Friday, September 16, 2016

9 Months In

When 2016 started, I made a New Year's resolution: I won't eat at chain restaurants or at fast food restaurants for one year.

We'll that's not really how it started. I didn't plan on it and I didn't get ready for it. Basically, during the first two weeks of 2016, I realized I didn't have any food from chain restaurants and I asked myself, "what if I kept that up for the whole year?" And it became so. I declared it on social media and to all my family and friends.  

It's been 9 months so far and I haven't had one meal at a fast food or chain restaurant. It's been quite a challenge and an adventure. It's a challenge when I'm in a hurry in the morning and I just want to go to McDonald's for a quick one. It's also a challenge when I want a greasy snack late at night on a weekday.

Over these months, I visited so many restaurants for the first time. I found good and delicious things in large and small restaurants all around me.

I found this cute place near my apartment called Rex' Burgers and it's become my go-to for a quick burger. I took my family there and now we all love that place. I also took my folks to an Irish restaurant, a New Orleans-style restaurant and they learned to love pho. 

At first, my family wasn't open to my challenge. My dad, especially, would get in a bad mood when we would drive around and around, past dinner time, looking for a place to eat when he's used to having fast food. But over time, he got used to it and both of my parents realized that this little challenge of mine became important to me. And it did become important to me.

I'm supporting real, local people and that feels good. Since I'm not eating at these chain restaurants, I believe I'm eating less salt, too. And that feels good. I'm also broadening my palate when I visit a new restaurant and I order a dish I never had before. That's exciting and mostly satisfying. And, I'm cooking more at home, and that's always so fun.

Lately, though, I've been "hangry" for McDonald's fries and a Whopper. If you've seen my previous blog post about Burger King, I mention that the Whopper is my favorite burger of all time. I haven't had it in more than 9 months and that's what makes this a struggle. But I have just 3 more months to go and I plan on visiting a Burger King at the stroke of midnight.