New Yorkers try to swallow calorie sticker shock

86-xr80r

86-xr80r

New member
Has anybody read this yet? I just read it on msn.com tonight.



My favorite lines are at the end of the article:

“I’m so upset,” she said, noting some entrees — like the Jack Daniels ribs and shrimp dinner — contain almost 2,000 calories, and the desserts were more of the same (the brownie obsession is 1,500 calories). “I wish they wouldn’t have done this.”

But then Fowler noticed that the waiter had handed her friend an old menu, which didn’t have calorie counts on it.

“You got a menu without anything on it?” she asked her friend. “Can I have yours?”
 
calories on menus

Thanks for posting this article!!!


"Nora Cara was flabbergasted.

She was about to order her usual morning coffee and muffin at Dunkin’ Donuts when she saw the new calorie labels. The chocolate chip muffin she had her eye on was 630 calories.

“I was blown away,” said Cara, a 27-year-old homemaker from Forest Hills in New York City. “I’m not a no-carb type of person, and I usually don’t even think about it. But you pick up a little muffin with your coffee, and it has 630 calories in it? That’s a bit extreme!”

.................................

Why are these people so blown away?? If your "usual" breakfast takes place at Dunkin' Donuts...what else would you expect but a high calorie meal?? wow.

Then there's the restaurant food....depending on where and what you order, by the time you eat an appetizer, entrée and desert...you've probably eaten 2 sticks of butter...then add in calories for drink of choice and you're up to 3,000 calories in ONE sitting. (I know I'm guilty!)

I'm so glad that NY has this law. My hope is that they make it nation-wide one day. Yeah restaurants might drop a few sales at first, but if it saves lives for those who truly are ignorant....I'm for it.

My hubby wanted to go out to eat last week and I refused to go unless I knew how many calories I was eating. The only place I knew of that has this on their menu is Applebees. I ordered off of their weight-watcher's menu and still only ate half of what was on my plate. I wish more restaraunts would do this.
 
Last edited:
Yeah, I don't go to Starbucks very often (it's kinda spendy, too), but I had one of their cheese danishes one day. I thought it was a little dry, and not all that tasty. Then, I found out it was 460 calories. Ouch. If I'm going to eat an entire meal's worth of calories in a desert, it had better be worth the splurge. I want something that tasted better than that.
I refer to my "The Complete Food Counter" book every day (I obviously haven't always done this, though). They have information for a bunch of restaurants, from Applebee's to El Pollo Loco to McDonald's to Starbucks. The best $7.50 I ever spent. It's a small enough book to carry in a handbag when you go out. They have a lot of information on almost every food imagineable. You can even find out how many calories a serving of roasted squirrel has in it. Mmmmm.
 
I just went to NYC 2 weeks ago and I LOVED the cal boards everywhere! Made my day so much easier! And I lost 2 pounds while there!
Camy
 
“Some people actually tell us we should take off the labels, because it discourages them from ordering what they want,” he said. “But I think honesty is the best policy.”

Apparently, for some, ignorance is bliss. But honestly, people should be aware of what they are putting into their bodies. It boggles my mind why people feel this way. I wish that they were required to do that here in all restaurants, it would make it much more “appetizing” to go out.
 
living in ny I can say it's kind of weird seeing it everywhere but I love it.....it's such a huge help and I wish they would do it everywhere...the best decision is an informed one
 
I had a two hour lay over at JFK a few weeks ago and I hit Starbucks first. I quickly changed my mind about getting anything other than a yogurt parfait because nothing of substance had under 300 calories. I loved it and I wasn't even counting calories then. Now I'm counting calories so I generally know what I'm going to order before I leave. But still, it's awesome and made everyone I was with think twice about what they were ordering.
 
I was just talking about this yesterday! I didn't know NY was doing it, but I thought it would be interesting if places legally had to have calories posted. I can't believe that people would just rather not want to know. Maybe this will be a wake-up call to restaurants and they will start serving smaller portions. How often do you really finish the whole meal at a restaurant? I rarely do.
 
I usually try and only order from the "appetizer" menu whenever I go out to eat. The portions on some things are rediculous.
 
I wish restaurants in Texas were required to post calorie/nutrition information. We're in the top 10 of most obese states in the US. We need the extra help!
 
My favorite restaurants in my town are locally owned, so they aren't in any calorie-counter books. So when I go, I try to order things that aren't fried, lots of veggies, smaller portions, etc. I guesstimate the number of calories by using an online calorie counter. I usually get appetizers instead of a full entree, as well, since a full entree is usually enough for 2 meals and a snack!

I wish the calorie posting law would go into effect everywhere, too. It would be more helpful for sure. I would hope that it wouldn't hurt business for small, locally-owned eateries, though. I'm not really into the corporately owned, cookie-cutter restaurants that are the same everywhere you go - I like eating at different and unique, off-the-beaten-path places when I travel, and here at home - locally owned places. But I rarely eat out, and on road trips I usually pack enough food to eat through the day and just eat at a restaurant one meal a day, usually dinner. It saves money and it helps me eat right on my trip.
 
Geez, how can someone be UPSET AT THIS!!? This is probably the best thing that CAN happen. Does anyone ENJOY being overweight? I love this idea. My mom and I print out nutritional information wherever we can find it on the internet for resturants and take it with us there!!! So we usually have 16 printed internet pages and the waiter looks at us like we're crazy! haha But seriously, it's upsetting because you can finally see what you're really eating. It's like we're living in this world that if you cant see the calorie content it's not there. Duh, resturants DONT cook much healthy food, and if it is a healthy food the portion is out of control. It's okay to splurge every once in awhile, but you're more likely to pick something with 10-15 grams of fat to splurge instead of 40 haha! (At least I know I would because I'm on a very low fat diet, plus 25g of fat is my intake that I try to stay at or below)

I think it's the best thing to happen ever. I am so happy and I hope every single resturant does this. People should be informed of what they're eating so they can try to control themselves. Newsflash, america is overweight. We're obviously doing something wrong. Maybe this is just another step in the right direction. Just switching to transfat free canola oil isnt going to do it. hahaha
 
Last edited:
I just bought the book "eat this not that" and it rocks. I am going to start carrying it with me. We eat out alot. I wish they would do that here. I always have to hop online before I eat out and check out what I can eat. I always ask my hubby if it would be odd to ask for nutrition info and he always says yes.... dang it and I dont ask. Sounds like a wonderful idea what they did...

if you think about it..its the portions of most of the food...If you have a huge plate of pasta..yeah its going to be alot.... I used to get a turkey burger at ruby tuesdays it blew my mind that ever single burger is over 1000(I looked it up in my book). The bella turkey burger is the worst thing... I figured turkey and mushrooms cant be that bad..yeah freaking right....needless to say we dont go there anymore
 
Last edited:
I take a calorie counter book almost everywhere I go(I know that seems strange... sometimes they laugh at me)... I wish that more places would do what NY is doing.

Sadly, I sometimes bail on my friends because I don't know if there are any healthy options at restaurants that they want to go to.
 
sushi said:
I take a calorie counter book almost everywhere I go(I know that seems strange... sometimes they laugh at me)... I wish that more places would do what NY is doing.

Sadly, I sometimes bail on my friends because I don't know if there are any healthy options at restaurants that they want to go to.
Click to expand...

Yeah that really sucks =(
I lost touch with a lot of friends becuase I didnt realize how big eating was as a social gathering...and some friends just didnt understand..and would be like..OH you can just eat it..and it doesnt work like that..
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top