Don't Eat in Your Car!

Have you ever ridden in the car with someone who told you that they do not allow anyone to eat in their vehicle? Odds are they have no children, they are very obsessive about their vehicle, and/or they are thin!

Eating in the car has been around for a lot longer than fast food has. I can remember as a young child, when we took long trips, my mother would pack food for the road. This served a dual purpose: to save money and to save time. If we did not have to stop and go into a restaurant to eat, we could arrive at our destination quicker and with more change in our pockets. If I close my eyes, I can still taste bologna sandwiches, feel the Cheetos™ between my fingers, smell freshly peeled oranges, and hear John Denver on the radio as we streak across Oklahoma in our VW van.

Nowadays, we still eat in our cars to save time, but instead of packing sandwiches, chips and fruit for the road, we zip through one of the ubiquitous drive-thru windows and plunk down more money than we have any business spending on something that will be consumed in fewer than 10 minutes. (Sidenote: if you must eat fast food, pay with cash! McDonald’s revealed that the average transaction rose from $4.50 to $7 when people paid with plastic instead of cash. Wendy’s says their plastic purchases run about 35% higher than cash purchases.)

Anyhow, the two main reasons people eat in their cars is to save time, and for convenience. A third reason that is not so readily admitted to is secret eating. Even though we are surrounded by windows, for some reason when we are in our cars, we feel like we are alone and that no one can see us (for proof of this, start paying attention to other people in their cars at stoplights! You will be amazed at some of the things you see). There is a big difference between going into a restaurant, sitting down at a table (those fast food booths are TIGHT for us chubby girls!), eating in front of people, and getting it from a drive through then shoveling it down while you navigate the traffic. For years nutrition and behavior experts have advised not to eat in front of the TV, because you are not paying attention to what you are eating, and therefore you generally overeat. I submit that eating while driving is even more unconscious!

And let’s talk about salt. I once got into a conversation with a guy who details cars for a living. He told me you can always tell the people who eat a lot of fast food in their cars because there is salt in every crack and crevice. Setting aside for a moment the fact that most us eat WAY more salt than we should, consider your poor car! Salt is very corrosive, promotes rust, and can stain carpet. You know this if you live near an ocean or in a climate where salt is used to de-ice roads. So if you are constantly baptizing your car with salt, it is actually causing damage to it.

Even if you are not worried about salt damage, make a resolution to not eat in your car. Sure, it saves time, but how much, really? Maybe 15 or 20 minutes? Don’t you realize that every time you chow down a 1,000 calorie fast food meal you are shaving time off your life? You are worth getting up 15 minutes earlier to fix yourself a bowl of wholegrain cereal instead of paying $5 for a 500 calorie breakfast sandwich! Next time you go to Subway™, instead of getting it to go, sit down and eat it there in the store. It might cost you 15 minutes, but you will be so much more conscious about what and how much you are eating. Plus you can get a (sugar-free) drink refill! And when you drive by your favorite fast food place, listening to the siren song of piping hot fries, tell yourself this: “If you must eat fries, then you will have to go in, and sit down and eat them. I am not going to let you eat them in the car!” Trust me: the siren song will lose a lot of its power.

And what about convenience? It is so much easier to pick up chicken nuggets for the kids on the way home from school than to go home and make something! We are so busy nowadays, running from one activity to another – working, parenting, trying to keep our email inboxes below 1000…
I know, it’s hard, but you know what? It’s important enough to outweigh the hassle. I know you love your kids, so don’t feed them garbage for the sake of a little expediency! If your mornings are hectic, make sure to keep fresh fruit and (healthy!) granola bars in stock for grab n’ go breakfast. How about natural peanut butter spread on whole-grain bread? Or a boiled egg (boil a dozen ahead of time and keep them in the fridge). Smoothies are a quick and easy option, too. Consider setting your alarm just 10 minutes earlier so you can eat something before you leave the house. As for lunch and dinner, sit down on Saturday or Sunday and plan your meals for the week. That way you won’t use fast-food as a stop-gap for poor planning.

If you decide not to give up fast food altogether (and fortunately, more and more healthy options are being offered), and you don’t have time to go in and sit, consider waiting until you reach your destination before digging in to that paper bag. Your car (and your waistline) will thank you.