Burgers for Buns

I made a new year's resolution to have no candy and no desserts for a year and so far I'm doing great! Normally I wouldn't recommend anyone doing this because it seems a bit extreme, but for me I was literally eating only chocolate some days. There have been a couple days where I have craved m&m's and I can't deny the overpowering sensations I have when I smell warm brownies, but these have been relatively minor inconveniences and I'm still pretty happy with my resolution. There have been, however, several unforeseen consequences.

First of all, the month of January saw a HUGE increase in my breakfast cereal consumption. Right before the new year I bought some Lucky Charms because they were on sale and that box was gone so fast. I usually like cereal brands like Wheaties and Life, but they were no match for the marshmallowy goodness of Lucky Charms for a while. I'm back to my Wheaties and Life, but it was an eye opener to me how much I was just craving anything sugary above and beyond chocolate.

You would think that by now I'd be looking like Conan here with such a reduction in my sugar intake and I did loose a little weight at first, but what I can't have in sugar I seem to compensate in two ways. First, it feels like I eat a lot more per day and second, the foods I now eat are much fattier. So I actually haven't lost any weight besides just a couple of pounds. It's nice to know I haven't put on any weight but now I've discovered a third problem...

I was looking over my bank and credit card statements and in the last three months I have gone to get a dollar menu hamburger from either McDonalds, Wendy's or Burger King 48 times!!! This is nearly 5 times my past consumption from last year! Now I realize that some people get fast food far more often and order fries and a soda along with it, but for me, this is too much! So I've come up with a plan. I call it burgers for buns.

I looked up how many calories are in a Wendy's Double Stack, McDonald's McChicken, or Burger King Jr. Whopper and they all hover over 300 calories. If I push my self on an elliptical bike I can burn 300 calories in 20 minutes so here is my plan: I'm going to "pay" for all those burgers I've eaten since the start of this year by burning them off on the elliptical bike. I have no problems with eating a burger every once in a while, but considering how many extra ones I have eaten in the last several months, I have decided not to have one again until I get rid of the ones I've already eaten. I've got a little chart with 48 boxes and I just checked off the first one. My incentive is to get these done quickly so I can get back to eating a hamburger every once in a while. I figure If I work out 3 or 4 times a week like I already plan for, I should be able to get back to my Jr. Whoppers in just under 4 months. Just in time for my birthday!