Damn you convenience!

Bah.

Lunch today was not a brilliant show of my ability to have some restraint or be more aware of how I'm eating.

It was more a show of just how far I still have to go.

I can say now that my dependence on tracking and researching and planning is far greater than I thought it was. And I got a better understanding of just how good the fast food guys are at enticing you to eat whatever it is that they want you to. They're good. I mean, really good.

The regular 1/4 pound burger and small fries (better yet, make it a medium for just 60 cents!!) costs more than the value-sized burger and fries. So, they shove the value menu in the corner, with no pictures or descriptions. Gotta guess if you'll get lettuce on that thing. Instead of being smart, and not falling for that crap, I blew my whole day by being lured in by the picture and ease of the pre-priced meal. I mean, twice the calories!!!

What a dummy I can be sometimes.

Here's what I learned:
If I'm going to have fast food, I'm going to need to be better prepared. I'm going to have to figure out where I'm going ahead if time. I'm going to have to know what is and isn't acceptable for me. If I can't do the research ahead of time, I need to be bringing my phone with to look it up there.
TAKE YOUR TIME WHEN ORDERING!! The problem with having someone else (or a whole table full of someone elses!) on your tab is that you can't sit and analyze every item. You kind of have to hurry up and make a choice. Not the best way to get something good to eat! If the other person (say your hungry hubby...) wants to order more quickly, perhaps you'll just have to swipe your card twice. It might just be better than making a game-time decision and having it end with an 800-calorie lunch.
Do NOT fall for pretty pictures. Remember that the store doesn't love the value menu, but that I should. Lower prices, smaller caloric impact, and probably less regret later! Maybe.

So, that's it for my lunchtime adventures. Maybe I should say my lunchtime lessons? That sounds too preachy. I'll stick with adventures. ;)

Additional nuggets of advice out there? Besides the obvious "stop eating the FF, dummy," of course! That's quite the dur.

Also, I'm trying out the Android app for Blogger. Not sure how I feel about it just yet...it keeps freezing up on me, so I hope this even posts properly!!