One of the biggest threats to an ASU student living in Tempe comes in the form of late night hours and irresistible cravings. As a result, the undeniable freshmen (sophomore, junior, and senior) 15 starts to make an appearance. If you ever see Tempe at night, especially on a weekend, one of the first things you will notice is the massive herd of students making their way to Mill, parties or a neighboring house off of campus. The second thing you will notice is the insane lines late at night for Taco Bell, Dutch Bros, or In-N-Out.
I, too, have fallen victim more than once to the calling of a late night fast food craving or even a pick me up after class. All of us college students are on a budget and if anyone ever wants to go out to eat, the least expensive choice for restaurant dining often has a drive-thru attached.
During the summer, I joked to my friends and family that my move to Tempe in the fall would be dangerous because In-N-Out would finally be five minutes away, and I was right. It’s so easy to keep your college budget on track with gross $5 meals and your daily fix of morning coffee.
[caption caption="It's so addicting!" align="aligncenter" id="attachment_148846" width="266"][/caption]
Even though I have been cooking more meals since having my own apartment, it’s easy to cheat when you haven’t gotten your weekly groceries yet.
I have been putting off completing “stopping a bad habit” on my bucket list, because my bad habit is so yummy. I finally went all in on stopping my obsession with In-N-Out. Today, I am vowing to not eat any kind of fast food for the next 30 days. I want to start utilizing my kitchen and learn to make healthy meals.
To stop my bad habit I am making the following changes that you can also incorporate into your daily habits:
- No late indulgences at Taco Bell, In-N-Out, etc.
- Eat breakfast everyday.
- Make healthy meals on a budget (buying frozen vegetables, lots of fruit and yogurt).
- Participate in a fun, active event. To kick-start my new healthy lifestyle I bought a ticket to the UV Splash Color Dash.
I’ll update my readers on my journey with my new bucket list challenge on Wednesday.
Reach the columnist at kassidylee01@gmail.com or on Twitter @kassmcdonald.