Love him or hate him, Obama's health are package does have one interesting tidbit tucked inside

Restaurants with 20 or more locations will be required to put the calories of their food on the menu. This will make eating out eat so much easier. Sure, most big chains have the info available on-line, but this will be great for those spur of the moment meals out! They say it could take a year for us to see it and I can't wait! You?


http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/...es-menus_N.htm

I think this is make it easier to make choices but some times I wonder if the Kcals they post or correct.

I was going to make a thread about this actually. I wanted to know other opinions on the news.

I personally don't think it'll change what I order. If I want to eat pizza or a big bowl of pasta, that number isn't going to make me choose something other. It's interesting to know those stats, but again, if I'm going out to eat, I already expect that I'll be eating a larger amount of calories.

I live in NYC and a couple of years ago (or maybe just last year, who knows) chain restaurants became legally required to post calories on their menus. I was SHOCKED at the calorie counts of some items. It definitely changed how I eat. Now I hate eating outside of NYC because I don't know the calorie count. I think it's a great idea and can be very helpful for those of us watching our weight but still want to eat out.

I think it is a great idea, it will make it easier to keep on plan.

I too am excited! I agree the counts may not be accurate down to the last calorie, but having the info will at least help you identify the healthier items on the menu.

I love that restaurants are forced to do this. Lots of time even places that do post nutrition info online don't have information for all the meals. I know for me eating out has become an excuse to eat whatever I want without thinking about nutrition because I can tell myself that something is healthier than I know it is. Lots of times if I really like to eat a certain meal I actually won't want to know the nutrition info because I know I wouldn't want to eat it after that. For example, one of my favorite foods used to be Boston Market's sweet potatoes. I thought they were healthy. On a whim decided to look up the nutrition info and I found out that one serving has 460 calories and 16 grams of fat!!! I haven't eaten them since. Changing the menus will force me to be accountable.

No day but today,
Dana
http://morethanmediocrity.wordpress.com/

This would be so helpful for me, I hate the guesswork when I eat out. And it really puts into perspective with certain things, it amazes me how many calories are in some of the foods I used to just mindlessly eat.

I'm excited, too! I always (when I'm dieting) check the calories online before I go somewhere to make sure I'm "allowed" to have something. It'll make it easier to see it up there.

As for accuracy, studies show they tend to be inaccurate but provide a decent gauge. They seem to fall fairly close the actual.

Here's a comparison of restaurant posted values and actual values:http://www.kypost.com/content/themen...s/default.aspx

And a couple of articles on it:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joanna..._b_423582.html

http://www.minnpost.com/healthblog/2..._be_misleading

What?! The FDA allows nutrition labels to be off by as much as 20%. That can really add up. And as for that first link you posted ParadiseFalls, I cannot believe how off so many of the actual versus reported calories are. I understand that even if I don't know the exact number of calories it can serve as a guide, but still. This might help explain why my weight loss in the past when I have counted calories never made sense. I used a formula like: weight lost = BMI + calories burned in exercise - calories eaten. The amount of weight I should lose is never how I much I actually lose... I wonder if this is one reason why.

SickCycleCarousel, yea it can really add up, especially if someone eats out a lot. I always assume the restaurants give you a larger portion than you're supposed to, so I add 100 calories to the posted calories, but even that's not enough sometimes, it seems!

I like having the nutritional content posted on restaurant menu's. I know it is only an estimate, (but I also think that is true of most nutrition labels, nothing is exact).

I know when I go to restaurants where I have looked up the nutritional value I make better food choices, as opposed to when I go to restaurants where I don't know the value - I tend to become lax about my choices.

It is a tool just like anything else. The better informed I am, the better choices I can make. I think this is a good thing.

Even if they didn't require restaurants to put the calories on the menu, I wish all restaurants (why just the big ones?) should have the nutrition information available. If I ask for it, I should be able to get it. And can we not have ANY menu options that don't include a carb? I hate wasting food, whether that wasting includes leaving it on the table to be thrown away or throwing it in my stomach to create more fat cells.

It seems like most places in Japan already do this and I LOVE it. It gives me a good baseline for my choices.... especially since I usually can't read all the ingredients!

ugh! i hate counting calories!