Thursday, June 25, 2009

What Was He Thinking?

I've done really well the last couple of days, determined not to let the gain on Monday get to me. I'm exercising and eating my nutritious foods. No need to mess things up further by comforting myself with unhealthy junk foods.

After my doctor's appointment ran a little late yesterday, my son was starving and wanted to go to Wendy's for lunch. I agreed, as long as we ordered from the value menu to keep the costs down. I did not want fries, so I ordered a side salad. I am disappointed that the salad is no longer 99 cents. It is now $1.49, and well worth the extra fifty cents, but why is it that healthy foods cost more at these places?

While we were eating, I observed a scene that really disturbed me. Across from us was a dad with his two daughters, who looked to be about 12 and 14 years old. Each of them was eating a baked potato loaded with bacon and cheese sauce. They were even given extra bacon bits to pour onto their potatoes. Someone needs to tell people that baked poatoes are not that good for you when you throw all of that junk on top. Along with these mountains of fat and cholesterol, they were each eating the new boneless wings. These might not be that bad for you...I haven't seen the nutrition facts yet. What really bothered me was that one container of these wings was so large that the three of them could have split it, instead of each of them having their own. Add to this what the two girls were washing down their lunch with...frosty shakes! (By the way, there was not a vegetable in sight.) Now, this family cannot give me the excuse that they needed to buy from the value menu. The total cost of their food choices had to be over $25.00, for three people. And, two of these people were young girls! They were slender girls, but enough eating like that will catch up with them. I can only hope that this was just a special treat.

My son and I ate our junior sanwiches, and he had a value sized order of fries while I had my salad. I shared a little of my salad with him, since he loves cucumbers and tomatoes. Besides, the only veggie on his sandwich was a piece of lettuce...not anywhere near enough. It was plenty for lunch, and we did not feel like we needed to take a nap afterward!

I hope that dad thinks before he orders all of that artery-clogging food for his girls next time. We not only have to realize what we are putting into our bodies, but what we are feeding our kids as well. Their futures are at stake!

6 comments:

Mesha said...

you are totally right! i don't have any kids, I hope to one day though. I know that there wasn't much I was limited from on a fast food menu when I was a child though. I remember jumping straight from the kids meal to the Whopper at Burger King(and I'm not talking jr - even though the Junior is still too much). I love my parents VERY much and I know they didn't mean me harm, but now I wish I was allowed whatever my belly desired. A whole whopper (with cheese), fries and a Medium drink is more than an adult should even be eating and i was only like 9. A friend said she felt sad the other day because at the grocery store, this lady was pushing a cart that with a kid and the basket was full of fruit snacks, cookies, potato chips, pop tarts and juice boxes. She said there wasn't one thing that wasn't processed, boxed and fat/sugar filled in her cart. :(

tammi said...

Have you ever watched that docu-film called "SuperSize Me"? It compares what USED to be a large fries and drink and the sizes those things have become in recent years. Shocking.

A bloggy friend of mine was eating lunch at the mall with her two young kids (ages 3 and 5, I believe) and EACH of them had ordered a slice of pizza ~ and you know how huge those slices are! They watched in disbelief as a tourist couple from Europe sitting next to them SHARED JUST ONE piece!! From their body language and facial expressions, my friend knew they were very hungry, and yet they were both satisfied after only HALF of what her little kids ate!!!! It's incredible how much North Americans consume, simply because we can.

Have a look here to see a great comparison of food consumption around the world.

Mary Lou said...

I could go on for hours about how incredibly BAD fast food is! If anyone gets a chance, pick up the book, "Fast Food Nation"...you will think twice before you EVER eat another fast food burger again, I guarentee it! It is so very sad how UNEDUCATED people are about nutrition! Instead of looking down on these parents, we should be looking for ways to educate them about how important good nutrition is! I'm going to post information on my blog soon about fruits and veggies and how vital they are to our diets. It is especially vital to growing minds and bodies to have the proper nutrition. The saying "gargage in, garbage out" is very true! Not to mention the extremely high rates of cancer, obesity, diabetes, hypertention that exists in people in this fine nation of ours! Most of these conditions are at least partially, if not wholly preventable with diet and exercise!

Mary Lou said...
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Mary Lou said...
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WriterMarie said...

I've read Fast Food Nation and it's very frightening! Someone recently gave me a copy of Supersize Me, so I'll have to watch it. It's also amazing how much I'm learning while reading Master Your Metabolism about all of the chemical and junk that are in our food!