I can’t say I have many accomplishments in my life other than the whole “raising well-adjusted kids and continuing in a successful marriage” thing. Yes, I have that Master’s degree on my wall (“wall” meaning “in a cabinet”), but it doesn’t take a Master’s degree in anything to sit at home and plot World Domination. So at this point in my life, it’s just that one thing I did back then that I can count as an accomplishment. And really, if I can do it, anyone can do it.
My currently-running accomplishment, other than earning that Master’s degree and the whole kid/marriage deal, is having not eaten a single bite of McDonald’s food* in over 6 years.
Not a french fry. Not a Big Mac. Not a very delicious little cheeseburger.
Nothing from McDonald’s.
I do eat fast food, but my consumption of Frankenfood has diminished over the last few years to about twice a month (not including Chick Fil A, cause that’s real food, dammit).
It’s more than just not eating McDonald’s. It’s a test of my will-power. Can I do this thing I set my mind to accomplishing? How long can I go without eating the most popular food in the world?
I’m also taking my girls on this journey of No McDonald’s, and so far, save for a bite of a chicken nugget or two that my friggin mother gave them (yes, I’m still peeved, 1 year later), they have never had a McDonald’s meal in their respective 6 and 4 years of life.
Seriously.
I don’t even think they know who Ronald McDonald is.
I KNOW.
They’re not deprived of Frankenfood. They enjoy Taco Bell cheese rollups, Burger King chicken crowns & apple fries, and they love Chick Fil A (again, not Frankenfood) chicken nuggets.
But this, my friends, I feel is my biggest non-education-related and/or familial-related accomplishment of my life to date.
How much longer can I last in my quest to not eating McDonald’s food? I’m down 6 years and counting.
We’ll see.
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
*PS – Ice cream doesn’t count as “food.” Yes, I have eaten a McDonald’s sundae or two, and a McFlurry or two, in the last 6 years, but those don’t count. Hey, it’s my accomplishment; I get to make the rules as I go. Neener.
{ 31 comments… read them below or add one }
I wish I could say the same about McDonalds. My boyfriend has never had Chik fil A ever. I KNOW. WEIRDO
An Awesome post on Barbara´s [type] ..Kobe!
My excuse and it’s pretty lame is that if we had BETTER choices her in Canada for Frankenfood. IE Chick-fil-a Pollo Loco and in and out burger I could be stronger. That is my neener
An Awesome post on habanerogal´s [type] ..A year ago
Really? I can barely go a day with McDonalds. Seriously. Granted, I eat all the “healthy” options…grilled chicken, egg mcmuffin, ice cream, etc., but still, how healthy can McDonalds actually be?
Good for you!!!
That is a great accomplishment. I love me some McDonald’s…though I haven’t had any in 7 weeks. I know it’s not 6 years, but dude…7 weeks! LOL
Ok, I take that back…I did steal one McD’s fry from my brother a few days ago. So one fry in 7 weeks…that’s not too shabby, right?
An Awesome post on AmazingGreis´s [type] ..The BFL is back and better than ever…
Chik Fil-A is totes real food, I agree.
An Awesome post on Avitable´s [type] ..The most offensively stereotypical joke in the world- An Avitable original
OK, so I took my grandkiddos for lunch at Mickey D’s so they could play at the indoor playground – it was 100 deg. outside!! You can sue me! (And your kids hardly even ate, anyway!) They LOVE the indoor playgrounds & I don’t have a chicken place with a play ground, that SOMEBODY got them accustomed to attending…Just sayin’.
Oh I wish I had your will power. Incidentally, I completely blame McCrazies for the traffic jam I wound up in last weekend. If I hadn’t have pulled over for that burger, I would have missed the accident that shut down the highway for two hours. Grr. They really *do* ruin it for everyone.
An Awesome post on Bellawriter´s [type] ..The jog blog
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!
Natural forests / Rain forests are cut down for space to raise cows to make McDonald’s “meat”.
McDonald’s food, including Happy Meals, is packed with preservatives and carcinogenics.
They are one of the fast food companies still employing the most horrific animal cruelty and inhumane slaughter methods.
Our kids deserve better than that and so do we.
An Awesome post on Jennifer June´s [type] ..Control versus Chinese Food
I FUCKING LOVE MCDONALDS. So do my kiddos. Those french fries are spectacular.
Now, I’m going to Chik-Fil-A for some chik’n minis. Which, I probably shouldn’t do because Chik-Fil-A funds the hell out of some conservative, right wing, civil right infringing upon crap – they are basically for everything I am against. But it’s good. And I’m hungry…
An Awesome post on Maria´s [type] ..One Week From Today…
dude. i LOVES me some McD’s, and with all this talk about it, i want it more than ever.
now it’s just my own personal challenge to see how long i can go.
PS – while you’re at CFA, stock up on some Chick Fil A sauce. that shit is magical.
I love you for this! I hate McDonald’s and avoid it at all times. When we brought home our two kids from Ethiopia I vowed not to let them eat at McDonalds. My hubby and mother ruined this vow (I still love them).
Good job. If you think about it World Domination and taking on McDonalds is very similar!
Oh lady, that is pretty awesome. Good for you, and soooooo good for your girls!! I have to admit that I enjoy the McDonald’s often. Very often. Like, sometimes twice-a-week often… but my saving grace is that it’s pretty much the ONLY fast food I ever eat. For reals. I’d say outside of the odd slice of pizza (from real-food establishments – not, say, Domino’s) or a bag of chips or something, pretty much everything we eat is prepared at home from scratch. I don’t think I would be so victorious if there was a Chik-Fil-A anywhere near me… I understand it’s the most delicious thing ever.
Crap. Now I’m hungry.
An Awesome post on Grumble Girl´s [type] ..First Grade
Out of curiosity…why are some fast foods okay and some are not?
To me it seems like either cut ‘em all, or eat them in moderation…no?
PS. I am totally not JUDGING. I am asking…totally curious what people do in terms of fast food etc. We didn’t eat ANY fast food growing up. Unless we were on a road trip and there was nothing else open. But, really, I didn’t eat anything at a fast food place until I was an adult. A married, babied adult. and my kids DO eat fast food on occasion. But, interestingly, the ONLY fast food I will let them have is McDonalds and chick-fil-a….so it’s funny that McDonalds is the ONLY fast food you won’t eat! we are opposites!
An Awesome post on alimartell´s [type] ..The Twelve Days of Summer
first, it started as a “no fast food b/c my asshole stomach couldn’t handle it.”
then, when i started eating some fast food again in moderation, i saw Super Size Me. i made the decision to not eat ANY french fries from any fast food, and not eat McD’s again.
now, it’s simply a challenge to myself. it’s not that i have anything against McD’s – patrick brings it home for himself – it’s just one of those things to see how long i can go.
i’m doing the same thing with soda now. started as a health thing, but since i didn’t lose a single pound by giving up the sodey pop, it’s a challenge to myself to see how long i can go.
On September 28, 2004 around 21:30, I stopped eating McDonald’s. I saw that Supersize Me bonus feature about the McDonald’s fries on the DVD and simply never ate at McDonald since.
I’m one month away from the 6 year mark.
An Awesome post on LeSombre´s [type] ..Death
While driving Interstate 5 on a summer vacation, we stopped at a McDonald’s. While my husband ordered, I took the kids to the bathroom. Every single stall had something completely disgusting about it, including a chunk of feces on the seat of one.
As I was holding my kid above to potty so she could use it, an employee came in, and my kid asked why I was making her pee that way. I explained it wasn’t healthy to touch other people’s pee and poop. The employee LAUGHED and said, “What? Not clean enough for ya?” I could only stare at her and say ‘no’. It was seriously the most disgusting bathroom I had ever been in, and I’ve been in bathrooms that have glory holes. I’ve used port-a-potties the next morning after an all night concert. McDonald’s still more disgusting.
We went back out, my husband was sitting there with fifteen dollars worth of food and we were in the middle of nowhere. Supremely against my better judgment, we started to eat. Maybe the bathroom attendant had called in sick and the rest of the staff had been really busy, right? My hamburger was pink inside.
That was… Maybe three years ago? Four? Every day I never eat at McDonald’s again is a good day. Seriously, it makes me happy when I get the chance to say no to eat
there.
*puke*
thatisall.
That is a FANTASTIC accomplishment – and you should be proud! Those little cheeseburgers will be the end of me. I can’t drive the 2 hour drive to my family without a golden arches stop. It’s terrible. My little one has not had McD’s yet – and maybe I can get my act together before she can see that I’m eating in the car. You’ve given me hope, lady.
An Awesome post on Cort´s [type] ..Magazine – its for your shitter
Yeah, every month or so we eat something fast foody and every time I feel like shit.
Good for you, Ang.
An Awesome post on Mishi´s [type] ..The Story of BlogHer Part VIIa
That? Is awesome. I wish I could say the same, but the hour I get to read/text/tweet/save-my-sanity while they play in the hell that is the PlayLand is just too valuable to me.
An Awesome post on Colleen – Mommy Always Wins´s [type] ..Kinda Wordless Wednesday – the Shuh-Kah-Goe Edition
Yesterday, Zoë had her first ice cream cone ever from McD’s – just because she could. Other than that, she hasn’t had anything more than some fries, and nothing at all in the past three years. So we’re walking home last night from it, and she’s got this ice milk melting all over her arm and she’s getting hyper – I can actually see the sugar metre rising – and I’m like, “why did I open Pandora’s box?”
Because she, when I asked if she wanted to get ice cream from McDonalds, was like, “what’s that?”
*face palm*
I’d like to thank you, because due to THIS POST, I had no choice but to eat a double cheeseburger, fries, and chocolate milkshake from McD’s today for lunch. Great.
An Awesome post on Lori´s [type] ..Organizational Tips- your kids’ sentimental things
you’re welcome.
So you don’t eat the free food at the CheeseburgHer party!?!?!?!?
Turning down free food is… well, either really crazy or really impressive. I can’t decide which.
An Awesome post on Miss Britt´s [type] ..Most People Are Not Idiots
well, pick one cause I didn’t even have one NIBBLE at the CheeseburgHer party.
We’ve tweeter about this. But I have to tell you, I’m craving one of those tiny little aorta killers like nobody’s business. I can actually taste the bastards.
An Awesome post on Tricia´s [type] ..Spinning
While I was reading this and admiring your fortitude and wishing I could do the same thing, I also started wishing for McDonald’s. My flesh is very, very weak.
An Awesome post on Jerseygirl89´s [type] ..Why Blogging Is Important
I love that grandma replied (something along the lines of “bite me”)
my kids actually DON’T like mc donalds or burguer king, (don’t ask, they definitely did not get that from me), well, only the curly fries.
what about eating once a year on the anniversary?
An Awesome post on angelica´s [type] ..on sending my toddler off to college
I knew I wasn’t alone!!!
When I was 9, I SWEAR I found a worm in my McDonald’s hamburger and vowed I’d never eat one again.
About a month ago, I was having a major sugar crash and was driving with my starving children through the-middle-of-nowhere, Florida. We stopped at a McD’s.
And I ordered a Happy Meal cheeseburger. For myself.
I am 32 years old.
It was DISGUSTING. I don’t know what all the fuss is about. I’ll never do it again and I’m disappointed in myself that I broke a 23-year-old personal vow for something so gross.
Anyway. You’re not missing anything. DOWN WITH MCDONALD’S!!
An Awesome post on Two Makes Four´s [type] ..I’m a Stress Eater
But WHY??? Is it that you believe in hair shirts and self flagellation? (My neighbor just looked over my shoulder and said, “Oh pshaw. Girls can’t flagellate themselves. They do that to boys.”)
Please. Send help.
An Awesome post on lceel´s [type] ..Monday Meanders 8-30
Awesome! I am impressed, but I do have to say that if we had Chick Fil A out here in the Vegas area, my kid would have no idea what any other fast food was. Except maybe In N Out Burger because, well yum.
An Awesome post on Karin´s [type] ..You’ve Come a Long Way Baby!