Quarter Pounders and your Nuggets. You have had movies made about how unhealthy your food is and I have seen the You Tube video where your food looked the same after 374238273 years.
I am not here to talk about the salads you do carry or the healthier options. No one goes to your fast food restaurant for that. No one goes “Oh my, all I want is a fast food restaurant salad today!” No, they usually get it because of the guilt.
I am not here to talk about the portion sizes either. Yeah, there are no more Super sizes. Have you seen your large though? It can feed a small city. The dollar menu does not help either. I can now get five double burgers for five bucks!
No, instead I want to ask you a question- one I just have never been able to understand.
See, I hear that 35.7% of Americans are obese. I am one of them. I have my good days and bad. I have lost over 200 pounds yet if you calculate my BMI, I would still be in the overweight category. A lot of people would or maybe I think they would.
My question is about the 64.3% of Americans who are not overweight. How do they do it? How do they go into a fast food restaurant and order just ONE burger or get just ONE small fry? How do they eat fast food once in a while? How do they do it?
I always wondered that. When I was 420 pounds I would walk into a fast food restaurant and see a lot of people there. Most were not overweight. I would see people just ordering a small amount of food and be satisfied. I used to get mad at myself for that. How come I was not one of them?
But in life you cannot make excuses. You can change a lot about yourself but some things get a little tricky. This is one of them. I do not blame you for the obesity epidemic. I do not blame you for my weight gain. I do not blame you for my countless 2 a.m. drive-thru episodes.
I blame myself which is why I do not eat your food anymore. I blame myself for being overweight. I blame myself for not being able to just eat “one” anything at your restaurants.
I am okay with that. I have lost weight and I feel better. Better than any Quarter Pounder I have ever had.
Sincerely,
Tony Posnanski
Be well!
Tony
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Aug 30, 2012 @ 03:24:00
I’ve always wondered if the ”skinny” people in the fast food places are staring at me, thinking ”she should not be in here”. That’s why I always go through the drive-thru instead & eat in my car. I feel less guilty this way.
Aug 30, 2012 @ 06:40:00
I have come to understand that I am not one of those “normal”/majority people that stop eating when they’re full. That have restraint and knew from birth to eat with food as fuel as a natural born instinct. I wish I was, but I’m not. So, like all addicts, I now simply avoid my trigger foods and avoid situations which may cause me to relapse. If traveling, I won’t stop for fast food. I’ll stop at a grocery store to buy fruit. I’ll stop at a convenience store to buy water and a fiber bar. I don’t blame anyone, I just am now honest with myself.
Aug 30, 2012 @ 08:02:00
Just another lesson in “fast food is not our friend.” It doesn’t make life simpler, even though they tout that it does. It isn’t like home cooking, because home cooking NEVER has that many calories.
Do yourself a favor plan a menu and eat at home kiss fast food good bye.
Sep 04, 2012 @ 15:34:00
Fast food companies are not in the business to provide good food at good prices. They are in business to make money. If it comes at the expense of the health of the population so be it. They have food engineers who formulate food so that its more appealing to the palate and easier to consume large quantities.
Yes, it is our fault that we’re overweight. But when you go up against big corporations and scientists with Ph.D’s who have one goal: sell more, you can see why some (most) of us lose the battle.
You are right. Don’t go in there. Don’t think you will step foot in fast food place and order a small burger and small fry. Stay away.
Sep 05, 2012 @ 12:36:00
Actually I was considering these numbers the other day when the local paper published them. I hate to point it out but your math is flawed in that 64.3 percent are NOT OBESE. They didn’t publish(in my paper at least) how many were actually overweight if not obese. Kinda scary to think how many are at least overweight if not obese. So actually there are probably not a whole hell of a lot of people just eating that “one” burger or fry order.