Saturday, December 27, 2008

Somebody Stop Me!

photo by james m

I think it's pretty obvious by now - I'm a chockful of bad habits and addictions. Ranging from the trivial (i.e. nail biting and a love of diet soft drinks) to the life-altering (i.e. negative thinking and frequent self-flagellation), I am often conquered by these compulsions more often than I care to admit. And since I got my car, I'm coming to realize that I'm on my way to developing yet another one - as if I didn't have enough of them.

It's giving into the siren song of the fast food drive thru.

Yes, despite my resolve to turn over a new leaf and eat healthy to complement my new sporty lifestyle, my new wheels have made it even easier to indulge in my craving for the quick, tasty, and greasy joy of eating fast food. I don't even want to count the number of times I've driven the five minutes down the road for a burger from McDonald's (which is open 24 hours, much to my conscience's dismay), hot-and-spicy chicken from KFC, or a chicken roll from Red Rooster.

My absolute lack of emotional quotient is appalling. What can I say? When I'm diving into hot food that I didn't have to cook myself, I temporarily lose my sanity. But it's hard to resist the call of a Big Mac at the end of a long, harrowing evening call when I can safely drive to the store in my car, pick up a burger, and be home just ten minutes than I planned to be.


Okay, okay - the yogurt and fruit for dinner daily was definitely much more positive than habitually committing this cardinal sin against healthy living. I'm going to have to double - even triple - my time at the gym just to make up for my lack of willpower... and we all know how realistic that really is!

The reason I'm writing about this here is just so people know about my budding addiction and hold me accountable. After having had a McDonald's burger two nights in a row via the Drive Thru (curse the 24 hour service - shouldn't everything be closed in Perth by 5pm?), I am willing to admit I have a problem.

Is there such a thing a Fast Food Addicts Anonymous? Sign me up, quick!

5 comments:

docemdy said...

Why not make a deal with yourself, only get into a fast food joint when you can walk to and from it? At least that way, you'll burn whatever it is you're having with the leg work. Or you'd end up not eating at all because you'd rather not walk. Then again, if you're willing to sacrifice walking instead of taking the car, does that really mean you're addicted?

Abaniko said...

Hahaha. That kind of struggle sounds so familiar. Me? I only have oatmeal for breakfast, half-cup of rice, chicken/fish, vegetables, and fruits for lunch but when dinner time comes, I feel I need to reward myself for the day's hard work. So I binge and eat platefuls of rice and chicken lechon/liempo then sometimes I drink beer and eat platefuls of my favorite peanuts. Hah! So my cholesterol and uric acid levels are going up and up and up. :D

dr_clairebear said...

@em: that's a thought. i should do that. at the moment, i do a lot of undoing when i go to the gym, but we all know that the calories in don't equate to the same calories burnt - somehow, we always eat so much more...

@abaniko: it's nice to hear that i am not alone. ;) i haven't had my biochemical profile checked in a while, but i'm hoping it's heaps better than it used to be - even if i'm still hung up on fast food.

Anonymous said...

Em Dy makes an excellent point. If you only get fast food when you are walking to and from the fast good joint then its not so bad. I am lucky where i live you can't park close to the nearest fast food joint so it forces me to walk. Lucky me :)

Manggy said...

Happy new year Dr. Clairebear!

Hmm, like most addictions, it probably has a self-reinforcing quality to it: eating it regularly will enhance its effects. If you're able to suddenly quit cold turkey for even a week, you might find that you will be able to manage a more reasonable eating schedule, like once a week, without the cravings. Once you eat good healthy food you might even develop a distaste for it (though I can understand that there will always be times when the grease dripping from the patty can be so enticing...)