Chick-fil-a and Whataburger seem to be dietary needs for the students at Mansfield High. “Seem to be”? Who are we kidding, we live off that stuff. The food is an essential to surviving high school. Access, quality and price all line up to fit our budget and taste buds. They are the lights that beacon in the mornings if we have a few minutes to spare (or even if we don’t) and they shine bright to feed our after school hunger. So why wouldn’t we be addicted to it?

Our parents have answers to that. And lots of them. They know best (hate to admit it, but sometimes it’s true) and they know that fast food is a black hole sucking away your metabolism and money. You love the food so much though? So you go anyways, hoping they won’t notice or care. But then comes the lecture from mom and dad with a screen of our debit card usage including, you guessed it, thirty dollars spent at Whataburger in the past month.

So, we’re obviously not going to listen to our parents or even our coaches. What can make us want to and actually quit?

It is scientifically proven that fast food contains very high levels of carbs, sugar, unhealthy fats (remember in Biology, there are some good fats) and salt. All of these make for a delicious, cheap and quick meal but also have no nutritional value. It’s also no secret that fast food leads to weight gain, and habits of an unhealthy diet. I mean, how many times have you left Whataburger after eating a triple meat burger with cheese and everything else they pack into those buns and felt like a million bucks.

Secondly, the price. Let’s say you work six hour shifts at minimum wage three nights a week. That’s 130$ WITHOUT the taxes they cut out of your paycheck. Let’s also say you go to Chick-fil-a twice in the morning that next week, once after school to Whataburger and a lunch at Taco Bueno. That’s around 22 dollars (and honestly a cheap week for some of us). That’s almost 30% of your paycheck gone in 4 trips to fast food places and in seven days. That once six dollar meal that seemed to be cheap is now a dent in the bank. Now maybe that doesn’t sound too bad but take into consideration that maybe you wanted to go to the football game Friday, go eat dinner with friends after and pay for gas. The money starts to dwindle and its halfway gone in a week.

I’m guilty of the fast food habit, most of us are and those who aren’t possess the self control I envy, one that includes driving down Broad without giving away they’re money to people who are so incredibly nice that they say it’s a pleasure for them to serve you. Hopefully, we all can be apart of that faction and save our bodies, wallets and weekends from getting grounded.