Be 10% better

I read a shocking fact this week. '10% of the American diet is fast food.'

Ten percent of what we are eating is burgers, fries, pizza, hoagies, deep-fried whatever, etc. Even locavores are not immune to this in the Pacific Northwest with Burgerville and other local shops willing to ease our consciousness, if not our saturated fat intake.

WE NEED TO CHANGE THIS!
Here are some tips to avoid the pitfall after a long day:

• Make a little extra of your favorites and freeze it.  Heating is faster than pizza delivery.
• Can goodies such as pasta sauce and freeze jars of pesto.  Boiling pasta takes next to no effort.
• Have healthy snacks with you such as Larabars, nuts, fruits, carrots, dried fruit, even some cheese cubes or bits of dark chocolate.
• Have fruit out in your kitchen so that you reach for that instead of the take-out menu.
• Give yourself a cash allowance once a month that you can use to eat out.  Make it a limited amount.  You might find that you'd rather spend your allowance at a nicer, healthier restaurant one or two times a month than once or twice a week eating at Burgerville or Papa Murphy's.  Plus, you'll be surprised at the money you might save when the fast-food leak is sealed shut.
• Sign up for a local CSA.  The abundance of produce in your fridge may pressure you to cook instead of letting that good local produce go to waste while you eat less delicious, less nutritious french fries.

What strategies do you utilize to avoid the fast food trap?