McHeart Attacks Imminent.

So, lately there has been a very questionable picture popping up in my Facebook news feed. You've probably seen it: It's a McDonald's double cheeseburger with an entire McChicken in the middle, commonly referred to as the McGANGBANG. You can read about the history of this fatass of a sandwich here.

Now, most of you know that in the past I've shared a great fondness for McDonald's, most notably the Mac Sauce. Conversely, McDonald's has a way of causing me intense gastrointestinal pyrotechnics (among many other things which I will discuss in more detail later.) I can't deny that I have my fatty tendencies. (Steak N' Shake anyone?) And I'm not a hater of indulgences in moderation, maybe once a month or so.

But I have to draw the line for my dear Facebook friends when I see that they're consuming 3 or 4 of these sandwiches per week! YES. That's right. I said 3-4 PER WEEK.  So, in an attempt to save my friends the headache of heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, etc, etc, etc... I've drawn up:

The case against the McGangBang: A Detailed account of everything in it and why you shouldn't eat it except for maybe once a year (if ever.)

McGangBangs come in all varieties. A Google image search will return a plethora of different combinations. Just to start things off, we'll discuss the calorie content of a standard McGangbang which consists of:

• A McDouble (two hamburger patties, one slice of American cheese, pickles, ketchup, mustard, onions, toasted hamburger bun)

• A McChicken (breaded breast of chicken, lettuce, mayonnaise, toasted hamburger bun.)

A McDouble Cheeseburger tops out at 440 calories, 23g of fat, 11g saturated fat, 1.5g TRANS FAT, 1150g sodium, 34g carbohydrates.

A McChicken packs 360 calories, 16g of fat, 3g saturated fat, 0g trans fat, (phew!) 830mg sodium, and 40g carbohydrates.

If these numbers sound astounding and outlandish, consult the McDonald's Nutrition Guide. 

So hold on. Let me whip out my calculator...

That's a grand total of: 800 calories, 39g of fat, 14g saturated fat, 1.5g TRANS FAT, 1980mg sodium, (GAH!) and 74g carbohydrates. Let's take this moment to collectively puke...

Done? OK! Moving forward. Now, here is the RDA (Recommended Daily Allowances) for these particular nutrients.

Calories: 1500-2000. Consume a McGangBang and you've systematically destroyed half or nearly half of your allowable calorie consumption for the day!

Fat- The USDA recommends that adults age 19+ acquire 20 to 35 percent of their caloric intake from overall fat. That's about 44 to 77 grams of fat. If you're like me and like to keep your fat intake on the lean side, 39 grams is almost the entire allowance.

Saturated Fat- Saturated fats should always be eaten sparingly, usually no more than 17-20g depending on calorie consumption. This one sandwich tops out at 14g! Let's think about it this way. Saturated fats are fats that are solid at room temperature. There is a direct link between over-consumption of saturated fats and cardiovascular disease. Saturated fats are still necessary for such things as proper liver function, but capping them off at a healthy level is a good idea.

TRANS FAT- You've probably been wondering why I've capitalized trans fat this whole time. Consuming trans fat is like taking a shot gun and shooting a hole somewhere in your body. Trans fats are completely unsaturated and are directly linked to coronary heart disease. They lower good cholesterol and raise your bad cholesterol. This type of fat is usually added to processed foods to extend their shelf lives. Trans fat is the worst form of fat there is. Intake of trans fat should be kept at NIL. NOTHING. NOTTA. NONE. 1.5 grams from a McGangBang... you've just shaved two years off of your life right there.

Sodium- RDA for sodium is 2400mg per day. 1980mg is outlandish for one sandwich. What else can you eat after masticating over 3/4 of your salt intake for the day? Maybe water. Over-consumption of salt leads to HYPERTENSION (high blood pressure, in layman's terms.)

Carbohydrates- A good cap for women is about 300g per day. 375 for men. 39g may not sound too bad, but keep in mind simple and complex carbohydrates. Let's consult our friends at everydayhealth.com.

• "Carbohydrates, often referred to as “carbs,” are your body's primary energy source, and they're a crucial part of any healthy diet. Carbs should never be avoided, but it is important to understand that not all carbs are alike.
• Carbohydrates can be either simple (nicknamed "bad") or complex (nicknamed "good") based on their chemical makeup and what your body does with them. Complex carbohydrates, like whole grains and legumes, contain longer chains of sugar molecules; these usually take more time for the body to break down and use.
• Simple carbohydrates are composed of simple-to-digest, basic sugars with little real value for your body. The higher in sugar and lower in fiber, the worse the carbohydrate is for you — remember those leading indicators when trying to figure out if a carbohydrate is good or bad."

White bread (the kind they use at McDonald's) is a simple carb. Be advised your eating 4 slices of the white variety. And don't forget that sugary ketchup! Ever wonder why McDonald's has their own ketchup packets? They have more sugar than regular ketchup! Any carbs consumed after the 300-375g cap-off are stored as fat. The body can only store so many carbohydrates in the muscles and liver. 

You're probably shocked by now- never want to see or touch another McGangBang EVER. I leave you with a photo series of unique McGangBangs. Just think of how the people who consumed THESE are fairing...

McGangBang with Sweet and Sour and Mac Sauce.

The triple McGangBang. AKA. "The Challenge."

McGangBang of the Atkins variety. 

Breakfast McGangBang.

I don't even know what to call this. holy.shit.it's.a.big.mac.filet-o-fish.mcchicken. nightmare!

Happy eating, dear readers!

Mhm.

"Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones. I am not afraid."


-Marcus Aurelius

I'm blue da ba dee da ba die...

For the longest time I hated the color blue. I hated everything about it. I hated that it was cliche. It seems to be everyone's favorite color. I hated how a person with blue eyes could wear something blue and not only was it a gorgeous color on them but it made their eyes seem bluer. (Perhaps I'm envious that I was the only one that didn't get blessed with blue eyes.) Couple that with the color completely washing out my skin tone and blue had sealed its fate. It seemed as if blue was doomed to remain behind the curtains of my hatred forever.

But lately I find myself OBSESSED with BLUE. 


It all started with that blue shirt from Target- that lovely, light, airy, blue t-shirt.

I didn't even try it on. It was on sale. I thought, "Hey, at the very least it would be a good shirt for sleeping or to go over my swimsuit." But when I got home and tried it on... Oh! The heavenly blue-ness that was this t-shirt! From that point on my relationship with blue changed forever. 

I find myself admiring lots more blue these days. I have even decided that when the time comes to REALLY decorate my room (my cousins currently occupy it for the summer :/ ) I'm going to accent it with BLUE.

I have so many swell, blue ideas swimming in my head! Let me share a few. :)

Most of these items I found at a furnishings store called Z Gallerie. They must have known I was coming because they had their store color coded! Imagine the shock and awe as I walked past to view and ENTIRE SECTION of Aquamarine! Some of the furniture is Shabby Chic. Some photos were procured through Google image search. 

Anywhoozle, the point is... 

I'm glad blue and I are back on speaking terms. 

I just can't resist this face...

May I have your attention, please. Paige. That is all.

Charlotte has my heart.

It is my personal goal to live in downtown Charlotte at some point in my life. I mean just LOOK at how beautiful it is!

Tony Bennett crooned on and on about leaving his heart in San Francisco. I definitely feel the same about Charlotte. I leave a small piece of my heart there each time I visit.  <3

:)

Wanna see the cartoon version of Paige??

Striking resemblance, no?

I love crop tops.
I love sunshine.
I love Lapis and Turquoise jewelry.
I love cut off shorts.
I love sun-kissed skin and hair.

I love summer. Period.

Oh. And her. Paige.  :)

Deflated.

So last night something rather funny happened. As most of you know, Bigs and I are staying with our friends, Craig and Laura, for two weeks in Tampa. They so graciously donate their ultra comfy air bed for our sleeping pleasure. Last night, Craig informed us that they were now the proud owner of two of those airbeds because one of them had sadly contracted an air leak. (Poor bed. May it rest in peace.)

Coincidentally, the leaky air bed was resting in peace in the same closet as its non-leaky counterpart. Laura took a wild guess as to which bed was the newer of the two. It blew up beautifully and I was swiftly off to sleep within minutes of laying on it. In fact, I didn't budge an inch for the next four hours! (Yep, it's THAT comfortable. I'll post a link to the same bed at the end of this post.)

However, at about 4 AM, and to my dismay, I discovered that the Bigs and I were swiftly sinking into air bed oblivion. We had indeed inflated the defective air bed instead of the sturdy one. I woke John up and commanded he move to the couch, me following close behind him. There on the couch we slept squished and sweaty for the next two hours. I was DYING from heat exhaustion, having awesomely sunburned myself at the pool 12 hours prior. So what did I do?

I rolled myself into the middle of that air bed. There I slept like a little burrito with pillow topping in an air bed Grand Canyon, barely visible to passers-by.

I may not have slept very well, but it was one of the most memorable and interesting sleeping debacles in my life thus far. Don't fret or feel sorry, dear readers. It made me laugh (just a little bit.)    :)

http://www.amazon.com/Coleman-Double-High-Wrap-Quickbed-Queen/dp/B000EH4TVU

SIGH.

"The constancy of the place brought back a flood of memories, and she felt her insides tighten as one by one she recognized landmarks she'd long since forgotten."

A Cheerful Charlotte Update

So, I made it to Charlotte. It was a rather frustrating drive. I like to use cruise control. I cannot say the same for everyone else. We'd be going 80mph, then 60mph, then 75mph. However, toward the middle of the trip I got into a line of cars going between 80mph and 95mph. Now, I know you're thinking, "Karah, that's just not safe, and you could get a ticket." I'm pretty sure a cop would not have singled me out amongst a line of 40 to 50 other vehicles going the same speed.

I felt as if I were making great time until I hit this: 

Yep, folks. It did, indeed, look exactly like that. Only that on-ramp to the very right was backed up all the way back to I-77. My heart sank as I approached the scene. I had bragged to Bigs only a half hour earlier that I would beat him to Charlotte. Alas, that did not happen. In fact, traffic on NC 51 was also horrendously horrendous, which put me at my destination 20 minutes BEHIND my lover. I felt kind of like this:

SIGH. C'est la vie. 

BUT. My day got better and better. John surprised me with belated birthday gifts (which I will blog about more in depth later) and my DREAM BIRTHDAY CAKE. Chocolate cake with Oreo crumbs in the middle, vanilla icing, and Oreo crumbs on top. I love Oreos, can't you tell?

I was so stunned! He baked it for me with his own, two, Bigs' hands. He called it his "labor of love." It was DELICIOUS. Oh, the SWEET GOODNESS! As a testament to this, here is what's left after only two days:

Then there was HEROESCON. Not nearly as extensive as years past, but still very enjoyable. Bigs treated me to my very first SPOCK t-shirt. I also saw a vast array of dresser-uppers including Dr. Strange, The Joker, Two Face, Bane, Iron Man, Dead Pool, Bat Girl, Kick Ass, Hit-Girl, The Penguin, a Storm Trooper, Darth Vader... the list goes on. I'll be sure to update it as I remember. Did I mention that there were also these HUMONGOUS HeroesCon posters located throughout the convention? They came in various styles. I was only able to get a good picture of one because of crowds.

That's it for now. As soon as I can snap some good photos of my late birthday gifts I'll be sure to blog about that. Until then, CHEERS, my dear readers!

Much love.

Another month, another blog design...

Many of you will soon realize that I'm extremely ADD when it comes to page design. It is for that reason that I swiftly deleted my MySpace account as soon as Facebook became big. I used to spend countless hours working the HTML codes until I had that PERFECT look. No easy feat, I tell you. And it's nice to keep things visually interesting, no?

This month is going to be supremely busy. So, I'm just letting all my readers know in advance that I may not blog consistently. Here's what's goin' on:

This weekend I'm going to... ::drum roll::

I'm so excited I can hardly contain myself. Potentially attractive men and women walking around in various comic character get-up? YES, PLEASE. ANYONE in a costume is worth the money. Plus, some of the most sought after collectibles in all of comic world are showcased here. You can go ahead and say it. I'm a HUGE nerd. Don't hate. It runs in the family. I'm the sister to a brother who owned a game and hobby store. I have a little geek blood flowing through my veins.

AND it will be nice to be in Charlotte for a while. I fell in love with this gem of a city the first time I ever visited it. There's so much to do and it's SO beautiful. 

That's not all folks, the very next week I will be in TAMPA with my good friends Craig and Laura. They kindly loan their apartment and deliciously comfy air bed to John and I every year. This year's trip could be as long as two weeks depending on our mood. I can't wait to see Laura and Craig. Don't forget their two dogs, Laney and Paige. (holycutepuppiesbatman!)

Aren't you jealous of their South Florida tans? I know I am!

And if that wasn't enough,  I have four cousins, three girls and one boy, ranging in age from 5 to 16 coming to stay with me from mid June to mid August. (I may end up wanting to [insert self destructive behavior here] before it's all over with.)

Did I mention that I also have school on top of all of this? No? Well, yes. I have school work. 

SIGH. Is it possible to be really excited and want to have an anxiety attack at the same time? 

Much love.