Eating Healthy in a Fast Moving World
By Chris Jacobson, Lake Washington Technical College Student

“We will start with why I chose this topic.  It’s simple.  People always say it takes too long to go and get something healthy to eat.  As we go through our lives and we get wrapped up in our jobs, relationships, and everyday stuff, it is hard to make time to eat right.  It really doesn’t take much longer to walk into a grocery store than into a fast food restaurant.”

“To get lunch at a local grocery store at 11:45 am it was about 7 minutes.  Seven minutes to get a roast beef with Swiss cheese sandwich on wheat bread, an apple, a small bag of vegetables, and water to drink.  The total number of calories was 577; protein 39 gm; carbohydrates 58 gm; fiber 8 gm; saturated fat 9.5 gm; cholesterol 94 mg; and sodium 1061 mg, just to name some of the nutrients.  It took 341 steps to get lunch, which burns about 19 calories.  If you parked three more spots away from the store, it would add about 20 more steps.  The steps add up to about 140 a week, 7280 a year.  So to do a little extra adds up.” 

“I went to a fast food restaurant at about 11:55 am and it took me only 6 minutes to get lunch and get back to my car.  I had a double cheeseburger, medium French fries, and a medium Powerade to drink.  Most people would say “that’s faster than going to the store” and they are right.  Is 1,230 calories worth a minute?  Here are some of the nutrition facts: saturated fat 22 gm; cholesterol 160 mg; sodium 1,680 mg, carbohydrates 132 gm, fiber 7 gm, and protein 51 gm.  The number of steps I took from my car to the restaurant and back was 152, which is 191 steps less than the trip to the store.  At 152 steps you are only burning 16 calories.  When it is possible to add steps, we should do it.  The prices of these two meals were not that much different.  The store meal cost $7.50 and the restaurant meal was $7.00; not a whole lot of difference.”

“So are we saving much time or money going to fast food places?  Not really.  What it comes down to is the choices that we make.  The choice should do with good nutrition and adding steps to our lives.”