I happened to be visiting New York City in early July. A friend and I walked everywhere! By mid-afternoon, we were tired and hoped to find a local coffee shop but weren’t having much luck. So we settled on getting something from Starbucks. It may not have been our first choice but hey, it was hot, and we were thirsty as well as tired.

We approached the counter to place an order. I was startled to see the calorie counts listed on the menu board for each item! Wow! I was impressed.

Image via Wikipedia

You see, I had forgotten that New York City had passed a regulation requiring chain restaurants to make available the calorie content of the food they offer right on the menu. I thought to myself “What a relief! I don’t have to guess the calorie count or opt for a sure winner with something like plain tea or coffee with no sweetener.”

For anyone who is serious about keeping calorie counts under control this is a real blessing. However, will knowing the calorie count of foods make you change your habits?

When you purchase food from the grocery store to cook or prepare at home, many of the products have mandatory FDA nutrition labels. But not everyone takes the time to actually read those labels and act on the information provided. Still it is there and we do have a choice.

That hasn’t been true for restaurants until the recent change in New York City and even then, only for restaurants with more than 15 chains. Evidently there are similar calorie labeling laws scheduled to go into effect sometime later this year for a few other places such as Seattle, San Francisco, and Santa Clara. Quite a number of other cities, counties, and states are working to pass such legislation.

Will knowing calorie counts make a difference?

After the changes took effect in New York City, many people were shocked to learn the calorie counts of some of their favorite foods and drinks. Evidently some people have been motivated to make better choices whereas others have been annoyed or even angered.

I believe we should be informed right up front. Then we can make a choice as to whether or not we want to take the information into account when making our selections. The reason I feel so strongly about this is because studies have shown that people can underestimate the calorie count of the food they eat by as much as 50%, especially when it is perceived as being healthy food.

Unfortunately, the calorie labeling will not apply to all restaurants. And meals ordered at sit-down or family style restaurants often have more calories than typical takeout fast food. Why? Food is often served on very large plates making the portion sizes unreasonably big.

As hard as it is, your best bet is to get a sense of which restaurants serve healthy foodand then know about how many calories are in a serving before you head out to eat. The only way to do this, in most cities at this time, is to check the calorie counts for those restaurants that have the information available online.

Another issue to keep in mind even when calorie counts are provided is whether or not the counts are accurate. I was surprised to read that the Scripps Howard News Service tested the calorie and nutrient count of the food served in a number of chain restaurants and learned that the information consumers are provided can be significantly off.

The restaurant chains may be doing their best to comply with a standard method of preparation to assure uniformity in calorie and nutrient count. However, no two meals will be prepared in exactly the same way or will have portions exactly the same size. Add to that, the tendency for consumers to customize the food they order and you have a real dilemma.

The only solution that I can see is to gain a sense of how much is enough. This means knowing what is enough with respect to the amount (portion size) but also, and just as importantly, eating slowly and mindfully so that you are aware of when you have eaten enough. All too often portion size has little to do with the number of calories in a dish.

Many prepared foods have “hidden” calories. But that’s a subject for a post on another day. Let me know what you think about having the calorie count listed on the menu boards at chain restaurants. Do you like the idea or not? Do you have thoughts about how it might be handled differently?

I’ve talked about the importance of keeping a food diary before. Now I have even more evidence of the benefits. The results of a new study funded by the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research underscores the importance of keeping track of the food you eat when dieting. Study participants who kept daily food diaries lost twice as much weight or more than those individuals who did not keep records.

Image via WikipediaThe study participants were asked to follow the DASH diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension). This healthy diet was originally designed to lower blood pressure but has since been found to decrease the risk for heart disease and stroke as well. It is a low fat and low sodium diet that includes lots of fruits and vegetables and low-fat or non-fat dairy. (The 1200 and 1500 calorie diet plans that I provide on this site are modeled after the DASH diet.)

Almost 1,700 participants agreed to adopt the healthier diet and exercise. About two-thirds of the individuals lost nine pounds or more over a period of six months. However, those who kept a food diary lost as much as 20 pounds, more than twice as much as the others.

So why do food diaries work? They work because you can learn so much about your food habits and eating patterns. First of all, you see where the extra calories are coming from. And you get a better sense of how your calorie intake is influenced by portion size. For many people the primary issue is portion size.

Another benefit of keeping a food diary is the knowledge you gain about when you eat out of boredom or stress. So there are a number of different ways in which food diaries increase your awareness and keep you accountable for your choices.

Some people struggle with keeping food diaries. It isn’t easy. It takes time, although that may be a good thing. Some of the participants noted that they thought twice about having a cookie or piece of cake because they didn’t want to have to write it down or see it in their diary.

The good news is that most people tend to be creatures of habit eating a relatively small number of foods. Your regular diet may include a base of no more than about 30 to 40 different foods. So in a short period of time it may become easier to keep track of your calorie intake.

I like the convenience of the service provided by MyFoodDiary.com to keep track of calories and nutrients. (See Food Diary Review: MyFoodDiary.com for my review) My husband and I enjoy eating a wide variety of foods. Although neither of us enjoys cooking every day, we do like to try new recipes and healthy food products from the supermarket when time permits. So I appreciate the convenience of having a place to record and store an ongoing record of all my food choices.

The foods I eat as well as the recommendations I make with the sample menus provided on this website are all based on foods I “add to my refrigerator” on the My Food Diary website. My digital refrigerator is full of healthy foods. This makes it a lot easier to keep track of my own diet and to also come up with new ideas for sample menus.

There are other sites that provide a similar service. Some are free and others have a small fee. My review of the available nutrition calculators and food diary sites online may help you choose a service that will work best for you. (Calorie Counts and Nutrients: Best Sites Online) Or you might want to just keep track of your food choices with a pen and paper.

If you haven’t given food diaries a try or you have in the past without success, you may want to take a new look. Keeping a food diary takes time. But I can guarantee you it will be worth it. You will learn things about your food choices and habits that you were not aware of before. What you learn could be just what you need to know to get healthier, reduce your calorie intake, and reach your weight loss goal.

Give a try!