I Want My Calories
I decided that a healthy America is going to be the death of me though I have no real proof of this. It all relates to food especially fast food since a huge chunk of my diet comes from fast food. In King County Washington, chain restaurants have to label calorie, fat, sodium, and carbohydrate information on menus and menu boards. Similar requirements can be found in New York City. All you calorie counters looking to take in fewer and fewer calories can rejoice, but I am not.
I am not concerned with having this information out in the open since I use it. My concern is if or how it will affect the food being offered. In March 2007, Wendy’s Chicken Club was 650 calories. In June 2008, it dropped 17% to 540 calories. Higher calorie items have the potential to be removed from menus because people are avoiding them or being altered to drop the calorie or fat levels which will change the taste as well as how much I need to eat.
It has already happened with chicken in fast food. Dark meat and rib meat chicken, with the exception of places like KFC, has practically gone the way of the dinosaurs. I love dark meat. Somewhere there is half a chicken out there just dying (well, it is already dead) to be eaten. Chicken nuggets used to be good. A quick search online tells me that dark meat is higher in fat and calories. I like that idea.
So why do I feel that lower calorie fast food is going to kill me? I am 6’4” and weigh 135lbs. I swear I burn calories fast than I take them in. That is not healthy. If a food drops in calories to become healthier, I have to either find something different or eat larger portions to take in the calories I need. Everything these days seems to be geared towards lower calories and losing weight, but there are people out there like me that have trouble putting on weight. Leave my fast food alone, please. It’s fast food not health food. If you are worried about the extra calories then get off your ass and exercise.
