Tuesday, October 21, 2008

If this is lunch, is there room for dinner?



You may have seen an ad like the one pictured here. There are 5 ads running on 1000 subway cars right now, and they make you stop and think. Of course, I say this as I gobble down some of JC's homemade apple cake... FOCUS, COLUMBIA!
View all 5 calorie education ads.

I've been watching my portion size increase ever so slightly recently, and am having trouble finding time and desire to walk for exercise. I'll hope the mental image of these ads watches over my craving like a guardian angel... like a guardian angel food cake.... ohhh, fluffy goodness -- what? Right... the ads.

The bottom left of the ads say "read 'em before you eat 'em," which refers to the new rules on calorie-posting. From the October 6th press release:

Under the New York City Health Code, chain restaurants are now required to post calorie counts for food items on menus and menu boards. The rule took effect this summer.
[...]
One poster shows an apple raisin muffin that looks harmless but carries a stout 470 calories – nearly a quarter of an adult’s daily allowance. “If you’re eating it as a snack,” said Cathy Nonas, director of the Health Department’s Physical Activity and Nutrition program, “you may want to split it with a friend.”

You've probably seen calorie counts showing up where you least want expect them. I've seen them in Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts, and I guess they'll be showing up everywhere. I did avoid some sweet temptation at Starbucks noticing it was among the worst calorie offenders and went with something slightly less sinful. I don't think that 2,000 (calories) was a number I could make sense of, so this was helpful information for me. Hope it helps anyone else fighting the war at home.

Hmm... no more apple cake left?
*sigh*

Find out more about this program and other NYC health iniatives at the nyc.gov/health site.

1 comment:

JC said...

Looks like you're not the only one choosing more wisely because of the posted calories, Columbia. The New York Times wrote an article a few days ago about dancers who are looking at posted calories, too.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/29/dining/29calories.html?em