I used to eat fast food everyday, at least once a day. It never bothered my stomach, never tasted bad, and it never occurred to me that for the same price I could get something better. About 10 years ago I decided that I didn’t want to eat it anymore. I stayed away from it completely for about 4 years and then broke down one day and got some fries when I was out with a friend. I couldn’t believe what I was tasting. This wasn’t a potato! This was a grease-transport device that tasted like all the things that had been cooked in it that day (including fish). This wasn’t a fluke, I have since discovered the amazing ability the body has to acclimate to food. Now that I’m “out of the habit”, fast food tastes awful to me and my body has trouble digesting it. Fast food doesn’t save you time, it doesn’t save you money, and it certainly isn’t worth either as far as your health is concerned.

Lots of us get up in the morning and hit the snooze bar for as many 10-minute sleep sessions as we can possible manage and still get to work on time. You race to the shower, throw on some clothes, maybe make yourself a cup of coffee for the drive and figure you’ll just run through the drive-thru at lunch to save yourself the time of making one at home. Maybe you’re on the go a lot during the day, so the drive-thru seems even more time saving because you can eat in the car as opposed to stopping in somewhere to eat. All of this sounds so… efficient, so automated and easy, doesn’t it? The way I see it fast food is anything but fast, and it’s not cheap either! If we break it down a bit you might see where I’m coming from.

There’s such wonderful irony in waiting through a line that wraps around a building for 15 minutes so that you can eat fast food. On some occasions, the line can move quickly, but what does that mean, really? It means that everyone’s ordering food that has been already made and is sitting under a heat lamp. Waiting in line for crap… what an efficient use of our time!

The drive-thru line is the most obvious time waster, but there are other things too. For starters there’s the exercise you’ll have to do at the gym to burn off the 100 fat-gram burger you ate, and there’s the time spent either mending a gut-ache or your guilt-ridden conscience. And let’s not forget about the time driving there and back if you’ve made a special trip out.

I’m going to assume we’re all aware of the “quality” of food we’re getting when we go through that drive-thru so I’ll spare you the lecture, but think about it’s long-term costs. Eventually fast food can cost you time in the form of your health. There’s your cardiovascular system, weight gain, and cholesterol to name a few. All of these side effects to unhealthy eating will inevitably lead to increased doctor visits and sick days. And this is all in the name of saving time.

Let’s face it, even if we only consider the time spent in the line at the drive-thru, it’s not that fast. Couldn’t you have made yourself a lunch at home in that same amount of time? If you had, you would have truly saved time because instead of driving to wait in a line you just walked to the lunchroom fridge.

Maybe you don’t want to bring your lunch, or you need to leave the office for while so it’s better for you to go out to get your food. If I go through a Wendy’s or some other fast food joint, it’s a pretty sure bet I’m gonna spend around $6 for lunch. It never seems like it’s gonna cost that much, but it does. That’s pretty close to what it would cost me to go to a real restaurant for lunch and order take-out. And the beauty of take-out is you typically find healthier choices and you don’t have to wait in line. They make it for you while you’re driving there! What a concept! Another option is to run in to the grocery store, you can get anything you want and it’s super affordable.

I don’t expect that this post will convert all the fast-fooder’s out there. But, I hope that the next time you’re in line you’ll be thinking about all the ways that it’s costing you time and money.

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