Fast food

Okay, I admit it: I love fast food.

And I don't discriminate either. McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, Taco Bell, Arby's, Hardee's, Popeye's, KFC, Chipotle - it doesn't matter, I have found something to love on every menu board.

When I worked in a traditional office in VA (as opposed to my home office in DE) I used to go to McDonald's a lot for lunch. It was the closest fast food restaurant to my office, so when I had limited time for a lunch break, I would dart to McDonald's. I love the Big Mac. And as if the yummy food weren't enough, this particular McDonald's was absolutely the best run fast food restaurant I've ever frequented. The management and employees really had the routine perfected. Even at the busiest times on the busiest days I never waited for my food. By the time I'd finished ordering and swiping my debit card (what a lovely addition), my tray of delicacies was placed before me and I was wished a good afternoon. I also enjoyed the self-serve beverage center, where I could select the amount of ice and soda to match my particular needs. Don't you hate it when you're really thirsty and you order a soda, only to find the cup full of ice with only 3 1/2 ounces of soda???

So when I was short on time I would always slip over to the very close, very well run McDonald's, but when time was not an issue I would often venture slightly further to some of the other tasty places. Loved the Whopper with cheese at Burger King. Loved the barbecoa burrito at Chipotle. Loved the chicken nuggets at Wendy's. Loved everything at Taco Bell. However, it seemed all that fast food was not loving me.

Sure, I'd seen the "Super-size Me" documentary, which gave me a momentary cause for concern, but I reasoned that eating ANY kind of fast food (and nothing else) 3 meals a day for 30 days would make a person sick. No need to single out McDonald's. I'd just need to make sure I varied my selection of fast food joints in order to stay 'healthy'. But the pounds kept coming.

When I moved to DE in Jan things were different. I no longer 'went out to lunch' because I could very easily walk down the stairs to the kitchen and make myself a sandwich or heat up left overs from last night's dinner. Since Spouse had begun working out with a personal trainer and going to the gym several days a week, he made a conscious effort to eat more healthfully, and swore off fast food. So without any effort or forethought on my part, I stopped eating fast food; cold turkey.

After a few weeks I began to realize how much money we were saving by not eating lunch out every day. (Spouse takes his lunch to work.) Then I began to notice that my belt was too loose on its usual notch. Could it be true? Could I really lose a noticeable amount of weight simply from not eating fast food? I weighed myself and found that I'd lost over 20 lbs since I'd moved, having started no new diet or exercise plan.

It has now been 7 months since I've eaten fast food and I've lost a total of 26 lbs. But I still get a jonesin' for a Big Mac now and then. Just this week I almost fell of the wagon and had a Mexican food orgy at Taco Bell, but I resisted. Not to say that I will never eat fast food ever again. I may occasionally partake if the circumstances are right, but I will be much more conscious of it than ever before. After all, "you are what you eat", right?

Drag Queen name of the day: Amanda Kissenhug