Getting off the Fast Food Train

We recently stopped at McDonalds on our way to a trade show in Vegas.  The McDonalds had converted rail cars--which is where we sat.  As you can see from the picture, it was kind of fun.  And as you can see from the picture, it was pretty windy.  And my German friend Marcel (also in the picture) was sort of interested in the whole McDonalds/Train Car/Tourist extravaganza.

I know, I know.  I'm furthering the fat girls eat McDonalds stereotype, but I do--very occasionally eat at fast food places.  (As do most people I know--skinny or fat).  I eat a lot less fast food than I used to though.  I have gradually weaned myself off fast food and now will eat it in a pinch.  But now that I eat rarely at fast food places, I find I don't enjoy it very much.

That said, I understand the instant gratification, nom while I'm on the LA freeways for over two hours allure of fast food.  I've always known that fast food isn't the best for me, but when you're working an 16-hour day with a 1+ hour commute each way, it's tempting to pull into the drive through and get a little bag of psudo-food. 

I tackled this the same way I've tackled other issues in my life--a little bit at a time.  As I may have mentioned before, I do not diet.  I do however try to tackle one "food related" habit per month to work on.  And when I started this process years ago, the first habit I tackled was the drive through.  I didn't try to give up fast food altogether at that time.  And I didn't try to deal with every aspect of my eating habits all at once.  For one month, I simply decided not to go to a drive through.  That was it.  That was enough.  Now, years later, I VERY rarely visit a drive through.  And I find that I'm not really even tempted any more.  So instead of trying to change all my health habits at once--which might last maybe a few months, I've tried tackling one health habit at a time--resulting in changes still in place years later.  I'm totally convinced this is the way to go.

A while back, I limited sodas of any kind to meals outside of the house.  I stopped buying soda for home a few years ago.  This month I went cold turkey on sodas and pretend sugar of any kind.  I thought, well this should be easy.  I've already limited soda.  WRONG!  At first the cravings were pretty intense, but as always, the cravings are gradually subsiding.  But clearly, for this month, that's enough.

So how about you?  Do you have ONE food-related health habit you'd like to improve this month?  How about one fish or vegetarian meal per week?  How about eating a good breakfast every day?  Are you ready to cut down on your two-pot-per-day coffee habit?  Drop me a line and let me know how you're doing.  And remember, success comes one step at a time.

Love,
The Fat Chick