the smell of fast food

Today I decided I needed a change of scenery so I decided to go to McDonald's, where they have iced coffee (a large for $1 at the McDonald's by my house, where for some reason they seem to be running a special they aren't running anywhere else) and free internet.  I would go to Starbucks but the nearest Starbucks is nearly 30 minutes away.  Plus, they do not  have iced coffee for $1.  I'm pretty sure Starbucks does not have anything for $1.

I have not been in a McDonald's in years.  I don't even remember the last time.  I go through the drive thru for iced coffee or iced tea sometimes if I am out and about.  They don't have any food I like, other than french fries, and I never order fries because they are too greasy for my pouch.  If I am dining with someone that orders fries, I will eat a few off their plate.  But I don't eat meat, and the last time I tried a McDonald's salad, I did not like it.  Some fast food places have good salads, but not McDonald's.

I ate lunch before I came.  But while I was standing in line to get my iced coffee, the smell of greasy fast food was really  making me hungry.  I'm not actually tempted to eat any of it.  Like, I said, I don't eat meat so there is no urge to buy a burger.  And I know an order of fries would upset my stomach.  But my tummy is growling away like I'm starving, just from the smell.

Weird how after so many years I still have that reaction, huh?

smell is my most sensitive sense. food and otherwise. i was in a perfume shop recently and smelled the perfume my mom wore when i was a child. brought me to tears. i totally get it. 

i have the same experience with fast food and chinese food. they both can be tempting at times, but if i actually eat them, its totally disappointing and gross. i've definitely become a food snob over the last couple years. i can't eat as much so i want what i eat to be good! also, i weirdly developed a strong sensitivity to sodium. i'm grossed out as soon as i taste it. so fast food is pretty much a never for me. 

and no, nothing at starbucks is a $1...lol.

When I was a kid, they built a McDonald's near my grandma's house.  She would give me and my sister and my cousins each a dollar to go eat there.  A hamburger was 50 cents and a small fries was 50 cents.  Sometimes we would get an extra quarter out of her for an ice cream cone for dessert.  We had the most fun eating there.  I think that's what I remember the  most.

aww, that's a nice memory. makes sense why being in there might bring up feelings. the food is terrible, but they do have good coffee and ice cream though!

That used to be my reaction to fast food, but now it just makes me nauseous. I live near an in n out and loved driving by before and we would eat there ar least once a week, but now I can't stand the smell. Weird.

It's not only smell, but just reading about iced coffee wants me to figure out how to display the running horse icon and go buy one.  Wondering if there's any other WLS people out there that gets a queasy feeling when seeing somebody eating a Big Mac--it makes my pouch go ouch?!

I think its totally amazing how our senses all work together.  The smell of McD's makes me sick now, I can't even look at it when I go by.   It was such a staple when my kids were really little and now I'm kicking myself for not knowing better, not doing better.   

Now with all I know and the way I despise even the idea of fast food, I think walking into one would have my tummy seeking out something from their menu to be fed.  And my pouch grumbles constantly, so I'm sure it would be churning like crazy.

I have low standards for iced coffee so I will go by McD's sometimes. The smell still doesn't work.

I am on the side of  having extreme nausea when I smell fast food, or even the smell of my roommate cooking a hamburger. However, the smell of fresh veggies, like at a farmers market, makes me start having obsessions to eat. Hard to distract myself until it's meal time. And, ditto on the smell of the cologne. I had a meltdown in Walgreens cause I opened a bottle of cologne that my mother used to wear, she died in 79. I agree that it's pretty interesting how our sense of smell is so tangled up in the food phenomenon. I was reading something recently that showed how the left side of the brain, (or maybe it was the right side but you get my point)  is connected to the upper intestines, while the other side is more connected  the lower intestines, via nerve endings and seratonin, (the body's version of prozac).  It makes sense that I can have an intellectual knowledge of something, and a "gut level" knowledge of something....and that sometimes it can cause internal conflict when I try to talk myself into or out of making choices that i know at a gut level might not be the best one that is truest to myself.  The smell thing can trigger gut memory and brain memory both, which is why it can be so hard----or so easy-- to make healthy food choices. Thanks for posting this topic poet Kelly!