not exactly heroin chic

The theme restaurant in Pigeon Forge was mostly filled with tourists. It's one of those places where everybody is served the same thing. Dinner consisted of only protein and starches. The servers brought each of us a small chicken, a potato, corn on the cob and a biscuit. Vegetables had to be special ordered. My wife got the vegetarian plate, which had steamed broccoli, cauliflower and carrots alongside the potato, corn and biscuit. The portion sizes were large enough that I could share my chicken with her and she could share her vegetables with me.

Before we started our weight loss plan, my wife and I would have eaten whatever they put in front of us. Looking around the room, we were reminded of our heavier selves. Most of the other people there had also helped themselves to a bucket of popcorn as an appetizer. There's nothing wrong with an occasional treat but I got the feeling that many of these people make unhealthy food choices all the time. This particular establishment must know their clientele fairly well. In the men's rest room they had something I had never seen in a restaurant before. It was a disposal box for used syringes. I half expected Wilford Brimley to walk in at any moment.