Debating calories — share your opinion!
The State of New York passed a law in April requiring all restaurants to list the amount of calories per meal on its menus. Since then, the New York Times and Gawker Media Women’s blog Jezebel have covered the trend of calorie counting, asking whether or not counting as a popular diet craze.
The greater good
Does requiring restaurants to post the calories of the meal on the menu really make a difference? Will restaurants take notice of how a high-calorie meal affects a customer’s desire to patronize their business? Apparently so—Starbucks claims to have saved the nation 17 billion calories since last October by switching out 2 percent milk instead of whole (but really, what health-conscious person doesn’t request skim anyways, right?), and a large order of French fries from McDonald’s has shrunk from 570 calories to 500 (although Morgan Spurlock may be to blame). The New York Times goes on to say that several restaurants have gone on to reducing portion sizes of their meals to reduce the amount of calories, although it didn’t affect the price.
What if you want to spoil yourself?
Sometimes at the end of the day, I really want to have a treat. I’ve eaten my six 200- to 300-calorie meals but my sweet tooth needs satisfying. Do I really want to know how many calories are in that lemon tart from Le Pain Quotidien? Maybe not, but isn’t being informed better than guessing? I happen to think so. After all, you can just ignore the calories or work them into your caloric budget if you really want to treat yourself.
The State of New York passed the law to fight the growing rate of obesity and diabetes, and it seems that the calorie craze is spreading. California became the first state to force fast-food restaurant chains to post calorie information on menus in September, and there are two proposals moving through Congress that would make calorie postings a requirement nationwide.
So how do you feel about it? I personally believe in calorie counting (I lost 20lbs on The Daily Plate cross my heart), but would YOU want to know how many calories are in your favorite meals, or when it comes to spoiling yourself is ignorance bliss? Let us know in the comments.
Tags: calories, Krisserin, news, The Daily Plate
October 31st, 2008 at 6:35 am
Lack of personal accountability is the one of the reasons most Americans are so fat.
Sure, there are times I want a treat and would rather “not know”. But, I would rather have the CHOICE and OPTION of having that information readily available to me so I can make that decision.
October 31st, 2008 at 9:33 am
Ignorance is not bliss. Even when I treat myself, I want to do it wisely and know the calories I’ve eaten. I find it so frustrating when I’ve gone out to eat to my local diner. Coming home and trying to figure out how many calories I’ve just eaten is really difficult. I have to guess at everything.
I think more than just calories, though, I’d like to know if my meal contains High Fructose Corn Syrup or other nasties.
Calories is a great start though.
Rachel, I totally agree with you, we have to be responsible for our own actions. Knowing the calorie content of food when you are eating out is one small step toward having the information to make smarter decisions, even when it comes to treating ourselves.
If a person doesn’t care to know, they can just ignore it.
October 31st, 2008 at 9:33 am
I think this is a terrific idea. There are lots of restaurants that won’t give you ANY information about the calories in their food. Most recently I tried to get information about Maggiano’s, but was denied on the basis that their food is fresh and hand crafted so calories will vary from plate to plate. I agree, but calorie counting is just an educated estimate anyway. I would like to know how many calories is in a full portion of “menu item” so I can split my meal appropriately. If there are 2000 calories in the lasagna, then I can split it into 2-4 portions and still indulge, but go about it in a healthy manner. I would also like to be aware if a food I think is healthy is full of hidden calories. I think it should be up to the restaurants whether or not to post the calorie counts on their menus, but I do think that the information should be available on request.
October 31st, 2008 at 9:44 am
Calorie counts are a good thing. I am a lap-band patient, but the band is only a tool. It helps control how much I can eat, but I still need to make wise choices. To do that, I count calories, I read nutritional information. I have lost almost 90lbs since May because I pay close attention to what is in my food before it goes into my mouth.
Calorie count initiatives are meant to educate people. When someone gets incensed over this issue, I have to wonder why? Do they not care to be reminded of what they are doing to their health, their body? As a previous poster said, “ignorance is not bliss.” Eating with abandon and without care to what it means to your bottom (line) is the quickest way to type II diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and others caused by insulsin issues, high sodium, and high fat.
Keeping in mind that posted calorie counts are estimates anyway, I think it’s a great idea to make that information available. By bringing awareness to the American diet, maybe we can some strides towards combating the one disease over which we have the most control: OBESITY.
October 31st, 2008 at 2:30 pm
I can understand restaurants being reluctant to provide this information. Chef’s are busy enough as it is without worring about counting the calories for other people.
As a general rule though, restaurants use more fat and salt in their food than you would generally use at home. That’s how they make the food look and taste so great.
I think what comes out of this really is that eating out should be an occasional special thing. We have become so lazy about our food that most of the time we can’t even be bothered preparing it for ourselves.
Preparing your own food puts you in control of what goes into your body especially how much salt, fat and sugar goes into your food. I also believe that preparing your own food educates you about how food is prepared so when you do eat out, you can make more informed choices.
And in the words of Baz Luhrmann
“Enjoy your body, use it every way you can…don’t be afraid of it, or what other people think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own..
October 31st, 2008 at 2:45 pm
It’s unfair to allude that eating out cannot be healthy or cater to people’s sense of self and self-care. Have you seen the American dinner table lately? Presuming that their home-cooked meals are any better than those in restaurants (as it pertains to nutritional value) is baseless. You can have control in either place, you just have to exercise that control.
I don’t cook. I can, I just don’t. That doesn’t mean that when I eat out (which I do for most meals) that I am a slave to the menu. Yes, restaurants typically create meals much higher in fat and salt than you might, but not all of them. The onus isn’t on the restaurant to offer the healthiest choices, the responsibility lies with the consumer.
The idea behind posting calories is just that: give the consumer the information and let them decide.
October 31st, 2008 at 3:04 pm
Sorry I didn’t mean to cause offence. I work in a restaurant and was merely relaying facts based on what I’d seen there. I think we agree on some of the points.
I’m Australian so I don’t presume to know what goes on on the American dinner table. All I know is that when I was in your great country was I was blown away by the amount of great organic produce that was available everywhere I went. And it was very very cheap. So much so that when people asked me about the food I raved about it. It really was great.
Once again, I’m sorry to have caused any offence. Australian’s are now the fattest nation on earth so this is a real concern to me as well.
November 2nd, 2008 at 11:12 pm
I think calorie counting is alright. It might make eating disorders more feasible, but in all, it’s a measureable way for overweight people to lose weight and track their progress.
I personally want to know how many calories are in my favourite meals. While it’s okay to reward ourselves, I think ignorance can get out of hand.
November 3rd, 2008 at 12:37 pm
Just the other day I was talking about counting calories while eating out with my family. It is very, very true that people simply just are not aware of what their body needs versus how much they consume. I’ve recently become a tremendous fan of the daily plate. So far I’ve been very successful but I have to be very careful while eating out. As we all know it’s hard to count those calories when you eat out; either because the information isn’t provided or there are a lot of hidden calories. Before tracking, it was easy to not care or to trick myself into thinking I was being wise about my decisions. I am not against eating out because a lot of times it’s what “works” to arrange time with friends or family. It’s the “everyone has to eat, so lets grab dinner” mentality.
I’ve always been the picky one when eating out since I’ve got a lot of food allergies and am a vegetarian. But now I will only eat at places where I can look at their menu and nutritional info online before I come. I do this so I can figure out what I can eat and how much. If they don’t have the info online then I won’t go there. There are plenty of establishments that provide the nutritional information out there, so those are the ones that get my business. There are healthier options out there, you just have to find them. Of course this takes time and some pre-planning on my part but at the end of the day it’s worth it to me. I at least have some form of estimate of what I’m putting into my mouth.
I think the nutritional information should be more readily available. Whether it’s putting it next to items on a menu, having an insert in the menu, or printing the calories next to each item on the receipt. But the other problem is a lot of people just don’t have the information on how to be healthy (whether it’s their own fault or not). I would like to think if people had the proper education about their bodies things might be different. But we all know some people just don’t care and will live their life feeling there are no consequences.
November 4th, 2008 at 1:41 am
I agree with Neece. I’ve been calorie counting on and off since November 2005. When I’ve not counted, I’ve gained weight. When I have counted, I’ve lost weight - simple as that. It all boils down to simple thermo-dynamics. Expending more calories than you consume and so on.
I definately believe in having a treat but it can be done wisely - try saving calories during the week for that night out at the weekend. There are always exceptions though. I would always let my hair down on my Birthday and on Christmas Day / Boxing Day - we are human after all and we deserve to be able to relax. If you stick to it the rest of the time, you’ll do OK.