The MakeMeThinner Support Forum

[explorthis]

As a "looser" I have become very interested in reading about how others perceive food, and how AWARE I have become of food information. (or fuel as Nancy puts it) I have not come to the conclusion yet, (I am still not eating) that food (again as Nancy puts it) is NOT OUR FRIEND, but FUEL FOR OUR BODY. This will eventually become apparent to me once I begin to "fuel myself". I enjoy reading (love information) and looking forward to the day when I can "re-enter" the food laden world, with a new philosophy. Lest we forget, eating is a social occasion, families, friends, Holidays etc…in addition to a "fueling" time... (This is a Mike-ism)

I look at the scary statistics below, realizing I NEVER even cared about calories or FAT grams but, how or what I was going to eat, and when I was going to eat next…

Don’t get me wrong, I was not “compulsive”, but an avid over eater. When going to restaurants, I was always the one looking for, not for the most expensive meal but the one that had the most food on one order (interesting I can easily admit this now). Looking at meals on menu’s made me laugh… What’s a ½ sandwich and a cup of soup? Is that the appetizer? Salad? Me? Hahaha…

I look forward to the day (sooner than I think) where I WILL BE IN CONTROL of the “fuel” I put in.

Anyway, some scary statistics below for your amusement/information. Holy Cow, look at some of the calorie counts on the things we (me) eat daily And now we are successfully consuming 500+/- calories a day!!!

A good (but long read) -Mike
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Cheese fries: 3,010 calories. Bloomin' Onion: 2,130 calories. Buffalo wings: 1,750 calories. If you knew the numbers, would you still eat it?

New legislation introduced today in Congress -- called the Menu Education and Labeling (MEAL) bill -- would require many restaurants and fast food chains, including Starbucks, Taco Bell, and Burger King, to list calorie counts on menu boards.

The law would also require table-service chains (with more than 20 locations) -- such as TGI Friday's, IHOP, Red Lobster, and Pizza Hut -- to list calories, saturated fat plus trans fat, carbohydrates, and sodium on printed menus.

From Applebee's to Wendy's, fast food restaurants could be wrangled in to the movement to slim down America.

"No one would mistake cheese fries with ranch dressing for a health food, but few would guess that a typical serving uses up more than a whole day's worth of calories," says a new report from the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI).

In fact, two-thirds of Americans say they want that information, according to a recent CSPI survey.

20 Zillion Fat Grams Served
Americans get about one-third of their calories from outside the home, the CSPI reports. They're also eating out twice as often as they did in 1970. Restaurant foods are an important contributor to rising rates of overweight and obesity.

Since 1986, some fast food chains such as McDonald's have provided nutrition information. In 1990, when legislation required manufacturers of packaged foods to list nutrition information, the restaurant industry won a special exemption, says the CSPI.

"Most of the chain restaurants don't provide nutrition information, and those that do make it hard to find, hard to read, or available only on web sites," says Margo G. Wootan, CSPI's nutrition policy director, in a prepared statement. "People have good nutrition information in supermarkets, but people can only guess what they're eating at chain restaurants."

Studies have shown that when people eat at fast food restaurants, they consume more calories and saturated fat, fewer nutrients such as calcium, and less fiber when they eat out. Children eat almost twice as many calories in an average restaurant meal than in a home-cooked meal.

Many of these meals, appetizers, snacks, and drinks provide a full day's worth of calories -- and in some cases even more.

Children between 2 and 6 years old, women, and some older adults should get about 1,600 calories a day, according to the American Dietetic Association and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Older children, teen girls, and most men should get about 2,200 calories. Teen boys and active men should get about 2,800 calories,

Some menu items have more calories and fat than anyone would imagine, says Wootan. "Who would guess that a drink can pack the calories of a whole meal? A large shake at McDonald's has over a thousand calories, 35% more than a hamburger, small fries, plus small Coke."

Other staggering calorie counts from the CSPI:
• Large caffe mocha with whole milk: 430 calories
• Large caffe latte with skim milk: 170 calories
• Three slices pepperoni pizza: 900 calories
• Five breadsticks: 800 calories
• Mushroom cheeseburger: 1,490 calories
• Hamburger and onion rings: 1,550 calories
• Fries: 600 calories
• Chicken fingers: 1,640 calories
• Stuffed potato skins: 1,260 calories
• Movie theater popcorn, medium size, without butter: 900 calories
• Cinnabon Classic: 670 calories

If chain restaurants can provide nutrition information on web sites, they can put calorie numbers on their menus. For nutrition information to be useful, it needs to be at the point of decision making. Few fast-food consumers want to lose their place in line to squint at a hard-to-read poster."

Over the last eight months, six states -- California, Maine, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, and Texas -- and the District of Columbia have introduced bills to require nutrition information in fast food chain restaurants.

Experts Weigh In
Nutritionists, of course, love this legislation -- but it may need some editing, says Leslie Bonci, MPH, RD, director of sports nutrition at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association.

"Too much information can be a little overwhelming for people," Bonci tells WebMD. "You need to give them options, teach them how to make better decisions. Give them 'Door Number One,' 'Door Number Two,' and 'Door Number Three' -- and the facts to back it up. Order that burger but get a smaller drink. Those are things people don't think of."
"If people saw how many calories were in that portion of fettuccine, or in the endless bowls of pasta, they may think twice," says Chris Rosenbloom, PhD, RD, associate dean of the College of Health and Human Sciences and professor of nutrition at Georgia State University in Atlanta.

"I think people are either clueless about calories or in denial," she tells WebMD.

Her suggestion: A little kiosk in the restaurant could "house" the nutrition information, rather than having it on the menu, says Rosenbloom. "There are many ways to make it available. People who don't want to know wouldn't have to go to the kiosk."

If you're still not convinced, consider how much time the CSPI says it takes for an average-size woman to work off those fast foods:
• Quarter-Pounder with Cheese Extra Value Meal (1,550 calories) = running more than two hours
• Cheese fries with ranch dressing (3,010 calories) = nearly 11 hours of brisk walking
• A 20-ounce Coke = nearly an hour of biking
Still hungry for fast food?

Waistline-Friendly Fast Food?

McDonald's adult version of the Happy Meal, equipped with a salad, an exercise booklet, and a pedometer to encourage walking, is among the latest round of health-conscious offerings from fast food chains, restaurants, and food suppliers. But are these well-intentioned attempts at heart-healthy fare, or are these companies merely trying to prevent future battles with an increasingly combative public?

McDonald's recently announced that it would begin working with Oprah Winfrey's personal trainer, Bob Greene, to help give diners a waistline-friendly option. This heart-healthy combo pack is just the latest in more healthy alternatives at America's favorite eateries.
You may have heard about Kraft Foods' effort -- reportedly in the works for years -- to "fight global obesity" by reducing the fat content and portion sizes of its offerings.

Or maybe you read about the new partnership between Applebee's and Weight Watchers, in which the popular restaurant chain will offer a menu of leaner fare with the weight-loss company's trademark point system. That news certainly got more attention than another just two weeks later on the return of Applebee's all-you-can-eat Honey BBQ Rib Tips "campaign" complete with beans, fries, and cole slaw.

There's PepsiCo alerting the media when it removed trans fats from its Fritos and launched a new line of organic chips and Campbell Soup's reminders to "eat smart" with its 31 soups containing fewer than 100 calories per serving. Even 7-Eleven, that snacking Shangri-La for those who don't count calories, now boasts all-natural and low-fat chips next to its pork rinds and just announced plans to offer new, no-calorie Slurpees.
Joining the War Against Obesity?

"I've spoken to some of these companies, and I believe most are taking these actions in an attempt to be good social citizens -- knowing full well that these campaigns will fail miserably," says John Stanton, PhD, professor of food marketing at St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia.

"It's well known in the food service industry that the best way to kill the success of a new product is to put a heart symbol (indicating it's low-fat) next to it on the menu," he tells WebMD. "And I can certainly tell you that their customers aren't saying they want smaller portions or are ordering Big Macs and fries and asking about trans fats. They don't want these healthier options."

History suggests that he's right. There's the McLean burger, whose name proved to be closely more related to levels of profits and customer popularity than its fats and calories. And Taco Bell's Border Lights, whose sales also quickly fell south-of-the-border. Even Applebee's, now basking in the glow of its Weight Watchers-partnership media frenzy, had an earlier attempt at low-fat fare in the 1990s that bombed.

"Yes, there were earlier efforts to have a designated portion of our menu as lower fat or healthier fare that unfortunately didn't take off," Applebee's spokesman Frank Ybarra tells WebMD. "But we think part of that may have been issues with flavor and taste. Guests now expect that items considered healthy need to also taste good. That used to not be the perception of those items."

Whether diners last decade really expected healthy restaurant food to be bad tasting is up for debate. But it's clear that food suppliers are taking more blame than ever for their customers' expanding waistlines -- and paying for it at the corporate bottom line.

Clearly, food companies feel the fingers pointing at them," says Alice Ammerman, RD, DrPH, nutritionist at the University of North Carolina. "So it makes good marketing sense for them to do something more along the lines of offering solutions, rather than providing more additions to contribute to the obesity epidemic."

After battling some health-conscious finger pointers, McDonald's recently made another attempt at healthier fare -- a new line of "meal-sized" salads that the company proudly says ended many consecutive months of slumping sales. Of course, less publicized is that the new Crispy Chicken Bacon Ranch Salad weighs in at 660 calories and 51 grams of fat when you add a packet of its accompanying dressing -- compared to the 600 calories and 33 fat grams of a Big Mac.

"And it seems as though they give you two packets of dressing when you order it," says Ammerman. "But it's your choice if you want to add the dressing."

It's Your Choice

Ah yes, "choice" -- the real reason why Applebee's has teamed up with Weight Watchers, says Ybarra. "We want to provide our guests with the widest variety of meals options we can. If they're looking for healthier alternatives, the Weight Watchers options will offer that. If they don't, we have other options, as well. It's a simple matter of providing our guests with a choice."

In other words, if you choose to get fat on all-you-can-eat rib fests, perhaps you shouldn't blame Applebee's with a lawsuit later on. You could have selected any of the dozen or so Weight Watchers choices soon to be offered, or other waistline-friendly offerings currently on the menu.

"I'm willing to give everybody the benefit of the doubt and say that buried in these corporations are individuals who really care about the health of the people who buy their products. But I can't believe that the lawsuits we're seeing don't have something to do with the timing of these changes," says Marion Nestle, PhD, MPH, chair of Nutrition and Food Studies at New York University and author of Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health.

"Recently, there have been two very serious investment analyses that say these companies had better watch out," she tells WebMD. "Even if these lawsuits never come to fruition and have no grounds in which to win, they are still putting the companies in a position of vulnerability, particularly because of the documents they are going to have to present."

Even if customers aren't hungry for litigation, there's another factor that may explain the slimmer menu and portion choices under way.

"Salads and other healthy foods are at McDonald's and other restaurants because of what's called the 'veto effect,'" says Stanton. "If there are five people who want to go to lunch together and one says, 'I don't want a hamburger,' that person can veto the other four from going there. If a salad is available, McDonald's can do what it really wants to -- sell the other four hamburgers."

[Jeanette]

STOP THE INSANITY!!!!

Gee Mike, when you put it in black and white, it definitely makes you think twice before putting ANYTHING in your mouth. :!:

I am a looong way from the re-feeding process, but I know that THIS TIME is different. My attitude toward food is changing daily, thanks to this program and the good support of others!

Hang in there, y'all!!

[Unca_Tim]

Great post Mike,
We can see by this article, that what has become an average and common meal for alot of us means that we have to be jogging or exercising the rest of our waking hours just to break even on the day.

That's fine if you're a laborer, but you even see more and more pudgy laborers and active people today that can't burn off the load of calories they're taking in.

You add all the artificial junk that stops digestion, throws the natural balance of the body out of whack, contributes to diseases and who knows what else, on top of the massive amounts of calories we're gulping down...no wonder

We need more info and articles like this in front of us to know what we're up against.

Use this time while you're reaching your goal to gobble up all the info you can on healthy foods, portions and food combinations. It's no coincidence how good you feel on Medifast, when you're getting the proper balance of everything.

The weight loss "phase" of Medifast is the time to be educating and preparing yourself for transition.

Unca

[Ellen]

Amen Mike,
I'd love to see the calorie counts put on every fast food wrapper!

The ones that get me the most are the ones that pose as healthy.

I love the new Subway commercial where the girl is polishing off the entire bag of cookies and saying "it's Ok, I had Subway last night" Notice that she is slim?

My favorite Subway meal is a BMT. I used to be able to eat a 12 inch BMT with a bag of chips and a soda. If I had that meal, with oil and vinegar on the sandwich and a coke, I would be taking in a little over 1500 calories (more if I wanted mayo). Or if I had a meatball sandwich, I would be over 1600 calories. I hardly think that would give me the room to indulge in an entire package of cookies. That is enough calories for an entire day.

Eat fresh... yeah right.

[Nancy]

Hey, Mike ~
Great article that you posted! Food really is not our friend and many of the statistics you sent verify this. A Bloomin’ Onion is a walking stress test.
You are doing the right thing along the way in your weight loss journey – you are planning ahead about what you will do when you transition from weight loss to weight maintenance. Becoming aware of caloric content, portion size and ways to incorporate exercise into your daily life are all important factor for long-term weight maintenance.
My soon to be 80 year old Daddy is in the cardiac intensive care unit at a hospital in Portland, OR. He has worked hard all of his life as a cement finisher and contractor. Since retirement at age 68, he has faithfully exercised daily and he eats a fairly well-balanced diet. However, I must say that he primarily ate red meat. He had a massive heart attack a week and a half ago in the evening. He had ridden his stationary bike, walked the treadmill and used his Universal Gym in the morning and then mowed the ½ acre lawn the afternoon of the Big Event.
As we enter the CICU and walk to Daddy’s room, we see the others whose very lives are also dependent upon the machines, lines and ventilators. Many of them are far younger than Daddy – men and women who are obese, people who have made poor food choices throughout their lives. Many are folks that have not exercised much. In the thick notebook given to our family for cardiac after care is a profound statement. It says something like this: If you have never set aside room in your day for exercise, you will now have to find time for your illness…(I’ll grab the notebook from my Mom when she is finished reading it and then post the actual statement.) Gulp! I have been extremely inconsistent with exercise and obviously, when I weighed in at 258 pounds, I had not been eating properly for years!
We have certainly been duped by the advertising and food industries, haven’t we? We CANNOT have it all, we DO NOT deserve it all and we are all paying for it! When “Fat Free” foods became readily available, the incidence of obesity began to increase because those Fat Free products were laced with carbs – fats were lowered or eliminated, lots of corn syrup was added for flavor and thickener. High fructose foods are TERRIBLE for me! High fructose foods are stored as FAT. Over the lips, over the gums, live forever on Nancy’s hips and bums!

When the schools dropped daily PE classes, they also added vending machines and fast food restaurants to their school lunch programs. Only in America can a kid leave his/her Literature class, grab a burger and fries or a couple of tacos and some Mexifries on his way to Health class, eh?

I’ve learned this about fats: if it’s hard at room temperature, it’s not good for me.

The Food pyramid is a joke.

Check out these stats:
Fat as a percentage of calories in our daily diet in the good ol’ USA.

During the year 1911 = 32%
During the year 1937 = 37%
During the year 2003 = 42%

In Japan and Africa, the average percentage of fat in the diet is 10% for each country.

Less than 20% fat is best. If you have heart issues, we should drop fats to 10% of dietary intake.

We should eat fats that are liquid at room temp. Monosaturated fats are best because they lower blood cholesterol. (Olive oil) They are fat dense calories.

Polyunsaturated Fats help lower blood cholesterol and are also liquid at room temp but they are STILL fats. (Samples: Safflower, Sunflower, Corn, Soybean, Cottonseed)

I have learned to cut down on saturated fats – especially Palm oil (Yikes! It’s 45% saturated fat!!) and coconut oil

I’ve become a fat sleuth! I try to avoid foods that list major ingredients as animal fats, hydrogenated fats and saturated fats. Transfatty acids are not my friend either!

So much to learn! Health is a quest, a journey. It isn’t easy but if we want to live long and prosper, it’s worth taking the time to educate ourselves.
Live a healthy day!