I started working at Applebee’s I thought, “Wow, look at all this food!” Now, almost four years later, I find myself thinking with disgust, “Ugh, look at all this food…” I never thought I would have a problem being surrounded by freshly battered fish and chips, cheesy quesadillas, or juicy sizzling bourbon steaks.
Although these dishes posed a large threat on my diet, I had an even larger weakness. This weakness is something that many of my co-workers suffer from. It is something that is so easily accessible. It is so incredibly tasty and satisfying. This weakness was the bane of my fitness as I knew it. My weakness was, and still is, fresh, hot, seasoned french fries.
All I can think about when the cooks take the fries out of the deep fryer and put them into the hot window is how badly I want to eat every single last one. When I started working at Applebee’s I didn’t think about how horrible the food was for me, I just thought about how great it tasted. It was so easy on a 12 hour shift to walk into the back of the kitchen and grab a fry or two and not think anything of it. So, that is what I would do.
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I was in the pre-contemplation stage of the transtheoretical model. Before I knew it, I was addicted to the fries! Once I realized the problem I had created for myself, I transitioned into the contemplation stage. I thought about how bad fries are and how much weight I had gained since I had started working at Applebee’s. I began considering a change in my behavior. I weighed the factors of eating french fries and made a
In a 2003 court case, “Caesar Barber v. McDonald’s Corporation, et al.,” Barber claimed he was unaware of the nutritional and fat content of the fast food he ate on a near-daily basis for decades, and which he claimed caused his multiple illnesses (Daily Caller). The people of the court ruled that Barber’s choice of food was the cause of his many health issues, not the restaurants which supplied the fast food. In this case, the court held the consumer responsible for his selections; however, the court’s expectation of personal responsibility in food selection will most likely become anachronous. The article “Is Fast Food the New Tobacco?” addresses the issue of rapidly growing fast-food chain restaurants, such as McDonalds, Burger King, and Taco Bell, and the health issues that perpetuate from an increased amount of these restaurants. Anywhere we travel today, out of town, to a big city or a small village, consumers are bound to see some sort of advertising for fast food. Many billboards display life-size pictures of steaming hot sandwiches, fresh-cut fries, or an ice cold beverage. The streets are lined with bright, golden arches, fluorescent bells, or a red-headed, smiling little girl. All of these modes of advertisement draw consumers in, whether they be hungry or simply in a rush with no time to cook dinner at home, and feed them food that just isn’t up to par with healthy-eating standards. Notice, these restaurants don’t use force to bring customers in by the masses;
Malcolm Gladwell uses some very shocking facts about French fries and how unhealthy they are for the body. He states the average American eats about thirty pounds of French fries a year. In 1990, health concerns arose about using animal-based cooking oil to deep fry them. This
Michael Moss, an investigative reporter who enjoys reporting on food, wrote: “The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food” (pages 471-494). This article reports on the ways that prepackaged food, especially junk food, is being designed to fit the customers’ needs and wants, as well as being something that the body craves. Moss provides multiple accounts throughout the reading in which people who have worked for or created corporate companies design foods just so they will sell. Moss expresses his thought in a clear manner to the reader so he or she will understand that Moss worries about the growing obesity in America and places the blame on junk food corporations. Though junk food corporations have a great part in the growing obesity,
Fast Food Nation is an attempt to link the American eating style and food-production patterns. Fast Food Nation is written by Eric Schlosser, he presents a perspective on the development of societies adapting to the way that food is produced. The quickly growing demand for hot, ready food was rising at substantial rates shortly after World War two. Schlosser states, “The McDonald brothers’ Speedee Service System revolutionized the restaurant business.” The McDonald brothers wanted to perfect the drive-in restaurant business and started their very own walk-up restaurant. They sold burgers, fries, and soft drinks that were available almost before the customer ordered. By increasing the demand for fast food, supplies began to be
When most people eat at fast food establishments, they do not think about what exactly is going into their bodies, but Eric Schlosser and Charles Wilson want to change that. Their combined efforts result in the book Chew on This: Everything You Don’t Want to Know About Fast Food, which exploits the gruesome truths behind fast food. Schlosser and Charles begin their nonfiction work by explaining how fast food restaurant were created. Then, they transition into revealing what was changed in the process of establishing the fast food industry. Their discoveries occur in most fast food restaurant, but they focus on the corruption in McDonald’s tendencies.
The transtheoretical model helps explain the patient’s behavior change related to the health aspects. As per this change agent, the patient’s purposeful behavior change consists of the cognitive and the performance-based elements. The five stages of the model are precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action and the maintenance stage (Virginia Tech Continuing & Professional Education, n.d.).
The New York Times bestseller Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal is one of the most riveting books to come out about fast food restaurants to date (Schlosser, 2004). Fast food consumption has become a way of life for many in the United States as well as many other countries in the world. The author Eric Schlosser an investigative reporter whose impeccable researching and bold interviewing captures the true essence of the immense impact that fast food restaurants are having in America (2004). Beginning with McDonald’s, the first fast food restaurant, which opened on April 15, 1955 in Des Plaines, Illinois to current trends of making fast food a global realization McDonald’s has paved the way for many fast food
The Transtheoretical Model is a theory of health behavior that suggests that behavior change is a process, not an event. There are five stages of change someone can go through while attempting to engage in positive behavior: precontemplation, no intention to act within six months; contemplation, intention to act within six months; preparation, intention to act within the next thirty days along with some behavioral steps; action, changed behavior for less than six months, maintenance, changed behavior for more than six months; termination, end of the behavior. These stages are not linear, so an individual can move up and down the stages of change indiscriminately.
Have you ever tried listening to everything going on at the same time at a fast food restaurant during the lunch time rush hour? Well, I did and I am going to share the results of my whirlwind encounter last week. Within my observation, I will go over the layout of the establishment in which my observation was conducted, as well as who came to the establishment, the conversations and the interactions that took place. I hope you enjoy my observation and respect my findings from this visit.
The way that Burger King and other fast food restaurant chains do business and markets their products to consumers is due to the change in our society to where the consumer wants the biggest, fastest, and best product they can get for their money. This change in society can be attributed to a process known as McDonaldization. Although McDonaldization can be applied to many other parts of our society, this paper will focus on its impact on Burger King and Taco Bell restaurants. My belief is that the process of McDonaldization has lead our generations toward a more a much more efficient lifestyle, with much less quality. From my observations and studies of these fast food resturants, several themes have become
To explain the how the fast food industry affects the lives of it’s employees, I have prepared a set of questions to ask employees who have a fundamental experience of working in the fast food industry (appendix[i]). I also have a similar set of questions to ask people who have never worked in the fast food industry (appendix[ii]).
In the last decade, a lot of emphasis has been put on adopting healthy eating habits and informing the consumers that the healthy-eating option was available in fast-food restaurant chains. Interestingly, consumers eating in fast-food chains were found to be more likely to order fattening side dishes if they think that they are consuming a healthy diet (Men’s Fitness, March 2008). This observation is also true in Subway restaurants where a 12 inch Italian sandwich contains over 900 calories compared to the 600 calories BigMac from MacDonald’s (Wilson Quarterly, Winter 2008). Thinking they are eating “healthy”, Subway patrons then splurge on soft drinks, potato chips and desserts accompanying their sandwich, especially is they are offered as part of value meals.
I. IntroductionBecause of the omnipotence of fast food chains in America, when we feel the urge for an easy meal, Americans, in general, immediately look to the fast food nation for a quick suppression to their hunger. Because we live in a time-is-money society the most efficient means of hunger satisfaction is the almighty drive-through. Corporations spend billions of dollars advertising to enhance sales of their products. With American catching on to the lack of healthy food options in the fast food nation, fast food chains began campaigning healthier food such as their salads and fruit cups. However salads may sound healthy but a Southwest Salad with Grilled Chicken from McDonalds has 320 calories and 90 grams of fat. Where's the "healthy" in that. Now that Obesity is the second leading cause of preventable death in the U.S. we need to re-evaluate the importance of healthy eating. By increasing awareness of the
It is irrefutable that the formulation of the Transtheoretical Model (TTM), has efficaciously contributed to current perspectives in health psychology, allowing for a greater understanding in facilitating healthy behaviour change (Adam & White, 2003). TTM is a comprehensive six-stage theory which logically describes behaviour change as a process rather than a single event, providing the pathway to a more enduring and successful outcome (Adam & White, 2003; Prochaska, 2008). These stages include: pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action and maintenance, which occur cyclically in the event of relapses, until temptation is no longer present, resulting in termination (Marshall & Biddle, 2001; Prochaska, 2008).
The Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change (TTM) was created by Prochaska and DiClemente. It is based on “(1) the stages of change, (2) the decisional balance scale, (3) the strong and weak principle, (4) self-efficacy, and (5) the processes of change” (Kelly, 2008, p. 149). A person’s progression through the stages depends on their perception of the advantages of adopting a healthy lifestyle (Kelly, 2008).