AmyBoz's Tip for Saving $ on Fast Food

**AmyBoz** · 06-12-2005, 09:40 AM

Are you ready?

My tip, my one and only tip on saving money on fast food is to rent the movie SuperSize Me . Seriously, you will never eat fast food again, nor will you drink soda, so you are saving tons of money right there. You'll make back the $4.76 or whatever it will cost you to rent the movie. Better yet, find it at your library. It was absolutely unbelieveable. Changed the way Rob and I are eating and what we will and will not allow our kids to eat. I thought it was fabulous.

I know this probably belongs in movie reviews, but I wanted to be sure everyone saw it.

**AmyMCGS** · 06-12-2005, 10:46 AM

I have heard similar comments from other friends who have seen this. I want to rent it-- just have to find a night when DH and I are both able to watch it.

**Dixie** · 06-12-2005, 06:08 PM

That's definitely an incentive!

**Michelle** · 06-12-2005, 06:49 PM

I have heard lots of people say this, but no one says why (I don't eat fast food any more anyway, but I'm curious to know what the movie says). Can you give us some examples of what's in the movie?

**AmyMCGS** · 06-12-2005, 08:30 PM

I haven't seen it either-- I'm sure AmyBoz can answer this better than I can. But, I couldn't resist telling you some of what my friend told me.

It apparently shows exactly how chicken "nuggets" are made-- which my friend described as basically all the chicken parts being ground up and formed together (bones, feet, etc).

It also follows a basically healthy man as he goes on a diet of strictly fast food for a period of time and shows the dramatic changes in his blood work, weight, cholesterol, etc.

I really want to see this-- hopefully soon!

**pip** · 06-12-2005, 09:03 PM

We rented the movie, and it was pretty gross. Wish I could say that we don't eat fast food anymore, but we do.....a little. Not nearly as much as we used to, though. maybe we need to watch it again!

**AmyBoz** · 06-12-2005, 09:04 PM

Basically, this man eats nothing but McDonald's for 30 days. He can only eat stuff from their menu. In the first week, he gains 9 pounds. By the end of the 30 days, he has gained 25 pounds and that was in 30 days. (It takes him 9 and 1/2 months to lose the first 20 pounds after it was all over and 14 to lose the last five.) By the middle of the project, one of his doctors begs him to stop because he could possibly die. He was completely healthy before he started.

Now, granted, he's eating McDonald's for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, which most of us don't do. But still, they figured out that it's the equivalent of what the average American eats at McDonald's over 8 years. It all adds up.

Then they did an experiement where they put McDonald's food in different jars and restaurant food in jars and let them sit. By the end of week 1, they have to throw out the restaurant burger and fries because they've decomposed because they are made with real meat and potatoes, etc. The Big Mac and fries? In pristine condition. Look just bought. So, they follow them through many weeks, and eventually, the McDonalds stuff also decomposes, but it's after MANY weeks. However, after 12 weeks, the McDonald's fries still look brand new. You can't help but wonder exactly how many preservatives are in those things.

Then, as I already mentioned, the soda things. They talked about McDonald's marketing strategies, which was very interesting. They talked about how the original regular sized fry and drink is now consider a child's small and they've just made everything bigger from there.

It is definitely worth watching.

**Daphne** · 06-12-2005, 09:12 PM

I'm kind of glad you posted this but then again I'm not....I had McDonald's chicken nuggets today for lunch....yuck!!!!!!!! I don't think I need to watch the movie after reading your reviews.

Thank you for sharing....I think many of us are so unaware or maybe we do know but are in denial of the "behind the scenes" at the fast food places.

Oh...did he say anything about salads and the healthy items on the menu?

**bamamomto4** · 06-12-2005, 11:44 PM

I watched it right after it came out. I admit some of it was gross...like what Amy said how they put the food in jars...I remember the fries looking the same the last day as the day they started it.

We do still eat out but I'v had McD's TWICE since seeing the video several months ago.
I know the food is fattening and not very good for you,but some days I just dont care.I just want something quick and something I didn't have to cook.Now I sound lazy huh?! Seriously,we eat out,most weeks,One time...a huge change from a year ago...And it's very rarely FAST FOOD....it's more sit down type resturants..Not saying their food is healthier. But I've been trying to eat healthy even though I'm eating out.
Most fast food places have nutrition info on their websites and I've looked at that and seen how many calories,fat etc is in each food and when I do eat there, I eat something low in calories and fat....

Here's the calorie info for McD's.If anyone cares to take a look.

http://app.mcdonalds.com/bagamcmeal?process=menuitems