A Month Without Fast Food

I know I blogged about when I was starting my "month without fast food", but I'm not sure I every really blogged about how it went. Since I was asked about it, I figured I'd give a little more detail.

Before I started it, I don't think I realized how often I would swing through a drive thru and grab some fries or nuggets or anything! Most of my fast food dining happened while I was at work though. Typically I'd go through spurts where I did nothing but take my lunch to work, other times I'd do nothing but eat lunch out. Being that my lunches are only supposed to be 30 minutes long and I don't have an endless budget, grabbing something quick and cheap was always the easiest.

Since I was home with Jude I thought that would be the ideal time to go without fast food and to some degree it was. I was home during the day and so if I was hungry grabbing something out of the pantry was simply easier. The hardest part of the process I believe was when I was out and about with Jude. We were pretty active during my time off and on the run quite a bit. If I was hungry while we were out that meant I would have to find somewhere without a drive thru and actually take him out of the car and go inside. Because of this I often times just skipped lunch or would at least put it off until I got home.

Something that made it easier was that usually the only time I'd eat fast food was for lunch - so it didn't impact Ryan and I's usual dinner routine at all (only once in a blue moon would we be in a rush and grab something at McDonalds or Burger King for dinner).

Another thing that made it much easier was that my brother and Katy were also going 1 month without fast food. If I was going out to lunch with anyone during my time off, it was typically the two of them. So, the temptation wasn't there to just give in.

The day after my no fast food was up, I'll admit I drove to McDonald's and got a large fry. Also that day, Ryan called and asked if I wanted to meet him at Dairy Queen to get something to eat after work. However, I don't think I've eaten much more than that in almost a month now. I think it's one of those things that once you break out of a routine of having it as a fall back, then you start to realize how great it really is NOT and find other options.

So, while there were times I was driving down the road with a sleepy baby in the back seat and all I wanted to do was pull over and grab a quick bite to eat, it really wasn't that difficult to do and really seems to have been beneficial. We'll see if it sticks when I get back to work.