Calculating Calories

          As I ate my daily bowl of cereal, I listened to the morning edition of NPR. Today's story just so happened to be on requiring to post calorie information for foods in fast-food restaurants, specifically McDonalds. When I eat, there is always a little voice in the back of my head wondering what am I really putting into my body? Do I really know what and how much I am eating?

The number of calories pictured next to the food it
represent. Bagel, 320? French fries, 500? It is
amazing how much could be in so little.

           When going to McDonalds most people know that it is highly unlikely that they will get a low cal meal. But, by publicly posting calories, people will be able to know how much they are eating compared to how much they should eat each day. After all, the reporter Allison Aubrey commented, "a large strawberry McCafe shake with whipped cream has 850 calories." And according to the popular iPhone app, Fitnesspal, that is a little more than half of the number of calories an average teenage girl should consume per day with no exercise. Aubrey interviewed New York City locals about the thoughts they had on posting calories at local McDonald chains. Marvin Ruffin veered towards the reasoning of, "If I'm at McDonalds, I'm not worrying about calories." What would the point of going to McDonalds be if you were going to get a salad? And anyway, somehow the calories are always able to add up with creamy dressing, cheese, greasy bacon etc.
            Calorie counting also appeared later on Nightline with Dr, Brian Elbel, who has come to the conclusion that having the calories posted next to the food does not change peoples' orders. He even went to the extent of talking to a person beforehand, then taking their receipts on their way out to count up the amount of calories they are about to eat.
            This story of counting calories reminded me of a previous experience I had at a Mexican restaurant, Qdoba Mexican Grill. Everything on the menu had a calorie counter, which deterred me from my usual options of a burrito or enchiladas. The only slightly appetizing and "lower" calorie option(but still not-so-much) was a special dish that was cooked to be low calorie. It sucked. Though it did not appeal to my taste buds, it appealed to me mentally.  I knew that I had not stuffed myself with crap.
           Body image constantly comes up in our American society. I wonder if there is a direct correlation between the advent of corsets and body image obsession. Yet, it is just now becoming known that you can count your daily calories on your smart phone. Fad diets have become the it. I personally do not count the calories I consume each day and sometimes figure that I can just burn it off by exercising. Seeking one's ideal image has proven not always to be the most healthy choice. We see examples of this often whether it be on tv or when your best friend doesn't eat any carbs because she thinks that all carbs are bad for you. In fact, on tonight's episode of Glee, a dance instructor constantly critiqued not only the students' dances, but also their figures and "muffin tops." As we start to see the calories being posted next to menu items at fast food restaurants, will it become a disadvantage to the eateries? Or like Ruffin said before-- we go to McDonalds for a reason, and it is not to order a salad. Monday will mark the starting point of posting calories next to foods at McDonalds restaurants nationwide, and we will soon find out the impact of posting calories has on one of the world's biggest franchises.