Calorie Counting?

For those of you who make frequent stops to any sort of fast food location, you may have noticed the new additions to the menu board that weren't there before. In fact, these additions expand even beyond the food, but also include the beverage stops like Starbucks, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Jamba Juice. It's those pesky things called calories.

In compliance with new laws, fast food locations are now required to tell you just how many calories you're about to consume (at least here in the state of California). Though some restaurants have had nutritional information available upon request or online for a while, how many of us actually take the time to look a it? I'll admit, I'm definitely guilty of not taking the time to visit a restaurant's website before dining there to pick out the best options for me to consume. And sometimes, I know it's better not to think about it.

However, these pesky little numbers ARE making me think. The last time I visited a Coffee Bean, I went in ready to order a large Non-fat Vanilla Latte. When I realized that the beverage was 240 calories, I stopped. Instead I ordered the 80 calorie large Non-fat Cafe Au Lait and added 1 splenda and a shake of cinnamon. Did I notice a difference in the "quality" of the coffee? Absolutely not. In fact, I felt pretty good about my choice. Paired with a 240 calorie multi-grain blueberry bagel, I ended up with a 320 calorie breakfast that gave me plenty of "get up and go" to hold be over until lunch.

The same thing happened to me today at Jamba Juice. Instead of going in and ordering the medium something delicious and a whole pretzel like I WANTED to, I scanned the menu, found a delicious mango smoothie, ordered the 150 calorie small, and a small pretzel stick. So what COULD have been an almost 650 calorie disaster, became a 390 calorie pat-on-the-back for going to the gym every day this week. NOTE: 390 calories is still not great for a SNACK, but today my lunch was quite small (about 300 calories). I need to go grocery shopping. :0| So it evened out.

Though it is still my choice to eat (or not eat) where I wish, I'm kind of glad those pesky numbers are there in my face at every restaurant now. It helps to remind me to make healthier choices and not be persuaded by what strikes my fancy.

I'm hoping that the required calorie posts will have similar effects on others too ... perhaps even making formerly popular items (like Big Macs) less in demand, forcing fast food joints to serve up something a little different and healthy -- or at the very least "right sizing" the portions to be a reasonable amount and not the platters (like Acapulco or El Torito portions).

What would be REALLY cool is if they began to show MORE of the nutritional value. Very few restaurants are doing this "on location" right now. Sure, that meal might be so many calories, but what about the fat content? The cholesterol? Sodium? Sugars? ALL of these things are important to making a good choice, particularly for those who need to watch these certain factors for various dietary reasons. Just because a chicken sandwich and a small salad are both 300 calories a piece does not mean that the salad is low fat, or that the chicken sandwich is going to have enough fiber to keep you satiated for a long period of time. So how do you choose?

What do you think? Are YOU impressed by the changes? Angry or frustrated by them?
In the mean time, I'll be grocery shopping to stock up on more carrots, celery, cottage cheese and other delicious, healthy snacks to subdue the 3:00 p.m. snack craving. 

Until next time,
Buon Appetito!