McDonald’s and the Fast Food Lifestyle

I just got back from watching Super Size Me at the New Art Theatre.  Documentaries like that are insanely more fun to watch for me, then any of the big Hollywood films.  If you haven’t heard about it, or are too lazy to click the friggin link above, it’s about a guy that eats nothing but McDonald’s food for a month.  That’s right, 3 meals a day, plus snacks, etc from McDonald’s.  As if that’s not bad enough, he stops exercising.  He tries to become a “normal” person with respect to exercise, so he takes a cab everywhere (he’s in New York), and stops walking everywhere.  It’s actually quite revolting was becomes of him. 

At first the doctor’s didn’t think anything was going to happen, but boy were they wrong.  He gained more than 20lbs in under a month, his cholesterol drastically increased, and his liver at one point was almost at the point of failure.  The doctors were quite worried about him, but according to his interview on The Daily Show, his brother encouraged him to complete the month even against the doctors advice. 

The movie definitely shines a light on what you’re eating, and what you really shouldn’t be.  Now, I rarely eat fast food.  The last time was when Colleen and I went down to Jackson after a full weekend of climbing.  I don’t feel bad about eating in those types of situations just because I rarely eat when I’m climbing, so I need a larger influx of carbohydrates and fats.  Before that, I can’t remember the last time I’d been to McDonald’s, Wendy’s, KFC, Taco Bell, etc. 

It’s just disgusting how horrible the American diet actually is.  Now, I’m not one to talk, because, frankly, I don’t eat that great all the time.  However, I don’t eat nearly as bad as most, and I work out at least three times a week.  Let’s just say, according the the movie, that’s about at least three times more than the average american 🙂

The role that children are put into was equally digusting.  When I was in school, there were no soda dispensers.  All we had were water fountains.  Imagine this, we all lived too!  Now, it’s horrible how much soda children are sucking down a day.  There is absolutely nothing beneficial about it.  My mom would almost always make dinner too, which is hard to come by now.  Hell, even when I was in high school I’d have dinner with my parents, and my mom would prepare a healthy meal.  All my other friends in high school were on their own for dinner.  They would almost always end up at a fast food place.  My mom would also only buy diet soda.  Granted, it’s still not the greatest thing for you, it’s almost infinitely better than regular soda.  Ever since I’ve only had diet.  I actually dislike the taste of most regular soda’s because of how sugary they are.  They coat my teeth and I absolutely hate that.

Oh well, I’m sure it won’t get better until the government somehow intervenes, just like cigarettes.  It seems as if us American’s can’t help ourselves until we’re almost forced.  As horrible as it sounds, it may be what lies in the future.