The joke is on US!
“With so many choices at the ‘gourmet’ drive-thru, how does anyone pick a favorite? Curious what’s behind the curtain? Try Fast Food Nation for more horrifying info on what this stuff does to us.”
If that movie surprised you…
Start paying attention to labels, how you feel 30–90 minutes after eating, and what you end up craving later. That feedback loop tells the truth.
I don’t eat at fast-food places very often anymore. Which is why I was thrown into meltdown mode when I stopped at my once-go-to for sustenance. I made my regular order—and about passed out when I heard the total.
“Your order comes to $20.60,” the voice rang through the muffled speaker. Why is it that you can barely understand the order repeat, but the total is always crystal clear? “Shit!” I said, pulling away from the squawk box and inching toward the window behind three other patrons—who might’ve been in stupefaction too. That sticker shock at the drive-thru hit me like déjà vu—and it reminded me why I stopped leaning on “convenience” food in the first place.
As the line moved at an un-fast pace, I thought back to the last time I visited Taco Hell. It’s been at least six years since I bought my usual manly meal for one: a chicken burrito supreme, two chicken soft tacos, a chicken quesadilla, and some other new chicken thing that wasn’t too bad either. That was my lunch back in the day. If I recall, it wasn’t over $20—pretty sure it wasn’t much over $10. I know times change, but either my hands got way bigger since then… or something else happened.
“Uh, yeah Skinny, this has been happening since 2020.”
I get that places raise prices to cover labor, but how much does unskilled labor make these days? My first job was thirty cents over minimum wage—$3.15 back in 1989. I was in school, still lived with a parent, had a truck payment and gas, and paid my own maintenance and insurance (maybe half—insurance was stupid expensive for a teenage boy). With those bills, I still managed to do a few things with what was left. I also worked weekends to cover gas and grub.
My next job paid double per hour, but I worked 65 hours a week. By then I’d been kicked out and was responsible for all the adult stuff: rent, utilities, food—the whole big-kid package. Nothing left over for fun, so we just hung out in town or at someone’s crappy apartment.
Looking back, things were tight, but we made it work. Yes, stuff costs more now than in the yesteryears. But what makes these kids think a starter job should pay union wages? Some of them drive newer, nicer cars than I do—and I know what I make per hour. Which brings me back to the food.
Whenever I eat fast food, I feel full for a little while, then turn into a slug inching along. What do they put in that stuff to make it so appealing—and make you crave more a few hours later? Not to mention what it does to your body (it makes me want a nap and to do as little as possible).
Fast food does exactly that to my system: in and gone, fast. So what’s the biggest problem with this kind of food? For starters, it’s high in:
High fructose corn syrup (HFCS): In most drinks. Different sugars hit the body differently—part gives you that sudden “sugar rush,” while the rest doesn’t digest easily and gets stored as fat around the liver (hello, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease).
Trans fats: Artificial fats that raise bad cholesterol and lower good cholesterol, increasing heart-disease risk.
Sodium nitrite/nitrate: Preservatives in processed meats that can form carcinogenic compounds when cooked hot.
Artificial sweeteners: Fake sugars like aspartame and sucralose can mess with metabolism and crank up cravings for sweet foods.
Add-ins galore: Potassium bromate, TBHQ (tertiary butylhydroquinone), propylene glycol, phthalates, fluorinated chemicals (PFAS)—a lovely cocktail linked to all kinds of issues.
Sadly, fast food is engineered to make you want more. Over time, healthier foods start tasting bland because your brain is chasing sugar, salt, and that chemical fireworks show that keeps you hooked. And for a lot of Americans juggling hectic schedules, this “convenient” diet becomes the only practical way to eat. The harsh reality: those meals give you a quick high, then crash you—turning your “quick fix” into the very thing that slows you down and sabotages productivity.
Blood sugar spikes: Refined carbs and sugars spike your blood sugar, then insulin surges, and you crash—tired and hungry again.
Increased hunger: The sugar and carb load triggers more hunger soon after.
Bonus “features”: Bloating and discomfort, elevated blood pressure, inflammation, digestive issues, mood swings, and cravings for more processed foods. All of that… at the bottom of a paper sack.
I’m not saying you should never eat fast food again—we’ve all heard it’s bad for years, and most of us still indulge sometimes without too much guilt. What I am saying is this: learn a few simple, healthier meals at home. Try to work more real food into your day (if you can find it—that’s a whole other blog post). And move more. You don’t need a gym membership or a six-mile run—take extra steps when you don’t have to, use stairs instead of the elevator, just keep your body in motion.
Stick with it for a few days or a couple of weeks and you’ll probably feel better and notice more energy. That energy feeds on itself—you’ll want to move more, which makes you feel better, which makes you move more. That cycle is how you start feeling vibrant and alive again.
The joke might be on US—but we don’t have to play the punchline.
