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I agree. Fast food to me is not a treat. It means I am out of other options.
I agree with the both of you
If I am gonna have a cheat meal / or a grease bomb burger ... I am gonna have a GOOD burger from a place that is not McDs or Wendys Burger King etc ...
the bad things on burgers are the bread / bun and the goopy high in fat sauces they put on them. Eliminate those 2 items and eat a burger wrapped in Romaine lettuce or open faced and watch putting sugary condiments or high fat mayo / thousand isl type dressing on it and you could sneak eat a burger once or twice a week and maintain a pretty healthy diet ( taking into consideration your other meals obviously )
I have ate a couple burgers over the past 4 months of my diet and other than that super full gut bomb feeling ... I never gained a single pound from eating them. was not really that satisfying to me personally so I doubt I see many burgers in my diet moving forward. having 1 every month or 2 is almost a must do being American, so I guess its inevitable.
Well what can I say. Some days I don't feel like anything more than a Five Guys burger. No way am I removing the bun. As for what is "bad", well that's up to individual interpretation.
I have never had a *cheat* meal, there is no point. When I lost all the weight I did lose I changed my entire lifestyle and I have maintained it for more than 20 years. I eat what I want, when I want, I just make sure I account for it in my daily nutritional intake. I do not eat unless I am hungry and when I feel full I quit eating.
I don't go to the major chains because I don't enjoy their burgers enough for it to be treatworthy. However, I do go to a local fast burger joint occasionally for a treat. No more often than once a month though. Ninety-five percent of my meals are cooked and eaten at home.
And I mean cooked from scratch. Just because it's bought at a grocery store doesn't mean it's good for me. I shop the outside aisles, read labels to avoid sugar and preservatives and try to avoid things that are marketed for "convenience".
Because I'm a successful calorie counter, I can walk into any restaurant, fast food or otherwise, and find something to eat. Although I would never get a hamburger from the traditional fast food places you mention, I would (and have) consume a grilled chicken sandwich but remove the bun. And while I tend to do it extremely rarely, I'll have fries as well, but only when there's room in my daily calorie budget.
One of my favorite meals lately is a bunless little cheeseburger from Five Guys with a small order of fries, which I split with my wife. The entire meal winds up totaling around 600 calories, which is right around where I try to keep my dinnertime meals.
I don't diet, but have NOT brought breads in my house for eons. Nor donuts, etc. and hardly ever a cookie. Pies/cake forget it.
But I will now and then go for a Carls jr for Angus beefburger custom made but ask for toasted bun. Hold the salt and very light dressing. yum yum and sometimes order onion rings. I probably do this two times a year.
If I'm going to eat junk food, I'm going to eat the best tasting junk food I can find, so I go to Culver's around here. Plus a burger really isn't unhealthy for you. Assuming you keep your calories in check, it's fructose that's the real producer of health problems, and excess carbohydrates, so skip the regular soda.. combined with fries and the burger, it's a recipe for a fatty liver, insulin resistance, etc.. with the soda being the worst part of the meal... but it's really the one two bang of fructose combined with all those extra calories from fat... when I go there I get 2 double deluxe burgers, no sides, then go to the gas station and fill up my 64 ounce refill cup with diet mountain dew and ice.
Eat your fruits and simple carbohydrates and treats on their own before exercising and they'll be less likely to cause problems as the body uses them for glycogen.
Bread is starch and turns entirely to glucose in the bloodstream. In moderation, starch is no issue... 80% gets used by the body as every cell can use glucose, only 20% goes to the liver. On the other hand, almost 100% of fructose must go to the liver for processing. The body treats fructose similarly to alcohol.
The best burgers I make myself on a charcoal weber domed shaped grill with applewood chips thrown on the coals before cooking. No burger place can compete with that... forget that many of them overcook the beef to the point where it's not even juicy in the middle these days. I then use high fiber sara lee or italian buns that are low net carb, or sometimes I'll use romaine lettuce as the "bun" along with homemade ketchup, since store bought stuff is 2/3 added sugar. Extra lycopene from all that pure tomato sauce is an added perk, and it's reasonably low in carbs/fructose.
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I shop the outside aisles, read labels to avoid sugar and preservatives and try to avoid things that are marketed for "convenience".
