Looking at commercials differently

kellyscomeback
kellyscomeback Posts: 1,369 Member
edited September 29 in Food and Nutrition
A commercial for McD's was just on and I said back to the TV "And how much sugar is in that coffee?". I can't help myself, anytime I see a commercial for fast food or a chain restaurant I instantly think about how much sodium, fat, sugar etc. is in the food.

DH and I had a real eye opener when we looked up our favorite meals at chain restaurants. DH's breakfast was over 2000 calories and my favorite lunch was 1500 calories. YUCK!

It's amazing to realize just how differently you see food once you have seriously started looking after what you eat and how it fuels your body.

Replies

  • Kelly_Wilson1990
    Kelly_Wilson1990 Posts: 3,245 Member
    I do that too.
  • natashaamee
    natashaamee Posts: 17 Member
    I'm like that with EVERYTHING! lol. I feel you. As soon as I see anything from fast food, packaged stuff from vending machines, even the plates we serve at my own restaurant I calculate how many calories that is. I manage a Hard Times Cafe and just one burger plate special on a Monday is about 1,000 calories. I only eat 1200 a day! (or strive to). "OH come on you can just have ONE brownie". Uh, do you know everything that's IN that brownie? No thanks.
  • jbucci1186
    jbucci1186 Posts: 440 Member
    good for you!! :)
  • staceyo1211
    staceyo1211 Posts: 163
    I do the same thing. When we want to go to eat, I look up the the menu and check out how many calories are in each item so when I order its gonna be low in calories.
  • Jorra
    Jorra Posts: 3,338 Member
    I do that all the time! I actually work at Burger King so I think this all day long whenever people order things. I can't help but imagine all the fat and calories going into their bodies. :P
  • sbrown6
    sbrown6 Posts: 334 Member
    good for you!! :)

    191 lbs?!?!?! WOWOWOWOWOWO!!!!!
  • mystiedragonfly
    mystiedragonfly Posts: 189 Member
    I saw the movie "Super Size Me" about 4 years ago and ever since then, my whole outlook at fast food changed. I actually did not even step foot in a fast food place (except Sub Way) for maybe three years. Yeah, it had THAT much of an effect on me.
  • bunchesonothing
    bunchesonothing Posts: 1,015 Member
    I started to and then it started to greatly annoy my husband, who is the reason I started this site to begin with. (He was here first) I don't know how you are about it, but sometimes, we can obsess about things. What I learned from my husband is that if you look at food, and all you see is the nutrition guide... you might be going down an opposite unhealthy path. I know a lot of people will probably not agree with me... and that is okay with me.
  • sbrown6
    sbrown6 Posts: 334 Member
    I know. I spotted a frosted honey bun on my way out of a gas station. I just shook my head. Crazy to think I would eat stuff like that at not think twice. Its not even food, is it?
  • trimom63
    trimom63 Posts: 351 Member
    Every time I know where I'm going out to eat I research (ad-nauseum!) the food and calories where I'm going. Its surprising some of the things you THINK aren't going to be bad are some of the worst!!! Thanks goodness for restaurants' nutritional info on websites!!
  • bkennedy1612
    bkennedy1612 Posts: 68
    One of my favorite books is Eat this Not that.......really worth the money! It puts things in perspective for you when you go out to eat.



    At outback the onion blossom is like 25000 calories or something crazy extreme like that....
  • kellyscomeback
    kellyscomeback Posts: 1,369 Member
    I do the same thing. When we want to go to eat, I look up the the menu and check out how many calories are in each item so when I order its gonna be low in calories.

    I look at the menu at home and write down 2 items to order when I am there. But if there's bread on the table I'm going to have a mental battle over having a piece or 5.
    I saw the movie "Super Size Me" about 4 years ago and ever since then, my whole outlook at fast food changed. I actually did not even step foot in a fast food place (except Sub Way) for maybe three years. Yeah, it had THAT much of an effect on me.

    I liked that movie but it didn't change me that much. Now that I see the labels and how much weight I've lost but not eating it I can now see what it was doing to me.
    What I learned from my husband is that if you look at food, and all you see is the nutrition guide... you might be going down an opposite unhealthy path. I know a lot of people will probably not agree with me... and that is okay with me.

    That makes some sense to me. Over analysing everything you eat?
  • Jorra
    Jorra Posts: 3,338 Member
    One of my favorite books is Eat this Not that.......really worth the money! It puts things in perspective for you when you go out to eat.



    At outback the onion blossom is like 25000 calories or something crazy extreme like that....

    I LOOOVE ETNT! Their website is amazing too! They've got grocery store and restaurant swaps and articles about the best things you can buy for your health.
  • bunchesonothing
    bunchesonothing Posts: 1,015 Member
    Yes, kel_be. :) It's not just our bodies that are important.
  • broadsword7
    broadsword7 Posts: 411 Member
    I agree. And for me it's not only fast food but really, almost any food that is advertised on TV. When it comes right down to it, most of it, I would say perhaps 99.9 percent of it, in my opinion, is absolutely not healthy. And it's not like I didn't realize it before now, but I do seem to notice how wrong most of that food is for me, now more than ever. One of Michael Pollan's "rules" in his great book, Food Rules, is "Avoid foods you see advertised on television." Makes sense to me now. BTW, I break some of the "rules" in the book every now and again, but just being aware of it is a key motivator for me.
  • justimogen
    justimogen Posts: 76
    My Mom used to always say to me, "Eat to live. Don't live to eat."

    For the first time in...EVER?...That is how I look at food. When I go to eat, I consider what my body actually needs. The funny thing is that I'm enjoying food more now than I ever did before.

    Food commercials used to trigger every craving in me and I would give in. Then, I'd feel immense guilt in addition to the physical effects of eating all of that stuff.

    The only worry I have now is that I will wake up one day and go back to my old thoughts. I am trying hard to stay positive and reinforce all of my good thoughts and new habits!

    On another note - I never realized how much sodium is in restaurant foods. HOLY SCHNIKIES!
  • coolsmartygirl
    coolsmartygirl Posts: 299 Member
    I saw the movie "Super Size Me" about 4 years ago and ever since then, my whole outlook at fast food changed. I actually did not even step foot in a fast food place (except Sub Way) for maybe three years. Yeah, it had THAT much of an effect on me.

    I wish that movie had more of an effect on me, but it didn't. It's still a great movie and sad truth. However I always think when I am over my calories for the day: "it's okay, i use to eat mcdonalds a ton or more than once a day. I use to eat whatever I wanted. eating a little over my calories won't hurt me today"

    Plus I planned on putting on my to do list, to try to be under my calories for two days out of one week and realized I usually am under, I just blow up the days that I didn't and make them bigger in my head.
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