Counting The Calories

• Associated Press (19 Jul 2008) - A 540-Calorie Big Mac? NY Chains Post Calorie Info

New York City recently started enforcing chain restaurants to openly declare the calorie count of their products.

So naturally, I did a calorie search of both McDonald's and Burger King's item offerings.

Taking both restaurant's flagship burgers, it's Big Mac (540 calories) vs Whopper (670 calories). Then again, it must be noted that the Whopper is about 25% bigger than the Big Mac. TehSiSiuDai's favourite Double Cheeseburger weighs in at 440 calories.

A KFC crispy 3-piece meal of a wing, a breast, a drumstick, a side serving of mashed potato, a side serving of cole slaw and a medium Pepsi would set you back by as much as 1300 calories.

• Click Here For Calorie Information of McDonald's products.
• Click Here For Calorie Information of Burger King's products.
• Click Here For Calorie Information of KFC's products.

Frankly, if you ask me, these calorie number don't mean anything to me except that a young adult's daily intake should be 2500 calories i.e. 2 KFC 3-piece meal per day.

I think what the NYC gahmen is trying to do is to "shame" the restaurants with their products' high numbers but seriously if you ask me, it's not going to work.

First of all, we all know that fast food being what it is, is sure to make you put on the kilos if you consume it too frequently. As with all things good and bad, moderation is key and it is not like we are doing a Spurlock, eating junk food breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The moment, we stepped into the restaurant, we know what we are asking for. So let's cut the crap that you are unaware the frequent eating of fast food will bound to pile up the kilos. Hence I was appalled to hear of the case where two girls tried to sue McDonald's for their obesity. 

Secondly, taking in less then the required daily intake of calories doesn't mean you are eating healthily. 2,500 for young adult men and 2,000 for young adult women is what is needed to function normally. Eating less is merely forcing the body to dip into the reserves to top up the shortfall and hence the concept of dieting.

However, food intake is not just about the calories. It is also about the nutrients e.g. vitamins, minerals, fibre etc. So IMHO opinion to maintain or lose weight healthily, the way to do it is not the reduce the calorie intake but to increase the calorie expenditure by exercising more.

p.s. I am sure many have heard the joke where the guy who order the full bucket of fried chicken, asked for Diet Pepsi because he is on diet? Well, actually by switching to diet soda, he did save 180 calories on a medium serving. Yes, it may rather ironic considered how many calories are loaded in that 1 bucket but it still 180 calories saved nevertheless.

- Voxeros

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