A Battle Lost

I succumbed.  After battling insomnia, I had been inundated with images of big juicy burgers, covered in melted cheese and loaded with toppings.

Around the noon hour, my car magically drifted into a fast food parking lot, where I found myself with a giant cheese burger, french fries, and an iced mocha. 

I hadn’t had a french fry from a fast food place for ages.  I savored the taste of crispy golden Idaho potatoes.  Before long I had to take a bite of the burger, perfectly juicy, complemented with fresh crispy veggies and thick slather of condiments.

I managed to get mayonnaise on the steering wheel and turn signal lever before I returned to work.  Although the drive thru window attendants had been speedy, they had left me with a measly three napkins and no straw.  I did manage to keep my clothing dribble-free, with the exception of a sesame seed or two.

Needless to say, I had blown my high protein, low calorie diet.  I had been so good, living on protein shakes, yogurt, fruit, nuts, and lean meats.  I had even lost a couple pounds.  I’m pretty sure it came back in that one hundred percent ground beef.

It wasn’t until I finally found a straw that I could truly enjoy my indulgence.  Not finding one in my husband’s well-stocked glove compartment, I had to hunt one down in the business office.  Only after fighting off a co-worker could I enjoy the smooth, cool, caffeinated loveliness of my beverage. 

As I enjoyed the rest of my lunch, I skimmed through a library book about writing nonfiction books.  Although my insides were unforgiving for my misstep, I was in a caffeine-induced state of ecstasy about the books I planned on writing.

The taste experience was well worth the insult to my body as well as my pocketbook, although sometimes less is more.  I feel somehow duped by the glamorous pictures of fast food meals that in my semi-awake state made me feel subconsciously like my life was incomplete without them.

Perhaps next time I will be able to withstand the onslaught of late night TV commercials.  Or maybe I’ll just turn off the TV.