In which (hopefully) my waist begins to shrink

I am well aware that we're a week into Lent, and while I'm not usually one for following through on the religious rules (moved in before we got married, sex before said marriage, eating meat whenever the hell I want, and a litany of others) I have decided to give up something for Lent this year.

A week ago, I ate my last fast-food hamburger for 40 days. And I went out with a bang...a Carl's Jr. Original $6 Burger.

Originally, I thought I'd give up soda and fast food, but a fella has to have something to keep him sane, right? Actually, I was doing pretty well on the soda thing for a few days until I had sushi for lunch on Friday, and I don't know about you, but I've also been a soda-with-sushi kind of guy. At least when I'm eating it for lunch. Sort of like beer-and-pizza, you know?

But the fast food thing has had some unintended effects. I've had to start planning what I'm going to eat for lunch in the mornings. No more, "Oh, I'll just pick something up," because most of the time, picking something up means fast food.

Now, I did have to set some ground rules. My favorite quick barbecue joint (Bill Miller's for those of you in the area) does not qualify as fast food because the food is slow cooked and cut in front of you. When you order a brisket sammich, they pull out a big hunk of smoked meat and hand slice it right in front of you. It's no more fast food than getting a sandwich at a deli counter. Still, I have tried to stay away from Bill's and when I do go there, I try to get something healthy, like a salad, and don't eat the fries. Fries are fast food no matter where you go.

If there are no other options, and I MUST stop at a fast food joint, I have to have something healthy there as well. For example, the other day Juice was starving and we didn't have time to go anywhere but Sonic. So I bucked up, had a salad, and called it a day.

I'm hoping that they end result will be that I detox a bit from all of the fast food, end up with a little fatter wallet, and a little skinnier waist.