Addicted to the Fast Lane

The sweet thrill of the first taste of a new item, beating the crowd of never-ending cars and producing a huge satisfying meal out of a crumpled five-dollar bill that you found in the bottom of your purse: I am talking about the call of the fast food drive-thru. 

There are a plethora of drive-thru restaurants here in Elk Grove. My favorites are McDonald's, Taco Bell and Jack 'n' the Box. To me, the "fast lane" is bittersweet. On one hand, it is incredibly cheap (my favorite is a large HiC orange drink for a dollar and four-piece chicken nuggets for under two dollars at McD's) and a time saver (for when you only have a 30-minute lunch break). Sometimes it is just easier to go pick up something at a local drive-thru than to find and prepare an alternative.

But on the other hand, it is not constructive in trying to lose weight.  I have successfully lost 70 pounds and am slowly working towards adding more to that number. So I have decided to let go of my fast lane addiction and put more effort into taking better care of myself.

Driving away from WinCo Foods with bags full of lean turkey meat, ingredients for a salad, fruit and an idea for breakfast made me proud of the baby step I made. Today I made a nice salad with bits of lean turkey shredded on top for protein and a Crystal Lite replica to wash things down.

I want to make it clear that I am not against drive-thru restaurants. I am making the decision to cut back on being so dependent on convenience and put more effort into each eating experience. I also believe that there is no such thing as going cold turkey. I will treat myself to going to fast food restaurants or having sweets once in a while. Because sometimes you have to answer to the call of the fast food lane. Frozen strawberry lemonade, anyone?