Slow Down Your Fast Food

A bite-size read for your health and waistline

Photo by Kristi Johnson on Unsplash

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the words fast food? McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Burger King — those side-of-the-highway, food-out-of-a-window spots, right? For the most part, today, people understand such restaurants are often not health-promoting. It certainly depends on where you go and what you order, and I pride myself on being able to find something “healthy” anywhere, so it’s certainly possible, but it’s time for a new definition of fast food.

Standing at the kitchen counter to eat lunch is fast food. Eating while in transit is fast food. Eating fast, eating while standing or eating while doing other things is what makes food “fast.”

Confession: I’m not great at that last one.

In our modern lives, we’ve essentially turned even quality nutrition into fast food. When we eat while focused elsewhere, eat on the go and shovel something in so we can get to the next thing on our list, we’re not supporting our health or wellbeing even if the choice of the food itself offers nutrition. There’s more to nourishment than the food on the plate.

I would love to see all of us, myself included, move in the direction of slowing down when we eat. Let’s start the new slow food movement. It’s not easy to slow down. I admit, I sit at my computer for…