My Rant of the Day

This book hit shelves about a year ago, and I like it because it educates the general public about making healthier choices. But I also really don't like it because it pins America's health problems on the restaurant industry. These "criminals" load their menus with entrees crammed to the brim with calories, sugar, sodium, trans fats, carbs and all other things evil in food. Did we really need a book to figure this out people? Their goal is to make money, they'll do that by having delicious food and unfortunately quite often delicious food is easy to make all the more yummy by adding unhealthy ingredients. You know why 85/15 lean beef tastes better than 95/5 lean beef? There's more FAT! And that fat means more flavor.

People aren't getting heart disease and getting obese because of one meal that's worth a day's caloric intake in one sitting. It's happening because people are choosing this stuff over and over and over again, making it a lifestyle instead of an occasional treat. And that's exactly what eating out should be, an occasional treat. Eating out frequently promotes family disunity, overspending and unhealthy eating. It's not good from several perspectives.

I found an article online today (here's a link from the site I read it at with lots of information from the book, but I couldn't track down the exact article later) by the writers of this book with things like criticizing Papa John's for not having thin crust pizza and keeping their cheesey breadsticks on the menu. Hello! Some people hate thin crust pizza and maybe other crave cheesey breadsticks! And that's just fine! I'm not going to have health or weight problems from pan crust pizza if I only eat pizza once a month, but if I have it twice a week it just might expand my waistline more than my fetus-growing uterus. True confession--I know darn good and well that part of those 15 pounds I gained last month came from the Chicago-style stuffed pizza I brought home from work and I chose to eat at least piece a day (sometimes 2...okay once 3) instead of a piece a week (which was totally possible because I individually wrapped up the slices and threw them in the deep freeze). My dumb choices, my extra weight.

There are a few principles I do agree with. All restaurants should have their nutrition information available because people should have the option of knowing exactly what they're eating. When I find something I like at a chain I research it so that I can weigh the taste of the meal against the calories it costs me to have it, and I think America should have that option. And the book is right, there are lots of menu choices that are very deceptive. Having a salad doesn't always mean you're having a healthy meal, you have to pay attention to what's in it. Is it roasted veggies and lean protein like grilled chicken, salmon or shrimp with a vinaigrette or is it cheese or fried tortilla strips, steak or bacon and a creamy dressing on that bed of lettuce? Don't be surprised that the latter can have 1,000 calories or more. So restaurants should be under pressure to release nutritional information, absolutely. But those calories can be reduced dramatically by ordering it without those tortilla strips and putting the dressing on the side (they always give you less than if they slathered it on themselves and YOU have control over how much goes on). And I'm down with books like this encouraging people to make choices like that.

However, I don't think restaurants should have to take the worst things off their menus. I think the pressure should be on the consumer to take a second look at what they're choosing to eat. They should be allowed to make an informed decision about what they put into their bodies. But we shouldn't attack restaurants for having 600-1200 calorie sandwiches because it's not shame on them for offering it. It's shame on us for eating it time and time again. It's a no-brainer that a desert with the words, "Chocolate" and "Paradise" is going to have an insane amount of calories (1,600, to be exact) but you share it with one or two girlfriends and you compensate for it somehow, dingy.

And I feel justified in saying all this because I've been obese and I know that it happened because I didn't take any responsibility for my lifestyle, I wasn't born that way. At my heaviest and for a startlingly long period of time after I started losing weight, my BMI had me defined as "morbidly obese" and I got there by having a whole sandwich and a whole salad at Panera for lunch and then a pasta dinner with creamy sauce at the Macaroni Grill later the same week. I know better now. Eventually I figured out, only eat half of what they bring you and don't take it home. Plan it out, it's not that hard. I decided I wanted to bust out the waffle-maker someone gave us tonight and try it out for the first time so I packed Grant salad for lunch (topped with cherry tomatoes, a handful of chopped almonds and tunafish with his favorite vinaigrette) today and I'll have something similar. It's okay to have waffles for dinner, just plan for it.

So, there's my rant. Grant's already heard it. Many times. But I feel better sharing it with the general public now.

Now, you'll have to excuse me while I go work out. We are having waffles tonight for dinner.