I wanted to talk about a study I read a while back that I thought was awesome. It said they found that when overweight people went to eat at a fast-food place that advertises itself as having “Healthier” slop food than your average joint, or if they made an attempt to get the healthiest thing on the menu at a restaurant, they usually ended up eating more food, and more calories overall in a day! They would ultimately become fatter!
This post is just an extension of a recent one: Health Food – Do you know what it is? in which I talked about Fat people choosing food products that brag about having “reduced fat” or “low carb” labels on their packaging. Choosing the low fat version, as opposed to the regular version, is only the lesser of two evils.
A good example of a fast-food place that tubbies would very easily over-eat at is Subway.
People don’t realize that the sandwiches that are advertised to have only 6 grams of fat, and only so many calories, must be ordered in a six-inch size, with plain bread, no cheese, and NO MAYO! If you get mayonnaise, you’re probably at least doubling the fat and caloric content of the sandwich. This same idea was noticed when people would order a salad at any of the fast-food places. Because Salad=Healthy to everyone on the planet, these fatso’s would apply the entire packet of dressing to the salad, not realizing that after doing so, it would have been an arguably better choice to eat a Big Mac!
So, first off we have the mistake of people not ordering correctly in order to follow the idea of eating healthy fast-food (oxymoron). Then what the people in the study would do, is add on more sides and desserts, as well as more sweet drinks like soda, than they normally would. Because your average overweight person severely underestimates how many calories contained in “healthy” choices when eating out, they think it’s ok to get some extra stuff. This is how attempting to not eat badly at a restaurant can end up putting more calories down your gullet. They said that on average subjects ended up eating about 130% as many calories as they would have if they didn’t try to eat healthier than they were used to.
My favorite thing that the study also pointed out, is that despite all fast-food places, and many restaurants now offering some “better” options, there has been no evidence that people are losing weight. “It has not led to the expected reduction in total calorie intake and in obesity rates”.
Ahh fatties……. you can always count on them to let you down.
Hmmmmm. You do have an interesting point here, which is, I think, that people are guillible when it comes to advertising, rather than actually doing research.
I don’t have a weight problem personally, but it wouldn’t take me more than about three seconds to figure out that cheese and mayonnaise aren’t part of a fat-conscious diet. In fact, it takes me less time than that, because I have genetically high cholesterol, so I have to be paranoid about stuff like that.
It does puzzle me that other people don’t figure out these same things. I don’t know whether it’s lack of education, or deliberate stupidity.
But I wonder the same things about people’s blindness regarding peak oil and environmental crises. So I think what I’m saying is that everyone is undereducated and stupid, not just grossly obese people having cheese and mayo at Subway.
I get cheese and mayo on my subway sub. They will usually put a resonable amount on if you specify that you’d only like a little bit. Why shouldn’t I? I eat out as a treat, not an everyday occurance. The other 30 days of the month I eat a high fiber, low fat, high fruit/veggie diet. It doesn’t make me stupid, and it doesn’t mean I don’t know that both cheese and mayo are high fat and low nutritional value. Eating, especially eating out, is all about moderation and being aware. I would hazard that some of the larger people getting the cheese and mayo are just as knowledgable as you and I, but are simply making different choices.
Cheese has nutrition. Fatty, but not total junk. Good in moderation, like lots of other stuff.
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