The King Will Kill You!

So as part of this adventure I've been tracking my food intake. Am I eating enough protein or too many sugars? I'm using the MyFitnessPal app to do it, and although it's another time investment, the results are interesting.

Last night we were out and about and had a gift card that we needed to use, so we stopped at Burger King for dinner. This is (thankfully) a very rare event, but all fast food may become even more rare after what I learned.

I ordered a good-sized, but not unreasonable meal, and shared with Sarah. Here's what I had:

• BBQ Bacon King (that's a double-patty burger, so it's on the large end of the scale)
• Half a medium chocolate/Oreo shake (Sarah loves shakes, and it's a rare treat)
• Half of the medium fries, dipped in "fry sauce" or "buffalo sauce"
• Two chicken nuggets
• Five chicken "fries" (Abby decided her meal was too spicy, so I helped out)
• Water to drink (I'm taking all the credit I can get for this one!)

When I finished, I was comfortable, and didn't feel like I was over-eating. However, when I got home and entered my meal in my app, I was amazed! My job keeps me pretty sedentary, and I'm only 5'6". I've also got 16-17% body fat I'd like to reduce to 11%. We didn't log any exercise yesterday, so with all of these factors in mind, MyFitnessPal recommended 1,650 calories for the day.

My average breakfast is between 250 and 400, average lunch about 300, which I usually cap off with a few snacks (200) and 700 calorie dinner to get pretty close. This doesn't leave me hungry or tired, and if that fat gets burned at all, it isn't much.

Yesterday I was on track for a normal day... until we had dinner! That bout of fast food weighed in at a whopping (pun intended) 1,781 calories! I could have easily had another burger, or finished one of the kid's meals, and gone well over 2,000. The crazy part is, this didn't feel like a particularly large meal, but the content of the meal really changes things a lot. MyFitnessPal estimated that if I eat regularly like I did yesterday (pretty healthy other than a fast-food dinner), I will gain over a pound (of fat) each week!

Am I going to give up burgers and fries now? Absolutely not! I love switching things up and going somewhere with a "play place" on occasion. But oddly enough, really good food not only tastes better, but tends to be better for you, and although it might be "different," not many people are going to try to tell you that Burger King is fine dining.  This is the strongest reminder I've had yet to be mindful of what I'm eating, and to enjoy every bite. I want to be intentional when I choose my food, and not just eat something because it's convenient or because it's there.

Time to make breakfast...