Eating Bad Food On The Go.
I have always liked fast food. Even growing up, my mom would hand my brother and me some money and tell us to go to McDonald's. My size 38 waist can attest to my love of the Double Quater Pounder with Cheese or Double Royal With Cheese, as Vincent Vega from Pulp Fiction, would call it. That's also what the French call it.As a photographer for a newspaper, I am always running around to different jobs and find it hard to eat healthful food. I must eat fast food at least three times a week, maybe more. I am sure that many photojournalists will tell the same story. Sure, it is just an excuse. I could pack a healthful lunch. How much time could it take? An extra 15 minutes before I go to work?
Now that my age is quickly approaching my waist size, I start to think, "This can't be good for me." I did watch "Super Size Me", but I just figured what happened to Morgan Spurlock could not possibly happen to me. Now that I think about it, I wonder if I would be a whole lot healthier if I did not eat it all these years. From this point on, I am going to cutback on the Mickey D's.
What was the point of this post? I am not sure. Was it a wake-up call for me and my fellow photojournalists out there? Or am I just trying to make an excuse to write off tonight's Double Royal with Cheese as a business expense for research on this artcle.
What do you eat when working? Do you pack a healthful meal or just grab some fast food?
Comments
I'm a software engineer by day and a sports photographer at night. In my software engineer world I'm a consultant and I go from customer to customer each day. Each customer has their schedule, and despite my repeated reminders that I'm part-time they seem to think I'm full time and schedule meetings at extremely inopportune times and expect me to be there.
I've found that you have to accept that in an interrupt driven career (be it photography for any other form of consulting) you're going to eat at odd times. You can pack a lunch, but to do that you have to know when you're going to be near your lunch when the hunger hits. That doesn't always work out.
There are lots of times where I'll be programming during the morning and I'll be on a groove so I'll keep going. Then it's 12:30pm, and my customer decides to call a meeting at 1pm. This works for them since they ate at 11:45, but it doesn't work for me since I was programming. That means I either go hungry until 2pm (when the meeting ends) or I pick up something quick.
In your world of photography it's even worse: you could be out on an assignment you're expecting to end at 12:30pm but it gets extended due to weather. Or maybe a celebrity that was supposed to arrive in the middle of the game came late.
My advice to you is to accept that your job is going to require you to be flexible. Rather than trying to remove this aspect of your job (which I don't think is possible), just try to handle it as best as you can.
I do this by swapping out Atlanta/Panera Bread, Subway, Quiznos, and Chipotle for Burger King, McDonalds, and Wendy's. While the caloric intakes may be similar (that's not entirely true: Atlanta Bread, Subway, and Quiznos have less calories than the other fast food establishments I described), the fat content is drastically different. You're eating healthier even though you're only reducing your caloric intake by 30%.
If you went to a nutrtionist and asked if 1200 calories of greasy hamburger, french fries, and a coke is the same as 1200 calories of bread, fresh deli meats, and a glass of lemonade they'll tell you it isn't. :)
Hope this helps.
PS - Please feel free to give me advice on my pictures on my blogsite. I'm trying to get better!
Paul
It used to be McEDs for me 4-5 times a week b/c, as you understand, it's just convenient food on the go. But it got to the point I was getting so unhealthy. I mean, I get plenty of exercise in my job, walking about 3-4 miles per day at least. So how could I be gaining weight, and feel so lethargic?
Lately I've made a point to eat plenty of fruits and fish before my shift, and became conscious of what I was ingesting during work. I discipline myself to McEDs once a week (maybe twice if I'm hella busy), and found a really good authentic Mexican restaurant that makes the best damn chicken tacos of any place I've ever eaten. And, they're $1.25 each. Not bad.
Yes, Subway is good. A little pricey around here, but great food.
The other thing I do is drink a lot of water, green tea and Gatorade. I also take a multivitamin each morning.
I completely understand your thoughts. We're all there, and it's tough when your schedule doesn't allow for regular, healthy eating.
In the last month I've lost a lot of weight, which sucks because my pants are loose to the point they're going to fall off, and (as a journalist) I can't afford to go out and buy a brand new wardrobe. But, I guess that's not exactly a bad problem.
Take care. Great post, btw.
Bryon, consider yourself lucky and invest in a belt. Not only are my past starting to get tight, they are wearing out. I was on a job the other day and went to hop up on a reatining wall for a high angle shot and my pants split.
Ah the joys of working for minimal pay as a journalist. Most of my pants are getting holes in them.
Keep reading and posting.
Paul