Can Eating Fast Food Help You Lose Weight

Fast food isn't the most diet friendly option. However, with some planning and strategy, it's 100% possible to lose fat eating fast food.

As we look for a solution, many scientists, television doctors, and food documentaries cast the blame on fast food, and with good reasoning...

Fast food is fattening, addicting, low in vitamins and minerals, and it's chemically engineered to make our brains crave more and more of it.

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In fact, with a little bit of strategy and moderation, eating fast food can be a convenient way to get in a meal that will help you move closer to your fitness goals.

Before I get too far into this article, know that I'm not advocating a diet of fast food all day, every day.

The reality is that fast food is often high in calories and low in vitamins, minerals, and fiber - all of which play a major role in your health and fat loss results.

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First, I want to explain the real reason fast food makes us fat, and to do it I'll share a quick story about the early stages of my weight loss journey.

(Oh, and if you're thinking, at least he rode his bike, the BK in my town was only about 1-2 minutes away... so the extra exercise from biking didn't really do much of anything to offset my morning feast.)

Luckily, the weekends were the only times I would be able to go crazy on fast food. During the week the majority of my meals would come from the school cafeteria or cooked at home.

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Sidenote: shout out to my momma who would make healthy dinners for my brothers and me. She was always willing to help me with nutrition. Love ya :*

It was at the ripe age of 16 – with a shiny new license in hand – that I started to up my fast food game. No longer dependent on someone else to drive me. I could go to any fast food restaurant I wanted!

This photo (on the right) is what first set my weight loss journey into motion. I barely recognized myself when I saw it, and I couldn't believe how badly I had let myself go...

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But I wasn't very successful at first. I spent 4-6 months spinning my wheels following strict and unsustainable FAD diets for a few weeks, only to burn out and return to my emotional stable of fast food burgers and fries.

He did it to prove that it's calories, and not eating specific foods and avoiding others, that determine whether we lose or gain weight...

But the more I thought about and researched it, the idea of Calories in vs. Calories out started to make complete and total sense to me.

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For 6 weeks, I didn't change anything about my diet or frequency of fast food. Instead, I just had to follow a few rules:

My thinking was this: if I followed all three of these rules, I'd naturally reduce the total calorie amounts from the fast food I was eating...

The act of eating fast food doesn't make us fat. Rather, it's the QUANTITY of fast food we eat which leads to unwanted weight gain.

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Fast food was the main culprit that led me to gain 80 pounds of fat in just over a year. No doubt about it. But by simply adjusting the amount of fast food I was eating, I ended up losing 20 pounds of that fat in just six weeks.

So far it seems like I've given you a free pass to eat all the fast food your heart desires as long as you monitor your calorie intake.

There are a number of reasons why consuming buckets of fast food may not be the greatest idea for your health and fat loss goals.

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1. There's less total food volume - one of the main ways our body determines fullness is through stretch receptors in our stomach. As it expands, these receptors send signals to the brain that we're full.

Fast food tends to contain a lot of calories for less food, which makes it's easy to take in a bunch of extra calories.

2. To your brain, fast food is like winning the food lottery - We are biologically wired to search out high-calorie foods that are sweet, salty, fatty, etc.

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Most fast food is low in micronutrients & fiber and high in unhealthy stuff like trans fat and excessive amounts of added sugar...

Some have theorized that the unnaturally high amounts of sugar and fat in fast food can be as psychologically addicting as cocaine & heroine...

I don't know if I totally agree with the fast food is as bad as heroine position, but I can attest to the addictive properties of frequently eating fast food.

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Like stated earlier, we are biologically wired to crave high-calorie foods for survival, and the duo of high-sugar and high-fat in fast food release a ton of dopamine and feel good hormones, which essentially tells us to eat more, eat more!!

As mentioned before, most of the stuff we eat from fast food chains are high in fat, high in sugar, high in calories, low in vitamins & minerals, and processed out the wazoo!

If you go in with a strategy and follow some simple rules (just like I did to lose 20 pounds), then you can make fast food healthier and fit into your fat loss plan.

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Instead of walking into a fast food restaurant and THEN deciding on the best option (while you're simultaneously wafting in delicious french fry aromas), plan ahead by looking up your meal online.

If you already know what to order, you won't be as tempted or have to rely on limited willpower in the moment.

If you're dieting, the last thing you should be doing is taking in calories from liquids, especially ones with tons of refined sugar like soda.

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And I know one thing - Spongebob would cringe if he saw all these fast food restaurants offering healthy alternatives like fruit and S-A-L-A-D...

But in all seriousness, for us land-dwellers who are trying to watch our calories and waistline, this shift to a more diet friendly menu is a godsend!

If you're going to a fast food place on a budget (calorically speaking), then consider swapping high-calorie sandwiches and sides for the lower calorie alternatives.

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Some fast food restaurants are better than others, but most of the big dog food chain seems to be adding healthier options to their menu.

Let's be honest, most of the time we trot off to fast food restaurants, it's the greasy & salty french fries that we're look forward to.

French fries – along with other high-calorie snacks – have been engineered to provide the perfect ratio and amounts of sugar, salt, fat, and calories to make them irresistible and send your dopamine levels through the roof.

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But, if your primary goal is to lose fat, then an extra helping of fries on the side may not be in your best interest.

The idea of this strategy is to skip the french fries side entirely and opt for a second entree. Typically speaking, the hamburger or chicken tenders have slightly fewer calories and more protein than your standard side of fried starchy goodness.

If you follow the 5 strategies above, then you're well on your way to minimizing and even eliminating the fat-storing potential of your fast food munchies.

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As I see it, there are two ways to go about ordering fast food while keeping the calories relatively low and your fat gain at bay.

Route 1: Dirty but Dinky - By going this route, you can still eat traditional higher-calorie fast food options such as cheeseburgers and fries, but in order to keep your calories in check, you'll need to order smaller sizes.

I used the Dirty but Dinky route during my fast food experiment. Instead of making a healthy Swap or doubling my entree, I simply reduced the quantity of food I was eating by choosing smaller portion sizes.

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Technically, I was still eating a cheeseburger and fries, but I was taking in significantly fewer calories by eating LESS actual food.

The upside of this approach: I was able to satisfy my craving for greasy fast food while also sticking to my fat loss plan.

The downside of this approach: You don't get to eat a lot of food volume, so it's may not be the best decision when you're ravenous, stressed out, or deep in a dieting phase on low calories.

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Route 2: Clean but Colossal - This route is for those who want the convenience of fast food while still eating relatively healthy. You can also get away with eating larger quantities of food without taking in an excessive amount of calories.

With this route, you'll be swapping out high-calorie sides and entrees for healthier options such as apple slices, a side salad, a plain baked potato, grilled chicken sandwich, grilled chicken nuggets, etc.

As you can see, I utilized Strategy 3 (zero cal beverages), Strategy 4 (healthy swap), and Strategy 5 (double entree), to make this meal nearly half the calories while actually increasing the total volume of food.

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The upside of this approach: You'll be more satiated