omg you guys, i work UPSTAIRS from a mcdonalds!! every day is a battle! if i get an itch for something, i generally need to scratch that itch or i will fixate on it forever. however, some things that i love, like big macs and krispy kremes, i suspect i should just stay away from at all costs because going there might be a slippery slope for me. i'm hoping with enough time, the memory of their taste will not be as acute.

did you just say krispy kreme ...:T:drool::drool:

We've never been into fast food, however when we were veggies, my husband was craving something like that terrilbly. Morningstar Farms Grillers taste remarkably like hamgburger. I topped it with the usual vegs, tofu cheez (really good) and low-fat 1000 Island dressing I made from a diabetic cookbook. Along with some Ore Ida Fast Food Fries (stay with me), it was like the real thing.

Ok, the burger is only 130 calories, BUT (excuse my big but) it does have alot of crap in it. The fries, when baked, are 180 calories per serving and believe me, 1/2 of that is sufficient. So it's 6 of one, 1/2 dozen of the other depending on what you're looking for.

Sometimes I make these chicken mushroom burgers and I'll add a slice of cheese. They are SO good. I was never a fan of ground beef so.

You could try having a buffalo burger with fat free cheese.

or, a "cheeseburger salad" and crumble a little lean ground beef and shredded fat free cheese over a big bed of greens, tomatoes, onion, or whatever toppings you like on your burger. you get the taste but fewer calories and fat as long as you don't over do the meat and cheese.

or, have a morningstar farms griller with fat free cheese. I find these patties to be BETTER than beef burgers.

lastly, just go for it. there's nothing wrong with a burger now and then. any form of deprivation is not going to work forever.