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AIBU?

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Original poster

New costa meal deal is irresponsible

281 replies

Habanero · 09/04/2018 13:14

Costa have just launched a lunchtime meal deal with a toastie, crisps and a coffee. The one pictured on the ad with a cheese and ham toastie and a latte contains 754 calories, 34g fat, 15.4g saturated fat and 2.1g salt. You can cut off a bit of the calories and fat by opting for lower-fat milk, but it’s still a third of an adult’s daily calories with no source of fibre and no fruit or veg. This sort of thing normalises overeating: by making this a “meal deal” the company is presenting this as a normal lunch option, psychologically nudging people towards consuming an energy-rich, nutritionally poor midday meal.

Clearly it’s a first world problem and we all have choices and don’t need to buy this, but it’s the normalisation of overeating like this which I think has done more than anything to raise obesity levels. AIBU?

OP posts:
Dozer · 09/04/2018 14:03

McDonalds at least has clear labelling, so consumers can make informed decisions. Most places don’t.

firstworldproblems2018 · 09/04/2018 14:05

You could argue that nearly every advert or meal deal or restaurant is irresponsible. YABU. People choose what to eat and drink and are responsible for the consequences.

The one thing that does drive me MAD though is that most children’s meals or snack boxes at the cinema include juice or fruit shoot etc. I just want water! Obviously I can and do just bring my own, but it’s very annoying that I’m paying for an unnecessary drink I don’t want and my kids won’t drink.

Wishimaywishimight · 09/04/2018 14:06

Surely 754 cals is a lot more than a third of an average daily intake? I'm 5ft 3ins, weigh just over 8 and a half stone and during the week I stick to 1500 cals, generally go over by 200 or 300 at the weekends but I would put on a ton of weight if I were eating 2,262 cals a day! I know I'm shorter than average but even so I would have thought 1,800 would be more 'average'.

LaurieMarlow · 09/04/2018 14:08

Not everyone loses weight by counting calories. Full fat foods are richer and more satisfying so you tend to eat less of them and also snack less.

I have yet to see a diet that promotes lattes as a means of weight loss. You seem to be forgetting the sugar content.

VladmirsPoutine · 09/04/2018 14:11

You're not wrong Wish

I'm relatively tall and active and if I ate 2000 cals a day I'd be the size of a house by this year's end.

RoadToRivendell · 09/04/2018 14:11

Do you mean the naturally occurring sugars in milk, or refined sugar added to the latte?

MrPan · 09/04/2018 14:12

YANBU

Obesity is extremely damaging to all concerned - except the companies selling this nutritional rubbish.

Moonandstars84 · 09/04/2018 14:12

Pret Is BMR what you need to just exist without moving etc. So surely your actual calorie allowance would be higher when you take into account your activity level.

Purplerain101 · 09/04/2018 14:12

@wish I’m 5ft 7 and fairly inactive and I can’t eat more than about 1700 calories per day without gaining weight. I can only eat more than that if I exercise each day. Think I must just have a slow metabolism as I will literally gain weight from one day of unhealthy eating :-(

Butteredparsn1ps · 09/04/2018 14:14

The one thing that does drive me MAD though is that most children’s meals or snack boxes at the cinema include juice or fruit shoot etc. I just want water! Obviously I can and do just bring my own, but it’s very annoying that I’m paying for an unnecessary drink I don’t want and my kids won’t drink

Yes!

And as I have DD who genuinely prefers water to drink, it would be great if she could order water anywhere without waiting staff looking at me (and always me, not DH) like I'm some kind of harridan. It's her choice.

DGRossetti · 09/04/2018 14:15

Not everyone loses weight by counting calories.

Only think that shifted 5 stone for me.

DGRossetti · 09/04/2018 14:15

^thing

....

RoadToRivendell · 09/04/2018 14:16

And as I have DD who genuinely prefers water to drink, it would be great if she could order water anywhere without waiting staff looking at me (and always me, not DH) like I'm some kind of harridan. It's her choice.

My kids drink water or milk only, probably because that's all I ever offered them. This is a divisive topic on MN, a lot of people think it's cruel and unrealistic to not serve squash.

BarbaraofSevillle · 09/04/2018 14:17

^The weight started falling off me when it dawned on me one day that a large cappuccino was >250 calories, and a large Americano

MinesaPinot · 09/04/2018 14:18

Yes, YABU. I am so tired of reading/hearing about what I should or shouldn't be eating, that this or that is bad for you, sugar tax etc.

Whilst I understand that we should be encouraging children to make better and informed decisions about food, as an adult it is my choice whether I have a Meal Deal, whether it's from Costa, Sainsburys, Maccie D's or elsewhere, and I will take the consequences. Same if I want to go and have a piece of cake, or an ice cream, or a vat of Pinot Grigio - it's my decision.

And yes, I realise that I will be one of those putting a burden on the NHS if I become obese and have health issues due to eating badly (before anyone jumps on that particular bandwagon). However, I sometimes think that the Nanny State is being taken to the 'nth degree.

BarbaraofSevillle · 09/04/2018 14:21

Well I don't know about anyone else but I really want a cheese and ham toastie and a latte now.

JamieVardysHavingAParty · 09/04/2018 14:22

I am tall, active and muscular and have a BMR of around 1450 calories so that would be just over half of what I could eat in a day without putting on weight.

Not quite. Your BMR is the amount of calories you need if you do nothing but lie on the sofa all day watching Celebrity Love Island repeats.

As you are tall, it's higher than some's.

The amount you can eat without putting on weight is your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure), and BMR is a number within that, not the number, IYSWIM.

The full equation is something like: TDEE= BMR + NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis, i.e general daily life) + TEA (thermic effect of activity, i.e. going for a run, taking part in sport) + TEF (thermic effect of food- calories used in digestion).

SilverySurfer · 09/04/2018 14:23

Unless Costa are dragging you into their cafe and stuffing it down your throat, I don't understand the problem and it's one third of daily calories for one of three meals a day.

People are quite capable of making their own choices. Find something in your own life to worry about. Hmm

Pinkvoid · 09/04/2018 14:24

I don’t think many people have the money to go in Costa every day for lunch so it is generally a treat. YABU.

WhaleTasting · 09/04/2018 14:26

Its one meal consisting of a third of an adults calorific intake.Given that the generally accepted norm is three meals a day I’m not sure what the issue is.

Grin my first thought too!

squishee · 09/04/2018 14:26

OP?

paxillin · 09/04/2018 14:26

Meal deal including a hot drink for under a fiver is great in Central London though and since it'll only run for a month I won't get overweight on it. I wasn't aware of it, but am now of course.

raisedbyguineapigs · 09/04/2018 14:28

Nobody who goes into Costa regularly goes in expecting a healthy lunch. They have hardly anything on sale that is not carb heavy or a sweet unless you want to pay for an overpriced banana. People aren't stupid. They know that if they are having a cheese and ham toastie and a full fat latte they aren't going to lose much weight. They arent being tricked into thinking these things are healthy. They made decisions that are bad for them, rightly or wrongly. I do think people need to be made aware of the calories in a coffee at these coffee shops, especially if people have syrup as well, but crisps, a sandwich and a drink is a standard meal deal. If you want something lower fat/ calories, go to Boots or make your own.

LovesMaltesers · 09/04/2018 14:28

The calories intake thing is being disputed . Those guidelines are out of date and were only relevant in the 1940 and 1950s when people worked in manual jobs like down a mine . I eat nothing like the 'recommended amount for women' and would be obese if I did. I hover around 3 meals of 400 cals a day.

This is partly why people are overweight because they go by general outdated guidelines rather than looking at their fat tummies and working out they are eating too much.

The meal itself is not unhealthy. Don't know about the sugar content of the coffee. If you made up for the lack of fruit and vegetables later in the day it's ok for a now and again meal.

scaryteacher · 09/04/2018 14:28

A toastie (aka a croque) is fairly standard here in Belgium for lunch. We were at the Waterloo 1815 museum on Saturday, and I had a croque, which was two sandwiches, which came with some green salad and some cornichons. I added half a litre of sparkling water, and nicked some of ds's frites. Yes, it was probably calorific, but that was all I ate on Saturday bar an apple.

Costa can advertise as much as they like; no-one is making you buy anything.