Oh Sugar! This week at a local coffee shop, I ordered a healthy breakfast sandwich of thinly sliced whole grain bread, spinach, a slice of ham and 1 egg. The server got my order wrong and it came as a sammy with thick slices of bacon and cheddar cheese. While delicious this was not my go-to choice. After returning it and asking for the original order, the young lady brought me not only the right sandwich but a gonking piece of coffee cake as a friendly offering. It was huge and it literally seemed like it was staring at me!
Just the day before, I committed myself to pay attention to the amount of sugar and caffeine that I consume on a daily basis. When I ordered my breakfast sandwich, I specifically did not order coffee to go with it, but normally I would. Although cake and desserts are not really a temptation for me, because I decided to check out how much sugar I was consuming daily, this piece of coffee cake suddenly became alluring.
The incident got me thinking a bit about:
1) How many people really pay attention to what they eat (especially out) and what the caloric repercussions of such choices are.
So if this scenario was you, you would now have your cake, but would you eat it too?
What if I told you that this particular slice of cake (the one pictured that I was served) is listed online via the company's website at 770 calories, 34g fat and over 100g carbs. Is it worth it? Absolutely not!
In the USA, there are more than 25,000 fast food restaurants which spend $294 per year in marketing directed toward children (source). Unless we teach kids (and this means we have to know what's right too!) what the right choices are, how can we expect them to make healthy choices at school, at their friends houses, or as they get older. I remember growing up, we traveled a lot, and ate fast food alot. As a kid (and somewhat into adulthood), I loved happy meals, which have over 500 calories and 20g of fat! Yikes; glad I learned what healthy means as I got older.
2) How often are we presented with temptations like this on a daily/weekly basis?
Do birthday parties, office parties, take-out after a long day, dinner out, lunch out, lattes and cappuchinos from coffee shops, snacks, drinks, fast food...need I go on...ring a bell? How much do we consume throughout the week that we don't even think about?
Ok, so what's the point? This is not to give you yet another piece of health advice to think about. It's more to help increase awareness about seemingly insignificant scenarios that can add up to high calorie choices and potentially weight gain over time. When you are out and about, be sure to pay attention to how many times you are presented with (and give into) food temptations that you would not normally eat, if you were preparing your own food 100% of the time.
From Reader's Digest: Make healthier choices at coffee shops
3) Even if calories are listed, do we really know what is in the foods we are eating when we are on the go?
A recent study published in the July 2011 edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association compared laboratory measurements of calories in 269 food items with the restaurants' stated calories. Researchers found that 19% of food items had at least 100 calories more than listed and only 7% of the 269 foods tested were within 10 calories of what the restaurants stated (source)
If you're like me, you are on the go and overbooked, constantly. Cooking for yourself and planning your meals everyday is near impossible. It's important to know what your goals are and how to best fuel yourself during the day. Sometimes keeping a bar or nutrition shake or a piece of fruit and a serving of almonds in your bag can save you from overeating at a quick joint or getting to a point where your blood sugar is too low.
The message today is simple. Find out what works for you so that you are prepared for your own schedule. Decide in advance where you will resist temptations and where you will allow yourself to indulge a little bit. Life is meant to be enjoyed and we shouldn't be bogged down by the foods around us!
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