Monday, December 22, 2014

200 Calories of Food

A while back, an article in The Atlantic went around with pictures of 200 calories of various types of food. It linked back to an app called "Calorific" that contains, apparently, a full database of these images.

There was some talk about food shaming surrounding this post, which I think is absurd. I could go on a whole diatribe about how annoying I find it that, recently it seems, just making someone aware of decisions and consequences and telling the truth (if you over eat, you're going to gain weight) is now seen as shaming. It's facts. Just don't be a dick about it (hey, lard-o, you really gonna eat that?). 

Anyway....
It's easy to put this much cheese and mayonnaise on a sandwich. 
So I really liked this imagery. Let's say you want a 600 calorie dinner: based on the few images on the page I could have half an avocado, most of a bagel, and presumably some meat. Not bad. Oh, notice how you would need to take a larger chunk out of the donut than the bagel to skim it down to 200 calories. That's useful to know. 

I love a good donut, but you can generally eat more of the bagel for the same calorie punch.
Just watch how much mayo you put on either.

But then another Atlantic article recently came out, same idea, this time of Christmas foods

This one makes me sad. 

There is only one holiday time of year that gets this intense with festivities and breaks from school and work. And let's face it, many times when family gets together, it's around food. Food is the natural ice breakers for interacting with family that you don't see often. 

You know what? Eat the food if you want to. 

I'll be having AT LEAST something like this around the holidays.
Multiple times.
If you've been eating bad all year, this one week won't move the needle either way, through deprivation or over indulgence. The holiday season is stressful enough, with expectation from family, friends, work. Travel, vacation, gifts, the whole nine yards. 

It's okay, eat the food. 

Don't beat yourself up. Don't crash diet afterwards. And please, please, please, don't do a detox or cleanse

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