Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Hmmm, Carl's Jr. is still one of the last fast food places with a Low Carb Burger still on the menu (wrapped in lettuce, minus the bun).

While I think it's far better to find a grass fed burger than a factory-farmed fast food burger, when are people going to understand the basic biochemistry that makes a fast food meal a nutritional disaster? It is the bun, the ketchup, the fries, the fake "cheese", the soybean and HFCS sweetened mayo, and the HFCS-laced soda that are the most "artery-clogging", not the burger.

Oh, so many food, diet, and weight loss myths to bust!

A few years ago my husband and I both had some pounds to lose (20 for me and about 35 for him). We gained most of it when we ate pasta and homemade bread more frequently. Stupidly, I was trying to keep fat intake and meat on the low side then, too. I tried the gym (though I hate gym environments), got a bit fitter, but the weight didn't budge. I didn't feel like we ate too much, nor did we eat "bad food", so I was really unwilling to starve ourselves to lose weight. I mean, how does one live that way just to lose weight and then maintain the weight loss later? Reducing iets as a short term fix are doomed to fail.

Also, exercising just to lose weight works *up* an appetite. Maybe not immediately after working out, but long term, it does. Look at what lumberjacks can eat - 5000 calories or more a day without gaining. Same for military personel in the field carrying around many pounds of equipment. And for all the calories burned in a an exercise session, it is far less than people suppose (and they often make up for it later as a "reward"). Those few hundred calories burned are about equal to a few bites of something or a slice or two of bread. I'd rather not eat the bread and save gym grunting. I'm not saying all exercise is bad, but it isn't the best way to lose weight. Not by a long shot.

Increasing body fat is due to high insulin levels, which store excess fat and glucose calories. But eating fat without a lot of sugar and starch doesn't raise insulin levels but eating carbohydrates does. So if you are going to restrict any foods, restrict sugars and starches, no matter how "whole" and "healthy" you think they are or how nutritionally incorrect it seems. Human biochemistry cannot be ignored. Fat calories cannot be stored without high insulin levels. Without insulin, the body will burn off excess fat calories as heat, rather than storing them as body fat. You can eat more non-starchy vegetables if you are not eating sugar and starch.

So it is possible to lose weight without starving oneself, without forcing oneself to spend hours at a gym instead doing something more interesting, and without eating fake food. It just makes a lot more sense to cut back on (to whatever level is necessary to lose weight) sugar and starches, which make up a disproporationate % of modern diets and provide far less in the way of nutrients and structural building materials for the body. Early humans developed without much of these foods, so think of it as getting in touch with the inner hunter-gatherer. We've maintained our weight lose without much effort or sacrifice since 2004 and can't imagine eating any other way now. It's a healthier way of eating for life. In fact, this was exactly the way to eat prescribed to me in 1998 when I was pregnant and diagonoses with gestational diabetes. Every bite had to count. I only wish I had continued with it instead of going back to empty foods like bread and pasta.

I am SO tired of hearing people complain that eating healthy is expensive. Eating ORGANIC is expensive, but buying and eating lots of fresh produce and cooking at home is much cheaper and better for you than processed, fat&sodium laden crap that is turning the poor/middle class fat. Fast food is a convenience - if you take a *little* time to cook real food, you'll find that it doesn't break the bank and will do wonders for your health. Yes, this can be difficult for those working two jobs or just otherwise stretched to the max, but there are PLENTY of people who aren't so overburedened that they can't cook a simple meal.

sorry but if people want it let them have it! Personally I stay away from fast food, and even when SO and I were struggling financially, there were cheaper and better options available, including ramen noodles. Yes there is still personal responsibility, although the unethical lawyers of the world shudder at the thought.

CVilleBilly, low income families tend to gain weight because the affordable foods are calorie-dense and nutritionally-empty. Please read more on this issue before making such insulting remarks. Thanks.

I'm all for grassfed, no CAFO meats. If you have had pastured chicken and turkey, naturally-raised pork and really cooked the right way with grassfed beef, you know what I mean. It tastes meatier. You want fat with your steak? Top it with some bleu cheese. If you ever read how commercial meats are raised (Fast Food Nation) or themeatrix.com, you'll understand.