Diary Of A Fiend

A Fast-Food Junkie Kicks The Habit

An Experiment By Dawneka Akins

I don’t  know what to eat. Growing up, food was just food in my household. It all served the same purpose. No one in my family cared about nutritional value. No one scanned the back of packaged foods to find out percentages of sodium or grams of sugar.

For years, I watched my greatest teacher, my mother, whom I imitated, pile mayonnaise on just about everything she ate. I too fell into that habit. As time progressed, my siblings and I grew older and the time my mother could spend preparing meals became more and more limited.

Fast food became the alternative for dinner.

This blog is about my decision to change. It’s the diary of my month-long experiment – like the movie “Super Size Me,” but in reverse. I’m giving up fast food for all of October.

Over the years, when time didn’t permit me to prepare a meal, fast food became more than a convenience. I’m 21 now, and fast food has become an addiction.

 My taste buds became obsessed with the heavy doses of salt, sugar, and grease. Once the aroma from a restaurant enters my nostrils, I’m instantly reeled in like a fish hooked with fresh bait.

In an effort to reclaim my health and escape the powerful grip of my fast food addiction, I’m going on this journey. I’m not alone, though. Delinda Horton, a nutritionist at the West Oakland Health Center, is guiding me.

I have to admit it: I am a little nervous. We’ll see how this goes.