Confessions of a Dietitian: I Love McDonald’s

Nutritionists do not eat perfectly all the time! I’d like to share an article written by one of my colleagues, Tracy Northam, RD, about her battles with fast food … McDonald’s to be specific – yes, you read that right! We all have temptations and I’ve written about mine (chocolate) quite a few times. Read on to learn how Tracy deals with her McDonald’s urges …

I have a confession.  I am a Dietitian, and I do not eat perfectly all of the time.  If you read my last post, you already know that I need all kinds of motivation to exercise and stick to it. I thought I’d let you see the woMAN behind the curtain again so you can see how, as a dietitian, I handle one of my food weaknesses.  What do I have to lose other than my pride and dignity?!  So, grab a snack (a healthy one: water and an apple) and read on…

Even dietitians have have unhealthy cravings…
I feel like I need to whisper this next sentence because surely it cannot be true given my nutrition knowledge!  I love McDonald’s!  (GASP!)  Should I even put that in writing?!  Let me better explain the situation.  I date Ronald McDonald.  When I say “date Ronald McDonald” I mean there is a McDonald’s in the building where I work and I go there for a Diet Coke every morning.  It’s my ritual.  It wakes me up.  I can’t change it even though I’ve tried.  I’ve made my peace with it – this is how I roll.  Occasionally, I’ll add food to my order and THIS is where my true confession will be revealed….I LOVE sausage biscuits from McDonald’s.  LOVE them.  And it doesn’t stop there.  Oh, no!  If I haven’t brought my lunch with me from home, I may even go BACK for a cheeseburger and fries at lunch time!!  Oh, the SHAME of it all!  I feel like I need to run in place at just the THOUGHT!  No one knows better than me the amount of calories, fat, and sodium in such food items since I’m a dietitian, and that just makes it worse!  Are these the best food choices for me?  Absolutely not!  Why do I make bad food choices if I know better?   Because although I am a dietitian (who knows her stuff), I am also a busy City Girl and I’m human just like anyone else.  If I don’t have food in my apartment, if I get busy, stressed, or am just plain WEAK, making the best food choice may not be my top priority!  Sometimes I just need the comfort that only Ron McDon (sounds more like a date with my sophisticated boyfriend than a visit to a fast food chain) can give me!  (pic: rmhjoplin.org)

How I “fit in” McDonald’s
So, how do I use my strengths (my knowledge of nutrition as a dietitian) to balance my weaknesses (dates with Ron McDon) in order to stay as healthy as possible while living a busy, City Girl lifestyle? Socrates said it best when he said “KNOW THYSELF.”  In order to make any healthy changes in your eating habits or lifestyle you need to know what you’re willing to do.

Now, I could tell myself that I need to totally end my relationship with Ron McDon, but that just won’t happen.  I KNOW myself and I know it won’t!  So, what can I do to have a more healthy relationship with him?  Well, McDonald’s and other fast food chains have their nutrition information available in their stores or it can be found online.  Finding or accessing this information may seem like a lot of work, but it’s not as much work trying to burn off the pounds accumulated from eating nothing but sausage biscuits for breakfast and cheeseburger meals for lunch or dinner!!!!

So, by doing some research I know that if I’m getting breakfast from McDonald’s, a better choice for me would be an English muffin (160 Calories) or fruit & maple oatmeal (290 Calories) over the sausage biscuit (430 Calories).  Or for lunch and dinner, rather than wolfing down a Quarter Pounder with cheese (510 Calories) and Medium Fry (380 Calories), I can choose a cheeseburger (300 Calories) and a Small Fry (230 Calories) which would be an improvement.  If I wanted to be a Super Star I could go one further and get the Southwest Salad with grilled chicken (290 Calories) with the Newman’s Own Creamy Southwest Dressing (100 Calories) to go with it – I said I was being a Super Star NOT an angel!  I might as well go ahead CONFESS now that one day I DID get the Southwest Salad with grilled chicken with the Newman’s Own Creamy Southwest Dressing and on that SAME day I snacked on a SHAMROCK SHAKE (540 Calories!) before I went to the gym.  I AM NOT MADE OF STONE!!!!!!

Plan ahead to resist the urge
In knowing myself, I actually KNOW that the best way for me to be as healthy as possible is by simply taking the time to meal plans and go to the grocery every week!  When I have healthy food in my refrigerator and cabinets, and actually take the time to pack my lunch, I never have to count on Ron McDon for meals.  When I’ve been to the grocery and I’ve stocked up on my Chocolate Chip Peanut Crunch Clif Bars (240 Calories) I can just throw one in my purse to have for breakfast.  I don’t have to totally break off my relationship with my Ronnie.  I can still meet him for a Diet Coke every morning!  And on those days when I’m weak and may have had breakfast and lunch with Ron McDon, I will cheat on him and spend my evening with my other boyfriend…GYM!  (pic is of Tracy’s full refrigerator)

I’d like to thank Tracy for writing this article and for her honesty about her “love affair” with McDonald’s. I wanted to show the readers that even nutritionists have cravings and we can’t fight them off all the time! The trick will be to find a way to fit them in on occasion … and eat healthy the other 90% of the time!

Tracy Northam, RD, LD has been a neonatal dietitian at Kosair Children’s Hospital in Louisville, Kentucky for almost six years. Previously, Tracy worked as a clinical dietitian specializing in Pediatrics at New-York Presbyterian Hospital. Tracy has a Bachelor of Science degree in Dietetics from Indiana University and will complete the Master of Science in Business Communication program at Spalding University in June. In her free time, when she is not studying, training for races or doing bear crawls on the floor, Tracy has been known to enjoy a good Happy Hour! Tracy can be contacted at tnortham@yahoo.com.