Earlier this week, I was stuck in the unfortunate situation of being tired and hungry @ 10p.m. with 3 more hours of driving ahead of me. I stopped in a rest area on the NJ Turnpike to get something to keep me awake for the rest of my drive.
The Starbucks was already closed as was the convenience store that sells things like nuts and trail mix- probably the healthiest choice in these highway rest areas.
I had no choice but to hit the one remaining place open- a fast food chain. It was pretty comical considering I had spent entire day public speaking on the problems of poor quality school food and declining children’s health. My daughter knew better than to eat any. Just the aroma made her lose her appetite. She had gotten sick from eating Burger King 8 years ago and hasn’t touched the stuff since.
Here I was having no choice but to eat this junk, my back was against the wall, I needed some protein and caffeine to make it home in one piece. When you don’t plan ahead with real food, the toxic food environment is your only choice.
I cross examined the counter person asking about all the different chicken sandwich options on the menu, I figured it had to be a wee bit better than the burgers. I finally opted for the simplest of chicken patty sandwiches. I scraped the mayo and slimy lettuce off, tossed the fluffy white bun and washed it down with a medium Coke-not diet, full strength high fructose corn syrup!
Before I ate it , I took a few seconds to do one important thing that many of us forget to do when eating. Bless your food and remember where it comes from. Our modern life is so very disconnected when it comes to food. Often there is little thought given to where food comes from, how it was harvested and processed and by whom? If you don’t know where your food came from, it’s a good idea to bless it and bless it well before you take it and all the vibes that go along with it.
I made it home 3 hours later, wide awake from the full strength cola and felt pretty sick the next day. I call this the “dark side of eating clean”. My digestive system doesn’t know what to do with this sort of fast food fare. Still, it’s a good reminder for me of all the work that needs to be done so that less and less people eat this stuff on a regular basis.
Next time, I will make sure I plan ahead and have healthy high protein snacks in my car so I’m not held hostage to fast food again.
