F.A.S.T. Food & Vacay

A couple months ago I created an Acronym/Nomenclature for "Fast" Food.

F. Fattening
A. Addictive
S. Spendy
T. Tainted

Food

On our vacation to run away and escape the stress of the world, we had ample opportunity to test this acronym. I found it to be quite true.

Fattening-
This should be common knowledge that fast food is fattening! Have you ever looked at the nutrition facts for a burger from Mcdonald's?? A Big Mac has 29 grams of fat. 10 of which are saturated. I feel queasy thinking about it...not too mention french fries.
Fattening I know to be true because I think I gained about 3 pounds on our trip. That means I consumed at least 10,500 more calories than my body needs. Oy.

Addictive-
What happened here surprised me. The more we ate out (which was far too often), the more I would sit at home trying to think of a meal to cook before eventually feel like nothing sounded good. Healthy, home cooked meals lost some appeal, especially when I thought of the effort to produce them.
However, in contrast to that, by the time we were ordering dinner at BK on our way home from Utah, I wanted nothing more than a green smoothie and some grilled chicken.
The flavor, ingredients, and convenience of fast food are addictive. Click here.

Spendy-
In 7 days, we spent: $120.26 on fast food (including Chili's and Texas Roadhouse).
That comes out to be an average of $17.18 a day.
I think I just had a heart attack.
That's not including the meals that were paid for us by others.
That's not including the money we spent on a few items to cook at my sister's.
Typically, when we make meals at home, we spend about $50-60 a week, including snacks, desserts, main meals, side dishes, etc. Sometimes that amount rises when we restock the basics. But, in all reality, most of our dinners cost around $5-10 and we have leftovers for at least one or two more meals.
So yes, eating out at fast food, or restaurants in general, is very, very, costly! I challenge you to add up your fast food bills (including pizza, sit down dinners, and drive thru), for the month and see how much you spend.

**If you survive solely on the dollar menu at your favorite burger joint, I can see how it could be cheaper. But, you're paying a buck for some fat and salt with no fruits and veggies. It's a give-take. Spend a little extra on good for you food, or go cheap now and risk spending more in medical bills years down the road?

Tainted-
This one makes me sick to my stomach when I think it through.
Have you ever heard of "Mechanically separated meat"?

Read this article.
In addition to this form of "meat," many restaurants add excess amounts of sodium and other additives to help the food taste better. I don't really want to do too much research on this because I don't feel like throwing up right now. Just know that it is common knowledge that fast food is loaded with all sorts of wrong calories.


So, once again, from the words of K, fast food is really "Fattening Addictive Spendy Tainted Food."

Now that that's off my chest...

Our vacation was lovely.
We thoroughly enjoyed some much needed R&R.
We thoroughly enjoyed some much needed family time.
We thoroughly enjoyed eating Costa Vida, J.Dawg's, Texas Roadhouse, and Chili's.
Sometimes it's good to forgo the cooking, abandon responsibility, and live on the wild side.
Just know that I think it gets old after about a week. :-)

In 14.5 days
More than 3,000 miles
More than 43 hours in the car (with a baby and puppy, in a Mazda 3)

It feels good to be home.
It feels good to cook again.
It feels good to sleep in my own bed.
It feels good to be back in a routine.
It feels good to leave Utah knowing that it won't be too long before we're back on that side of the country again. For good.