Fast Food World

They've been talking lately on this one list I'm on about weight and fast food, how much is individual responsibility, how much is evil corporate lures. I have to say that I agree whole-heartedly that fast food is something to be eaten sparingly, if at all. I also admit I tend to rely on it a little too much. For instance, our car is finally done and I can go get it! Yippee! Unfortunately, that's going to mean an hour's drive, each way. Add in the time making payments, signing papers, etc, and I'm going to be coping with two very hungry little girls. Fortunately there's a Sonic right down the block from the dealership. I can feed the toddler and the baby, not to mention myself, in the happy privacy of our car. And I do love their Club Chicken Toaster. Yum, yum, yum.

So not only is the toddler eating, in essence, junk food, she's not running around and playing hard like she normally would. Bad combination. It's not going to get any easier, either, with the teen here. I'm going to have to do more and more running him around. Even after we're all together again, the husband's new job is shaping to require many more hours than we had realized. The answer, as I see it, is to work even harder to make sure everything I make is healthy and to make sure they get as much activity as they can stand. And try really, really hard to avoid spending long hours in the car.

Dealing with the teen is another issue entirely. The husband did comment Saturday that he seems to have lost weight, which was a happy thing. We've made a change in our eating habits that the teen is very unhappy about, though. No more table sugar for our cereal. See, Friday I went to get the sugar out, so I could make the pie and the brownies. Only it was almost gone. By emptying the sugar canister, emptying the sugar bowl, and skimping heavily I was able to make what I needed. But we had no white sugar left in the house.

Now, since I bought a five pound bag of sugar only a couple of weeks ago we should have had around three quarters left. I made one batch of cookies and Friday's cooking. I really don't think the teen is eating sugar straight, no matter what his sweet tooth is, so after some thought it seemed most likely that it was all going into breakfast cereal.

Sooooo. We've switched to Splenda, and I won't be buying white sugar anymore unless I have a specific need for it. We're not going entirely sugar-free, just making this one small change. Little steps. He's freaked enough about this. This morning was the first morning with the Splenda and he complained bitterly about the after-taste. He used 5 packets on his cornflakes. Hmmm. Might there be a connection? (He's much more given to emotional than logical thinking right now!) Since I never use sweetening on my cereal I don't know how it tastes, but the husband said it tasted just fine to him.

The teen has also started walking his dog around the block every afternoon before doing his homework or getting on the computer. I didn't even have to suggest that; he just decided to start doing it. This is good. I am feeling very hopeful right now.