Not So Golden Arches

My first real job as a teenager was at McDonalds.  I started  as a senior in high school, was quickly promoted to a swing manager and loved it.  Yep, that's right.  I loved my job at the golden arches.  I had an amazing boss, made great friends and despite being there pretty much everyday of the week, I still enjoyed my employee discount on my meals.

Fast forward to 2004 and a  documentary by Morgan Spurlock called Supersize Me.  Have you seen this one?  I don't want to spoil it for you but Spurlock goes on a 30 day all McDonalds diet.  He has to order  everything from the menu at least once, and he has to say yes anytime they ask him to supersize his order.  Guess what?  By the end of the 30 days, he has gained weight, his liver panels are bad, just a host of terrible things. 

Bad McDonalds, right?    Well yes and no in my opinion.  See, as I  see it over the years McDonalds  as  well   as other fast food restaurants has tried  to offer healthier alternatives.  You can get salads, wraps, bottled water, apple slices...and that is where, to me, Spurlock messed up.  Once he made it all the way through their menu, he didn't have to continue ordering the Big Macs or QPC.  He didn't have to get Coke with every meal when bottled water, milk or even diet was available right?  Don't get me wrong, I see what he was  trying to prove, but I was still upset about it.  It's seems easy to pick on McDonalds, its a big one, but don't fool yourself by  choosing another one. 

I know that fast food is the enemy of healthy living, at  least  one of the big ones.  We try our best to avoid it, but sometimes it's just SO easy to fall into that trap.  Take tonight for example.  I  work until 6, the hubs is home re-roofing the garage all day.  he is going to take Mini me and Sissy to Mini's  dance camp  at 6 and go  back to work on the roof some more.  I am leaving work and driving straight to the studio to pick up the girls at the end of camp at 7:00.  By the time we  are  all home it's going to be close to  7:30...do you know how hard it is to drive past those arches at 7:30 and see the sign advertising the $9.99 dinner box?!?!?!  By that time we  are all going to be exhausted and no one will want to make dinner. 

Tonight we will drive past that sign, my girls will ask for the dinner box, and I will firmly and authoritatively say NO!  Not just because of  the fact that it's not good for us, but also now the resurgence of the pink slime.  The what?  Pink slime.  Yep, those words are associated with our food supply.

 Just seeing this and hearing more about the processing of meat and what is ending up not only in restaurants, but on our grocer's shelves and in our school lunches.  I  have never been so  happy that my kids are packers when it comes  to lunch!  Jamie Oliver brought this and the "ammonia wash" to light in his Food Revolution.  If you haven't seen it on youtube yet, check it out here!!

Watching this, hearing this, seeing this...it made me feel angry, helpless, victimized!  Join the Revolution!  Did you know that studies are starting to show that we may outlive our children?  What have we allowed society to do to us?  How  can we make this better? 

With the idea of the cheapest meat being processed and sold to us, and the huge markup on things like soda...how much would it really cost these  big name fast food restaurants to switch over  to grass fed, organic beef?  how much money would they lose if they served something to the public that was meant for  human consumption?  Come on big business!!

I loved you Mickey D's.  We made memories, we had some laughs...but I  love my children more.  I  may only be one person, and we may only be one family...but it's a start!  Take a stand! 

You can contact these chains and make your voice heard!   
Mcdonalds
Burger  King
Taco Bell

BMEye...a new point of view

I am the mother of an (almost) teen.  There.  I admit it.  It's true.  It terrifies me, makes me happy, makes me crazy.  My dear big girl is 12, 12 and a half next week.  She is beautiful, smart, funny, quirky and perfect.  She is my oldest and the first to fill my heart in the way that only a child can.  She encourages me, loves me, and is my friend.

My 12 year old has always been quiet but confident.  She is the type that comes across as shy and reserved until she gets to know you, then look out.  Its open season on crazy. :)  She has one of the most tender hearts I have ever witnessed (much like her uncle-my lil bro), and she keeps her feelings bottled up most of the time.  This is getting to be more and more as she inches ever closer to the actual, official teen years.  We spend many days yelling through her (slammed) closed door while she blocks us out with ear buds and iPods, but at the end of the day (literally) she snuggles on the couch with me, resting her head on my shoulder, and for that short window of time, she is my little girl again.

She has seen me struggle with my own body issues.  I never wanted to be the mom that said "I'm fat" in front of my kids, but I admit it has happened.  She is always quick to negate my sentiments though and reassure me that the image I (think) I see in the mirror is not reality.  We all have a slightly distorted reflection I think, society has made us that way.  But this week it came full circle on me.

I have never been a fan of the BMI scale, I have made that clear I think.  But now I can hate it for a whole new reason.  My oldest is an amazing soccer player.  She plays on both club and premier level teams.  She is also an equestrian.  To see her in the saddle is amazing.  She is unbelievably strong and incredibly fit.  She runs with soccer 2-3 days a week and the amount of strength riding takes is shocking.  I mean, you have to control a horse with your body. 

Last week my big girl had a friend over and they played the Wii.  When they did the fit test, that rotten son of a biscuit machine told her that her BMI was in the overweight range.  Now, is there anything wrong with being overweight or addressing the fact if you are?  NO!  But when you aren't, and you are being told you are (especially at an impressionable age) because your boxes on the big chart don't fall where some random person thinks they should, I have to say it's just plan wrong.  I knew it bothered her because I wasn't actually in the room when they did it, she mentioned it later in passing.  Her teen-angst way of making me aware that she was upset (I am getting good already at reading her signals).

So this week we had her well child visit at the pediatrician, and I asked her if she wanted to talk to the doc about the Wii.  The doc jumped right in with, "Did that stupid thing say you were overweight?"  The shocked look on my daughters face let me know that she wasn't expecting that kind of response from the doc.  Our wonderful doc explained again (as she did during the mini's visit) how against it she is.  How muscle is heavier and that she wouldn't be able to do the things she does if she was on the lower end of the spectrum.  Can I just say I LOVE our doc!

So as I move forward with my own fitness and health self-discovery I am seeing how what I project along with the world is effecting my girls.  Bye bye BMI!