At Healthy Food Now, we are passionate about making healthy eating easy. Feeding your body with nutrient-dense foods can reverse chronic disease, increase longevity, aid in weight loss, give you more energy, and… the list could keep going.
But when it’s time to prepare a healthy meal, it can be tempting to go for a quicker, less healthy option. And maybe sometimes you just crave the rich, salty food your tastebuds used to be so adjusted to.
We decided to run a mini experiment here at Healthy Food Now. Eating unhealthy food can cause devastating long-term damage by increasing your risk of heart disease, diabetes, and other health issues while eating nutrient-dense meals can help prevent the same diseases. But can skipping the salad for a burger and fries really matter that much? For two weeks, Kate and Kayla, our social media and content managers, are comparing fast food lunches to healthy meals.
The Experiment:
Compare how a week of eating lunches from popular fast food chains and a week of making recipes from Healthy Food Now can affect energy levels, satiety, productivity, and overall wellbeing.
Last week, Kate and Kayla ate at popular fast food chains, ordering the “signature” item at each restaurant. Here’s a recap of their experience:
Week 1
While many fast food places offer healthy-ish options, we wanted to go with whatever they are most known for. We decided to start our experiment with a burger, fries, and a Coke -- go big or go home, right?
Not going to lie -- for the most part, we thought the actual food tasted good. We varied the places we went to, trying burgers, chicken sandwiches, quesadillas, pizza, and fried chicken. But our enjoyment of the food didn’t last very long. Although it tasted good, generally neither of us were satisfied afterwards. We thought having soda every day would help get us through that “afternoon slump”, but it often had little to no effect. Tired and sluggish, the greasy food didn’t sit well with either of us.
Kate: Even though I know it’s awful for you, I love the taste of fast food. I thought lunch was delicious every day, but because everything was so processed I wasn’t full for very long. The food just sat in my stomach mocking me, and I felt pretty gross by the time I got back to my desk. I was overly tired every afternoon, and I had a really hard time concentrating. I was also really lazy when I got home-- I just wanted to be a couch potato and do nothing.
Kayla: Most days I was full from lunch, but never really satisfied -- I felt like I had a weight in my stomach from the heavy food. I also expected the caffeine to give me a little energy burst, but it seemed to have the opposite effect. Every day, I felt nauseous and sick to my stomach within a few hours of eating the fast food. It was not a fun week for me (especially on the nights I play sports after work…).
Stay tuned to hear how the second half of our experiment goes this week with making Healthy Food Now recipes!
