Fighting the Colonel

Does anyone else out there find themselves salivating over the worst things to eat?  I am not sure if anyone has seen the commercial for the KFC Double Down Sandwich.  For those of you who have not it consists of: two pieces of fried chicken breasts (they offer a grilled version but who is going to eat that??), two pieces of bacon, two pieces of Monterey Jack and Pepper Jack cheese, and the colonel's special sauce (whatever that is).  Apparently "so meaty, there's no room for a bun!"  If that description didn't sell you then take a look at this bad boy.

This comes close to a perfect sandwich in my opinion.  I mean if you wanted to improve upon it's suspected greatness, you could pop in an entire avocado then dunk the calorie bomb in beer batter and deep fat fry it.  That sort of reminds me of an old SNL skit for "Taco Town."  If you haven't seen I've attached the clip below.

I saw the initial advertisement for the Double Down earlier this week and now everytime it comes on I get the shakes.  I can almost imagine the taste of the crispy grease as I write.  What is even worse is that after I viewed the phony Taco Town Clip, that actually looked good!  Wow, I must be REALLY PMS thinking about food like this!  I may have to throw my keys in the woods to avoid getting in my car and speeding to the nearest KFC.  God, I wish I was 21 again and could consume things like this everyday.  The funniest part about all of this is that anyone who knows me knows that I DO NOT eat fast food.  Not so much on the basis that it's not the healthiest choice, but once again we go back to my infatuation with food poisoning.  I've never had food poisoning from a fast food establishment, but from actual sit down restaurants.  For some reason something about meat that costs under a dollar freaks me out.  I have a few exceptions to the fast food rule simply because I like them too much to snub (Dunkin Donuts being one).  And while I have no recollection of EVER eating KFC (although I'm sure I have at some point in life) this is not the first time I have had a fascination with one of their meals.  Does anyone remember the Mashed Potato Bowl (Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, gravy, and cheese)?  I have been thinking about eating that for years and still have not let it pass my lips.  Now add the Double Down sandwich, I really may need to visit a KFC upon diet completion (add to the celebration....at this rate I'll be right back up to where I started!).

The scary thing about items like this is if you actually look at the nutritional value you can understand how a fast food lunch here or there can easily pack on the lbs.  We all know that stuff like this is bad, but until you really calculate the number, you never realize just how bad.  I looked up the nutritional value of the Double Down and it clocks in at 11 points (540 calories and 10 grams of fat).  I couldn't even tally the point value for the Mashed Potato Bowl at 700 calories and 32 grams of fat - my point scale only goes to 13 and it was over that!  After reading that my Double Down sandwich is seeming like a salad!

Despite the fact that these restaurants are required to post their nutritional information, I am still somewhat suspect.  While 11 points is no cake walk, I would have thought it would be higher.  I remembered reading an article in the New York Times earlier this year about certain inaccuracies in menu and frozen meal reporting of nutritional value.  Even though this is regulated by the FDA, they allow for a 20% margin of error.  I've attached the article below.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/12/health/12calo.html
I just have to believe that Double Down is more than it is reporting (although my husband would just accuse me of being some radical conspiracy theorist for questioning the FDA's process...although I was somewhat vindicated by the NY Times article).  I would be HORRIFIED if the Mashed Potato Bowl came in any higher.  Yuk, I feel my arteries closing in around me just thinking about this stuff!!

At the end of the day even when dieting you have to be somewhat suspect of whatever you eat that you are not in charge of preparing.  I'm not saying you can't eat anything processed or pre-made by the hands of others, but it should only make up a portion of your dieting menu.  Almost everyday I eat one processed meal but try not to do that for lunch and dinner.  The trap is that it is so easy to just stick to a point system when everything is black and white verses having to go through the effort to make your own meal and calculate values, but it's probably wise not to use packaged food as too much of a crutch.  Plus they are LOADED with sodium for the most part.

In conclusion, I hope my shocking cravings have not pushed anyone over the edge and all you dieters are now lined up at KFC in search of a quick fix.  I was hoping by writing about this I would get it out of my system.  No such luck.  I think I may have to boycott TV for a while until I can get my cravings under control.  Good luck to you all in your pursuit of healthy eating!