Is your Instagram making you fat?

In lieu of an opening sentence, I am just going to put this here…

We have all been there, have friends that do it, see people do this, and maybe even do it yourself. Personally, I just go to fancy restaurants and take pictures of other people’s food that cost them an arm and a leg, and order a side salad for myself. Yes, it may be a little awkward to ask complete strangers to take pictures of their food, even more so when I make them wait 10 minutes while I get the perfect shot, but at least all my followers think I am living in the lap of luxury.

You may have a problem if you find yourself answering yes to the following questions:

• Is it obligatory to take a picture of your food before you eat it? 
• Do you feel bad when you had great looking food and you forgot to snap a picture to post on Instagram? 

If so, we may need to talk. You may be making people fat.

Girl you cray…

I am not even trying to pull a fast one on you…this time at least. According to recent research, that may just be the case. Luckily for me, most of my friends are not very good at taking food pictures J Anyways, this kind of makes sense. In a way all of these food pictures are like marketing. I am pretty sure we have all been there before-- it is late at night and you are all snuggled up on your coach with your diva of a dog watching the Kardashians when a commercial for pizza comes on. Now you had a filling dinner a couple of hours ago, but upon seeing a nice cheesy slice of pizza, you now NEED that pizza.

Is this bad?

On the other end of the spectrum, you could potentially use this phenomenon to make fruits and vegetables more appealing as well. This could very well just be me, but show me a picture of some well-cooked Brussels sprouts and I will then be craving them the rest of the day.  I mean…I know I probably fit the criteria for a health nut, but anybody else not want to eat these?

Breaking it down

Yes these food pictures on Instagram may make you want those foods or may make you a little hungry, but I don’t really see the need to go unfollow all of your “friends” that post food pictures. If you are like me, you will be too lazy to actually go and purchase said food. Basically what I am trying to say is eat your fruits and vegetables and practice will power/mindful eating. Oh and if you happen to be my friend and are reading this, thanks for being a lackluster food photographer. Well I am off to go take some selfies. Until next time!

P.S. This would definitely be me…

Keep it Fresh,

Keep it Green,

Beth

Baby Carrots: Eat Em Like Junk Food

In between watching The Bachelor, Chris Soules, squirm while deciding who his “true” love is,

advertisers were smart enough to play off of the emotional roller coaster that women everywhere were on. I mean, The Bachelor season finale my as well be the Super Bowl for women. Anyways, there were commercials for all things women…including every woman’s favorite, chocolate.  Being the dork that I am, all of these advertisements made me think of an article I read recently about trying to get more people to eat fruits and vegetables by using similar tactics that junk food company’s use. A company did a small pilot of this back in 2010 and actually had quite a bit success. For those of us that watched The Bachelor last night, here is a commercial for baby carrots tailored to that audience…

Now does this make me want to jump off the couch and go get some baby carrots? Oddly enough, yes. I mean I am a dietitian and only eat kale, apples, carrots, and sometimes celery as a treat :) Ok so maybe I am a bit odd, but would the average person? That remains to be seen, but the research seems to show some positive results.

The power of advertisements and marketing

Advertisements and marketing have a HUGE impact on us whether we acknowledge it or not. I mean if it didn't, would companies spend millions of dollars a year on it? They are all vying for their brand and product to be sexy and desirable enough to get people to actually go out and purchase it, which can be a challenge due to competition and humans just being lazy. Think of it this way, how often do you see commercials for a delicious looking pizza and think, “Man I don’t just want that, I NEED that?” How many of you actually have enough ambition to actually pick up the phone and order that pizza? If you are like me, that pretty much never happens. However, the idea of that pizza sticks around and the next time I am legitimately hungry (and not just annoyed at Chris for settling) and having a splurge day I might just treat myself.

Where are you going with this Beth?

Should we have cool advertisements and marketing for fruits and vegetables? YES!  Will this type of marketing make you jump off the couch, run to the fridge, and chow down on baby carrots? Probably not, however so much of marketing is subliminal. After watching this commercial, and if it were up to me, being exposed to several similar advertisements, the next time you were hungry you might just consciously or unconsciously think, “Man I could really go for some baby carrots.”   

Not only would this help Americans eat more fruits and vegetables, but it would also help out those fruit and vegetable farmers, who often do not receive federal subsidies (but that’s another story). If companies started using their extremely creative minds to market and make fruits and vegetables sexy it would be a game changer; just like having two Bachelorettes…

Yikes! Well I am off to chow down on baby carrots. Until next time!

Keep it Fresh,

Keep it Green,

Beth

How to Not do a Superbowl Commercial

 Let me very clear, the only reason I watch the Superbowl is for the commercials and the halftime show, not actually to watch the game. Its not that I hate football, I just prefer college football. Anyways, I must say that I was very underwhelmed the halftime show with Katy Perry about to be attacked by dancing sharks…

Only to be saved by none other than Missy Elliott…

After Missy snapped me out of the twilight zone filled with dancing beach balls and surf boards, I was back to reality and more commercials. Out of all of the commercials, I did find one that intrigued me, and by intrigued I mean annoyed...I found one that annoyed me as a Dietitian. (Warning: I am about to step on my soapbox.)  What commercial you ask? That commercial would be this commercial from McDonald's called the Unapologetic Big Mac:

Now, I am no marketing whiz, but I am not sure what McDonald’s was trying to accomplish with this commercial besides shoot themselves in the foot. Yes, I believe that just about everybody and their grandma knows that McDonald’s does not offer the healthiest of foods, despite their feeble attempts at adding salads and apple slices to the menu.

Personally, as both a foodie and a vegetarian, I was slightly offended. Do I eat soy, quinoa, kale, and greek yogurt? Yes I occasionally do, but that doesn’t mean those are the only things I eat and no, I don’t feel cool just because I do eat those things. 

Setting my own personal dietary preferences aside, the reason this bothers me is because how it influences society and our food norms. This commercial feeds into the somewhat negative stereotypes that foodies and vegetarians are weird hipsters that only eat soy, quinoa, kale, etc. They are "health nuts."

We are a country that is in the midst of an obesity epidemic, which costs us somewhere in the ballpark of $192 BILLION a year, and you spend millions to in effect shame those who are trying to eat a little better. Really McDonald's really?!? Is McDonald’s solely to blame for obesity? Was the Superbowl halftime show good? No, but McDonald's can be a part of the solution.

Staying on this soapbox, this commercial also incites some level of food neophobia. Don’t act like you are not impressed with my use of the word neophobia J Anyways, food neophobia is the fear of trying new, unfamiliar foods. In the weird little world that is inside my head, this is how this commercial affects people. After seeing McDonald’s knock kale and quinoa, when people are offered kale and/or quinoa that have never had it before, they laugh and turn it down. I mean, kale and quinoa is obviously only for hippies. 

Now I am going to flip this situation and really just blow your mind. Let’s pretend we all live on a far away planet called, oh I don’t know, Utopia. Now on Utopia, everybody eats kale and quinoa, not many people eat burgers. One day a food company, McKale, advertises how great its kale and quinoa is, and bashes burgers and people who are burger eaters. People who eats kale and quinoa, would feel more justified and better about their food choices than those weird burger eaters. Burgers are definitely for weirdos.

So what is your point Beth?

Now don’t get me wrong, I am not trying to say that McDonald’s should start serving kale and quinoa, they are after all a burger joint. However, I don’t think they should stigmatize people who are trying to eat healthier. As a billion dollar company, they have the means to positively affect our dietary habits and food norms. We need to make eating healthy the cool, sexy thing to do, which we can do through advertising and marketing. I mean kale anyone?

Can I personally change McDonald’s or any other fast food place? Nope, but what I can do is “vote” with where I choose to spend my money when eating out. Not that I eat a ton of fast food, but when I do, I will gladly pay a little more for a better quality product and for a company whose practices I agree with. (Steps off soapbox)

Well I am off to start a petition to bring Beyonce back for next year’s Superbowl halftime…I mean home girl broke the Superdome and I bet that Beyonce eats kale. Until next time!

Keep it Fresh,

Keep it Green,

Beth

Calories on Menus: Useful or Useless?

The FDA finally released their new menu labeling law. I know you all have probably been anxiously awaiting them for the past five years, just as the Northeast is anxiously awaiting Snowmageddon 2015...

What will this look like?

Basically, if you visit a restaurant or similar retail food establishment that is part of a chain of 20 or more, they will now be required by law to list calorie information on the menu starting in fall of 2015.  You may have noticed that some places have already been doing this for a while now, such as Starbucks. Here is what theirs looks like...

Why did they make a law about this?

Well, in case you have been living under a rock for the past 10 years, we are facing an obesity epidemic in the US. The rates of overweight and obesity have tripled in the past three decades. The factors for this rise in overweight and obesity is due to a variety of reasons but most can be attributed to eating too much and not exercising enough. That being said, this is one of the tactics developed to help combat the eating too much part. The thought process behind this if we provide people with information on how many calories are in the food they are eating, they might eat a little healthier.

How many calories do I need?

A very generalized number for the average adult is 2,000 calories a day. Again, this is a very generalized and does not account for sex, physical activity, age, etc. If you would like a more accurate picture of how many calories you specifically need in a day, I would recommend using MyFitnessPal. 

Does labeling actually work?

Research has bounced back and forth between helping people eat fewer calories and people wanting to “get their moneys worth” and actually eating more calories. 

What are your thoughts Beth?

Regardless of whether this will make people eat less calories or not, it is at least educating people and making them think a little bit more about what they are eating.  This may also make restaurants rethink some of their dishes that contain thousands of calories and maybe offer at least slightly healthier options.

On a personal level, when I go to a pizza place, I am not usually too worried about calories. I mean I did go there to eat pizza after all, which is not quite the healthiest thing. When presented with calorie information on the menu, I might be swayed to get the veggie pizza rather than the bacon weave crust pizza…

For me going out to eat at a restaurant is a treat for lack of a better word, so I typically will not eat as much the rest of the day because I know that I will be indulging a little more than usual when eating at a restaurant. However, those who eat out at restaurants frequently will obviously be impacted more so it may be more helpful.

Breaking it down

It is up to you if you actually want to use the information or not, but at least you now have to face the facts that those calories you eat on the weekend do count…

Is this going to magically fix the overweight and obesity epidemic? No, but it is a baby step in the right direction. It is helping people get to know their food better and (hopefully) understand nutrition at least a little bit.

Until next time!

Keep it Fresh,

Keep it Green,

Beth

Are Your Friends Making You Fat?

You probably have all heard the saying, “you don’t become tall by hanging around tall people,” which is in fact true. Being tall is not contagious, but what about if you hung around overweight or obese people? Would you then become overweight or obese as well? First let me clarify that overweight and obesity, like height, are not contagious in the way that the beloved cold, flu, and the trending ebola is. What recent research (caution: read at your own risk it is a rather dull article) has found is that overweight and obesity may be a socially transmitted disease. Think about it. How often do you meet up with friends, family, old co-workers, classmates, etc to exercise? My guess would be hardly ever. What do we do instead you ask? We meet up for coffee, dinner, drinks, or to watch a movie/tv show. Basically all we are doing is sitting around, eating, and talking, but do you ever think that the people you eat with influence you? To help illustrate this phenomenon, I am going to delight you with yet another one of my hypothetical scenarios.

Lunch Scenario

Let's say that I came to lunch with you, maybe it’s a date or maybe not, I’ll let you decide. (That’s right I am still single...despite my mothers attempts to marry me off.) Anyways, before we even order you are a little paranoid because you are eating with a dietitian and we only eat lettuce, apples, and sometimes if we splurge, carrots, so I am obviously going to judge you based on what you order. So...you think to yourself, 

"Should I  go with a salad? Should I get the dressing on the side? What about a diet soda? Does adding lemon to my water count as a serving of fruit? What if I get the fried pickles…pickles are a vegetable? I want a burger but maybe I will get a veggie burger because it has veggies in it so it has to be healthy right? Wait…let me get the sweet potato fries because they are better for you right?"

Whew...decisions decsions. Anyways, what if on our lunch date, I ordered a salad with no cheese or croutons (shameless promotion: did I mention that all of our croutons on campus are made in house and delicious?!?), just veggies and oil & vinegar dressing? Chances are you would order something a little healthier, even if you really wanted a baconator and fries. Fast forward through random small talk about the weather and our childhoods mixed in with small white lies and half-truths, I eat half of my salad and stop and say how stuffed I am and ask the server for a box (because everybody loves leftover salads right?). You on the other hand are halfway done with whatever option you deemed a little bit healthier than a baconator and are still hungry, but I stopped eating and you don’t want to look like a pig right? So you stop eating as well and try to fill the remaining room in your stomach with water or whatever it is you ordered to drink. We both get boxes for our remaining food and the server hands us the bill, which I might offer to go halfsies on but I don’t really mean it, so you pay the bill and we leave. Noticed how my order and actions dictated what and how much you ate? Did I intend to make you to choose a healthier option or to eat less? Yes, because in studying to become a dietitian we all take we take a class called how to judge people and make them feel bad 101, but me being a woman, am a natural and tested out of it. Ok, so maybe I am just kidding on that one, but the real answer is no. My actions still influenced you though.

Now, what if on our date I ordered first and ordered a baconator with fries with ranch (I am from the Midwest after all and we do love our ranch)?

My guess is that your reaction would be something along the lines of, “heck yeah, this chick is the coolest dietitian ever!” and you would proceed with your order of a monster burger and fries. Again, fast-forward through random small talk about the weather and our childhoods mixed in with small white lies and half-truths, but instead I annihilate my baconator and fries with ranch. Not wanting to be shown up by a girl, you join the clean plate club as well. Blah, blah, blah, you pay the bill and we leave. Notice how I dictated what and how much you ate differently than in the first scenario? Note: This really is hypothetical because A-I am a vegetarian (gasp, one of those hippy tree huggers) and B-You should never take someone to Wendy’s on a first date.

Breaking it Down

Is the moral of the story to eat with a dietitian? No. Should you never eat a baconator and fries? No. Should you abandon all of your friends, family, etc that do not eat as healthy? No. The moral of the story is to be more cognizant of the influence that whoever you are eating with has on you. If you want to eat healthier stick to it, heck maybe you can be the leader of team nutrition and unintentionally get whomever it is you are eating with to eat a little healthier or to eat less, but beware you may get the title of food police or nutrition nazi... 

Now if you will excuse me, I am late for my daily ritual of singing Beyonce’s Single Ladies while parading around my living room with my dog.

Until next time!

Keep it Fresh,

Keep it Green,

Beth