Taco Bell (or Taco Hell as the Hubster calls it!)

Do Not Enter is right...

Aaaaahhhh fourth meal...how I loved you so.

I'd like to give you a little history about me.  I started college in 2002 and weighed about 130 lbs my freshman year.  I actually didn't gain the freshman 15 (not drinking probably helped out with that).  I actually LOST weight due to a bad breakup that I didn't handle well.  I spent my freshman, sophomore, and junior year weighing right around 125.  Sigh.  Those were the good old days.

Anyway, I remember the summer of 2004 as a good one filled with friends, laughter, and food.  Specifically food from Taco Bell.  You see, there was a Taco Bell very close to my apartment and to my work (I worked at Lowe's at the time).  So for lunch we would go to Taco Bell.  Dinner after work?  That's right...it was Taco Bell.  My roommates and I frequented the place so much that they knew our names and our orders by heart.  Oh yeah--it was that bad.  We always ordered the large Mountain Dews as well to accompany our meals.  I thought nothing of it at the time because I had always had a great metabolism and I wasn't gaining any weight.

My oh my.  Revisiting those memories makes me cringe a little.  I think that it was the beginning of disaster for me.  Those eating habits (large quantities of food, late night meals, etc.) became standard and the weight slowly started to creep on once my metabolism started slowing.  Factor in the "happy fat" that comes with wedded bliss and you have a recipe for disaster!

Tasty disaster, but disaster nonetheless!  :)

So now I only enjoy the occasional Cheesy Gordita Crunch.  The Taco Bell by my work now (again--it is the closest fast food joint to my work) does not know my name or my order.  If I go there, I definitely don't get the Mountain Dew and I definitely count those calories and add them to my daily allotted amount.  Progress!  Even though I miss the days where I could eat anything I'd like and not have it affect me, I realize that I was depriving my body of healthy foods and I much prefer how I eat now.  I feel better and have more energy.  When I stay within my daily calorie range I never suffer from the post-eating "Food Coma" that tends to happen.  I don't miss that feeling at all!

Now I am in the process of replacing the habit of over-eating with habits of counting calories and making working out a part of my daily routine.  I'm not there yet, but I will get there someday.  I can't wait until the day someone knows me for working out and eating right rather than my favorite meal at a fast food joint!