Fast Food: Too Hard to Estimate Calories

It be nicer if more places put a caloerie list up on the wall and their websites. I'd love that.

PS
Most people like to act like they are eating better than they are. Even at home it's so easy to say I had a cup of rasion bran and then find out it's really three cups.

Opps I meant calorie

What difference does it make how many calories are in fast food portions? If you are fat, you are eating too much! Eat less. What part of that is hard to figure out?

I think the easiest way to portion calories from junk food is to limit visits. If you're only eating junk food once a month, it doesn't really matter how big the serve is. The problems come when people eat at these places three or four times a week - or more.

I help my friends to lose weight, and one of the first things I ask them to do is keep an accurate food diary. My best friend was amazed to find in the course of two weeks she ate curry (from food courts) *eleven* times!!! No wonder she had a weight problem!

I think everyone *thinks* they eat better than they do. Ask the average person on the street whether thier diet is okay, ad they'll almost certainly answer in the affirmative. Watch them in action - or get them to keep a food diary - and you'll get a totally different answer. There's a reason Coca-cola and Tip Top white bread are Australia's number 1 and 2 selling products in supermarkets year after year. The truth is, we eat (and drink) rubbish.

A reality check is needed - and fast. Maybe telling people they're fat isn't such a bad thing after all. When I was 102 kgs (220 pounds) no-one ever mentioned my weight to me! Not once! It was only when I couldn't shop at regular clothes shops any more and had to face real life (and changed my diet, slimming off over 30 kilos (70 pounds) in the process that I realised, by looking back at old photos, that I'd been a lard-barrel!

Maybe a dose of being called fat would have done me good! We mince words way too often in this society, and it doesn't do anyone any favours.

"Who should lead the charge in shrinking portion sizes?"

Umm, no one. It is the same thing as with ephedra’s ban, alcohol and other things of this nature – anything could be abused. Sam’s Club and Costco sell buckets of ice cream – should they sell smaller sizes because someone could eat the whole thing in one seating?

I plan to try that sometime, but if I do eat the whole bucket of ice cream in one seating, I am the one responsible – although I like the idea of blaming Costco. ;-)

I believe all eating joints should have the amount of calories on certain or all iteams. I know they most likely don't want people to really know how much they are eating but it has gotten to a point where it should be inforced.

I agree, the portions are getting way too big nowadays. Even packets of crisps are about 40% bigger than they used to be here in England.

I lived in California for 6.5 years and was always amazed at the difference in portion sizes when I came home to England on holiday, they were much smaller and people here didn't seem to have the huge weight problems that you see everyday in the US.

Now the food portions in England are becoming on a par with the US and so are the size of the people.

Don't people realize that the more you eat bigger and bigger portions then the more you are stretching your stomachs capacity to eat more and you will need more food to feel full.

When I was in Weight Watchers, one good tip was to ask for a 'go box' at the BEGINNING of the meal, put half of it in the box for another meal before you start eating.

I like the way Subway has calories and fat comparisons on their napkins and cups. While I'm eating my sammich from there I can see that instead of 6 grams of fat, I could be eating 21 at Burger King.

For years, there have been calorie counters on the market that list the values of fast foods. Those by Dr Atkins, Harriet Roth and the Doctors Heller are excellent. They list foods by category; that's the most useful type of counter.

If it's too hard to estimate the amount of calories in a fast food restaurant's meal, then don't estimate it - find out for sure. Many of these restaurants post nutrition information on their websites and if they don't, I don't eat there. Granted, you can't always plan ahead, but I travel with work a lot so I know in my head one meal at most of the fast food restaurants and other chains that is relatively healthy. I follow WW and I know which meals are reasonable points values so I'm always prepared. And the information on www.dwlz.com is awesome and a great resource for eating out.

Nobody makes us eat what we eat. I know there are lots of factors involved in weight gain and remaining overweight - I've struggled with it for years. But ultimately it comes down to our decision to put something in our mouths or not.

Portion control matters period. Yet, I do think that some of the smaller portions are, obviously, over priced to lead one to buy the larger ones...the phrase I like to hear here when people forget that these companies (not ma and pop joints here) are all about is : MO MONEY, MO MONEY, MO MONEY!
By the way u gotta say that like the wayans brothers in that movie MO Money.

Yet, we need calorie listing on the freaking menu itself, it is starting to look as if this is not too much to demand as we see that these companies control more than what most people want to believe...any former tabacco employees in the house..cough, cough...anyone.

By the way you eat more u will get fat, yes, but give me a break with the idea that eating less calories is as simple as stating that phrase. There are really a lot of DEE DEE DEEs out there, seriously. Yeah, it was simpler about 60 years ago without all that processed food, with added sugar, and various corn syrups and other things in this stuff with the OBVIOUS intent of making one want to consume more product. PRODUCT sales equals mo money.
They got a right to make money, and be aggressive but when the hell is the govt. gonna really regulate these guys (who pays them) and work for us for once (which is their whole purpose for existing). Adding stuff to make me feel like I need to eat more of your product (beyond the reality that it is there just to make it taste good and whose added purpose is to just make me hungrier) is out of hand. With all the underhanded tactics these guys are using and I do more solid research, my opinion is starting to switch to one where some (not all) of these guys are very much like tabacoo companies. They add stuff to get u addicted, and in consuming it (in this case too many calories make u fat which causes health problems)u are in a health crisis. Where is the outrage people. We need to more quickly tip that scale to a more even counter balance instead of waiting for these very same companies to believe that they are total innocent when it comes to what is IN their products. Labeling, listings, and better quality supervision in the production of said products should be the most important to get done more quickly, and from there at least we can continue to add more needed restrictions. Laugh if u like, but food is becoming a drug and when cigs, and booze were looked at I'm sure others did too, until they realized that responsibilty is a two way street. They aren't always so straight in how they conduct business and they have a lot of money to make u believe otherwise...enough though that putting a freaking label on all the menu's would be cheaper than probably the cost of one of there ads to promote their reputation. Don't forget though that u have a resp to cut calories too, and don't eat too much fast food anyway. Yet, if Jared could do it, why can't I doing it too...see that, they spent all that money to make u believe that, and ask urself if u did, why u don't hold them responsible for their own actions.

All you need to do is go the the website, (Dairy Queen, at least, has calories listed on theirs, and I know a lot of others do as well) or if you're at McDonalds, flip over that advertisement they put in the bottom of your tray- Calories are all listed right on the back of it. People just don't care, so they don't look for these things.

Is it time to start using that old-fashioned and un-PC word gluttony? It's a real issue... BUT... when it comes to fast food -- it confuses the senses. You can overdo it before you even got started.

The thing with portion sizes is that more than likely, you will eat everything that is in front of you.

For instance, the other day at work I got the special from a nearby restaurant. It was a grilled ham & cheese sandwich with french fries and soup (I know it is not healthy food but I felt like indulging that day).

As I'm setting there, I get through the soup, maybe half the fries and almost half the sandwich. As I finished the first half of the sandwich, I suddenly realize that I am getting UNCOMFORTABLY full! Yet something makes me want to continue to eat the other half of the meal.

The next time I got a similar meal, I took out half the fries and half the sandwich. Sitting there looking at the other half in front of me, I am thinking no way am I going to be satisfied with this much. But I ate the half, and got up from the table. I felt just a satisfied as I would if I had eaten the whole thing. I don't know why this is.

The same goes with fast food. When they make the portions bigger, even though people were satisfied before with smaller ones, people eat the entire portion.

The responsibility lies in both the hands of the companies and the hands of the consumer. The companies need to stop super sizing the portions of everything, just as the consumers need to start to realize what a properly sized portion is.

It's not easy, I finally began to realize what was making it difficult to lose weight, and its hard to get used to what a good portion size actually is.

Fast food also caters to our desire to "get a good deal" on food. I mean, come on, you'd be a fool to pass up getting almost two times the french fries for only 39 cents more, right? Well, the calories definitely add up especially with restaurant food. When I got my WW Dining Out "points" guide, every page just awed me....most restaurant entrees were in the 20-30 point range (more than I was supposed to eat for the entire day, typically). It made me really really careful when eating out. I only ordered kid sized portions or salads with grilled chicken and light dressing and no cheese when eating out. I mean, yeah, companies are making their portions bigger but we can just make the decision to not order the huge portions. But there are a lot of people out there who feel "ripped off" if they pay for food and get only a small portion.

It's about time to learn our kids what a portion size should be!

Someone above said if you're too fat, you have to eat less, its simple. I just wanted to quickly say how much BS that is.

I have shed 1/2 stone of bodyfat over the last 8-12 weeks and I have been eating MORE, just the right food, in combination with a decent (although not excessive) exercise regimen.

Myths and underinformed drivel like this just consolidates all the health issues, confusion and obesity that surrounds us in todays world.

With regards fast food restaurants, I am appalled by the lack of responsibility government and education authorities take when dealing with legislation regarding food content, portion sizes and education, its embarrasing.

Personally I would like to see every fast food and supermarket related product pass a stringent "health and content" test before being allowed either on supermarket shelves. Selling 1/2 pound burgers with bacon, cheese and fries with full sugar soda simply shouldnt be allowed IMO but if people are stupid and lazy enough to want to eat this stuff then I suppose they should be allowed to, its a free world after all, although sometimes I wonder if some things shouldnt be regulated more thoroughly. My point is, if the government took a harder line with making such types of food healthier, it would probably save billions on healthcare issues etc.

Similarly, if education authorities made food and nutrition education compulsory instead of irrelevant educational material like religious education, there would be MUCH less of an issue with people using ignorance as an excuse for being extremely overweight.

To conclude, it should be the government and education authorities that lead the charge with regards portion sizes and fast food content, as I said before, personally I think very unhealthy food chains should be discontinued althogether and replaced with much healthier options. I recognise that most people would see this as extreme, so, by way of a compromise, I suggest that the content, portion size and cost is regulated by the government and compulsory education on the dangers of such types of foods and obesity is implemented at all levels of education up to and including college level. We cannot expect the fast food chains to take responsibilty, they are a business and sadly, obviously dont care about the health and weight of their customers by the very token of their portion sizes and appetite stimulating additives they put in their "food".

/rant off, thanks guys its been fun! Healthy living and a long future to you all.

Spectra:

But there are a lot of people out there who feel "ripped off" if they pay for food and get only a small portion.

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I definately used to feel this way. Even more so, I paid for this food, it's a waste not to eat it. Now I tell myself that the 2 bucks or the 3 bucks that I might be 'throwing away' is pennies compared to the price of my health and feeling good. People need to think about the long term costs of their decisions to overeat. Of course, it's not an easy thing to do.

As for the portion sizes issues, now that I eat healthier I'm really appalled at how big they are! Seeing the piles and piles of fries on people's plate - no one needs to eat that much. I agree that calories should be right there on the menu at all restaurants. Not just that, but serving sizes. I think they should have to write, BTW, this plate is 6 servings sizes and a total of 1933 calories. If I owned a restaurant, I wouldn't WANT to put that on the menu. I think it would force restaurants to provide some healthier options.

Leanne, you might have thought you'd benefit from being called fat, but I was called fat constantly. By strangers. And you know what it did? It made me afraid to join a gym until I'd lost 25 kg (I only exercised with a bike at home - going out in the street, to hear people calling out "hey lardass!" and things like that?). Even now, I'm still afraid to join the better gym that is the same price as the tiny one, with better equipment, cause there are *more people* there. And more people = more chances to be called fat. It made me afraid to eat or drink anything that could not clearly be identified as water in public (if I ate even a salad, people would do the "tsk, tsk" eye roll sometimes). It made me horrified of grocery shopping (several times I had people look into my cart and say "move over, fat pig" or "no wonder you're fat"). I lost 50kg (ok, 55kg but I couldn't keep those last 5 kg off - and yes, I'm "normal" now, BMI right smack in the middle of the range, 22.5, so no, I'm not afraid cause I'm still fat) and I still have all those fears. In fact, I refuse to renew my driver's license so that my husband won't ask me to do any grocery shopping (if I'm with him, I feel safe). I used to be a teacher, but it meant I had to go to different locations to teach, and although my coworkers and students never treated me badly, there were the rides there, so I now work from home. So no, it didn't make me decide to lose weight (I was fully aware I was fat and working on it already) and it gave me a lifetime of social anxiety that was only alleviated with psychotropic drugs, but I don't wanna keep taking them. It also made me hate the way I look and generally assume every single person in the world is an asshole until proven otherwise.

Jan, thank you!
maybe if people hadn't called me fat all the time... when looking back, comparatively, i really wasn't... i wouldn't be going through what i'm going through now.

As far as fast food joints go one must use common sense. If you go to mc donalds try one of their salads and either use only half the dressing or none, they're still good, same with other resturants there is usally a good choice, or if you're going for health, um don't eat there. now f course sometimes this is unavoidable, like when my friends and I are rushing through our short lunch break, so what I do is get a small fry and a water. sure fries aren't healthy but I don't have to eat all of the order. besides if you're at a fast food place clearly you aren't going for health food.

is it so hard to be disciplined and decisive about sthg as simple as eating? i would love to put on some weight cos i lost alot of it 4yrs ago to illnesses and cant seem to get back to my former weight, arent there any kind of books out there to help people like us? everywhere you go its about slimming down and counting calories

Oh! THAT IS SO RIGHT!

I totally agree with Mia Para Me. When I was growing up everyone called me fat, just because my bobs were groing faster. I really belive I was fat, got in a drepresion and really got FAT..G Thanks stupid Anorexic sick people. I was just fine.

WEll, I only blamed the initial of it, Now that I know, I took control .. But I WAS WRIGHT , I KNEW I AM NOT THE ONLY ONE OUT THERE WHO DID THE WRONG THINGS BECAUSE OTHER CALLED US FAT. NOW I UNDERSTAND HOW LIMITED THEIR VOCABULARY WAS!!! LIKE I SAY.....
BEAUTY FADES , SMARTS NEEEEEEEEEEEEVA.. HEHEHHE

I would like the public to know about a potential dessert disaster. TGI Fridays has a dessert called the Brownie Obsession. The customer service refuses to disclose the amount of calories in this dessert. I recently learned that the Brownie has 1190 calories that doesn't include the 1 1/2 cups of Haggen Das Ice cream approx. 450 calories, nor does it include the chocolate and carmel covering the top along with the nuts. In total this dessert is above 2000 Calories and should be disclosed to customers not kept a secret.

Thanks, P. I'll never eat at a TGI Friday's again until I can get nutrition info for all their menu items.

In line with that, I used to love Quizno's before I started keeping a food journal and REALLY losing weight. (I lost 10lbs in 3 months just trying to eye what I ate, compared to 40lbs in 8 months & still going with the journal) Anyway, I always look up calories for everything that I eat if they're not available from a label. I found that I could find just about everything online straight from the company's website. Hell, even McDonald's and Burger King list theirs online.

NOT QUIZNOS.

I googled for Quiznos nutrition information, and the first links that pop up are about how Quiznos outright REFUSES to release nutrition information about ANY of its subs except for the "lite" ones.

Why? Even McDonald's and Burger King show their hands. My theory is that Quiznos is deliberatly trying to manipulate and deceive the public into thinking that because they're a "sub/sandwich" place like Subway, they are healthy. Releasing nutrition information would immediately kill that myth and hurt their business. This disgusts me to no end.

Until the federal government requires fast food industry disclosure of nutrition information to the public, Quizno's will never see my business.

Please BOYCOTT QUIZNOS!

I have often heard that people eat fast food because it's all they can afford. well, I've been very poor. I've worked fast food, and most customers were wayyyyy richer than I. There were exceptions.
Fast food costs a mint! I live in a poor neighborhood with no discount store or giant supermarket. There is a smallish supermarket but it's known for having a limited selection and high prices compared to other stores in town. There are some really small, very costly stores as well, where I hardly ever buy stuff.
Now, at this little supermarket, I can et iceberg lettuce orwhatever kind of lettuce or cabbage happens to be on sale at the moment, less than a buck for a head bigger than my head. I can get a few big tomatoes for a couple of bucks at times, other times another veggie, maybe a distressed one. Salad is bought. Then I get a loaf of whole-grain bread without sugar, buck fifty, then a few bucks worth of whatever meat's cheapest today, ignoring the very high-fat ones. That's a few meals with meat, and bread enough to last a week or longer. Jug of skim milk, no more than two-fifty, usually less, and a couple of plain yogurts, a dollar perhaps, and a bag of whatever fruit's on sale, and I've got plenty of good, tasty, easy, healthy-enough meals, all for around twelve dollars. When this doesn't make me full and content, I wait for the time and cash to get a bus or hitch a ride from a friend to a discount store in another part of town, where we stock up on even better stuff for even less money. It's fun -- a chance to get out of the house and be social. So my arms hurt carrying it all. That's what exercise is like. Oh, I complain, and sometimes I'm silly and spend too much or get bad things, but I know that's my own fault. I know I can work at doing better.
As to fast food: A "cheap" meal is about three dollars. That's nothing but one sandwich, a fistful of fries and plenty of gross sweet water called pop. How long will it last? An hour? Two? I heard of a woman trying to prove she can lose weight and save money by eating three fast food meals each day, a total of about ten bucks. When I spend ten bucks on food in a day I feel like I'm living grandly and in high style. Ten!
maybe there are a few places where fast food is the cheapest food, but i would guess such places are very scarce and that all but a handful of people who say they can't afford not to eat the stuff are making excuses because the hate to cook, even to the point of making a sandwich, or just hate healthy food because it's not as entertaining as fake food. It's their choice, but if they don't like their situation, they should save up for a bus ride and get some groceries. That's just what it looks like from here.