It's Resolution Time

Now that it is the New Year, I suppose everyone is making resolutions and naturally one of the most common resolutions is to exercise more, to eat better, and to lose weight. Well, being the type who occasionally lives vicariously through others, I was doing my part by watching the Biggest Loser last night. During the first commercial break, there was a commercial for the new Taco Bell Drive-Thru Diet. Really? A commercial about a Taco Bell diet? During the Biggest Loser?

Apparently a woman is claiming that she lost over 54 pounds over the past 2 years, and she didn't even have to give up her love of fast-food! Because this is fast-food nation, everyone is all abuzz. This woman attributes her success to switching to the Fresco menu at Taco Bell. Apparently items on the Fresco menu are lighter and healthier.

What is not specifically stated is that this woman also reduced her total calorie consumption by about 500, bringing her total daily consumption to about 1,250. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that if you reduce your calorie consumption and add a little exercise you will most likely lose a little weight. What is scary is the idea that people will think that they can now use fast-food as a tool for weight loss and healthy living. Sure, I bet that if I started to smoke a lot of crack and shoot a lot of heroin, I would probably lose weight, too, but that wouldn't necessarily make me any healthier.

Yes, I've been known to go to fast-food restaurants. I don't shun them entirely. Sometimes after a busy day when you're feeling too tired to cook, grabbing something at a fast-food place is a quick and easy solution. But I don't make it a part of my daily diet. I don't go to fast-food places 5 or 8 times a week like this Taco Bell dieter. I think that if you really want to get healthy—and potentially lose weight—you should really start by cooking your own meals from scratch. When you cook your own food, you can control the ingredients. You actually know what you're putting in your mouth. You don't have to wonder what the food is made of or where the ingredients came from. Is that steak in your Fresco taco from a free-range, grass-feed, hormone-free cow or is it from a factory farm?

Sure cooking might take some time and effort. A meal doesn't instantly appear through the window while you sit idling in your car. But in the end it really is the only way to control your own diet. And, honestly, how hard is it to make your own taco?

Current mood: perplexed
Current drink: Vanilla Soy Milk