I actually am all for calories on menus?

[Acatnamedfox]

I hate to be that person and post in AIBU when maybe it belongs in another section BUT…

Am I the only one that is sort of looking forward to this?

I get it when you’re out and having a good time maybe birthday/party/celebration whatever you don’t want to know.

But I genuinely have no idea of the calories in things and sometimes pick a salad not realising with all the dressings I could have had the fish and chips for the same calories..

I know I’m going against the masses here but I believe it will help me make healthier decisions when out and I’m not against it!

Yes - I’m being unreasonable no one needs that kind of negativity

No - I’m looking forward to a bit of guidance.

@TrickorTreacle

Go back to 1990. The school served chips every day of the week, pizza, burgers etc. 6 vending machines in the school, plus a tuck shop. And yet in a class of 24, only 1 kid was fat.

Fast forward to the 2020s, there are no vending machines, no tuck shops, chips only sold on a Friday and lunch boxes are policed. And yet half of the kids are now fat.

The same goes with adults.

It's an exercise issue (or lack of), not calorie intake.

There was very little difference in the excercise children had in the 90s compared with today. You need to go back another couple of decades to find the days when children walked everywhere and played out from dawn till dusk. The changes I've seen since the 90s are a gradual increase in portion sizes, a much greater increase in eating out, fast food and takeaways, with very cheap options now available, and a decline in the people who have the time, inclination or wherewithal to cook at home, so fall back on the fast food options more frequently. All of which leads to the consumption of greater numbers of calories, sometimes unknowingly. Excercise helps weight management obviously, but diet and calorie intake are key.

I'm on the fence. Anorexic adult DD will not make the information useful, but she would obsess anyway, it won't change her nuttery.

I suppose it will help me not choose items that are more filling than I expect -- I hate to waste food.

It's really helpful. This came in years ago where I live, and it has helped me make better choices. It's been particularly good at helping with portion sizes (eat half, share a dish, etc). Also great for asking for substitutions (salad with vinegar and salt, not the massivelý calorific dressing). Helps me keep the weight off. It also means that some places have reformulated recipes to be less over the top fattening.

As a chef, it is a bloody nightmare. Everything has to be weighed, so more prep time (which means less cleaning is done, as we don't get more working hours to fit everything in), once weighed every ingredient in separate containers.

We don't have enough room in fridges and no room for more fridges .

When getting ingredients out, because of so many fucking containers, you can't find them quickly, then they take up more room on prep area, potwash etc. This all means it takes longer to get food out and people will complain over an extra 5 mins.

Added to this, we have had 5 new items added to the menu that we have to prep for and learn. These are all high calorie meals, the lowest at 1,7850 cals, highest at over 2,600. Fiddly to make and selling loads of. Most people don't care, but our job is now so much harder and stressful.

Fucking hate it.

Also, it's not an exercise issue. You can't outrun a bad diet.

@TrickorTreacle

Go back to 1990. The school served chips every day of the week, pizza, burgers etc. 6 vending machines in the school, plus a tuck shop. And yet in a class of 24, only 1 kid was fat.

Fast forward to the 2020s, there are no vending machines, no tuck shops, chips only sold on a Friday and lunch boxes are policed. And yet half of the kids are now fat.

The same goes with adults.

It's an exercise issue (or lack of), not calorie intake.

That's really true, school dinners were shocking buy the chips were yummy I think fizzy drinks have a lot to answer for too,even though the school dinners weren't ideal I can't remember cans of drink.

@IAmNoAngel

As a chef, it is a bloody nightmare. Everything has to be weighed, so more prep time (which means less cleaning is done, as we don't get more working hours to fit everything in), once weighed every ingredient in separate containers.

We don't have enough room in fridges and no room for more fridges .

When getting ingredients out, because of so many fucking containers, you can't find them quickly, then they take up more room on prep area, potwash etc. This all means it takes longer to get food out and people will complain over an extra 5 mins.

Added to this, we have had 5 new items added to the menu that we have to prep for and learn. These are all high calorie meals, the lowest at 1,7850 cals, highest at over 2,600. Fiddly to make and selling loads of. Most people don't care, but our job is now so much harder and stressful.

Fucking hate it.

This sounds quite intensive - is this actually required? Surely you just measure an average portion for the purpose of the menu and adjust from time to time if the ratio diverges. I'm not sure anyone is expecting that there is exactly 42.3ml of olive oil in my dressing - it is just an estimate based on an average which balances out over time?

And in answer to the OP I think it's daft, it's one meal ,even if it's really high in calories it won't make any difference if your meals at home are healthy.

Boggling at "fish being limited in nutrients".

@IAmNoAngel

As a chef, it is a bloody nightmare. Everything has to be weighed, so more prep time (which means less cleaning is done, as we don't get more working hours to fit everything in), once weighed every ingredient in separate containers.

We don't have enough room in fridges and no room for more fridges .

When getting ingredients out, because of so many fucking containers, you can't find them quickly, then they take up more room on prep area, potwash etc. This all means it takes longer to get food out and people will complain over an extra 5 mins.

Added to this, we have had 5 new items added to the menu that we have to prep for and learn. These are all high calorie meals, the lowest at 1,7850 cals, highest at over 2,600. Fiddly to make and selling loads of. Most people don't care, but our job is now so much harder and stressful.

Fucking hate it.

Have you watched boiling point on Netflix? Demonstrates beautifully the fucking nightmare of working as a chef!

Yes, it's required, the only things we don't weigh are salad prep, but only for side salad/garnish. For full salads we weigh, but we don't sell many of those!

Every meal has to be out in 20 mins of getting the check, so lots more pressure when busy.

Plus, when there is someone wlth an allergy we clear the prep area, clean down, wash everything and prepare that meal separately, so this delays all other checks!

Maybe time to look for another job!!

I’m in favour as well but I do log my meals in My Fitness Pal. We were ordered lunch at work the other day and I was shocked that a Greek wrap had over 1,000 calories in it!

I’ve also just looked at the menu for the restaurant we’re going to eat at tonight and it’s quite surprising that one of their “lighter” dishes has 300 calories more than a burger does.

It’ll definitely help me in staying in my calorie deficit, especially now that eating out is a once a week activity rather than a rare treat.

I think more useful information (like the breakdown of where calories are from) could be useful to have on request. I can see it’s triggering for those with eating disorders to have it all out there in black and white and unavoidable. I can also see for others, like those who calorie count or like PP who was diabetic said, to have some info on their food.

Surely a good compromise would be that info is available on request?

Wetherspoons have had calories for ages. Doesn't ever influence my choices. If I'm out, I'm out. I eat healthily normally. My extra calories come from alcohol, chocolate and weekend night snacks.

I probably exercised less than the dc, back in the 90s. I walked to the bus stop then wandered about with mates. The dc do swimming and martial arts on top. I spent my pocket money on the school vending machine and sweets on the way home. It was the age of findus crispy pancakes and oven food.

But eating out and Maccie ds were both treats and not ubiquitous. Energy drinks were for when you were poorly, or by the late 90s, with vodka. Not for chugging on the way to school. You didn't see many fat primary school kids then, whereas there have been quite a few growing up with the dc.

@Krakenchorus

Also, it's not an exercise issue. You can't outrun a bad diet.

Exercise does matter though. I won't put weight on when eating my normal diet as long as I do over an hours vigorous exercise a day. If injured and sat on my arse all day then I will (also did during lockdowns as was working at home for long hours and not moving much).

Equally if I have been off work and doing lots of manual jobs I frequently go out for high calorie meals knowing that it doesn't matter one bit.

Doing a 20 minute jog three times a week simply to lose weight whilst consuming far to many calories won't make a difference but exercise does matter alongside what you put into your mouth. How much you move or not move does matter for a lot of people. It's about looking at your diet and exercise overall and I think calories on a menu is just another part of that.

@MrsPelligrinoPetrichor

And in answer to the OP I think it's daft, it's one meal ,even if it's really high in calories it won't make any difference if your meals at home are healthy.

Except that your meals at home can be “healthy” but added to the restaurant lunch may hugely exceed your recommended calorie intake.

At least knowing that the not especially huge bowl of pasta at lunchtime actually had 1000 calories might encourage people like my sister to think about whether the meat, potato and veg dinner that evening should be reduced in size.

Or my mother who thinks I only had a salad with the mindset of “salad = healthy” so it doesn’t really count in her head, despite all the dressing and the wedges of brie in breadcrumbs (you’d think that might be a giveaway but nope, cos salad…) She wouldn’t think twice about a cooked dinner at home that evening and a magnum afterwards because she only had a salad. Knowing the calories in her salad might make her decide she doesn’t need the pile of mashed potato later on or that she can live without the ice cream.

I agree with you. I really don’t know why people are kicking up such a fuss about calories being on menus anyway. As far as I’m concerned knowledge is power, but if you really don’t wish to know how many calories are in the foods you consume just don’t read that part. 🤷🏻‍♀️

@Alm0nd1

And counting calories has been shown not to help.

Creating a calorie deficit is the only way to lose weight, if that's what you want.

It's how to lose weight

Those with eating disorders are in the minority and I would guess already know roughly the calories for everything. It'll be ingrained.

Those who go out to eat and enjoy themselves without a thought to calories will ignore it

And those ( like me) who sometimes like to indulge and other times like to hold back a bit will welcome this change so I can make an informed decision

You can't please all of the people all of the time

I really feel for the restaurants and chefs/kitchen assistants having to jump through these pointless hoops.

I also think it's low-quality data masquerading as useful information.

Threads like this aptly demonstrate that many people don't actually understand what healthy eating looks like, and will overly focus on calorie content as a determiner of health, or as the only vector in choice-making. This is the germination of disordered eating. (There's a difference between 'disordered eating' and an eating disorder.)

Calories are a useful metric, but they're only a fraction of the picture. In a place like Pizza Express, for example, you'd have people zoning in on calories but ignoring things like (for example) the processed ingredients, type of bread flour used, sugar in the dressings, provenance/quality of the vegetables used, and so on.

What's more, whilst in a basic sense the human body works in a certain way, at a more granular level everyone's gut biome/digestive system is different. So different people metabolise and use food energy differently.

It's also (incidentally, not by design) sexist. Calorie counting is an affliction that impacts women predominantly. So what will end up happening is you'll have women and girls up and down the country sitting in restaurants feeling shame and pressure around food choices, while the men (largely) crack on without even thinking about it.

pizzacutterbun

They don’t know the calories in meals they haven’t prepared. That’s the whole point and why they need to be encouraged to go out and eat the unknown, just focus on it being part of a balanced days intake.

I'm glad to see it and I am a recovered anorexic, some behaviours just never fade though. I find it much more anxiety-inducing trying to order from the menu and having no idea how many calories are in each meal. If I don't know how many calories are in something and I eat it I end up overthinking and obsessing over what I've eaten that day and how to balance it out tomorrow etc.

@Alm0nd1

pizzacutterbun

They don’t know the calories in meals they haven’t prepared. That’s the whole point and why they need to be encouraged to go out and eat the unknown, just focus on it being part of a balanced days intake.

If you're talking about people with eating disorders than it's my guess that the majority of those people will know ( roughly) the calorie of any given meal.

I've calorie counted for years, it's helped me sustain a healthy weight and I don't have disordered eating. But because I've been doing it for so long I can estimate the calorie content of most things ( including meals in restaurants) and I'm usually pretty accurate

That's what I'm getting at.

Added to this, we have had 5 new items added to the menu that we have to prep for and learn. These are all high calorie meals, the lowest at 1,7850 cals, highest at over 2,600. Fiddly to make and selling loads of. Most people don't care, but our job is now so much harder and stressful.

I'd want to know that even the lowest of those meals is pretty much my daily limit of calories (small woman, 40s, moderate exercise, annoyingly injured so no option to burn off excess with long runs, can't burn off more than 200-300 per day at present). And that meal would not be the only thing I'd eat that day, I'd still need breakfast and the other meal, possibly a smaller portion, but still additional energy intake nonetheless.

We have prices on menus that inform choice. I rarely go for something at the top end of the menu but it doesn't mean that I alway buy the cheapest.

Informed choice won't solve obesity issues in society, but it does help people manage their weight in a healthier way. Restaurant food can be many hundreds of calories off people's guestimates so knowing how much energy you're eating makes it easier for people to make their choices and adjust over a day or week to maintain a better balance of intake.

@Hollyhead

As someone with a latent eating disorder I can confirm that although recovered, the addition of calories on menu as immediately heightened my anxiety when eating out and has already influenced me away from high calorie choices I really wanted and would have previously chosen to things which are lower in calories.

This will be me. It's a minefield for some of us.