Last night was an all to common experience for me. I barely ate all day, surviving on coffee and an english muffin to get me through school and work. By the time I finished work I ordered another coffee and made my way home. Surprisingly I wasn’t hungry after a day of little food ( I blame this on too much caffeine and stress overload) and didn’t jump to make dinner when I got home. Enter 10pm. Late night munchies hit hard. I was hungry and I wanted something fast. After a week of great eating and losing weight I was holding a cheeseburger, fries and a sugary coke. Not exactly diet friendly.
On my drive home it struck me how odd it was that as soon as that old familiar feeling hit I hopped in my car and headed to McDonalds like it was my second nature. I haven’t gotten to the weight I am without my fair share of these late night fast food binges. All to often people are quick to point blame at the restaurant but is McDonalds really to blame? As a company McDonald’s does their job well. Everyone knows what a Big Mac is or the all to common Chicken Nugget. As a child a Happy Meal used to be a huge treat and all of us kids savoured every bite. McDonalds is in the business of food and even though you may not like what they serve you know them all to well. The big golden arches are a glittery path to a sad pathetic burger, and yet I seem to get caught in that trap every time.
I know people argue that as a company McDonalds should offer healthier choices to people, but is it truly their responsibility? At what point do I take the blame? I know that after eating a burger meal and drinking a coke will make me feel ill. I know how many calories and fat grams are in the meal I am consuming. I know how ironic it is that the fat girl is going on a midnight burger run. I also know that I could of stayed home, cooked a healthy meal and saved my body from the sodium overload. As a society we are all to quick to pass on the blame, and I am certainly no different. Now this is certainly a simplified argument. It is a safe assumption that McDonalds spends millions of dollars in advertising to get me to walk under those golden arches, but even so at the end of the day I am the consumer and I make my own choices.
I guess at the end of this all I really wonder is why I am such a creature of habit. Why a late night burger feels comfortable. That may be odd to hear for someone who has never dealt with overeating or emotional eating but sometimes the simple things hit home the hardest. This is a conversation I have never honestly had with myself. Whenever the healthy eating train falls off the tracks I look for a scapegoat and play innocent. One burger does not wreck a week of healthy eating. One burger will not derail my path to success. One burger will not open the flood gates of poor choices. I am worth more than a late night binge. At the end of the day I am the one making the step to lose the excess weight and get myself into a happy and healthy body. That is worth more than a crummy old burger anyway.
