By Stacy Chung

What I do when I have a Burger craving at night

Last night after work, I was driving down the road next to the Triple Street at 9:00PM. Grabbing my empty, growling stomach, I was rushing to get home. To my right, around 700m away from my car, I saw a bright neon sign that read “Burger King”.

“Oh God”, I thought. “This ain’t good,” I thought, again.  I was having a huge burger craving now. AT 9:00PM!! Before I saw the sign, I was racing 70km per hour—pretty fast, I know. However, I found myself immediately slowing down the speed to 20km per hour and beginning to debate in my head, whether to grab a whopper or not.  Suddenly, a stream of images popped into my head like the advertisements I see on TV.

The whopper that is so big that my two hands look petite when I hold the burger. The sesame sprinkled buttery bread with crunchy, green lettuce and a slice of cherry red tomato; the thickest juicy, reddish brown beef patty with a golden-yellow American cheese; and a magical final touch with Burger King’s finest, special sauce. Yumm… “BURGER KING WHERE TASTE IS KING” I could even hear the Burger King slogan yelling itself out-loud in my head. 

However, every choice follows a consequence. The consequence for having a burger at 9:00PM is so obvious. In fact, from an article I read by Northwestern University suggests that “…eating at night can lead to weight gain – even if you don’t eat excess calories…”

Do I want to go to bed with a full, comforted stomach or do I want to wake up with a bloated stomach? The dilemma was surely brain aching. Cut to the chase. So what did I do? Oh man, how can I let myself down and pass by Burger King? Especially after a stressful day at work and considering my poor, empty stomach. Of course, I drove into the store.

“Can I have the Quatro Cheese Whopper set with sprite and no ice, and change the regular fries to cheese fries?” BAM! I rapped out my order like Eminem (and I think I did it pretty good).  I held my whopper like a king. I bit mouthful of the whopper like a king. I was pleased, full, and I felt complete.