My Comfort Zone
When I was nine years old I had my first experience with fast food; I was amazed.
The concept of fast food was totally new to me. I walked into Hardees and proceeded to the counter to order my food. I decided to get biscuits and gravy with hash browns. I couldn’t believe that at nine years old I could go to Hardees (which was two houses down from mine) and order something, give them some of my allowance and within almost seconds receive my food. I thought to myself why did my mother never do this for me before, it’s so easy! From that moment on, I was addicted to the concept of fast food. Cooking food at home was times of the past. Why would you spend time cooking over a stove when you could go to fast food, not even get out of your car, and within minutes have food for the whole family?
I even turned eating fast food at that age into a social event. I would invite all my friends there so we could hang out and eat at the same time. My favorite time to go was during the summer when it was really hot and my friends and I would go to get ice cream and sodas. We would order suicide cokes, which are different kinds of sodas mixed together. The employees that took our order knew exactly how we liked our cokes mixed up.
My mother had just started her own business in our home. Her time was totally consumed by starting this business. I would frequently visit Hardees in order to be around people and have people to talk to. Hardees became sort of a home away from home for me. There was an instance when I was eleven years old where I got shot in the face with a BB gun while riding my bike home from school. When I realized I was bleeding heavily I knew I had to get some help. Without any hesitation or thought I rode my bike to Hardees to get help even though my house was only two houses down. I did not hesitate about where to go for help because I knew my mother would have been too busy and I did not want to bother her. The manager at Hardees went to get my mother after she had called the police.
Fast food was more than just a place to eat for me. Hardees had offered me a place where I felt comfortable. I also did not feel like I was in the way of anyone. My comfort with fast food continued throughout my life. After I received my drivers’ license I discovered other fast food restaurants. When I would visit other fast food places I enjoyed the food, however they did not give me the comfort that I knew at Hardees.
For the last three years my boyfriend and I have eaten at fast food together at least three times a day. This habits’ expense continued to grow. We found ourselves getting tired of the dollar menu items such as McChickens and Double Cheeseburgers. We then started to order more expensive items such as combo meals, premium chicken sandwiches, and Big Macs. When we sat down and analyzed where our money was going we were shocked. On an average day we would spend forty dollars a day on fast food.
Seeing how much money we were essentially wasting on fast food is what made me want to make a huge change. I decided I was no longer going to eat fast food. This change has thrown me though a loop physically and mentally in the last six weeks. I was going to the grocery and cooking meals myself now. I did not know that something that seemed as simple as not wasting money on fast food and going to the grocery instead would be so difficult in so many ways. I had never been a frequent visitor of the grocery store or my kitchen, so being these two places felt very odd to me at first. The first time I went to the grocery store to get groceries I felt confused. I did not have a grocery list to go off of. I thought to myself, what am I supposed to get. I walked up and down every aisle in the store looking at the food. Interesting enough, I did not walk in the produce section. I was not comfortable getting fresh fruit and vegetables. I had never had those things from fast food restaurants so I was ignorant as to what they were and how you used them to cook. After walking up and down every aisle in the store I had a cart full: chicken patties, pulled pork bbq, lunchables, yogurt, lasagna, frozen pretzels, chicken nuggets, chips & dip, ice cream, burritos, TV dinners, and fish sticks. I preceded to the check out lane……$258. I thought to myself, what am I doing? It would be much cheaper to stick with fast food.
When I got home to unload all of these groceries my mother was laughing at me. As we were unpacked what seemed like thousands of groceries my mother stopped me and asked me to sit down so we could talk. My mother told me that all of these groceries were the same concepts as fast food. Pretty much all of the food I had just gotten was microwavable or ready in less than five minutes. I did not even think of that while I was in the store, I was just looking for food that looked good. My mom’s words made perfect sense; I was sticking to what I was comfortable with. I then challenged myself. I dug through boxes in storage and found several cookbooks. I looked through them and wrote down some recipes I was interested in trying. . After hours of writing down recipes, I went back to the grocery store. I did not feel confused anymore. I knew what I was there for. That trip to the grocery store was much cheaper.
Although being in the kitchen is still uncomfortable for me it is getting better. My mother put a TV in there to make it a little easier to be in there without being bored. I have definitely stepped outside of my comfort zone with food and tried new things. I am now to the point that I do not even crave fast food or smell it when I am driving by. I am starting to enjoy cooking and trying new dishes. I have noticed that since I have not been eating fast food I have stayed at home a lot more. I feel a sense of accomplishment when I finish a meal and my family enjoys it. Since my parents do not have time to cook I feel that I am doing my whole household a favor by cooking meals at home. I have gained a little bit of weight since I started cooking. I think this is due to being home more. When I had to drive somewhere to eat I only ate three times a day. I now eat more than three times a day. This change has also made me realize I have to start working out. As hard as this transition has been for me so far I am looking forward to the new lifestyle it is sure to present.
When I was nine years old I had my first experience with fast food; I was amazed.
The concept of fast food was totally new to me. I walked into Hardees and proceeded to the counter to order my food. I decided to get biscuits and gravy with hash browns. I couldn’t believe that at nine years old I could go to Hardees (which was two houses down from mine) and order something, give them some of my allowance and within almost seconds receive my food. I thought to myself why did my mother never do this for me before, it’s so easy! From that moment on, I was addicted to the concept of fast food. Cooking food at home was times of the past. Why would you spend time cooking over a stove when you could go to fast food, not even get out of your car, and within minutes have food for the whole family?
I even turned eating fast food at that age into a social event. I would invite all my friends there so we could hang out and eat at the same time. My favorite time to go was during the summer when it was really hot and my friends and I would go to get ice cream and sodas. We would order suicide cokes, which are different kinds of sodas mixed together. The employees that took our order knew exactly how we liked our cokes mixed up.
My mother had just started her own business in our home. Her time was totally consumed by starting this business. I would frequently visit Hardees in order to be around people and have people to talk to. Hardees became sort of a home away from home for me. There was an instance when I was eleven years old where I got shot in the face with a BB gun while riding my bike home from school. When I realized I was bleeding heavily I knew I had to get some help. Without any hesitation or thought I rode my bike to Hardees to get help even though my house was only two houses down. I did not hesitate about where to go for help because I knew my mother would have been too busy and I did not want to bother her. The manager at Hardees went to get my mother after she had called the police.
Fast food was more than just a place to eat for me. Hardees had offered me a place where I felt comfortable. I also did not feel like I was in the way of anyone. My comfort with fast food continued throughout my life. After I received my drivers’ license I discovered other fast food restaurants. When I would visit other fast food places I enjoyed the food, however they did not give me the comfort that I knew at Hardees.
For the last three years my boyfriend and I have eaten at fast food together at least three times a day. This habits’ expense continued to grow. We found ourselves getting tired of the dollar menu items such as McChickens and Double Cheeseburgers. We then started to order more expensive items such as combo meals, premium chicken sandwiches, and Big Macs. When we sat down and analyzed where our money was going we were shocked. On an average day we would spend forty dollars a day on fast food.
Seeing how much money we were essentially wasting on fast food is what made me want to make a huge change. I decided I was no longer going to eat fast food. This change has thrown me though a loop physically and mentally in the last six weeks. I was going to the grocery and cooking meals myself now. I did not know that something that seemed as simple as not wasting money on fast food and going to the grocery instead would be so difficult in so many ways. I had never been a frequent visitor of the grocery store or my kitchen, so being these two places felt very odd to me at first. The first time I went to the grocery store to get groceries I felt confused. I did not have a grocery list to go off of. I thought to myself, what am I supposed to get. I walked up and down every aisle in the store looking at the food. Interesting enough, I did not walk in the produce section. I was not comfortable getting fresh fruit and vegetables. I had never had those things from fast food restaurants so I was ignorant as to what they were and how you used them to cook. After walking up and down every aisle in the store I had a cart full: chicken patties, pulled pork bbq, lunchables, yogurt, lasagna, frozen pretzels, chicken nuggets, chips & dip, ice cream, burritos, TV dinners, and fish sticks. I preceded to the check out lane……$258. I thought to myself, what am I doing? It would be much cheaper to stick with fast food.
When I got home to unload all of these groceries my mother was laughing at me. As we were unpacked what seemed like thousands of groceries my mother stopped me and asked me to sit down so we could talk. My mother told me that all of these groceries were the same concepts as fast food. Pretty much all of the food I had just gotten was microwavable or ready in less than five minutes. I did not even think of that while I was in the store, I was just looking for food that looked good. My mom’s words made perfect sense; I was sticking to what I was comfortable with. I then challenged myself. I dug through boxes in storage and found several cookbooks. I looked through them and wrote down some recipes I was interested in trying. . After hours of writing down recipes, I went back to the grocery store. I did not feel confused anymore. I knew what I was there for. That trip to the grocery store was much cheaper.
Although being in the kitchen is still uncomfortable for me it is getting better. My mother put a TV in there to make it a little easier to be in there without being bored. I have definitely stepped outside of my comfort zone with food and tried new things. I am now to the point that I do not even crave fast food or smell it when I am driving by. I am starting to enjoy cooking and trying new dishes. I have noticed that since I have not been eating fast food I have stayed at home a lot more. I feel a sense of accomplishment when I finish a meal and my family enjoys it. Since my parents do not have time to cook I feel that I am doing my whole household a favor by cooking meals at home. I have gained a little bit of weight since I started cooking. I think this is due to being home more. When I had to drive somewhere to eat I only ate three times a day. I now eat more than three times a day. This change has also made me realize I have to start working out. As hard as this transition has been for me so far I am looking forward to the new lifestyle it is sure to present.
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