Nag, nag, nag…

"How you could you eat that junk? It's so bad for you!" (nag, nag).

"Don't you know those fries will give you a heart attack?" (nag, nag).

Your friends nag you, your family nags you, your doctor nags you, the health newsletters, websites and magazines - they all nag you, and of course, your personal trainer nags the heck out of you, to stop eating all those BAD FAST FOODS. But does all that nagging you and bad-mouthing the fast food industry really help anyone stop?

It doesn't look that way. The fast food industry is thriving, even in the bad economy. The Chicago Tribune recently said that McDonalds is "recession proof."

As one of only two companies to turn a major profit over the last year (the other being Wal Mart), McDonald's is laughing its way to the bank. In fact, McDonalds plans to open 1,000 new stores this year.

I was driving down I55 a few weeks ago and pulled over to use the rest room at McDonalds on a Saturday morning (there's a McDonalds conveniently located immediately off almost every exit up and down the full length of Interstate 55).

The parking lot was full, it was standing-room only inside and the lines snaked around into the seating area! You'd think Brad and Angelina were there signing autographs or something. Nope. Just a regular weekend at breakfast-time.

I was shopping in Wal Mart the same week and I almost passed out when I saw (smelled, actually) a McDonalds… INSIDE THE WAL MART! Also, with lines.

Yep. It looks like your friends and family's nagging you to stop eating fast food, and all the messages of the health and fitness industry to get people eating more "health food" are not working!

So what does work?

The results of a new survey from the behavior and psychology section of the journal, OBESITY (Feb 2009) provide some answers:

Researchers at the University Of Minnesota School Of Public health surveyed 530 adults about their attitudes towards fast foods.

They found that people already know fast food is unhealthy. (like, no kidding!)

The primary reasons they eat it anyway are because of the perceived convenience and a dislike for cooking! (I'd add another: they think fast food is always cheaper than healthy food).

So, said the authors of this research paper, nagging people to eat more health food and warning them that "fast food is going to make us fat and kill us" is not the best approach.

What's the right approach?

Focusing on teaching people how to make healthy eating fast, convenient and easy, because those are the reasons people are choosing fast food in the first place.

So what's holding us back from implementing or taking this advice?

Well, I think that most people can't get over the ideas that they "just cant cook" or that cooking is "too time consuming" or that healthy food "tastes like dirt" (as if McDonalds is gourmet food!)

That said I'm not going to nag you, scold you or try to scare you out of eating fast food. I'm not going to lecture you about health food (not today, anyway). Nor am I going to bad-mouth the fast food restaurants.

I'm going to lead by showing you just how easy and convenient it is to eat healthy and nutritious food and make it delicious.

Here are a few meal ideas (for starters) to prove my point.

3-MINUTE APPLE CINNAMON OATMEAL

* natural oatmeal (like Quaker old fashioned rolled oats)
* natural (unsweetened) applesauce
* cinnamon
* for protein, serve with scrambled eggs or egg whites on side or stir 1-2 scoops of vanilla protein powder into the oats

I eat this almost at least three times per week. It's faster, easier and cheaper than going to the donut place or getting sausage, cheese, bacon breakfast muffins at the fast food joint! (And, you don't have to wait in line, either!)

10-MINUTE LAZY PERSON'S CHINESE STIR FRY

* Brown rice
* frozen oriental vegetables
* chicken breast, grilled (try foreman grill)
* light/lo-sodium soy sauce

This takes 30 minutes, however, if you get a rice cooker and make a giant batch, you can have your rice on standby for instant eats and this will take less than 10 minutes.

It doesn't get much easier than that. (I like those Chinese veggies that come with the little mini-corn-on-the-cobs)

2-MINUTE BLACK BEANS AND SPICY SALSA

* black beans (15 oz can)
* Medium or hot salsa
* 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
* 2 cloves garlic or chopped garlic to taste
* salt and pepper to taste

This one takes you all of 2 minutes to make. No cooking required! And it's good! It's vegetarian as listed above, but if you're a carnivore like me, just add a chicken breast or lean ground turkey.

 

Best part: this is all inexpensive food! Oats, rice, beans… doesn't get much cheaper than that - buy your healthy staples in bulk and the cost per serving is probably less than Mickey D's! (yes, even the "Value" meals)

These kinds of recipes are easy to find and I'll share some more in future. (You should read~Larry is writing an eBook in the near future)

So not only can you look more muscular and leaner… fit into those clothes you were hoping to for this summer… be healthier… and save money too.

Til next time…