Fast News, Fast Updates, Fast Food.
Why the commercial food industry is out to get us.
Something to think on…
All of us live life at a pace that has never been seen before. We are a generation that seeks constant and immediate validation from those that we are connected to on a 24-hour basis. Avenues such as social media have transformed the way we ‘consume’ information and keep up to date with the world around us. So it comes as no surprise that in a world saturated with fast news, fast updates and fast answers comes fast food.
The fact that you are even reading this demonstrates that you have a decent amount of concern for your nutrition. You understand the importance and consequences, both good and bad, that result from how you nourish your body. You know that average inputs equate to average output and when our performance diminishes, so do our results.
This isn’t your standard fast food bashing post. That horse has been flogged to death and we are all well aware of chemicals and additives that are included in the "food" produced by the big franchise outlets.
This post is a penned with the intention to make you think, that even in the time crunch we find ourselves constantly subjected to, that some things are worth ‘making’ time for. One of those things is meal prep.
I am a firm believer that all fast food, is, well… shit. And yes, this even includes what many would consider "healthy fast food". Subway has long been considered the quick and healthy alternative to the humble burger. But I think if I had to choose between the two, I would go for the burger.
Why?
Because the burger is not pretentious. It’s exactly what you think it is. A big mound of greasy meat, laden with trans fats, made out of whatever animal offcuts the butchers could scrape off floors of the abattoir. But you know this. You are expecting this. So you are making your decisions with all the facts on the table. Subway, however, might just be the devil incarnate. Subway might just be the Tiger Woods of the fast food world, and today, Subway has been found out.
In a chemical site test that tested five stores at random, DNA samples taken from the chicken used at Subway restaurants returned results that indicated that only 50% of it’s make-up was actual chicken… the other 50% was some form of soy. And that’s not the only astonishing part.
In reply to being questioned about this outcome, Subway representatives once stated "We want our chicken to be at least 99% chicken." I'm sorry.... 99%?? Excuse me? I want my chicken to be 100% chicken!
What annoys me the most about incidents like this is that it leads a population of people unwillingly astray; the people who opted to not have the greasy burger. The people who made the decision to choose what should be the "healthier" option. Whether or not this report is entirely accurate, whether or not the product really is only 50% chicken is not within our capacity to say, but in the end the lesson should be that really, it doesn’t matter whether you choose the greasy burger or "healthy" sandwich, when you eat out you never truly know exactly what you’re getting. Some good news? All of this can be avoided with meal prep.
When my program calls for 250g of chicken breast, I know that I am getting 250g of chicken breast. I know that my chicken has lived a long and happy life on a wide open farm and hasn’t been needled with an exuberant amount of antibiotics. How do I know this? Because by paying attention to the details of what I’m consuming and the butchers I’m sourcing my food from, I’m seeing my performance improve.
The big take away that I want to leave you with is this...
You have already made the decision to re-take control of your body and mind and have decided to set yourself goals surrounding performance, body composition or both. Don’t allow your success or failures to be determined by sources that aren’t invested in your results. Take charge. Make time. Meal prep. Your body will love you for it.
-Ben