Over the years I have often asked people why they eat fast food-taste, convenience, price, comfort, kids enjoy the toys and meals, treating themselves etc so I wanted to break these down into groups and explore some different options.

Taste: Food additives are added to most fast food to preserve the food and enhance the taste, MSG is in ALL fast food and the reason why it should be avoided is because our sensory mechanism that tells us that we are full, is literally disengaged with this additive.  Additives are ADDICTIVE, how many of you have said to yourself “Monday I will start my plan, but this weekend I will eat every bad food in sight to get it out of my system?” You literally are setting yourself up for failure, start now, wait a week before adding a cheat, patience is a gift that we all have, sometimes unwilling to adventure.

Convenience:  Time yourself on how long it takes to leave your house, go to the restaurant, wait in line, pick up the food and then go home to eat.  I have blogged about how long it takes to prepare food fast and enjoy home cooked meals, I guarantee you will have a meal in less time.  Not to mention gas prices and wear and tear on your vehicle!

Price: An average meal at a fast food restaurant costs $7 where as a home cooked meal is around $3, a family of 4 is $30 where a home cooked family meal is $12.  The truth behind cost is how much you spend at the store while buying product, you forget how many meals you can make and it seems like you are spending more per meal.  Do your own math, a nutrition plan always comes out cheaper.  If taste-convenience-price are your main factors there are now stores that sell ready made meals for people who are into their health or even ship to your house! My Fit foods and personal trainer food are a couple that I advise you look into.

Comfort:  There are so many options out there to have half cheat meals or dress up a cheat meal into something that will benefit the body.  With technology in foods and options to trigger comfort why not go with a healthier alternative and enjoy your body better than indulging? There are protein cookies, protein pancakes, protein brownies, protein pudding, turkey burgers, sweet potato fries that you can make, low sodium and sugar ketchup, there are ways to make fried chicken out of egg whites and wheat germ to name a few, be creative with your selections!!

Kids enjoy the toys and meals:  Do I have to get harsh on this? I worked at a fast food restaurant during the beanie baby craze, it was in my teens so please don’t judge ha ha and I can tell you the parents went freaking nuts over these items! These toys cost less than a dollar at a regular store, do we need to fill a child’s room with random toys and fill their stomach with addictive chemicals and processed food in order for them to obtain a gift that will be thrown away in a year? Most stores now have its own child friendly items for you to purchase at a reasonable price while you shop for your food, it seems to me that its a win/win situation.

Treating:  I have left this for last, depending on the person I have taken quite a different attitude to overcome this objection.  Some, treating is a reward for effort and working hard in counting calories, a break from constantly being strict on their meal plans, treating is a reward sometimes for losing a certain amount of weight or body fat.  To me, this doesn’t make sense, BUT I have to understand that everyone is individual and IF it keeps the client on a program I have not problem with it, remember that a cheat meal per week is not only open, its necessary! The only problem is, a treat is often misused…some treat themselves everyday, or do not understand what a treat really is, some don’t treat once a week, often several times, some do not stick to the original plan and leave holes in the plan and then treat themselves on top of it, some mix treats with cheat meals and bad nutrition, some overly cheat without doing what is necessary during the week to build muscle and reduce body fat.  So, if you can be honest with yourself, you will be successful, if you do not follow a plan do not treat yourself, keep motivated, keep pushing and win the war!

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