I'm Choosin' It

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McDonald's gets a bad rap. Some of it they deserve, but most of the slings and arrows are from overzealous nanny-state finger-waggers. I'm a free-enterprise guy and I think the best economic system is an open, capitalistic market. The point is, if McDonald's has found and maintained a market where they can serve burgers and fries to millions of customers a day around the world, then more power to them.

What gets McDonald's a black eye is that their top sellers are quarter pounders, Big Macs, fries and McNuggets. Obviously these items are notoriously bad for your health. (I'll throw in the caveat that a few times a year isn't an issue for eating these foods, but make it a couple times a week, and it's almost a death threat.)


A challenge that Jen and I have had fun with for the last several years is to see if we can go into a fast food place or quick mart and make a healthy choice. Can we shop in a regular fast/convenience setting and walk away with something that looks like a power pantry selection? The answer is undoubtedly, "yes". We've done this at Wawa, Sheetz, McDonald's, Wendy's and others. It's all in the choosing...when it comes to our selections and purchases, it isn't just that "I'm lovin' it", the reality is, "I'm choosin' it."

What happens over time is you can walk into McDonald's and very easily order a couple of side salads with the balsamic vinaigrette and maybe the grilled chicken wrap, and be satisfied with your healthier choices. You can even get oatmeal with fruit and nuts for breakfast.

Here's McDonald's full menu explorer if you want to have a look:
McD's full menu explorer

So, how are your choices? The culprit isn't the fast food joints or corporate boogey man try to make obscene profits at the expense of unsuspecting middle class dolts. We're citizens in control of our choices and destinies, and we need to act like it, burgers and all.

By the Way

Have you heard of John Cisna's healthy eating experiment at McDonald's from last year? Here's the story from Forbes:
John Cisna's Story




The punchline is that he lost 37 pounds and lowered his bad cholesterol by 60 points just eating McDonald's food for 90 days. As a science teacher, he thought it would be good to enlist the help of his class, so they tracked his choices and progress on spreadsheets, and held him to a regimen of daily walking and healthy choices.

To quote Cisna from the article: "We all have choices. It's our choices that make us fat, not McDonald's." Here's to a free market, and to the personal responsibility of healthy choices!