Mack, Jack or Carl ...

My Ohm-Ma has a phrase she uses ... it's goes something like this ... "What do you want for lunch?"  She will invariably state, "anything but Mack, Jack or Carl."  She is referring to McDonalds, Jack in the Box and Carl's Jr.  Fast Food.


The dreaded fast food snake that curls around your body and some how makes it explode in pockets of fat ... that unhealthy fare that some people keep on a shelf and it never decays thus questioning whether it really is food at all ... that high calorie, dripping in grease, salty, horrible for you food ...

... that we love.

Good Lord!  I love Carl's Jr, Wendy's and Taco Bell.  I tolerate McDonalds and Jack in the Box.  I can't stand In-and-Out Burger - I know that's almost un-American, isn't it?  But, put a Super Star with cheese, fries and a chocolate shake from Carl's Jr. in front of me and I'm salivating.

Why?

I know all the crap about fast food.
I know it's high in calories.
I know it's a heart attack waiting to happen.

But, says a Skinny Chick, you can always make healthy choices at fast food places - like salads, yogurt and berry mixes, oatmeal, etc.

Not in my mouth.

I don't like salads in general and fast food salads are ... well they don't even taste like a real salad to me.  And, that says a lot.

As I've said, it's about taking steps in your life and making changes.

You love fast food ... it's easy and convenient and seems to be cheap in the moment (though it's really NOT but cost comparison will come later!)

So, your fast food step is to CHANGE your fast food.  Eventually, with other changes to your diet, you may wind up cutting fast food out of your life for good.  You may not.  So, make it work.  How?

First of all, until you really are making better choices, start by educating yourself on the food you are eating at Fast Food places.  Find out how many calories and fat grams you are putting into your body.  Then, look at the menu and find something you can eat that is less than you were putting into your body previously.

For example, I used to eat a Big Beef Burrito Supreme, a Taco Supreme and a soda at Taco Bell.  So, educate yourself ... a Big Beef Burrito Supreme has 440 calories and 18 grams of fat. The Taco Supreme has 200 calories and 12 grams of fat. The Medium Pepsi has 250 calories and 0 fat. So, in total 890 calories and 30 grams of fat.

I have substituted this order with one Beefy Five Layer Burrito, which has 550 calories and 22 grams of fat and a Diet Pepsi which has 0 calories and 0 fat.  So, I've saved 340 calories and 8 grams of fat in a fast food meal. And, I have reduced how often I eat this from a couple of times a week to maybe once a week, maybe two weeks. And, I don't feel like I have kept myself from having something I like.

Seems small, doesn't it?

But, it's a change in the right direction.  And, eventually, I'll bring that down to a smaller order.  And, may even stop eating it eventually.

Change.

Short little story ... Big Bit once told me he read if you drank 2 cokes every day for a year.  Then, the next year, keeping everything else constant, you reduced down to 1 coke every day for a year. If you did that, you would lose 7lbs in a year.

Start somewhere.

Challenge of the Day:
Re-evaluate your fast food habit ... educate yourself on what you are putting into your body and make the conscious choice to choose something with less calories and fat grams and make that your new habit.  Eventually, bring that down, reduce how often you eat it or eliminate it from your diet completely.