But, it’s just a mini cupcake

Back in 2008, the New York City Board of Health started requiring all food establishments with more than 15 locations to start prominently listing calorie counts on all food items for all the world to see. I am quite sure the next morning, many waiters and cashiers were a bit tired of hearing people scream, “WHAT? How many is in that?!?” the day after  the curtain came up.

Interestingly enough, it did not have the effect they had hoped for. A study conducted a year later concluded that while it made people more aware what they were eating, it did not change what they chose to buy.

In fact, it seems that people are more price elastic than calorie elastic (almost a pun, but not quite). People, especially those in lower income classes, tend to decide what’s for lunch based on their wallet instead of their daily grease quota .

Food establishments saw this as an opportunity: what if we made the portions smaller and charged more for the “low calorie” option? The per calorie profit goes up. This was the genesis of the “mini-cupcake” you see in the display case at Starbucks.

However, just because you can place this cute little thing  in your mouth with two fingers instead of cramming it in with your whole hand does not make it a good option. Check out the facts: it is 190 calories and looks like it is about 10 feet away even when you hold it in your palm. You really need to decide if that is worth 10% of your daily caloric intake.

Chomp. Chomp. Gone.

There goes a tenth of the food you get to have today. No thanks. In case you were wondering, chomp chomp gone equals 25-30 minutes of work on a stationary bike.

Foods like this are calorie dense. It is OK for a treat every once and a while, but do not fool yourself that they are a better choice because they are “cute”.

Drinking: things you may not have thought of

Drinking two beers per hour is the equivalent of eating a McDonald’s cheeseburger per hour. Enjoy.

Irish Ingredients and Portions

I just spent an incredible week touring the entire South of Ireland. It involved a great deal of time in the car, a few too many pints and eating out all three meals a day for seven glorious days.

Do I feel guilty? No. It was a vacation. Do I feel fat? Surprisingly, not really.

I don’t think the day of my return would be the day I would want to try out for the Olympic team, but I don’t feel like I just finished Thanksgiving dinner like I usually do after most business trips. Why is that?

Here are a few things I noticed and what I learned:

• Irish menus  are very literal. When you order “Roast Beef with Vegetables and Potatoes”, you get roast beef, some vegetables and potatoes. No breading, butter, and layers of mysterious stuff.

Lesson--keep food simple. Basic ingredients that look very similar to they way they came off the farm, out of the ground or off the tree.

• Portions are designed for human sized people. I would not describe pub food as a California Health Plate (corned beef, cheese, fries, etc.), but they came in portion sizes that were not obscene. In the U.S., restaurants seem to measure value by the pound. The Irish serve you a meal instead of issuing a challenge.

Lesson—you do not have to eat three meals worth of food just because the restaurant puts it in front of you. You are paying to no longer be hungry. It costs you the same whether you eat it all or not.

• Breakfast is an everyday meal. It’s easy to see why they call them Bed and Breakfasts. Breakfast is formal, large and very good. It also keeps you from snacking on junk for the next 6 hours when you start the day with eggs, salmon, and other basic items. I ate too much, but I ate less later.

Lesson—eating a good breakfast that is devoid of processed foods is like putting money in the bank. You can make withdrawals on it later, and it keeps you from eating junk to combat sugar/caffeine crashes over the next few hours.

One other thing I noticed: walking is a form of transportation, not punishment. You can take a nice vacation, eat heartily and maintain your weight if you walk a few miles every day. There are several times when people would tell us, “Oh, its only a one mile walk.”

When is the last time you heard that?

Which Diet Plan is Best?

There is no secret formula for weight loss through dieting. It is a combination of eating less, moving more and maintaining a healthy balance of the nutrients you need to perform. Period. Now that we have that out of the way, we can chat.

Too many people succumb to analysis paralysis in trying to decide which diet plan will lead to the best results. I can think of over 50 of them off the top of my head, and every single one of them have a few things in common:

• They all claim to be backed by “breakthrough” research that sheds new light on losing weight
• They all have testimonials from satisfied (and lighter) customers
• They usually have multiple people with an impressive suffix after their name to back their claims (usually wearing a white coat in a photo)
• They all usually claim some sort of conspiracy by an inanimate entity against your weight loss (food companies, fast food providers, the sugar industry, etc.)
• They all claim that if you follow THEIR plan, you will finally be successful (for a fee)

They all also have one other good thing in common: they promote careful planning and tracking of your diet and require you to make choices and sacrifices. There are many pros and cons to all of them, so I suggest you take a look at this comparison tool from Health.com. It is an excellent guide to try and find a plan that fits into your lifestyle instead of trying to find a way around your possibly unhealthy lifestyle.

However, you need to keep this simple math problem in mind. A pound of fat is made up of 3500 calories. If you want to lose 20 pounds, you need to burn off 70,000 calories through diet and exercise. There is no way around it.

I run into people every day who are scared to death of carbs. Or fat. Or eating late. Or…well, you get the picture. They can’t see the forest for the trees. It is like a race car driver desperate to win a race, but they never leave the garage because they keep worrying about what is the BEST oil to use in their car.

Get moving. Drive fast. Finish first. That is how you win. The rest are details that you can figure out with experience.

Do something.

Serving sizes: how many are you eating?

I ran across a great article on how to estimate food serving sizes, and some of the portions may surprise you. For example, did you know that a serving of mashed potatoes is no larger than half an apple? I have been to restaurants where the entire meal sits on a bed of them.

Note to self: do not eat any serving size that can serve as a “bed” for another food.

Restaurant food is sneaky. Don’t trust it.

Well, a perfect example of why you never, EVER take uneducated guesses about calories in food that you did not buy and prepare yourself. I just ate two lunches by accident.

I stopped by Panera Bread today and chose the Pick 2: half of a Greek salad and a cup of French Onion Soup. I missed breakfast that day, so I splurged and got the side of French bread. If you go to their nutritional calculator, you will see this comes out to 500 calories (about 180 of that was the bread).

Three hours later, I was in a Caribou Coffee and decided to get a little snack during a long conference call. They have a new promotion for oatmeal. I chose a small cup of the 7-grain, berry flavor. Sounds healthy and light, right?

470 calories. Ouch. That’s an extra small meal.

Moral of the story: words like “7-grain” and “oatmeal” may bring visions of health to your eyes, but do the math before chowing down.

Wait just a second

I noticed today on my travels that it is easy to make the wrong choices about eating without even thinking about it. I had to fly from San Diego at 6:30 a.m., and my first stop after airport security ripped my bags apart was Starbuck’s.

I always get a basic coffee, but food choices are a bit challenging at Starbucks. There just aren’t a lot of good choices. I LOVE the blueberry muffins, but take a look at what is in them. It is like having Mom whip me up this great, old fashioned breakfast in terms of calories. However, I wolf it down in 90 seconds and get almost no enjoyment out of it.

Frequently, I might order it for no other reason than I am in a hurry. It is a simple choice that I am comfortable with making. But, if I take a step back and let one person go ahead of me in line, it gives me a moment to rethink it. I usually get a banana or their new oatmeal (big fan).

Five extra seconds could make the difference of needing to spend an extra hour on the bike today. I think it is a good use of my time to stop and think.

Don't Let Calories Be a Bully--Push Back!

People do not set out to get fat. No one tries to make their butt get bigger over time. I have never heard someone say, "I am going to start now on a grand plan to be 30 pounds heavier just in time for my 20-year high school reunion."

I'll be honest with you. Managing your diet and caloric intake over time is not fun. It is a constant seesaw battle between good sense and good eating. I am not the person that will tell you that eating a few celery stalks is the same as eating a plate of nachos. It's not. Nachos taste a whole lot better (especially with guacamole).

However, the same could be said for a number of choices we make in life. Think about that roommate of yours in college whose textbooks right before mid-terms still made that new, crackling sound when you open them. Sure, it was easier to watch TV, start your weekends on Thursday at 2 p.m. and play Frisbee on the quad. Look where you are in your career today versus them. Choices matter, and sometimes you do not see the results until they are mercilessly compounded over time.

So, how do people end up 30 pounds heavier in 20 years? It is the results of bad choices compounded over time. Let's work backwards to see how most people get there...

• 30 pounds of fat = 105,000 calories
• 105,000 calories/20 years = 5250 extra calories per year
• 5250 extra calories per year = 101 extra calories per week

That's right. If you consume the equivalent of one banana per week more than you need (or can burn with exercise), after 20 years, you will be 30 pounds heavier. I do not care if it is from carbs, protein or sticks of butter. Gaining and losing fat is a simple, mechanical process that is dependent solely on whether or not you consume more or less than you need to maintain your body's daily demands. How is that for "not fair"?

Most people get extra poundage from one of the following scenarios (some people participate in more than one):

1. They eat way too much consistently on a daily basis relative to what their body actually needs. This is mostly due to bad choices (willpower) or caloric content/portion size (ignorance).
2. They do not exercise on a regular basis or intensely enough to counteract occasional splurges.
3. They are unaware of the "transactional" calories they are consuming throughout the day (20 extra calories here, 50 extra calories there, etc.).

The good news is that all of the above scenarios are under your control. There was a great article on MSNBC.com that talks about tactics to eliminate calories in increments of 100 or more. Read it and use the knowledge starting with your next meal.

Make no mistake: you are in a daily battle to keep those pounds off your beautiful body. As we age, become busier and get more sedentary in our lifestyles this gets even harder. So, when calories try to push you into becoming something you don't want to be, take control and push back!

Liquid Fat at the Beach

OK, so that was not the most appealing topic headline in the world, but I bet it got your attention.

I have this terrible fear that people must think I am Mr. Have-No-Fun, and that I take great pleasure in chastising people for going out and having a few drinks or a plate of nachos. Trust me, I am not that guy. Anyone who has spent some time with me on the weekend can attest to that!

I do think that most people are just unaware of unhealthy habits and behaviors that they are participating in, so I try to point them out. It is not because you should completely avoid them. It is so you can compensate for them and make informed choices.

For example, let's say you are going to take a trip to the Bahamas with that beautifully tanned body of yours. You are sitting by the pool and decide to have a margarita. It is just one drink, so how bad could it be?

Bad. One margarita can have more calories than eating one and a half Big Mac's from McDonald's. And, if you are like me, you rarely stop with just one. Read this article, but you might want to sit down first...

The Six Most Fattening Summer Cocktails Newsweek By The Numbers Newsweek.com

I am not giving up margaritas. I just know that I am going to have to get my butt down to the fitness center to compensate for it. I also might try some adult beverages that are lower calorie alternatives.

I will have another margarita and make up for it later, and that is because I am armed with the information I need to make a decision of whether or not it is worth it. Seek out information about everything you consume and the activities you participate in. In today's free-information environment, ignorance is no excuse for being fat.

Diet Strategy for the Road Warrior

If you frequently find yourself away from home working on that big deal or legal matter, you know as well as I do that eating healthy is a challenge. You are tempted at every restaurant by meals you would never dream of preparing at home and encouraged to overeat by colleagues and clients. Men's Health magazine published a great article on simple strategies that everyone can do to try and contain the collateral damage you can do to your body in just a few short days when you are away from your nutrition comfort zone.

The Traveling Man's Eating Plan (Men's Health magazine)

YOU are in control of what you eat. You have worked hard for your results, so don't let the demands of visiting your clients infringe upon your hard fought gains.

Men's Health - Eat This, Not That! - Best & Worst - What's are the worst foods?

Do You Know What You Are Actually Eating?

Admit it, there a number of times that you just don't WANT to know what is in the food you are eating when you go out to your favorite restaurant. It is nice to get away, relax over an adult beverage and for a few minutes just enjoy a meal that may be not so great for you. Hear no evil, see no evil, taste no evil...

However, education and knowledge are some of your best tools to achieve a healthier lifestyle. You may not totally abstain from these foods, but you may decide how many people should be sharing with you. You might also want to consider how many miles you have to spend running to compensate for your "relaxing" meal.