i live in the uk and there has been quite a lot in the press recently about the money mcdonalds in losing globally (apparently they have listed record losses this year). this is being put down to a number of factors, most especially the fat count in mcdonalds products and the general public’s growing awareness of the relationship between nutrition and general health. i read with some joy the other day too, that the uk government is going to make it law in this country within 3 years that every restaurant and food outlet must list the nutritional value of all its foods. if they do that… i can seriously see why mcdonalds along with the rest of them are in such trouble!
is this the same in the states? i have real trouble eating out here - trying to get them to replace fries with salad or getting burgers without buns, etc. do you all have the same problem in the states? also. as so many of you are so fit, do you find you eat out alot or are you also compromised? a friend of mine went to a bodybuilder’s restaurant in los angeles and he said it was awesome. does anyone know which one he’s talking about? nic
Speaking for the McDonalds in Vancouver (Canada), they have options on the menu where you can substitute salads for fries, and bottled water for softdrinks, and so on. Also they have a variety of salads, they have wraps, they have items with grilled chicken breast, and they also have a veggie burger for vegetarians. Also all nutritional information has always been available, you simply ask for it and they hand you a pamphlet with it all listed. Plus it is on their corporate website.
So, at least in Western Canada, they seem to have been taking major steps towards providing healthier alternative. Sure, this is still a junk meal out, but these are still pretty big improvements for the more health-conscious.
Personally, I don’t see anything wrong with McDonalds. If people don’t have the sense to moderate their use of unhealthy / junk foods, then that’s really their own problem. I get Big Mac attacks sometimes, and I like to go to McDonalds an chow down. Fact is you can go to the grocery store and buy a bunch of unhealthy fats and oils and deepfry yourself a bunch of equally unhealthy food if you want to. You can’t force people to make the “right” choices, you can just raise awareness and preach moderation.
McDs aint losing money because people are eating less junk, its because there are so many other choices that are cleaner, faster and nicer tasting. Why go to just mcDs when there are so many other cooler junk places?
McDs is the same now as it was 15years ago, whilst its competition has been increasing, economic suicide.
maybe the information will be available, but will people use it? there is nutritional information printed on chocolate, potato chips and soft drinks at the moment; that doesn’t seem to stop the majority of people eating them. people know that smoking is disastrous for your health; they still do it. I think many people won’t really know how to interpret the information, and even more people won’t care, even if they know trans fatty acids are, or whether a food is low in protein by comparison. I welcome the additional labelling laws - it’ll help me stick to a diet on the road, but I think that your average ‘civilian’ will choose to ignore it, the same way they ignore most problems.
McDonalds aint losing money!! Maybe they made 200 million instead of the 350 million they made last year. Since they are the superpower of the fast food world I don’t think the LOSS as it was put is gonna hurt em’. Micky D’s aint goin nowherez no time soon.
do you eat at mcdonalds alot? doesn’t that interfere with your training? also, when i was talking in my first post i meant restaurants in general don’t seem to take people who are interested in their diets seriously (at least in the uk). i thought the information about canada was extremely interesting. i went into mcdonalds once and asked about the nutrition on their burgers and was told to speak to the manager - she didn’t know and asked me to call head office! so. obviously, mcdonalds caters for certain markets in specific ways. i’ve been to the states too, and i have to point out that i find it rather cynical of mcdonalds (and the rest) that they seem to saturate themselves in the poorer areas - do you agree with that? it seems to me that it is the case now that the rich are getting thinner and the poor are getting fatter! obesity related disease in the uk is costing the tax payer in this country $16 billion dollars a year - i’m sure it’s more in america. i live in the east end of london and people round here have very little money, yet down my road we’ve got more take out stores (kfc, mcdonalds, bk, ph, the lot) that on any other urban street in london - except brixton which happens to be the other really poor area. people have the right to eat whatever they like, but mcdonalds and the rest of them have taken people’s nutritional “illiteracy” for granted for far too long. so they may be around for a long time yet, but i truly believe it’s the beginning of the end… and good riddance to them!! nic
can someone tell me the name of that restaurant in l.a. - i think it’s in venice beach?
There are several international business issues that McDonald’s is dealing with, outside of the ultimate crap that is their food. Business practices, rise in competition, poor management and uncontrolled expansion have more to do with the fact that McD’s is not is good shape than anything else.
People in the States are eating as shitty as ever, just at different businesses. Why not? McD’s burgers taste like grilled ass.
And no, you have to eat your own food a lot. Eating fast food is a quick way to failure.
People in teh
Nicky: Los Angeles and outlining areas are considered “body beautiful” center. There is probably so many places to choose from that have a “bodybuilding” menu or you can just “eat clean”. I would say the place you’re talking about here is in Venice, CA. I ate a place down there called the “Firehouse” - don’t know if it’s still there. But, just about every pro competitive bodybuilder in the area seemed to be eating there at the time (when I was there). I ordered a half chicken with baked potatoes after a training session at the “Mecca” (Golds Gym).
What’s the motivation behind hating McD’s and hoping they fail? Like all other businesses they operate to make money. They can only do this by providing products that a large portion of the population want to eat. If you are a bodybuilder or fitness enthusiast, what are you doing in a fast food restaurant? It is not your right to have them provide you with what you want to eat. How about some Mc-egg whites and protein Mcnuggets. These products would not sell as anyone who is serious about their diet will take the time to shop for themselves and get their nutrients in a more economical manner from a grocery store. I don’t know about the UK, but in the states we (hopefully) would frown on the government forcing a private enterprise to post nutrition information (from what I have noticed from going into these places with friends is that most of them have this information readily available already, and again anyone who cares enough about nutrution to take the time to read the nutrition information will not be in a fast food place to begin with). Also, it is every person’s privilege to eat fast food 4 times a day and weigh 900 pounds if they want to. If you don"t like McD’s stay away from there and let the fat people eat their grease in peace.
char: oh yeah. LIKED the Firehouse. The two days I was in Venice, that was practically the only place I ate at. Other than Arnold’s restaurant (once, for dinner).
I don't know how well it'd do as a franchise, though. You'll always get those idiots who'll complain that the food is "bland" or needed more "sour cream" - something like that. However, here in Portland, Or., we have a place called Macheesmo Mouse", their tagline is: "Healthy Mexican Food, Fast". They have nutritional breakdowns of everything available on their menus. They were struggling for awhile (the owner died in a plane crash a few years ago), but I think they've made a successful comeback. There are several MMs' in the Portland area. Sooo, maybe a joint like the Firehouse can do well?
Mike, didn’t you read my post? McDonalds is offering all sorts of new products and healthier and vegetarian alternatives. In Vancouver it has also been selling pizza for years and even had subs at some point.
I know you people might not want to hear this and I am certian MacD’s isn’t going to come out with it but, I put your question to a table full of international marketing and banking types reciently the response from one was very interesting. It seems that many of mackies sales drops are in countries where the US has taken a P.R. hit from mister Gorgie B’s politics. People see Mickie D’s as the super American business so they also see it as a target. Pissed off with the US don’t eat at Mac D’s. He went on to list about 38 countries where this was becoming a major trend. By the way its not only Mac D’s thats suffering from this trend. I learned a lot last night but won’t bore you with the details. Sufice it to say people around the world are coming to realise that they can vote with their shopping habits and the US is loosing votes fast.
I don’t know why the original poster hates McDonalds so much. I looked at their website and their big macs are under 500 calories with 27 grams of protein. What the hell is wrong with that? In fact, when I diet I will often go to Mcdonalds. If I have 1 or 2 big macs a day so what. My average diet meal is about 400 calories and if a big mac goes a little over I can always reduce calories a little later. At the end of the day it is calories in vs calories out.
If you still hate Mcdonalds, I also live in the UK and my advice to you if you’re eating at a restaurant is go someplace like nandos or mexican restaurants where most of the flavour is down to the spices, and peppers rather than fat.
I’ve seen McD’s UK “healthy” menu. its a complete JOKE. It subscribes to the imbecile market and their ideas of what constitutes a ‘health’ food. It includes ultra high GI starchy pancakes dripping with sugary syrup (’ hey theres no fat - that means its healthy right?') and deep fried fish and chips [french fries for the US] (‘hey thats seafood and carbs - that has to be healthy right?’). They are dishing up anything BUT red meat, on the (false) grounds that red meat is the only unhealthy thing in the world. In fact, I would argue that cheap red meat is the only good nutritional thing about McD’s - helps you keep to a keto diet on the road, and provides protein for the protein- deficient general populace.
Reg - Berardi would disagree that weight loss is purely about calories in calories out. You might lean down while eating McD’s, but I would assert that there are better foods you could be eating to optimise weightloss. You can lose weight on double deep- fried bacon and chocolate donuts if you don’t eat enough of them. that doesn’t make them the ideal diet food.
Most people can opt for the occasional unhealthy fast-food value meal without significantly slowing progress towards their ultimate bodybuilding and health goals. It can actually be good for you overall on another level even. It’s all about moderation. What I noticed though the other day when I got a double cheeseburger value meal from McDonalds was that it cost as much as a value meal from Wendy’s. But Wendy’s cheeseburgers taste about 30 times better. Everyone I know feels the same way.
