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| No | 50% | 1157 votes | Total: 2297 votes | |
| Yes | 50% | 1140 votes |
Warning! The four hundred gram steak you are about to eat may add to your waist line. Combined with the mushroom sauce ,fries and salad on the plate before you consuming this entire meal may be a health risk. You should obtain the professional advice of a dietitian before proceeding.
To hell with the warnings. You have saved up for months to take your wife out to dinner for your anniversary. You want to enjoy your meal without having to pour over a list of calories and fat grams on a menu. You know that you are over indulging. That is the whole point of it.
Just supposing instead of actually sitting down to a meal served on a real china plate ,using a metal knife and fork and sipping a fine wine every so often from an actual wine glass you decided to spread the ludicrous amount of the restaurant bill across ten visits to McDonalds. Because of public pressure McDonalds do state the calories and fat content on their meals. Rightly so. Ten visits to McDonalds is enough to make you want to count calories.
But tonight it is your anniversary. Look around you. No screaming rug rats. No eating with your fingers. Not a piece of cardboard in sight. No burger falling to pieces with each bite. A table with a table cloth. Knifes ,forks ,glasses and actual waiters.What joy. What bliss. All this and some clown wants you to pour over the menu and start counting calories and fat grams on a menu. Is he for real?
One of life's joys is to lash out every so often with some extravagance which is all the more enjoyable if you are only able to do it on special occasions. I suppose if you were rich enough to dine in a restaurant every night you may well need to watch your food intake. Too much of a good thing may well be bad for you.
It matters not one iota if you are rich or poor.There is absolutely no need for restaurants to list calories or fat grams on their menus.The poor will have to eat less for a few weeks to cover the cost after one night at a restaurant.The rich may well die soon enough from over indulgence.
Learn more about this author, Barry Williams.
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Personally, I think that restaurants should provide a list of calories and fat grams on their menus. There are many people who try hard to limit the amount of calories or fat in their diets, and it would help to know these numbers when dining out. I think it would also benefit the restaurant; for the people would know that it's an establishment that cares about their health needs, and not just a place to dine, and take their money.
More importantly however, I believe that restaurants are contributing to some of the health problems in this country. The portions of food provided in most restaurants are absolutely ridiculous. Nobody needs a 12oz or 14oz or 16oz steak, why can't they offer a 4oz or 6oz steak? Food is in excess and so much of it is wasted. It would be healthier to provide delicious food in smaller quantities, where it can be enjoyed; so one doesn't have to leave the table stuffed and feeling excessively full, or having to carry the remainder home to be reheated. I also tend to believe that most people do not like to waste food, or money, so they will force themselves to eat it because it is provided.
I enjoy food, and I love going out to dine. What I do not like is the carryout box with leftovers. What I do not like is to waste the food in my plate because there is simply too much of it to eat. In my case, I have to do one or the other. Forget the idea of dessert, for there is never enough room to even look at the menu.
The point is, there are far too many over weight people in this country, and I seriously believe, it isn't simply the calories and fat, it is due to the portions in which people choose to eat or in the case of going to a restaurant, forced to eat. I myself know people who will open a big bag of potato chips and eat the entire bag. There is no restraint, no desire to leave some for tomorrow or the next day. Why do people gorge themselves, should perhaps be the question here, but that is an entirely different issue. I contend it is much healthier to eat small meals and small snacks to provide good healthy nutrition. Yes, one can have potato chips, but why not just a hand full? So many people like chocolate, so yes, one can buy a chocolate bar, but why can't it last a week, where perhaps after dinner you have a slice and put the rest away?
Diets would not be so hard if people learned how to eat (not only properly and nutritiously) but if they did so by portions. I also contend that nobody needs a huge amount of food to be satisfied and healthy. So yes, I think if people knew the amount of calories and or fat they were eating, it just might help them to make the proper decision on what to eat and what not to eat.
Learn more about this author, Nancy Browne.
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