Rant about fastfood

They’re trying to kill us all. The Fast food industry; Not only is their food cheap and convenient but it tastes good because of all the fat and sugar. Sigh. The portions are outrageous and they have absolutely no cares about calorie counts. Really they’re approaching my estimation of the cigarette companies; do they see us all as expendable? Do they just see us as a quick buck, who cares how they affect our health? One lunch combo at most of these places has my entire DAY’S worth of calories. A whole days worth! In one meal! No wonder America is full of fattys! We are eating 3 or more times the amount of calories we need every day! What’s the cause of all this ranting? 2 reasons really. The first is that I saw at Jack in the box today that they have a new menu item. It’s called Taco Nachos. You know those deep fried tacos that they offer, the ones with the mystery meat? Well for just $2 you can get this: They take two of those tacos, cut each one into three ‘chips’ and smother them in nacho cheese sauce. They even don’t bother to put the lettuce inside the tacos, they just put it in the bottom of the bowl to fluff it out a bit. I mean they wouldn’t want you to get any vegetables by accident! LOL! I can’t believe that they can, in good conscience, offer such things. I mean it - they’re trying to kill us all!

Well, I’m an admitted fast food lover. I like to have hot food especially when I’m tired, and I’m lazy so I don’t like to cook myself breakfast. I love eggs and by themselves they’re not really that bad for you so that’s how I justify it. Here’s what I do on a regular basis, thinking I wasn’t doing so bad for myself. Jack in the Box’s Meaty breakfast burrito combo - it’s just eggs, meat and cheese. Of course it comes with the hash browns and I always get it with a Medium coke. Just under 5 bucks. But I knew that portion was going to be to many calories for me so I hit upon this idea.. I take it home and I open up the burrito and I take out half the eggs, half of the little sausage pieces and the piece of bacon and put them on a plate for my toddler. I give him 3 of the hashbrown sticks and put 2 into the burrito. Then I have that and the coke for breakfast and he has eggs, cheese, sausage, bacon and hashbrowns with milk. Not bad right? WRONG! This is my other reason for ranting. Here I thought I was doing alright but I decided to get a calorie count so I could keep track. Look at this: The burrito is 610 calories, the coke is 260 and the hashbrowns are 230. That mean the total for this ‘meal’ is 1100 calories. That means if I even eat half of it, I’m consuming 550 calories. But really because I’m drinking the whole coke its more like 680 calories. That’s twice my target for each meal. In other words that’s breakfast AND lunch in my book. Sigh. No wonder I’m fat. Not to mention the fact that I was feeding half of that to my toddler! I was giving him way more calories and fat than he needed as well. Setting him up for obesity when he’s only 2?! Well, I hope the people who own those fast food restaurants sleep well at night while the rest of us have nightmares about the food they make and we get suckered into buying. As for me – I’m going to buck up and make myself food from now on. At least I’ll know what I’m getting calorie wise.

Family pic and new plan for the year

So the Simple steps are already fading… I’ve gotten the first four habits down but I really don’t seem to have any interest anymore. Is that a reflection of the depression or is that just my personality? It’s not that I’m quitting, it’s that I’m distracted with other things. Do you ever feel like your life is so hectic and if you could just SIMPLIFY, that everything would be better? Like you’re being pulled in three different directions and trying to stomp out fires at the same time? That’s pretty much how I feel all the time. A friend of mine was complimenting me the other day about juggling 4 kids and being a brownie leader – I just laughed. Maybe I’m like a duck.. I look all calm and peaceful on the surface, but underneath I’m paddling like crazy. LOL! In this age of SuperMoms, I am definitely NOT one. Not that I don’t secretly wish to be, but not too much because just thinking about it makes me tired. :) Anyway, I read through the rest of the Simple Steps and I just got impatient with it. 40 steps and I really don’t see how doing Kegels and cooking with herbs and spices will simplify and improve my life. (I mean, I’ve carried 4 kids to full term, the smallest of which was 7 lbs 10 oz and the largest of which was over 9 lbs. so I don’t think ANY amount of Kegels is really gonna help – am I right ladies?)So I thought, instead of trashing this idea completely, how about I come up with a shorter, more pertinent list for myself. So here it is:

Jackie’s Goals for a better, simpler, happy life in 2009

1) I will drink 48 ounces of water, or more each day. It makes me pee, but I feel better when I am good about doing it.
2) I will clear out one drawer/cabinet or closet each week. I’ve written one thing each week on my calendar through April. I will also work on my flylady zones and on de-cluttering each day.
3) I will stick loose bills in a tin in my bedroom, not in the ashtray of my car. This will help me save for something fun and will keep me from hitting the Drive-thru fast food.
4) I will force myself to exercise at least 4 days a week – a fifth day if I’m expecting cake or ice cream in the near future. :p
5) I will make up a daily schedule and to do list so I don’t have to think about what I should do, or remember stuff – both of which are hard for any mom, much less one with a newborn.
6) I will gradually replace all the junk in my diet and my families diet with good stuff; whole grains instead of bleached flour, get rid of the food dyes, the nitrates, the trans-fats.
7) I will find time to do the things I love like reading, needlework and scrapbooking. Oh and play with my little monsters, cuddle them and read them stories.

So instead of 40 steps, I’m going for 7. That's a reasonable number right? I’ve got number one down. I’m doing well on numbers 2 and 3. I’m focusing on number 4 or at least trying to. I’m going to give myself a few weeks of that to make it a habit, although I’m going to start on number five right now as well – so I can feel some sense of control. We'll see how it all goes!