Wendy’s Spicy Chicken Sandwich, be still my heart

Dear Spicy Chicken,

I miss you, like the deserts miss the rain.

Today I have been craving fast food.  Spicy chicken you are my #1.  Honorable mention goes to:

• KFC Big Crunch Combo with Supreme Fries
• Burger King Chicken Tendercrisp
• McDonalds Big Mac & Southwest Chicken

This got me to thinking about food and how it affects me, or how I think it affects me.  I have this mentality that I can eat whatever I want.  I think this started when I began my pre-teen growth spurt; I could put back a lot of food and never gain weight.  The funny thing is, this continued well into my adult years; I guess I’ve just been one of those lucky people with a high metabolism.  I used to wonder if the way I thought about food was a self-fulfilling prophecy, that I could eat whatever I wanted and not gain weight because I genuinely believed I could.  Sometimes I wonder if I had been someone who stressed out over food, felt guilty and paranoid about my poor food choices, would it have affected me differently?  If I convinced myself that it would make me fat if I ate fast food on a regular basis, would it have?

I realize this isn’t a foolproof theory, that I have probably been affected in unseen ways by my eating habits, vitamin deficiencies, or digestive problems perhaps.  Sometimes I wonder if it affected my skin, but then I think about how the first six years of bad skin occurred when I lived at home in a small town with no chain restaurants.  My mother made dinner every night, we didn’t drink many pop drinks, but I did drink a ton of milk…  Ok I am getting off track, my point is I do believe on some level that the way in which you perceive food can affect you.

If I think I can eat whatever I want then why have I given up fast food?  Like I said, it’s not a foolproof theory.  Here are my main motivations for changing my diet:

1. My main goal is boost energy.  I’m hoping a healthier diet will have a positive effect on my energy levels/mood.
2. They say your metabolism starts slowing down at 25.  I am 25.
3. Fast food is fake cheap.  The $$ add up.
4. I would like to learn how to cook.