What’s missing?
March 10, 2010 at 7:49 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | 2 CommentsTags: addiction, fast food, If It Doesn't Have a Mama March, returner learner
Today’s Betcha Didn’t Know… tidbit: I am a “returner learner” ;). I have a bachelor’s in journalism, but I graduated with an incomplete bachelor’s in Spanish. I decided it was important to me to finish it up and so one class at a time, that’s just what I’m doing. In fact, I have an online assignment to work on after this post. 😦 Booo.
Check out my eats for the day — lunch:
A salad with leftover chicken from last night, grapes, an apple and yummy yogurt and pumpkin flax granola. Does everything there have a mama or grow from the ground? Does it fit the “If It Doesn’t Have a Mama” March challenge? I thought so ;).
Dinner:
Whole wheat pasta (which, thank God, fits the challenge guidelines), zucchini, onion, a dab of pesto and brussel sprouts. Yum!
Here’s a suggestion for homemade pasta dishes: always try and find a way to add some veggies to it. Use the veggies to bulk up the dish without adding extra pasta. You’ll knock out a suggested serving of the veg and can even cut back a little on the pasta (I think we as Americans tend to be Fettucine fiends, serving up more than a realistic portion). Double win!
So….If you’re a smarty pants, you may have noticed something has been seriously absent from my posts, especially during this month’s challenge of “If It Doesn’t Have a Mama”.
Can you guess what it is?
Want a clue?
If you answered “fast food” give yourself a gold star! That’s right — there’s been no mention of fast food during “If It Doesn’t Have a Mama” March. No lament over lost french fries, burgers, tacos or chicken nuggets. Why is that?
Glad you asked ;). To answer with “because I don’t eat fast food” is too simplistic for this blogger. Oh, no. We have to dig deeper, tell a longer story, increase the word count a little!
Back in early December, in that caloric lull between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I noticed I was feeling more uncomfortable in my own skin. My clothes were a little tighter, my mood towards my body image was a little poorer and I was disappointed in myself. It came to me at lunchtime one day, as I was walking pick up my eats. I had a tradition going — every Friday, I “treated” myself to lunch out. I was packing my lunch every other day — and healthy things too– I reasoned I needed a little break, a little rebellion, a little McSomething.
I had planned that day to get a deli sandwich from Subway, a healthier alternative…but as I walked, my thoughts were on a family member and a sad situation they were coping with. I caught a whiff of fryer grease in the air, coming from the nearest fast food junction. Without doing it consciously, I turned heel, abandoned my sub and made a beeline for the french fries I subconsciously thought would chase those sad thoughts away.
I realized then, I had a *slight* addiction to fast food. Recent research may prove this is possible. I think it is possible to become too reliant on super-strong tastes (sugar, fat, salt) to provide you with what you think is satiety. I think it is possible to rely on food for emotional comfort (although when was the last time a burger hugged you back?). I think it is possible to be addicted to something and not realize it because your taste buds are so trained.
So I cut it out. I challenged myself for the month of December to NOT eat any fast food. I think we can all agree what “fast food” is, but for a point of clarification: I don’t really consider Chipotle and Subway truly fast food. I will eat there on occasion. I can see the ingredients in front of me, and in the case of Chipotle, I have read enough about the company mission and policy to be comfortable with their food.
It wasn’t even that hard to cut fast food from my diet. I packed a little something special in my lunch on Friday to still “treat” myself. If I caught a whiff of the fryer grease, I paused and remembered that wasting $5 or $6 on a Combo #whatever was only going to leave me hungry in a couple of hours with greasy fingertips. Not worth it to me.
December stretched into January, which lapsed into February, which brings us to March. Still no McNothings.
Will I never eat it again? No. That’s unrealistic. There might come a time where the choice is eat it out of necessity (wacky travel, emergencies, etc) or starve. I’m always going to choose to feed myself — that much should be abundantly clear.
I’m just not going to feed myself fast food if I can avoid it. 😉
What are you thoughts on fast food? Necessary evil, special treat or daily allowance? Ever cut anything out of your diet because of “addiction”?
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Honestly I am not a big fast food person; however, I am married to a man who likes it and have three kids who like it, so that means I eat it on occasion…though believe me there have definitely been times when we as a family have gone to McDonalds and I just don’t eat. I would like to cut fast food out of our lives completely, not so much for me but for the kids. But moderation is key, so a few times a month, ok eat it…I think telling my children “You can never eat McDonalds again,” would only cause resentment and probably have the opposite effect I desire.
Comment by elizathon— March 11, 2010 #
[…] to put it in my body. I wrote about how much power fast food used to have over my lunch hour in this post. I haven’t had a meal from a yellow and red themed restaurant since December! […]
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