This morning, I did something I haven’t done in YEARS.
I had this for breakfast:
I feel conflicted. It was good. SO GOOD. But it was crap food. Processed. Fake. Full of nothing but carbs, fat and overly processed nonsense.
But it kept me full for hours. I was craving it, and I so I had it. A breakfast sandwich. Breakfast potatoes. Diet coke.
I worked out this morning. And then I stopped for fast food breakfast that I wanted. But this shouldn’t be what “I” want – this should be about what my body needs. So why did I stop for fast food breakfast? My body doesn’t need that. I wanted it.
I don’t feel like bingeing. But who knows if I will this afternoon. “They” say crappy food will lead to crappy eating the rest of the day. Whoever “they” are.
Conflicted.
It was ONE meal. ONE breakfast. I haven’t fallen off the wagon. I haven’t spent months eating fast food. It was one breakfast. But one can lead to two, right? It’s a slipper slope.
Conflicted.
I don’t really care that I had fast food breakfast. As much as this post makes it seem like I’m dwelling on it, I really don’t care. It was good. And now, I’m done with it. Maybe I’ll have it again… in another couple years.
I worked out today, I’ve gotten enough water in so far. And I’ll have an apple for snack. Vegetables for lunch. Balanced. My life is balanced.
{ 64 comments… read them below or add one }
In my opinion, a little indulgence every once in a while is good for you.
Yeah, it’s not “real” food, but it’s tasty and it’s what you wanted. No biggie.
I know how it is to feel guilty for eating it, but I know for me – if I don’t indulge in these kinds of things every so often I end up in a tailspin of terribly bad over-eating. You have the power to make it stop after this one, so do just that.
you’ve got this, girl!
aren’t you and your body the same?
I think you missed the point.
I think by not binging and simply enjoying something, even if it’s not ideal, shows how strong you’ve become and how you’ve changed. Food like that is a trigger food for A LOT of people early on, but as they grow, get stronger and get better control of their thoughts, they can participate in something like that without it taking over their day/week/month.
All detours lead back to the MAIN Road..you’re fine…continue on..MUAH!
My mama’s motto was always “everything’s ok in moderation”…now I’m sure there are a few things like drugs or something that really don’t fall under this rule, but as far as fast food goes, since you don’t eat it daily, it’s not part of your routine and you only ate the one meal, you should move forward and live your life and not worry too much about it
I think your attitude toward it is the most important part.
I had a serious addiction to Sausage Egg McMuffins. I gave up McDonald’s for Lent, and I’m planning on seriously restricting myself after Easter. It doesn’t help that in my 2 mile drive to work, it’s right on the way.
I decided to buy a Whoopie Pie pan, and I cook a dozen eggs at 350* for about 10-12 minutes. I let them sit on a cooling rack for a while, and then I put them all in a quart size bag in the freezer. When I’m craving an Egg McMuffin, I toast a whole wheat english muffin, and heat up one of the pre-cooked eggs in our toaster oven. It quells the craving to stop at McDonalds, and it’s much healthier.
Hope this helps!
THIS is a great idea, Rachel! I will be looking for a whoopie pie pan this weekend
Good job not letting it ruin your day!! I think you did things correctly after you ate it; you acknowledged it and moved on. Nothing wrong with that – every couple years!
Awesome philosophy and balanced attitude! I admire you.
My new favorite quote from Pinterest: One cheeseburger and day off won’t make you fat, just like one salad and one workout won’t make you fit.
I don’t know. Alcoholics don’t get a “day off” from abstinence, and while one drink won’t make you drunk, it can all too often be the start of a bender.
One should not play chicken with an addiction.
THIS.
Food addiction and eating disorders are a lot trickier than alcohol addiction–you can never give up food cold turkey. Also, a lot of eating disorders that involve a binge are triggered (research has shown) by a period of starvation (deprivation) beforehand. Addictions are not necessarily comparable!
THIS.
I think the key is that you noted that the food was all processed and lousy food. Thinking about it this way makes it less likely that you fall back into a habit because what you really want to do is be healthy.
I’m glad it didn’t ruin your day, as well. I’d say good experience for the future. Makes you stronger.
Sometimes you have to have meals like this. Just not every day all day -the whole point of working out and eating well is you can absorb meal like this and move on…don’t dwell on it and don’t make a habit of it and the world will keep spinning and you will still be fine
. If you’re going to eat it, enjoy it thoroughly…and then move on 
It has been years since I have had a breakfast like this too. But I know when I do, it will be a treat. I will enjoy it in a different way than I did before. Treats are fun.
I hope that when I give in (my choice will be the croissandwich!) that I will be good like you and fit in a good work out that day!
Sometimes I wish that overly processed foods like this would give me a tummy ache. Then they would be easier to resist. But, I have a stomach of steel.
No offense, but that looks disgusting…
Most of us have a meal like that once in a while…I had mozzarella sticks a few weeks ago and they were about the greatest thing I’ve ever tasted.
I think the best part is that you blogged about it…not being ashamed, not trying to hide what you ate. To me, that is what a “normal” eater would do.
Thing is … Jen isn’t a “normal” eater, and may never quite be a normal eater. Sobriety is definitely threatened by one drink.
You know, I agree with both Amy and Janis. Yes, most people eat a little something that’s high in fat on occasion. But not while they’re trying to lose weight and not an entire meal of processed foods high in fat, sodium and sugar (or fake sugar). You’ve created a community on this blog that is supportive, which is good, but I think those who have differing viewpoints may have stopped commenting, which in some ways is bad. Most of the people here seem to think eating like this on occasion is fine, I tend to think it’s a red flag. And I’m particularly troubled that Jen can make the case that a meal like this is part of a balanced life. I totally disagree, and despite the comments that we all eat like this sometimes, I don’t know anyone who would eat this meal, ever.
I know LOTS of people who would/do eat these meals on occasion (including me). Each to their own–deprivation of something you really want is rarely a good thing. Life is short–enjoy the small pleasures once in awhile;)
Babbalou, I’ve stopped commenting because of the reasons you stated. With a history of overeating/binge eating, a lifetime of being overweight, a successful loss followed by a rocky maintenance and regain followed by a new effort toward active loss, I don’t think a meal like this serves any purpose for someone like Jen other than to re-open pathways that the person is trying to close. I wouldn’t eat this five years into maintenance, and that’s a maintenance with no regain. But that’s just me. Most of the opinions here are to the other extreme, and so be it.
The assumption that binge eating or other disordered eating is a lifelong disease and that “normal” eating can never be achieved is not consistent with the research, plain and simple. The disease model of drug addiction and alcoholism even has its holes.
Do not assume that because you can’t (or won’t) learn to eat normally after an eating disorder, that nobody else can. Many people do.
If you’re feeling conflicted, don’t do it again. It’s a bad sign. Even above and beyond your weight, it’s clearly making you FEEL BAD about yourself, which can’t be good for maintenance.
Don’t turn your maintenance into a game of chicken.
Fast food breakfast, whatever. I find the comments and follow-up comments really interesting. Ha, I had to comment just because there was so much passion in the comments.
That simply looks like 4 grains 2 proteins 2 fats and 1/2 a dairy. Things your body needs
Are you serious? Your body doesn’t “need” Burger King. Ever. Way to justify.
I agree w/ you Norma. My body didn’t “need” Burger King. I “wanted” it, not “needed” it.
Don’t you think it says something that you have to write a blog post, and thinks this much over something you eat? You had a craving, you satisfied it, now move on.
The post took me about 10 minutes to write and then, I hit publish and moved on. Didn’t mean to make it seem like I was obsessed over it… sorry! What I meant by the post was exactly like you wrote… I had a craving, satisfied it and moved on.
That is awesome. That’s freaking progress chica.
Interestingly, the part of the meal I find the most concerning is the huge Diet Coke. Drinks and foods with artificial sweeteners are dangerous and especially so for those trying to keep their weight in check. When I think about it, I haven’t had any artificial sweetener for over 15 years. And maybe I shouldn’t say this but that meal didn’t look SO terrible and after a check of the BK nutrition page…the breakfast sandwich and hash browns had 46g carbs, 25g fat, and 14g protein, and 475 calories – for a splurge it could have been a lot worse. If it is eaten slowly and savored, I think this is fine and most certainly because you understand the role that this meal played in your day/week/life.
That was my first diet coke all week – I understand the complete avoidance some have about artificial sweeteners and while I do try to stay away from them in general, it was my first diet coke all week so I’m fine with it.
I drink at least two diet cokes a day. My baby is probably going to have twitches from it getting into my breast milk, huh?
..there were times that we crave for something we haven’t eat for years, and yeah, I do have struggles as well but it’s okay just once in a while I guess
You’ve done a great job resisting such yummy treat for long time though, because I can’t even refuse to pick Doritos
This was not the picture I wanted to see whilst I’m eating my salad lunch hahaha talk about cravings!!
The conflicted feelings come in because we know better and you probably worked out really hard and working out isn’t super fun all the time. It’s like erasing your hard work and sweat. But it sounds like you have control of it and it’s not going to turn in to an everyday thing. I don’t know anyone who can eat clean/healthy everyday all day for every single meal. If you do, there’s a strong chance you might be a robot. If you don’t give in to cravings every once in a while there is a bigger chance of going overboard later. One fast food breakfast a year isn’t a big deal so get rid of those conflicted feelings! : )
Jen, I’m sure you don’t need anyone to tell you this, but there are lots of people out there who refuse to accept that their experience may not be universal. Don’t listen to them.
If you find that this meal was a problem for you, don’t do it again until done a little more behavior training. If you find that this meal was not a problem for you, congratulations, you’re learning.
I know how you feel about fearing you will fall of the healthy eating bandwagon and how one meal that you want may lead to more and more. It sounds like you are justifying it to yourself… Like you must only eat that if you’ve worked out. It’s okay to eat what we want. Sometimes we want chocolate, french fries and burgers, and ice cream. Other times we want a sandwich on wheat bread, a banana, some peanut butter, and yogurt. I now enjoy candy every single day because i want it. Does my body need it, no. But, since I have allowed myself to not judge food and eat what I want, I no longer feel like I need to have food because it may be the last time I allow myself to have it.
I am glad you got what you wanted! Your body broke down that meal and recognized the protein, carbs and fat…and the best thing… It kept you satisfied longer than if you would have denied yourself and went home for oatmeal and fruit. Good for you!
I have to ask a question that may not go over well:
Why did you take a picture of this and post it?
Was it in a spirit of honesty and accountability, or was it — even just a little bit! — because you know you shouldn’t have done it, and you were even subconsciously relying on your readers to tell you it was okay, when you know it wasn’t?
Stay away from that garbage, Jen. Under no circumstances is it acceptable. Find a new “indulgence.” Yarn. Netflix. Nail polish. But not easily weaponized food.
Jen might have posted the picture because this is a hot-button topic: abstinence vs. moderation. I have no idea if that’s the case, but I’m glad she did because these comments are FASCINATING. As a fellow blogger, I think this move on Jen’s part was blogging genius.
I realize I’m probably not getting the whole picture (no one but Jen is), but she doesn’t seem nearly as conflicted as her readership.
Why are people so judgmental? I’m losing weight, and I eat fast food sometimes.
Wow, clean eaters be trippin’ lmao! How dare someone tell another adult that their breakfast is “under no circumstances acceptable”, “concerning”, “playing chicken with addiction”, “troubling” and “a red flag”. That’s the craziest shizz I have ever read on a blog ever. It’s just food! She might spiral into a McD frenzy and gain all her weight back plus more after this breakfast but its unlikely, and even if she did, she’s still a human being. She’s not a child. And FYI being fat is not the worst thing that can happen to a person. I find former fatties the meanest toward others struggling with food choices and weight. I hear the judgement dripping off the posts because Jen regained a bit of weight post surgery. She is still a healthy weight. She was extremely thin at her lowest. A less than perfectly natural meal with not be the undoing of you once in a while.
I couldn’t agree more, well said!!
Good for you! People really need to hear this message. They need to learn flexibility. Once in awhile we indulge in a fast food meal too!
Once in a while I think that it is definitely okay to indulge! Whats the point of living if you cant have something absolutely delicious once in awhile. I try to give myself a cheat meal once a week, that way I stay happy and look good!
I used to eat in fast food for like often times in a week, but when I saw this video on how our body respond to processed foods it made me think twice and made me more conscious about my health. And then I realized how also it affects people’s weight. I mean people who usually eat in fast foods or eat processed foods tends to be obese or over weight. Not saying that don’t eat in fast foods (I mean come on we can’t deny it, it’s delicious), it’s just that I think we must be aware of what kinds of food we eat. Once in a while would be okay. It’s just a matter of self control and proper knowledge about food and health.
You can search for this video on youtube. I just forgot the title but your can search for processed food video, it’s like processed food vs. whole food.
Sometimes there’s a nutritional reason why you crave something weird…maybe you needed the salt or something? I don’t know, just an idea.
I hate the phrase “everything in moderation” because normally…there is no moderation. People say that to justify kids eating junk food for holidays/birthday, but fail to realize kids are given treats all the time…in a lot of cases, several times a day! There is no real moderation. That being said…it sounds like you definitely do not eat McDonald’s on a regular basis. Based on what you write on the blog, seems to me that your diet is typically clean and this really is an aberration. So don’t beat yourself up over it – not that you are, but some of the commenters seem to think you should. Of course I am sure they are perfect 100% of the time, of course.
We all feel like having some junk food now and then and there is no point beating yourself up about it. Once you know you have had it, it is time to go for the healthy option next meal round.
I’m a little late coming to this post, but there are a lot of good comments on here from both sides that I wanted to weigh-in on. No pun intended, ha!
As a former-overweight person who has since maintained a 60 pound loss (well…let’s call it 55 as I am currently 16 weeks pregnant) I swore up and down to swear off fast food and soda and just general junk forevermore. It has no place in my diet! I declared.
And the thing is, it doesn’t. Not *really*. But yeah, I still have a soda now and again, and I have chips now and again or a slice of pizza or what have you. I hardly eat these foods anymore though, because too much of them makes me feel gross after. Now Jen, I’m willing to bet that you aren’t making regular stops through the McDonalds drive through…but I think it all depends on the person, I really do. I didn’t used to, but I think that once you’ve reached a healthy weight and a healthy mind set, one egg mcmuffin isn’t going to send you back to 240+ pounds. When I was at my heaviest, I was strongly in denial about how much I was eating…and I tried to pretend it wasn’t “that bad”. When we can look at food objectively, and brush ourselves off and move on, then I think it’s fine. But that’s just my 2 cents.
There is nothing wrong with getting side tracked once and while. You are human after all, not a machine.
The thing is not to beat yourself up about it. That will only make you feel bad, which you don’t want.
Just enjoy these moments for what they are and move on. Become aware of your self talk and keep it positive and as Erika says above, “look at food objectively”
I agree with what Faith said in one of the comments above me. Jen posted this because she is very aware of her food choices – this is a GOOD thing. It is completely different than the mindless eating of junk food that usually has a healthy dose of denial in there with it. It is different than it used to be, and she was posting about it.
All of these people talking about red flags, and how this is not ok (EVER!!!), very obviously have a much less healthy relationship with food than Jen does.
I’m not sure how you made the leap that people who never eat fast food because they think it’s very unhealthy and maybe not the least bit appealing have a much less healthy relationship with food than Jen does. I am not making any judgements about Jen, but don’t see how questioning a fast food breakfast as “balanced” means I or anyone else has an unhealthy relationship with food. I think you’re stretching. And have bolstered my point that on this blog if you dare to raise an alternate viewpoint you may be personally attacked. I think the atmosphere here is not healthy.
I just think that people who call one meal of anything a red flag must have an extreme relationship with food. There was no attacking there, it seems like you are very defensive. It is simply one persons opinion, just like you have yours. You state your opinion on this blog, and I think its a little unreasonable to expect that people shouldn’t respond to it with a different opinion, and to feel attacked when someone does. IMO, people who are so extremely restrictive with their diet don’t have a healthy relationship with food – the people who I see that have a healthy relationship with food don’t make a big deal out of any one meal of anything.
Fast food is such a convience but what a price to pay for such an unhealthy diet. Not saying all fast food is bad, but you have to be careful.
Hey guys,
. I am a college student majoring in nutrition and I just wanted to encourage you guys to not make dieting your life. Eating healthy and working out is GREAT! And I love to do both, but my whole life used to be dieting and trying to lose those couple pounds that just always seemed to linger, and I was missing out on so much; enjoying food, enjoying life, getting frustrated at myself when I didn’t get to workout that day, ect… I know the world is telling us we have to diet to lose weight, but it has been proven that diets actually are one of the big factors that are causing us to gain weight. A study by Acel Keys proved the downfalls of dieting to be gaining weight.
Like I said, our bodies want to be strong, and last a long time. I really hope you will read more articles about intuitive eating and health at every size, and I hope maybe I helped someone with this post. Please comment back since this is a portion of a project I am doing in my “Health at Every Size Class”. Thanks!
More than 100 men volunteered for the study as an alternative to military service; the 36 selected had the highest levels of physical and psychological health, as well as the most commitment to the objectives of the experiment. What makes the “starvation study” (as it is commonly known) so important is that many of the experiences observed in the volunteers are the same as those experienced by patients with eating disorders.
During the first 3 months of the semi starvation experiment, the volunteers ate normally while their behavior, personality, and eating patterns were studied in detail. During the next 6 months, they were given nutritionally adequate foods with the same calories as most commercial weight loss meals, In addition to losing approximately 25% of their former weight, the men became lethargic, irritable, and obsessed with food. They talked constantly about eating, hunger, and weight. Once the experiment was over the men began the re-feeding and recuperating portion, where restrictions were no longer placed on their eating. They binged for weeks, often eating to a point of feeling ill. Despite their overeating, they continued reporting feeling ravenous. The weight previously lost returned rapidly as fat, and most of the men lost the muscle tone they had prior to the experiment. Some men even gained more weight, weighing more than they did before they began the experiment. (Pg 22, Diets and our Demons)
This article is not me trying to tell you to give up hope, it is important that we do try and keep our bodies fit and healthy, but what the dieters and doctors don’t know is that weight is NOT a way to tell if were healthy or not. Doctors only need to take one nutrition class in their entire college career.
So for something that does work, lets go back to the basics. When we are babies we turn our heads away when we are full and don’t just eat because someone says we should or because others are doing so. If we take care of our bodies and eat when we are hungry, stop when we are full, and DON’T place a calorie limit on ourselves, we will become our natural healthy weight again. This might sound scary, but keep in mind our bodies were made for survival and to be strong. So for most, their normal weight isn’t going to be over weight. The other huge step that sounds crazy to most is to not label foods as “good” food “bad” food. When we finally can accomplish that there will only be food our body is telling us to eat when we are hungry, which won’t always be chocolate cake I promise.
Weight is not The Only way to know if someone’s healthy but it IS a factor.
Ya somewhat
It’s “somewhat” a factor? No, it IS a factor. Not the only factor but it is still a factor.
No worries, love. I’m a recovering fat boy and as of this year a lacto-ovo vegetarian. I’ve been lacto-ovo off/on since age 19, but consistently for the first time since this past Feb. I fall of the fat/carbs wagon constantly. I’ve learned not to beat myself up. Life is but a string of tiny absurdities strung together by our own malleable follies. When I resist my fall, it hurts even worse. Accept what you’ve done. Move on. One day at time. By the way: you’re right. Mickey D’s and BK horrid b-fasts are fruit from the forbidden tree. Worth the risk of a fall. Remember to take a great multi at all times to sort of ease the badness of such meals.
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