I’m Succeeding in Avoiding Fast Food. The Financial and Health Risks of Dining Out Have Convinced Me.
~ Friday, July 29, 2022 Blog Post ~
It’s almost the weekend and I must say I succeeded this week in not ordering fast food or dining out. Like what I have said in my previous blog post, I have decided to say farewell FOR GOOD to dining out and eating fast food.
One of the main reasons is “shrinkflation.” I’m complaining about the smaller servings and the low food quality I get from restaurant foods and fast food store-bought foods these days, thanks to high inflation.
Today, I’m writing about the health reasons that have persuaded me to completely say goodbye to dining out and fast food FOR GOOD. I have also mentioned in another of my blog entries that I am devoting the rest of my life to HEALTHFUL EATING and LIVING A MORE ACTIVE LIFESTYLE.
Hence, I’m trying to avoid dining out and fast food starting this week of Friday, July 29, 2022 until Monday, October 31, 2022. Three months from today, I’m sure I will achieve plenty of positive effects, including in my bloodstream.
Yes, I believe I will have a HEALTHIER BLOODSTREAM, with a MUCH LOWER blood sugar level and my triglycerides, good cholesterol, and bad cholesterol levels being just right.
I know I already have a healthy bloodstream at this point. But I think I can improve it further by avoiding fast food and restaurant-bought food.
I want to highlight the adverse health impacts of fast foods in this blog post to completely convince myself to stop consuming them. Besides saving more of my hard-earned money, I’ll become much healthiER then.
A. FAST FOOD BEING BAD FOR MY HEALTH AND WALLET
When I was younger, I was a spoiled brat and fast food was always a part of my diet. Thus, I was a plump “bratinella.” Fast food pertains to the nutriments people intend to consume fast.
Plenty of well-researched evidences exhibited the various negative wellness impacts of eating and overeating fast food in the long-term and short-term.
(1) Fast food is bad for my health because it is usually HIGH IN . . . . .
a. SALT;
b. SUGAR;
c. SATURATED OR TRANS FATS;
d. MANY PROCESSED INGREDIENTS AND PRESERVATIVES; and
LACKS OR IS EXTREMELY LOW IN . . . . .
a. IDEAL FIBER THAT VEGETABLES AND FRESH FRUITS CONTAIN; and
b. SOME BENEFICIAL NUTRIENTS.
(2) Fast food can make me suffer the following serious ailments and health concerns eventually, especially when I consume it regularly, thereby potentially draining my HARD-EARNED WEALTH:
a. OBESITY
> Fast food is highly delicious and can lead to binge eating and eventually obesity. The human body breaks these kinds of nutriments down fast in the mouth and they do not need much chewing.
Furthermore, fast food activates the brain’s reward centers rapidly, training the palate to choose these highly stimulating, highly processed foods. Hence, a person’s desire for whole fresh foods gets reduced.
Obesity is among the health problems caused by consuming typical fast food meals containing very high calorie counts.
A person gains weight if he takes in more calories than he burns daily, leading to himself becoming obese and increasing his risk of developing a range of serious health problems.
b. CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES (HEART ATTACK, STROKE, HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE, ETC.)
> Consuming high levels of salt could affect the proper functioning of the blood vessels immediately. It can lead to high blood pressure. Additionally, excessive sodium intake has links to fluid retention.
The United States Food and Drug Administration suggests that a high-salt diet often increases a person’s blood pressure. This incident makes him more prone to heart diseases, heart attacks, kidney failure, and stroke.
c. TYPE 2 DIABETES AND INSULIN RESISTANCE
> Fast food causes a rapid spike in blood sugar as it breaks down quickly due to the added sugar and refined carbohydrates.
This process leads to an abnormally large insulin surge and a drop in blood sugar, making a person feel exhausted. Insulin promotes hunger further within a short time after consuming the fast food meal.
d. OTHER SERIOUS DISEASES (CONSTIPATION, CANCER, ETC.)
> Western diet involving fast food can lead to higher cancer rates and a greater risk of auto-inflammatory and allergic ailments including asthma.
Furthermore, people consuming fast food meals frequently can suffer from lower infection control and higher inflammation.
Many fast food meals are extremely low in fiber. Physicians associate these low-fiber diets with a higher risk of digestive conditions like the reductions in healthy gut bacteria, diverticular disease, and constipation.
These irreparable effects of consuming or regularly eating fast food confirm that these nutriments can seriously harm my health, per many of the well-researched proofs.
After all, fast foods and restaurant-bought foods are usually high in calories, sugar, salt, trans and saturated fats, and processed ingredients. They are generally low in important nutrients, fiber, and antioxidants.
Apparently, fast food is usually poor in terms of nutrition. These kinds of nutriments contain many substances that are generally unhealthy.
B. SUCCEEDING IN MY ANTI-FAST FOOD JOURNEY
Fast foods are generally high in salt, sugar, saturated and trans fats, and other harmful elements that are not wholesome for me.
Therefore, it is time for me to say goodbye FOR GOOD to pizza, fried chicken tenders, ice cream, hamburgers, French fries, cakes, and so forth.
These fast foods which are typically FRIED and SWEET compose the so-called “heart attack and diabetes meals.”
I also want to mention here that it is a good thing I’m neither an alcohol and beer drinker nor a smoker.
I NEVER EVER CONSUMED ALCOHOL AND BEER NOR SMOKED IN MY ENTIRE YOUNG LIFE ! REALLY ! I’m literally MY PARENTS’ DUTIFUL and RESPONSIBLE DAUGHTER. Haha.
Furthermore, I permanently stopped drinking coffee last Valentine’s Day 2022. Therefore, it has been FIVE MONTHS since I quit getting caffeinated daily.
Coke, Sprite, and other sodas have also not been a part of my meals since 2017. Thus, it has been FIVE YEARS since I emancipated myself from regularly drinking sweetened, carbonated beverages.
Since 2017, I have opted drinking ORGANIC calamondin cider, ORGANIC ginger tea, ORGANIC bitter gourd smoothie, ORGANIC orange smoothie, and mineral water.
Hello to a MUCH healthiER and wealthiER me then. Haha.
