Beginners and Beyond

An excellent reason to read labels on what you eat/drink (Read 609 times)

Nakedbabytoes


levitation specialist

    Agreed. Teaching my 12yo about serving sizes has been the biggest eye opening experience to him in nutrition class(he is homeschooled). But we should know by now that unless you intentionally buy single serving packs, most items are multiple servings in one bag/box/bottle. So it is our job to know 25 goldfish crackers is one serving, not half the box. Or that a 1 liter of Pepsi at the gas station is 4 servings. Is it the manufacturer being sneaky or is it us being stupid?

    It's like those Yogurt soft serve bars that are in vogue now, hello, you are eating the same cals as you were at Cold Stone! And I bet you added more "mix-ins" to boot! Yup, fill up that cup because it's FAT FREE YOGURT!

      Agreed. Teaching my 12yo about serving sizes has been the biggest eye opening experience to him in nutrition class(he is homeschooled). But we should know by now that unless you intentionally buy single serving packs, most items are multiple servings in one bag/box/bottle. So it is our job to know 25 goldfish crackers is one serving, not half the box. Or that a 1 liter of Pepsi at the gas station is 4 servings. Is it the manufacturer being sneaky or is it us being stupid?

      It's like those Yogurt soft serve bars that are in vogue now, hello, you are eating the same cals as you were at Cold Stone! And I bet you added more "mix-ins" to boot! Yup, fill up that cup because it's FAT FREE YOGURT!

       

      Right, but you should know that there's nothing wrong with eating half a box of goldfish once in awhile, either.

      Slymoon Runs


      race obsessed

        Scamming people, even stupid people, is still scamming.

         

        You'd never argue that pushing an old lady down to the ground is not assault because no "healthy person would be knocked down by that amount of force".

         

        The company knows how many stupid people it can fool, but fooling those people is not excusable because they were foolable.

         

         

        Interesting, though I fail to see how pushing someone down is in anyway related to vitamin water.

         

         

        This analogy, (and all the others you mention as well) would only make any sense if :

         

        A) the primary purpose of motor vehicles was to run people over and

        B) you chose an SUV over a prius because you could run more people over with it.

        Slymoon Runs


        race obsessed

          Agreed. Teaching my 12yo about serving sizes has been the biggest eye opening experience to him in nutrition class(he is homeschooled). But we should know by now that unless you intentionally buy single serving packs, most items are multiple servings in one bag/box/bottle. So it is our job to know 25 goldfish crackers is one serving, not half the box. Or that a 1 liter of Pepsi at the gas station is 4 servings. Is it the manufacturer being sneaky or is it us being stupid?

          It's like those Yogurt soft serve bars that are in vogue now, hello, you are eating the same cals as you were at Cold Stone! And I bet you added more "mix-ins" to boot! Yup, fill up that cup because it's FAT FREE YOGURT!

           

          I cant stand the cost of those soft serve bars, but I do like to mix my own and add my goodies. But am in no way fooled by 'fat free' or think I am doing a great idea by eating it.

           

          Interestingly enough in Texas I see:
          Mostly average to thin folks going to those bars.

          Mostly average to very obese going to Cold Stone type shops.

          Nakedbabytoes


          levitation specialist

             

            Right, but you should know that there's nothing wrong with eating half a box of goldfish once in awhile, either.

             

            Lol. Right! They are baked, not fried after allSmile

            And I also equally love my Cold Stone AND soft serve yogurt bars. Nothing against them, just be informed was my point.

            LRB


              You know though, when I started reading labels I was shocked to see what was considered a serving. They put in big letters 120 calories per serving but then a snack bag is actually 2 servings.

              I'll leave the scamming argument to others to debate, but will speak to serving sizes because it's a good topic.

               

              Case and point; for years I ate peanut butter, right out of the jar, all day every day.  There was this period of inactivity once, where I watched what I was eating but still gained a an L B or two and couldn't figure out why, until I decided to examine the label on the jar.  That is, actually read the damn thing.

               

              A "serving" of peanut butter is two tablespoons and runs about 190 calories, and here I was eating five, six, seven or more of those a day!

               

              That ignorance was not the fault of someone else, it was mine.  Now, I still eat peanut butter right out of the jar, but I am more conscious of how many times I stick that loaded up tasty spoon into my fat face.

                I tend to eat until I'm not hungry anymore, and don't pay much attention to serving size, but I acknowledge that doesn't work for everyone the same way.

                cmb4314


                  Makes me think of this woman:

                   

                  http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2012-08-17/nebraska-woman-files-lawsuit-against-conagra

                   

                  People often don't read labels, or if they do they're too dense to do math.

                  My wildly inconsistent PRs:

                  5k: 24:36 (10/20/12)  

                  10k: 52:01 (4/28/12)  

                  HM: 1:50:09 (10/27/12)

                  Marathon: 4:19:11 (10/2/2011) 

                  tracilynn


                    Plenty of my friends believe fruit snacks and cereal bars are healthy snacks for their kids.  Fruit snacks = glorified candy and cereal bars are just cookies, pretty much.  Clever marketing though, but deceptive.

                    ~~~~~~~

                    Traci

                     

                    Docket_Rocket


                      I went to one not long ago and filled 1/3 of the cup with yogurt and put some of the toppings on top.  The girl behind me had filled the 24oz cup with yogurt and had what looked like 1lb of topping above it.  I'm sure she thought it was well within her caloric range.

                       

                      Agreed. Teaching my 12yo about serving sizes has been the biggest eye opening experience to him in nutrition class(he is homeschooled). But we should know by now that unless you intentionally buy single serving packs, most items are multiple servings in one bag/box/bottle. So it is our job to know 25 goldfish crackers is one serving, not half the box. Or that a 1 liter of Pepsi at the gas station is 4 servings. Is it the manufacturer being sneaky or is it us being stupid?

                      It's like those Yogurt soft serve bars that are in vogue now, hello, you are eating the same cals as you were at Cold Stone! And I bet you added more "mix-ins" to boot! Yup, fill up that cup because it's FAT FREE YOGURT!

                      Damaris

                       

                      As part of the 2024 London Marathon, I am fundraising for VICTA, a charity that helps blind and visually impaired children. My mentor while in law school, Jim K (a blind attorney), has been a huge inspiration and an example of courage and perseverance. Please consider donating.

                      Fundraising Page

                        I went to one not long ago and filled 1/3 of the cup with yogurt and put some of the toppings on top.  The girl behind me had filled the 24oz cup with yogurt and had what looked like 1lb of topping above it.  I'm sure she thought it was well within her caloric range.

                         

                         

                        See that's the thing though. Nobody but you can say what is in your own caloric range. I eat something like 4000 calories a day, and have trouble maintaining 109 pounds.


                        Sloooow.

                          Appropriate serving size has definitely been skewed.

                           

                          I used to drink Vitamin Water. I do like to read nutrition labels, so I know it wasn't that great. I also remember when it said 50 calories per serving on the bottle. Each bottle contained 2.5 servings. I guess it's like the candy bars (in a single wrapper) that contain "two servings".

                           

                          On that note, has anyone seen the (I think it's Orelda?) french fry commercial where the kids in the supermarket quiz people on how many calories are in a serving of french fries? They end up announcing it's 120 calories. Only 120 calories, wow!! Disclaimer at the bottom of the page, a serving is 7 french fries, haha.

                           

                          I'm pretty sure Nutella was successfully sued for claiming Nutella could be part of a balanced breakfast.

                          Docket_Rocket


                            Yes, but what she got was around 1000-1500 calories.  My point is that there are a lot of people that do not know or have not learned about calorie counting, labels, and nutrition.  Like  my coworker here, who one time started telling me how she prefers the Dunkin Donuts instead of the Krispy Kremes because the KKs were loaded with fat. Confused

                             

                             

                            See that's the thing though. Nobody but you can say what is in your own caloric range. I eat something like 4000 calories a day, and have trouble maintaining 109 pounds.

                            Damaris

                             

                            As part of the 2024 London Marathon, I am fundraising for VICTA, a charity that helps blind and visually impaired children. My mentor while in law school, Jim K (a blind attorney), has been a huge inspiration and an example of courage and perseverance. Please consider donating.

                            Fundraising Page

                            bingo_jenn


                              http://news.yahoo.com/coca-cola-address-obesity-first-132242748.html

                               

                              Apparently they are going to address obesity now, too.

                                Yes, but what she got was around 1000-1500 calories.  My point is that there are a lot of people that do not know or have not learned about calorie counting, labels, and nutrition.  Like  my coworker here, who one time started telling me how she prefers the Dunkin Donuts instead of the Krispy Kremes because the KKs were loaded with fat. Confused

                                 

                                 

                                That's just nonsense. The acceptable answer is that Dunkin is much more delicious.