My second challenge

I remember when fast food was a treat. I remember the excitement and anticipation for what was going to be for dinner when my father was out of town and my mother decided we should go out. While my father was frequently out of town, my mother's unwillingness to let us have fast food often stood in the way. I remember when my small town got its first Taco Bell. No longer did we have to drive an hour to have a Burrito Supreme with no black olives. Yes, I remember when Burrito Supremes had black olives-now it seems they are basically ground beef and sour cream. Good luck finding the few shreds of lettuce and the 3 bits of tomato. I remember when I considered them a treat. There was a time in my life when going to McDonald's for a happy meal was on the same level as celebrating your birthday.

I no longer look at fast food as a treat I very seldom have. It has become a way of life. Working 80 hours a week, I am too exhausted to think about what to make for dinner, much less try to prepare it. Fast food has always been my weakness throughout college, graduate, and medical school. If I was stressed about a test, it was much easier to turn to a cheese pizza for comfort than to actually study more.

As I have put on more weight, the credit card receipts show a trend that is not surprising. I eat so much fast food, that I spend more on it than food from a grocery store. Yikes! In beginning my journey to a Healthier me, I made my first goal to increase my exercise. I challenged myself to exercise everyday for a week and I did not accomplished it. I figured my goals would be things like exercising more and adding water to my diet, drinking less alcohol, and things of that nature. I assumed that it would be easy to stop eating fast food, so it did not even occur to me that not eating fast food would be something on my list. It occurred to me, as I left McDonald's with a McFlurry and a Happy Meal after a particular stressful day, quitting fast food will be rough. I was wondering if I could even go a few days with no fast food. The first 18 years of my life, I definitely went more than a month without it. My challenge this week is to go a whole week with no fast food. It will be a big challenge, seeing that I am on night float and when I am post call, I enjoy going and getting breakfast from Hardee's or McDonald's. I think I am up for the challenge. I guess we will see.