It’s been just about 2 months since this crazy mommy gave up fast food for our family. Which you can read about here. It started with a conversation over hamburgers and fries that were not homemade and ended with me saying “This is the last time we are going to eat at-INSERT FAST FOOD NAME HERE- for awhile.” And that was that. 2 months later and it’s been hiccup free!
NOT
The first couple weeks were the hardest. Almost every time we passed those golden arches my kids asked it we could stop for “just a few fries”. Their words not mine. And those times that they didn’t ask, I had to fight the urge not to turn into that lingering and forever convenient drive thru just to get my kids to stop fighting or screaming or having an emotional fit with tears and all. How easy is it just to turn in and soak those tears up with some sesame seed buns. Then there were those moments when we were all legitimately hungry because mommy forgot to pack sandwiches on a busy day full of lots of car time. Those moments I almost caved in. I almost made excuses and I almost threw out my previous commitment, ready to title it as another failed attempt at bettering our lives. But guess what, I didn’t cave in and just kept driving. Yay me.
When I say bettering our lives I’m really not over exaggerating, here are a few positives I’ve noticed since quitting the fast food craze.
OUR BUDGET
We’ve noticed a huge shift in our cash money. (I love me some budgeting) I went back to the month of August on our bank statement and we spent exactly 110.72 on fast food. That’s just over 100 dollars a month savings. To me that seems steep and makes me a little more grossed out at how much we were actually eating fast. Now with this freed up money it allows us to actually go to nice restaurants a couple times a month as a family and sit down and enjoy an experience. I’m thrilled by this.
HEALTH
My kids have had fast food twice since we’ve started this, once when their aunt took them and once with their Nana. Just to keep this short and sweet and prove my point. My two year old daughter puked up her fast food fries in the middle of the night. At this point it had been about a month since they’d had fast food fries. If barfing doesn’t make this project worth while I don’t know what will.
TRYING KNEW THINGS
My kids aren’t as picky now. They try more things at dinner time and honestly so do I. I’ve been experimenting with recipes and adding more variety into our menu. Even my husband eats his vegetables better because I’m getting more creative with making them.
To think, all of this from a simple change in our eating habits. I know that my husband still has an occasional burger or taco on his lunch breaks and he’s a grown up, I gotta let the man be but as a family we are rocking this fast food free lifestyle so far. It hasn’t been especially easy but it’s been well worth the fight. I’m excited to continue on this journey with my lovely Lanes. I would encourage everyone to give it a try. Let me know if you decide to jump on the fast food free train with us!
Here’s to conscious eating!
Mommy Lanes Adventures 
Great results! I love the less picky aspect. Maybe that’s what my nephews and I need lol.
It seems to have helped. But may just because I’m cooking a lot more variety and they are finally hungry enough to eat it. Haha
Maybe 🙂 Either way it’s a good thing!
Good job, it’s so easy to give kids what they want just for some peace. Funny as my girls are fussy eaters and therefore have never had fast food: no burgers, pizza, hotdogs etc.! They’re only 4 and 2 1/2 so there’s time for that to change, sometimes it would be easier if they did want that stuff…but health wise it’s good.
That’s awesome. I think as we got more and more busy it just became so easy to do but so glad we realized the error in our ways.:) So nice that your little ones aren’t interested in those types of foods. Will be easier in the long run!:)