About a week before last Christmas, I went to Tagbilaran City to do some grocery shopping. When I was about to reach the corner of the BQ Mall building, I stopped dead on my tracks, my mouth agape and eyes wide open. I could not believe that McDonald’s had once again opened for business after having been closed for renovation for some weeks.
I quickly crossed the street, almost getting run over by a tricycle, but I didn’t mind. I have got to have a sausage egg McMuffin with a side of hash brown and a cup of coffee!
And as I feasted on my breakfast, I started feeling simultaneously giddy and silly like some deranged junkie now enjoying his long-deprived fix. I went back there for lunch on that same day. I asked for a Big Mac and upsized to large everything else. I also added an apple pie to my order. I didn’t care even if the entire meal tabulated several pounds of trans-fat and a gazillion calories.
Indeed, I was acting contrary to the infallibly cool image of a wise elderly gentleman, for I ought to know better than binge on – what knowledgeable and nutritious-conscious folks would deem as – “junk food.” It didn’t matter, for I was deliriously happy at that very moment.
Food can do that to anyone. And that’s why it’s so hard to go on a diet and lose weight. As soon as certain foods become forbidden, your mind immediately goes on an overdrive; urging you mercilessly to consume those foodstuffs that you are now being deprived of.
I have no problem with excessive weight. What I have is a dilemma with extremely salty foods as is the trend here in Bohol. And the only respite from such, in my case, is comfort foods like those from McDonald’s and Chow King. Pizza from Yellow Cab will do as well, but there is no branch here in Bohol. But on top of it all, what puzzles me most, is how Boholanos remain impervious to the side effects of high salt intake. God bless them!
Be that as it may, I profusely thank God for these fast food merchants; otherwise, I’d be relegated to the receiving end of fierce stares (from the wait staff of the local food eateries around here) as I sheepishly ask, “Not salty, please.”
Now, I wonder if Burger King and Yellow Cab will someday open a branch here in Tagbilaran City?
Related Links:
The New York Times: How McDonald’s Came Back Bigger Than Ever
The Best and Worst Fast Food Meal Choices
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