Calories on the menu - just why?

[Figmentofmyimagination]

Visited pizza express last night to catch up with a girlfriend - first visit since pre pandemic. Ordered my favourite fiorentina pizza with spinach and egg but my enjoyment was somewhat diminished by reading the 950 calorie count on the menu. I understand that this is the law now. Who decided that this is a good idea? Absolutely crazy.

My 16yr old dd has suffered with anorexia for 3yrs now and is tentatively making steps to recovery. This couldn't have come at a worse time for her and is deeply distressing. She's trying to do normal teenage things and go out with friends but the calories pasted on everything is really distressing her and she is thinking that now she can't ever go out to eat again. It's hard for people without an eating disorder to appreciate how damaging this will be. Anorexia is like a constant voice in your head shouting at you, "Don't eat that you'll get fat!" She is struggling to overcome that voice when the numbers are there in big bold font. I would have preferred menus to have a QR code that those who want to see the calories can use.

As someone who struggled will restricting/bulimia, I don't see a problem with it. I'm actually very frustrated at all the people posting here who are using people with eating disorders like me as a weapon just because overeating makes them "feel bad".

My experiences and I do not exist just for people who like to overeat to use as a debate tool.

Stating the calorie content of a food is a cold hard fact, and a very useful, pertinent one since it relates to something you're about to literally put into your body. It's not a value judgement or an instruction.

Far, far more people in the UK overeat than experience harmful food restricting disorders.

If being told, factually, that the main part of your meal is over 900 calories makes you feel "guilty" or "bad"... maybe adjust your eating habits rather than grasping around at arguments involving anorexic people, distorted self-serving feminist/mental health arguments, just to kid yourself that it's not your problem.

I think it's a good thing overall, it's always helpful to have more information.

I keep an eye on my weight but I don't weigh myself every day or feel guilt around food. Food is good, we need calories and fat and salt etc. We often have too much and I include myself in that. Nothing to feel guilty about, but something to keep under control.

It wouldn't put me off going. There's nothing inherently bad about a pizza, the issue usually comes from the sheer size of the portions, which lets face it are fairly bloody large. But if you're not making a regular habit of it then one splurge every couple of months is hardly going to make me balloon.

I hope it makes the restaurants be a bit more restrained about the often massive quantity of food they put in front of you.

I don’t find it helpful as it’s based purely on the calorie deficit model for weight control, with no reference to the insulin model.

Calories aren’t all that when it comes to weight maintenance.

It’s not good for eating disorders and this was my first thought. Our local mental health trust now has a dedicated eating disorder pathway. Much needed.

@ArabellaRockerfella but for some of us living with eating disorders it gives us the control to eat knowing we have the numbers and what we need to make god choices and hit calorie targets. Unfortunately you can’t find a way that will suit everyone. I hope she finds a way to cope and recovers.

It helped me yesterday as I'm trying to lose a bit of weight so chose a healthier option. It was still a nice meal.

You may say it's not helpful for EDs - well, it's not helpful for people with anorexia. It is helpful for those of us who are binge eaters.

I don't find that at all. I swing between not eating at all, and binge eating. This has already caused a binge eating episode for me.

The only way this isn't going to cause binging is if I can get away with not eating when presented with calorie counts, and as restaurants and takeaways are usually a social/communal experience where my not eating would be too obvious to hide..

Telling me calories doesn't encourage healthy options, it encourages extreme unhealthy behaviour.

Ideally it would, but it doesn't, because there's something wrong with me. Something I don't know how to fix. And I won't be the only one.

I know friends who've recovered from bulimia are finding this really tough too.

I like it. I avoid high calorie stuff anyway (dad died aged 52 of obesity after a long, undignified time in hospital to huge wipe his own bum) so I find it quicker than checking my app. More nutrient details would be good, I need a lot of protein due to my sports and exercise. I’d love to see all the nutrition information on there too. There will always be people who are angry when confronted with reality, and admitting you’re overweight because you want to eat the high calorie options more than the low calorie ones is probably painful to realise. I think some people are hard wired for “greed” and genuinely can’t fight it. It’s not a choice for them and it cannot be easy to know how much harder it will be for you to control it than it is for someone not hard wired that way.

Personally I think it’s really useful- I’ve been really surprised how many calories are in our usual go to’s when out.

@Pyewhacket

It’s about promoting healthy lifestyles and combating the Obesity and diabetes crisis that the NHS has to cope with. The informed will recolonise that. The ignorant will question it.

Depends how often people are eating out.

We do it very rarely.

It does set MIL off though about eating and amount and weight- she feels need to leave half the meal then push everyone else for desert then comment. It's hard as we have two teen girls and we step in so a lot is directed at me. I'm usually only eating once or twice that day to her 4 times - but I can end up feeling so shit that I end up eating crap to feel better later and then feeling really bad overall.

@InPraiseOfBacchus

As someone who struggled will restricting/bulimia, I don't see a problem with it. I'm actually very frustrated at all the people posting here who are using people with eating disorders like me as a weapon just because overeating makes them "feel bad".

My experiences and I do not exist just for people who like to overeat to use as a debate tool.

Stating the calorie content of a food is a cold hard fact, and a very useful, pertinent one since it relates to something you're about to literally put into your body. It's not a value judgement or an instruction.

Far, far more people in the UK overeat than experience harmful food restricting disorders.

If being told, factually, that the main part of your meal is over 900 calories makes you feel "guilty" or "bad"... maybe adjust your eating habits rather than grasping around at arguments involving anorexic people, distorted self-serving feminist/mental health arguments, just to kid yourself that it's not your problem.

Excellent post

@MedusasBadHairDay

Agreed.

900 calorie pizza? Sod it may as well top up with some extra garlic bread, and whilst I’m at it a chocolate fudge cake too.

I know everyone has personal responsibility and some people will find this helpful but those people were able to check to the calorie count anyway prior to their meal (you can always get an estimate on certain apps).

This is absolutely disastrous for people with all different kinds of eating disorders. Which is actually a lot of people now in society.

I read the labels on everything. Not so interested in the calories but the carb content and it pretty much is true that if it is low carb it will be low calories. But then I am a diabetic who eats low carb and since doing so my numbers have dropped down to non diabetic levels and my weight has gone down to the right level for my height. I will always be diabetic but you can push it into remission with a low carb diet but if I ever go back to eating pizza, rice, pasta and all the other high carb standard foods of a modern western diet then my numbers will go up to the diabetic range again.
So as far as I am concerned everything should have as much information as possible and then maybe people will make better choices and not end up diabetic like I have.

Dr Mosley did a documentary on this recently and what really came through was that the well trodden narrative of individuals with apparently no willpower or self control are the reason the country is obese is false. It’s more because our world is effectively designed to make people fat, from the buy one get one free offers on crisps to the way you need a car in many places.

I actually find the calories useful but I do think it smacks of putting all responsibility back on individuals. Restaurants could have a better offering of healthier options in the first place, eg fruit based desserts.

@Proudboomer

But low carb definitely does not mean low calorie.

My bacon and eggs fried in olive oil this morning for example.

High calorie breakfast with no insulin spike at all.

I find it useful. Nobody is obliged to eat in a restaurant if they find it upsetting.

@TheOGCCL

Agreed.

As a diabetic, I'd be more impressed if the carb value was listed!

I 'd actually be able to eat out.

Personally I find it helpful as I want to eat more healthily and don’t have an eating disorder so it just helps me make healthier choices - or at least be more mindful if I’m making an unhealthy choice

Reminds me of the cigarette packet warnings - (pre the pictures)

@TheOGCCL

Dr Mosley did a documentary on this recently and what really came through was that the well trodden narrative of individuals with apparently no willpower or self control are the reason the country is obese is false. It’s more because our world is effectively designed to make people fat, from the buy one get one free offers on crisps to the way you need a car in many places.

I actually find the calories useful but I do think it smacks of putting all responsibility back on individuals. Restaurants could have a better offering of healthier options in the first place, eg fruit based desserts.

Or maybe go less often or just don’t eat pudding? And just because big bags of crisps are on 2 for 1 it doesn’t mean you have to eat both bags- or even one whole bag. It is down to personal responsibility, pizza express and the government are not responsible for people over eating.

@Figmentofmyimagination

Put it on supermarket ready meals - great idea - I get that - people need to see how many calories, sugar, salt etc are packed into their M&S spaghetti carbonara etc and other everyday food, and hopefully it will encourage more people to cook from scratch, but when you go to a restaurant, surely you are there as an adult, to have a relaxed time, not to be policed like a child. If you really want to know the calorie count of your pizza, you can just look it up on your phone.

There was a report in a newspaper at the weekend that most calories printed on read meals are woefully underestimating the calorie content, some by as much as 40%. I imagine it would be the same in a restaurant. I remember going to the US a few years ago and most eateries had calories printed on the menu, but that doesn't seem to have cracked the obesity crisis over there!

Calories on the menu - just why?

Because we're a nation of unhealthy eaters and drinkers and I welcome it.

@Gwenhwyfar

"Are we really saying that adults don’t know that chocolate cake, pasta and pizza dishes potentially have quite a lot of calories in?"

What is quite a lot though? 800, 1000, 1500? Big difference isn't there.

There was a poster on this thread who was surprised a panini was 500 calories so...

If you wish to calorie count it’s simple to find out. If you’re worried about your weight do you choose those items? Do you go to pizza express? Weight doesn’t drop off with no effort whatsoever. If you’re already at the restaurant you can only choose from the menu. Do most people not know that a salad or a half portion will have less calories? If you choose two portions of chocolate cake and a coffee as you daily calorie quota is that going to make you healthier? Concentrate on healthy eating. Low fat/ low calorie diets are outdated the healthy eating guidelines need an enormous shake up. Anorexia has the highest mortality of any mental health disorder. Being underweight is extremely unhealthy and not comparable to being overweight interns of risk until you get to morbid obesity. It deserves consideration.

" just because big bags of crisps are on 2 for 1 it doesn’t mean you have to eat both bags-"

No, but it means that if you buy 1 you're paying twice as much per crisp than someone who buys 2 so you're being penalised. Same with my example above of the meal deal with chocolate bar - wasn't available at all to someone who didn't want the chocolate bar.