mcdonald's partners with weight watchers

McDonald's corporation is trying to slim down.

The Oak Brook-based company has received Weight Watchers’ seal of approval on some of their menu items, including the popular Filet-O-Fish, Chicken McNuggets and the Sweet Chili Seared Chicken Wrap.

“The partnership was initiated for the growing number of customers interested in health and well being,” said Mark Hawthorne, McDonald’s New Zealand managing director. The Weight Watchers items will be marketed to the Kiwis first.

The fast food giant joined forces with the world’s leading weight management organization to offer customers new meal combinations, each offering a Weight Watchers POINTS value of 6.5 per item.

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The Decade in Eating

Over the past few years, McDonald’s has aimed at offering healthier food items for those weight-conscious costumers. As part of the deal, McDonald’s restaurants will soon use the Weight Watchers logo on its menu boards to promote healthy eating to its customers.

“The switch to a healthier canola blend cooking oil means menu items such as the Filet-O-Fish and Chicken McNuggets contain 60 percent less saturated fat than they did six years ago,” Hawthorne said.
 
Here's an article discussing the difference between 'healthier' and 'healthy' when it comes to fast food. Especially with the ingredients. Pretty interesting :D
 
Jeanette401 said:
Here's an article discussing the difference between 'healthier' and 'healthy' when it comes to fast food. Especially with the ingredients. Pretty interesting :D
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The words alone (heathy and healthier) should be a huge red flag for people when it comes to the true nutritional value of the food they're eating.

HealthY - Clearly means that it's healthy (or, at least should be). You're not going to find many "healthy" menu items that consist of high fat, salt or sugar contents, nor will most of them contain very many calories.

Most items that are labeled as "healthy" are usually just that; healthy. No fuss, no questions, no worries. But...

HealthIER - Healthier? Compared to what? A bowl of M&Ms? A Double Quarter Pounder w/Cheese from McDonald's? A 5 lb deep fat fried bacon burrito with duck fat chips and mayonnaise sauce?

You can say almost anything is "healthIER"; all you have to do is find a food item that's worse to compare it to. An extra large milkshake from Burger King is healthier than eating an entire Domino's pizza, but it's far from healthy. A Nacho Supreme from Taco Bell is healthier than eating a 10 pc McNugget from McDonald's, but it's far from healthy. A Chicken Bacon & Swiss is healthier than a Triple Baconator from Wendy's, but it's far from healthy.

It's all marketing. It's just like using the words "gourmet", "fancy" or "chef's choice"...meaningless.

*I am just using the food items described as examples. I don't know the exact caloric contents of the items I used, nor do I care. They were just examples to illustrate my point.
 
“Welcome to our restaurant sir. Would you like a large plate of dog poo or a small plate of dog poo?”

“No thank you, I will take neither. No matter what the serving size, crap is still crap.”​




That's hot.
 
"What kinda drinks you got?"

"We got New Poop, Classic Poop, Diet Poop, Cherry Poop, and Salty Lemonade."

"Gimme a large Classic Poop!"​

(Ha, sorry, made me think of an Invader Zim quote)
 
What really baffles me is that people apparently think that Weight Watchers equals healthy eating.

It doesn't.

It equals calorie controlled eating. All WW is doing is assigning a points value to certain McDonalds items.

The ready meals from WW you can get in any supermarket have point values, but they certainly aren't any more healthy than any other ready meal. Usually the opposite is the case.

I couldn't care less if McDonalds partners with WW, Lighter Life or anybody else. All the information I need is already there. All the options I need are already there.

At McDonalds, you can buy Burgers and coke. Milkshakes. Brownies. You can also buy salads, mineral water and fruit. Seriously, do you really need WW points or anything else to make the decision which of the two options is the healthier one, and less detrimental to your overall wellbeing and weight loss?

For crying out loud. When has using common sense become so unpopular?
 
McDonald's is Pure POISON !!!!!!!

Any way you look at it Mc Donalds is Denatured...Saturated Chemical filled Poison...:ack2:

Teaming up with weight watchers is a strategic marketing ploy...

The best strategy is to avoid Mc Donalds at all costs...:reddevil:


Fill your life with fresh vibrant fruits and vegetables filled with Natures life force...:coolgleamA:
 
Don't only let fat be your guide

Here's the concern I have. Sodium levels are still high and fried foods are still being served. Although I "get" the partnership (letting people know that McDonald's can contribute to weight loss), we still need to be mindful about balance. Eating cheeseburgers every day regardless of your health is still not the best way to allow your body to be healthy and vibrant.

Study after study shows that our body responds best to "real" food, not processed foods, and much of fast food is processed, no matter how you slice it.

Granted, if your forced to eat at McDonalds, there will be "better" choices, but at the end of the day, pack your lunch and you'll not only reduce fat and sodium, you'll reduce calories.

Here's to your health!
 
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ChefChiTown said:
I live in Cleveland and there is absolutely nowhere even close to here where you can order a California Roll with a bottle of water. Not every city has the same fast food options, which is why the huge majority of people eat McDonald's, Wendy's, Burger King, etc. - because they're readily available.
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Surely another reason people go to burger joints is the price? To get decent sushi where I live you have to go to YoSushi, and for a decent filling lunch you'll pay £10 - 20. Pretty sure you can get a family bucket of chicken at KFC for the same price, or a large burger, fries and a fizzy drink for around £5.
 
I feel it just a part of attractive flower pot in the drawing hall. Now the company is trying to put an impression over health and calorie conscious people with its its weight watchers technique. I personally feel that this weight watchers is just a money wasting technique as one can himself work what they tell, and that even for free.
 
dietdan said:
Surely another reason people go to burger joints is the price? To get decent sushi where I live you have to go to YoSushi, and for a decent filling lunch you'll pay £10 - 20. Pretty sure you can get a family bucket of chicken at KFC for the same price, or a large burger, fries and a fizzy drink for around £5.
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I find a lot of people here saying its convenience and cost.. well I live in the UK and know where 2 Subways are, as well I've lived in Canada and in a fairly small town we had 3 Subways, 2 of which were in town. Maybe I'm the lucky one, but Subway has become increasingly popular. All I see from comments like this is justification to be fat. You want to justify it go ahead. But really whether you're really busy or not you don't have to eat processed foods, you can get salads from subway for pretty cheap. And if you dont want to drive around for an hour looking for one, use the internet to find one. Hey they have a pretty good store locator on their website. If you travel a lot for work why not just ask someone where one is.

I dont mean to offend anyone but thinking like that is why you're fat. I'm fat as well so I do get it. I live a real life and have real responsibilities and friends who love fast food who are usually more the delighted to go to subway instead. I guess I'm just outraged by the amount of people on a weightloss forum who are justifying reasons to eat fast food like mcdonalds and KFC. There's always a way to not.
 
I'm in the UK as well, and for every McDonalds, there is a Subways close by. A Big Mac is 2.39 I think, and I can get a 6 inch sub with half the calories for 1.99.

Not to mention that you can get salad at McDonalds (and other fast food outlets) as well, around the same price as a medium sized burger. So, neither convenience, nor price really work as an excuse. At least not for me. I just like burgers more than salad, and can't resist occasionally.

Nobody to blame but myself unfortunately.
 
San said:
I'm in the UK as well, and for every McDonalds, there is a Subways close by. A Big Mac is 2.39 I think, and I can get a 6 inch sub with half the calories for 1.99.

Wow, as six inch for 1.99? I'm in the U.S. and it's about 3.49. But yeah, I agree, there are no excuses when it comes to picking healthy items on a menu. If you don't want to ruin yourself when you have to get a meal on the run, you just need to use self control, which is the reason many people trying to live a healthy lifestyle avoid these type of places. When you just begin losing weight through healthy eating, many are just learning and practicing how to use self control, so you shouldn't place yourself in the situation if you know that you will probably pick the burger over the salad.

I only go to McDonalds now for the oatmeal, that they serve all day. It may not be the healthiest, but it has fruits and berries, flavored with maple syrup, and it fills you, so there are alot of health benefits, and I like it better than a burger or nuggets. I am amazingly satisfied, and I get it on the run, or when I am not able to cook a full course meal around my work, school and children. My six year old loves subway, so he helps alot, because he is not a super McDonalds fan and usually throws half his burger away. He only wants the happy meal toy, so we only go maybe once every other month, or maybe a month depending on dollar happy meal night when I have my niece. I pride myself on homecooked meals, and that's the way my family likes it, but if I have a late night, I know that I can have something healthy from Mickey.

However, I hope that EVERYONE who is into being healthy will use their common sense to know that WW teaming with Mickey D's is not saying that it is now a healthy option, or even a healthier option, it is just a notice to say, "hey, now you don't have to blow all of your points, and can still it McDonalds!" As someone mentioned, healthy and healthier are on complete opposite sides and have no relation to one another.
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Ronald McDonald is going to put beanie caps on the kids that have a hamburger dangling from a fishing pole on it so they'll chase after it and lose weight.

Beanie Cap Burger Combo: -3 weight watcher points unless they figure out how to get the burger off the pole, then it's 12 points.
 
I tend to agree with Kayshiz, once you start that habit again its going to be very hard to break. It is all a personal choice but I think when you know your weaknesses you best stay away if you want to succeed.
 
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