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Health & Fitness

Anyone Want Some Chicken?

My reaction to the new chain restaurants on N. Druid Hills.

Good news!

The people of N. Druid Hills just got a little fatter. Not only do we have a new Zaxby’s but The Patch just announced a new Popeye’s will open within 2 bocks! AND! Just in case you wanted more fatty goodness in your body a Golden Corral is being built in the mall parking lot. 

Okay, that was sarcasm. I will not be able to share in the fried goodness of these new restaurants. Not out of any moral conviction but because I cut gluten out of my diet months ago. In case you aren’t aware gluten=wheat=flour=all fried things. Gluten is also in just about everything else too. Luckily, I’m not in the zero tolerance range (Celiac’s Disease) so I can eat a French fry with no breading without being sick for a week, but once you’ve been sick for a week for having a tiny amount of ranch dressing you kind of learn how to avoid risky foods. Once you go gluten-free there’s really no turning back. When I say NO WHEAT ever, I mean NO WHEAT EVER. (That includes ever.)

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This means no Popeye's for me. I suppose Golden Corral at least has vegetables. Some of them fried, I'm sure, but still a vegetable is a vegetable, I guess. I kind of can’t help but feel cranky about these new places. I want to be able to support local establishments. (Like last week when I went to the mall to look for some kid shoes. AKA: Epic Fail.) But I also exercise 4 or so times a week and try to maintain a semi-healthy lifestyle. All of this seems counter-productive. I keep hoping a gym will open in the old Blockbuster store. At this rate, we'll be lucky to get away with a BBQ joint or an all-you-can-eat-buffet of some kind. Honestly, I just want my cake and to eat it too. New resturants but healthy ones. Is that to much to ask?

Okay, truth? I just want cake. Cake is made with flour and it's been a really long time since I've had any.

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Even though I can’t participate in the fattization of my neighborhood, I’ve been an entrepreneur for a long time. I truly get that there is money to be made in the food business. I’ve also seen the run-down, empty buildings these restaurants are taking over. It’s a good thing, right? Successful franchises, taking the place of abandoned shops. It’s growth and tax revenue. Job creation. So even though I won’t really take part in supporting these places, I’ll keep my picket signs to myself, because I suspect these chains have done their research and they feel confident this community wants to eat this type of food. They probably know us better than we know ourselves.

The bottom line is that I hate the fact I have to spend my money outside this community (and yes, that includes the occasional trip to Wal-Mart). Unfortunately, with every place that opens like Golden Corral we are one step further away from that Trader Joe’s. Oh well, at least when I go grocery shopping in Virginia Highlands I can swing by Yeah! Burger for some gluten-free options and make it worth my while.

 

Anna will participate in the Decatur Book Festival this weekend in the Emerging Writer's tent with her books Wraith and FanGirl! Her books will be available all weekend but she will have a signing at 2pm.

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