Why hasn't the entire world..
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Ok, I'm new here, but I have a simple question.
Why should it be the restaurants responsibility to tell us what nutrients, calories, etc are in the food we purchase.
There are couple of very helpful exchange lists available. A bread exchange is the same size no matter what type of bread it is. If the slice they give you looks much bigger than you are used to, count it as two exchanges.
Me? for the time being I am avoiding restaurants like the flu. No willpower, worse, no won't power. I am responsible for how much of whatever I eat. It is the restaurants responsibility to make their food appetizing. Sadly, over the years I have found that the restaurants are VERY GOOD upholding their end, and it is me that is lacking on how much of those fries I should eat with my veggie burger. "I know, I'll skip the salad and that way I'll have room for desert..."
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Look, it isn't as bad as I thought.....I'll have 2. Countries were obesity is low don't worry about calories or nutrition very much....funny how that works.Embraced the idea of putting nutritional information on our menus?
The funny part about it is, like it will really make a difference to the majority of people who already over eat. Almost every restraunt out there will provide you nutritional information on the spot or already have it out. I would say most people never look at it. And even if it is posted on the menus (just at McDonalds and they already have it next to each item and meal) it didn't stop several people from ordering more than a meal for themselves.
So just stick it up there. Ain't like it will really effect those who don't care.0 -
Ok, I'm new here, but I have a simple question.
Why should it be the restaurants responsibility to tell us what nutrients, calories, etc are in the food we purchase.
Why not have them just put it up there and then we don't have to use any exchange or guess.0 -
Most restaurants have that information on their websites.0
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I agree... I wish restaurants would do this. I really like that Cheesecake Factory and some other chains at least have nutritional info online (and they have the Skinnylicious menu, so at least you know what you order won't be covered in grease/is a good guide), but it would be nice to have more specific info across the board.
I guess a good general rule of thumb is veggies + lean protein is the best choice you can make, no matter where you are.0 -
It might be nice to have a general idea of the nutritional content, however there have been studies (don't you just love when people say this!!) anyway,they have gone into restaurants and analysed the food and most of the time the nutritional values were wrong!!!
We just have to be more vigilant ourselves.0 -
Most restaurants have that information on their websites.
chain restaurants that is0 -
It costs me tax dollars when people are unhealthy. I prefer that business get hurt by being irresponsible. I want proper portion sizes and menu labeling. Calories will help get portion sizes down, IMO.
so, you get to decide what "proper portion sizing" is? Screw. That. If I am going to Cheesecake Factory then I have decided that those gigantor plates full of cream covered food is the proper portion size. I couldn't care less about what you believe your tax dollars are doing.
This.
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I'm loving this thread. The majority of posters have join date in 2012. So, since you've been counting calories and macros for 6 months or so, the entire world must now work the way you wish it to work? Back in 2010 you couldn't care less but now every mom and pop corner diner must show you a calorie list, and ingredient list, and tell you how the food was prepared.
Not only does the rest of world not calorie count, they look at us like we ALIENS when we whip out our smart phones in the restaurant and start entering stuff on our MFP app. The people that want this have even said that they would stop buying the high calorie cream and oil items that also supply the highest profit margin to the restaurant.
Why exactly should they cater to us?
I definitely agree with this post. We are the minority on MFP, unfortunately. Not everyone, not even most people worry about what goes into their mouths. It is up to us to be self succient and find out this information for ourselves, or guess as best as we can.
Like I posted to the OP: A lot of chains have this information available online now. It's always easy to go online, check out the menu and plan ahead if you know you're going out. Or just go out and enjoy it! Life is too short to count every single calorie. What about birthdays, 4th of July, etc? There are always days that we need to relax a little.
I think that this is a bad way to think. Why shouldn't they tell us? Nutritioin labels on food products were fought hard. But, now look at how we use them, and how we demand to know more. Information is good and right. Transparancy is important to me. I don't want to eat think something is 600 calories when it's three times that because I don't know they dip it all in butter.
I fully understand that a 1200 calories meal is not EXACTLY 1200, could be 1000 could be 1400, but I have a general idea of the range. And, I think they go through a process to get their calories substantiated. And, the restaurant should be held accountable for properly preparing their food. In CA, they already do this for chains. And, I can tell you that it's nice and it shifts my thinking. A meatloaf dinner is often not that bad when you compare to other things in the menu, and I love meatloaf. So, it works out. i think our knowledge of what is healthy and what isn't, is not always accurate in a prepared meals way. I've seen this on the buggest loser where they showed a blue cheese bueger vs a salad, and the blue cheese burger was less calories. Amazing. It is not always intuitve.
I don't get the negative reactions. So, it's hard. Cry me a river. Just do it. It IS NTO HARD. Any person that understand how to add can do it. Any restaurant owner can standardize. They may not want to, but tough s$#t. Do it.
Also, along with this, as I said before, i am very interested in smaller portions. So, in my mind, that would be an awesome side effect of this.
Standardizing to such an extreme would completely diminish the razor thin profit margins of the average Mom & Pop or "greasy spoon" shop. I contest that if you're that concerned about nutritional information you would just do best to avoid the place(s).0 -
I'm really surprised at the comments on this thread. Is it "attack OP day," and I didn't get the memo? Jesus.
Not sure why people on a calorie counting website would be arguing against restaurants putting nutritional information on their menus.
Yes, I know what is good for me, and I know what is bad for me. However, that menu doesn't tell me that my salmon is basically just deep fried in butter. That MATTERS. How many times do we see stories on "Eat This, Not That" and the nutritional value of some things absolutely blows us away. Salad from Wendy's 900 calories! WHAT?! To the every day citizen, they believe that is a healthy choice, and without any nutritional information, they have no way to determine that....unless they join a site like, oh, IDK, MFP. Then they begin to learn how calories can be easily hidden in foods. Likewise, people will never learn how to eat sensible without some type of guide easily provided. Who cares if this is somewhat passing on the blame for being fat onto the restaurants.....it is A FACT people are fatter than they used to be, and as a society, it should be helped/lessened.
Also, I'm quite sure when I figure out the calories in food I prepare I calculate-1 tbsp of butter, 4 oz of chicken, 1 cup of tomatoes, 1 tbsp of salt....how HARD IS THAT?!??!??!! Restaurants don't need a gamut of lawyers and scientists...that's so absurd.
Seriously, you guys are a wee bit insane today.
Really? You don't understand why not everyone agrees with you? Have you read this thread? People do explain themselves.
Also, you make the assumption that the obesity problem in society is due to restaurant portions. Let me tell you, I am obese and I rarely eat out, so my obesity is not due to restaurants. Not everyone goes out to eat and it's narrow minded and naive to think that a few chains failing to post calorie counts is the problem. Or that posting calorie counts on menus actually WILL solve the problem. This issue here is that YOU don't want to take responsibility for your own choices.0 -
I'm really surprised at the comments on this thread. Is it "attack OP day," and I didn't get the memo? Jesus.
Not sure why people on a calorie counting website would be arguing against restaurants putting nutritional information on their menus.
Yes, I know what is good for me, and I know what is bad for me. However, that menu doesn't tell me that my salmon is basically just deep fried in butter. That MATTERS. How many times do we see stories on "Eat This, Not That" and the nutritional value of some things absolutely blows us away. Salad from Wendy's 900 calories! WHAT?! To the every day citizen, they believe that is a healthy choice, and without any nutritional information, they have no way to determine that....unless they join a site like, oh, IDK, MFP. Then they begin to learn how calories can be easily hidden in foods. Likewise, people will never learn how to eat sensible without some type of guide easily provided. Who cares if this is somewhat passing on the blame for being fat onto the restaurants.....it is A FACT people are fatter than they used to be, and as a society, it should be helped/lessened.
Also, I'm quite sure when I figure out the calories in food I prepare I calculate-1 tbsp of butter, 4 oz of chicken, 1 cup of tomatoes, 1 tbsp of salt....how HARD IS THAT?!??!??!! Restaurants don't need a gamut of lawyers and scientists...that's so absurd.
Seriously, you guys are a wee bit insane today.
Really? You don't understand why not everyone agrees with you? Have you read this thread? People do explain themselves.
Also, you make the assumption that the obesity problem in society is due to restaurant portions. Let me tell you, I am obese and I rarely eat out, so my obesity is not due to restaurants. Not everyone goes out to eat and it's narrow minded and naive to think that a few chains failing to post calorie counts is the problem. Or that posting calorie counts on menus actually WILL solve the problem. This issue here is that YOU don't want to take responsibility for your own choices.
sorry - restaurant portions have a HUGE impact on obesity in this country.
i know y'all wanna go on and on about personal responsibility and that the country has no business making us healthier and safer... but it's sheer lunacy. every other civilized country in the WORLD already does all this. the healthiest places in the country already do this (NYC/LA).
are my "freedoms" infringed because burger king displays calorie content? are my "freedoms" infringed because companies are forced to include ingredient lists on packages? **** NO. In fact, I've got MORE freedom of choice because I'm an empowered consumer. When restaurants aren't regulated, when regulation in general doesn't exist, the only thing that happens is that the people in power (whether that be in restaurants or any other business) will get richer by scamming and stomping on consumers like you and me.
What the hell is WRONG with a little human decency being forced on billion dollar corporations? It's this ridiculous "American Dream" notion. People don't want to make things harder for businesses and corporations because they hang on to a ludicrous shred of hope that they'll some day be there themselves, and at THAT point, they won't want to face those restrictions and regulations.
Well guess what? Cold truth coming at you. If you're not a millionaire right now, odds are astronomically low that you ever will be. So it makes literally NO sense to support ideas that will do nothing but take away any shred of power you've got and give it to the people looking to screw you for their next buck on top of the millions they already make.
You're being scammed. And you're doing it to yourself.
Calorie counts in restaurants are a good thing.
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every other civilized country in the WORLD already does all this.
Err no, no they don't
Have you ever been to Europe?
edit - Plus a lot of people against this are talking about small restaurants not massive chains.0 -
Why not just empower yourself to make an educated guess?0
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Pretty sure people were just fine 100's of years ago without nutritional information. (Please don't say food was healthier back then because it wasn't.)
^This!0 -
I agree! It would be much better if everyone was on board to at least have healthy options for those who do love fitness 0
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[Seriously this - how do you think you're little local mom&pop restaurant is going to get all that done? And be accurate. As nice as it would be it just isn't practical for anyone but the bigger chains. It seem like it would be easy enough, but really I believe there's a lot of stuff they actually have to do to get that done - stuff that costs money that smaller places might not be able to budget for.
This website has a FREE nutrition calculator, and you can find others all over the internet. All ANY restaurant would have to would be to input the ingredients and then it spits out the nutrition info. I don't think that would cost anything but time to input it.
This is a great idea, that would not be hard or costly at all to implement. They wouldn't even need to print new menus. They'd just need to print a few nutrition sheets to hand out to customers who wanted them "available upon request". I don't think that's too much to ask, even for a mom & pop diner.0 -
Am I the only one confused by the OPs meme? What does that have to do with her question? Inquiring minds...0
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[Seriously this - how do you think you're little local mom&pop restaurant is going to get all that done? And be accurate. As nice as it would be it just isn't practical for anyone but the bigger chains. It seem like it would be easy enough, but really I believe there's a lot of stuff they actually have to do to get that done - stuff that costs money that smaller places might not be able to budget for.
This website has a FREE nutrition calculator, and you can find others all over the internet. All ANY restaurant would have to would be to input the ingredients and then it spits out the nutrition info. I don't think that would cost anything but time to input it.
This is a great idea, that would not be hard or costly at all to implement. They wouldn't even need to print new menus. They'd just need to print a few nutrition sheets to hand out to customers who wanted them "available upon request". I don't think that's too much to ask, even for a mom & pop diner.
I'm afraid that when you run your own business time is actually money.0 -
What the hell is WRONG with a little human decency being forced on billion dollar corporations?
Odds are, if you're eating at a restaurant chain that is part of a billion dollar corporation, then you're already hopelessly doomed from a health standpoint. It's all the smaller mom and pop restaurants that will be negatively impacted. They will especially feel the burden if calorie counts require any kind of testing or analytics, as opposed to just adding up the calories of the ingredients.
And what about daily specials?0 -
What the hell is WRONG with a little human decency being forced on billion dollar corporations?
Odds are, if you're eating at a restaurant chain that is part of a billion dollar corporation, then you're already hopelessly doomed from a health standpoint. It's all the smaller mom and pop restaurants that will be negatively impacted. They will especially feel the burden if calorie counts require any kind of testing or analytics, as opposed to just adding up the calories of the ingredients.
And what about daily specials?
why? myfitnesspal's food calculator is free - as someone else pointed out.
so much hardship, testing and analytics...0
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