Fast Food Sucks!!!!

Yup, you read the title right, Fast Food SUCKS!! Okay so I obviously don’t mean in taste especially since some foods are really good and depending on your hunger level can just taste down right sinful. But health wise it isn’t good for you. I mean we have all heard and we all know but not many people really talk about it. I personally have been told for years to “get the chicken instead,” “No you need a small fry not a large” and don’t even let me get started on the rest of them. It’s common knowledge, or well I think it is, that sodas are bad for you and fast food is unhealthy. What you really don’t know is just how bad.

So let me just give you a little over head. For men the break down of recommended calories for healthy weight management goes as such: Men aged 19-30 need from 2,400-2,600, ages 31-50 need 2,200-2,400 and 50+ need 2,000-2,200. Whereas for women it just says that you should take your weight and multiple it by 13 or stay within 1,600-2,000. All data is based on an inactive daily life, aka sits down a lot.  Although the numbers will change for different reasons, this is where the hate for men and weight-loss comes in. Our highest number is the same as the lowest number for a 50-year-old man or older, how is that even fair!? It’s not! But that’s life I guess.

Back on point as to why fast food is so evil when you are on a diet. Most meals from any fast food restaurant is going to border on or over 1,000 calories, usually over. Now in bigger towns people may have more options but here in small town Forrest City, AR, there just isn’t. I mean yes we have some great family run restaurants and have all of the usual spots; McDonald’s, Subway, Burger King, Wendy’s and so on and so forth. But see here is the thing, if you are on a calorie based diet like I am, one meal and boom there goes all your allotted calories for the day. All I have left for the day, is air and water. Now I ask you, how delicious does that sound?

Are there other options? Yes there are. You don’t have to get the burger and fry or $5 fill-up like you want to, you could get a salad or just get a piece of the meal not the whole sha-bang. While that sounds great in theory, it isn’t always as fulfilling as you would hope. Don’t get me wrong there are some great salad options, Wendy’s is my favorite place to grab one and they have half-sized options. There full-sized salads run anywhere from 390 to 590 calories and half-sized from 210-350 calories. They also do leave me feeling satisfied, which is a great combo but when a full-sized salad is almost $7 before tax and I am running on pennies to make it to pay-day, that isn’t always an option. Then there is option two, home-made lunches. In theory you would either run home on lunch and eat or make it before you head out the door in the mornings or the night before. All sounds good right?? For those of you have no children or non-busy life styles, this may very well be a great solution for you, for all others…I am in the trenches with you my friends. I work from 7 a.m. until 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. I get an hour for lunch which is great. My house isn’t even too terribly far from work, but it is inconvenient. I say this because it is a 10-15 minute trip one-way from my house to work, with no stops in between. Yes I have timed it. Which if you take an hour and cut out the drive time that leaves me 30 minutes. That gives me a grand total of 30 minutes to figure out what I want, prepare it and then it eat it before I have to run out of the house to get back to work on time. Then let’s not forget about packing one before I go to work or the night before. Here is where my kids factor in. In the morning I get up between 5:30 and 6 a.m. and have to be backing out of my driveway before 6:30 a.m. Now in that 30 minutes to an hour after I wake up, I have to get the kids up, find them clothes, get them to brush their teeth, hair, etc., all while still getting myself ready. Some mornings are better than others but most days it is a fight to get them out the door, because they are not morning people. A trait they picked up from me no doubt, which now leaves the night before. My kids go to bed between 8:00 and 8:30 p.m. which is great but after making dinner, bath time and the bedtime routine, the very last thing that is on my mind is what I am going to eat for lunch the next day. Usually it’s time to go clean up  the kitchen, I have laundry to work on, getting a few precious moments to myself or with my husband or I just simply go and pass out. Now I am probably making it sound a little worse than it  is but the fact is my life is busy, so busy in fact that I tend to forget about all the good things I plan on doing. Which I’m not the only one with a busy schedule, there are folks who have to drive all day for work or only have 30 minutes for lunch or less, and many more scenarios. And for those people, myself included, fast food is the most convenient option. Just beware of what you are actually putting in your mouth and how it can hurt  or help you. We don’t always have the time make the healthier option and nothing is wrong with guilty pleasure food, we just can’t do it every day. So here is to opening eyes and trying to do a little better for ourselves!