Fast Food

So, I know one of my trouble areas is not to eat fast food.  But, I decided to actually share with ya'll the amount of fast food restaurants in San Antonio.  Within 5 minutes or less from my apartment there are: 3-McDonalds 2-Wendy's 2-KFC/TacoBell 3-Dominoe's Pizza 3-Pizza Hut 2-Taco Cabana  3-Sonic's 2-Jack in the Box multiple Chinese Restaurants (which of most deliver) & lots of other places.......... Let's compare that tooo..... 1-Subway 1-Quizno's 1-Whole Food's Market

I feel ya, my sister!  BUTTTTT...until people stop going to these places, they will stay open and multiply. SOMEBODY is going there, right? Let the revolution begin with each one of us.  Let us list reasons to NOT go there: 1.  obesity aggravated/caused by high fat, huge portions 2.  high blood pressure & stroke aggravated/caused by high sodium 3.  high prices (you CAN make this stuff at home for waaaay cheaper) 4.  sanitation of bathrooms, low level workers who do not know how to handle food properly 5.  landfills too full of the paper goods or worse, stuck all over every cyclone fence you see near the freeway 6.  prices of higher quality foods would come down once we all demanded it.  Did i miss any???? the reasons to go there are pretty hedonistic and quite frankly, based on laziness and/or lack of planning to eat well.

If all of us went there more like 1-2 a year instead of 1-2 a week, there would be no more of this.  

holy cow! That's a lot of fast food! :( I guess though if you do decide to eat at one of these places, there are usually some healthier choices, for example at mcd's the egg mcmuffins you can get with tomato added and no bacon and are pretty yummy actually! Also, you can get a carton of milk with it too. And I know at most chinese restaraunts you can get some sort of lightly steamed veggies and meat dis (you just have to ask). But perhaps subway and the whole foods market are the best places to go :)

It is about choice, though.  When it crosses my thoughts, I figure out why and respond with an alternate choice.  If I'm on the run, I can go into a Subway instead (though still a caloric choice in many ways).  If I want burger and fries, I make it at home.  I just choose to drive by.

Don't believe that Quizno's is any good for you either-- it's not: their food is PHENOMENALLY high in fat. Their website has very little nutritional information-- and if you request it (like they say you can) there's STILL none. They get away with this because of their relationship with the beef lobby. Political horsecrap. Steer (ha!) clear!

But they toast it!!!!! that makes it healthy right!!??    

I think it is a shame.  I wholeheartedly admit that a gigantic part of my gigantic problem is fast food.  On August 23 I challenged myself to see how long I could go without eating it.  I went to Buger King this past weekend, had a Whopper Jr. with only cheese  and 10-15 french fries.  I was disappointed.   50 days without it made me realize how disappointing fast food is, which is so funny to me b/c I used to crave it.  The problem is that it's so darn convenient!  LOL  I figured that I was better off trying to find "convenience" foods in the grocery store for when I need them.  I try to find thing with lower sodium and fat and bulk them up with steamed veggies.  I try to find things that are easy to grab if I'm hungry and don't have time like laughing cow cheese and wasa crisp breads or thin sliced meats ( I like Boar's Head meats/cheeses b/c they don't have fillers)  I try to avoid the fast food places all together b/c it's a trigger for me, although some of them do have healthier choices.  It's too tempting for me not to make a healthier choice. I agree though.  It's become so convenient that it's very difficult for someone who is very busy to just keep driving sometimes.  When I worked in advertising I'd leave the house at 7am and get home at 10-11pm or even later on a consistent basis and had no 24 hour grocery stores around here until recently, but Wendy's was open late!  There were some days where I'd have FFB (fast food breakfast), pizza at the office (oh yeah, pizza again) and either fast food or chinese for dinner (whatever someone had time to go get that was close).  It finally got to a point where I had to do something about it and I started making better choices (baked potato plain, chili, plain small burger, salad, etc) but it was hard for me too.

Is it really more convenient to go through the drive thru at BK then to stop at the convenience store and pick up healthy choices?  I just stopped by one today for a carton of eggs and realized I could in a snap pick up fruit, protein bars, hard boiled eggs, snack packs of veggies, sandwiches, soy chips, and salads. Just as quick to walk in as to drive thru--you're just not sitting to do so.

I love a tip that a coworker - guy - uses.  He packs a cooler with his daily food choices:  fresh fruit, lean proteins, veggies, drinks. snacks, etc. His food is right there - he is not "victim" to fast food stops, pizza, coffee cake, etc. It's the same idea with my bariatric foods  - they are always with me.  I have no excuse except my personal choice to ingest the company crud that is slopped all over the breakroom.

Really, fast food stops are not necessary at all unless you are called out on some kind of emergency road trip. Even DH and I are stopping at store delis and finding plenty of better choices: salads, veggies, lean meats, fresh fruits. Even at 7-11's there are protein bars, fresh fruit, non fat milk and any number of frozen entrees anymore that are about 10x better than BK. Perhaps not caloric savings but certainly nutrient density.

You're right, I should have done that a long time ago.  It's always a choice and I never make the right one.  If I had only gotten off my lazy fat butt.  We didn't have a convenience store near where I worked but I should have found one.