Empty Calories
August 1st, 2007I generally forget to consider the detrimental affects of empty calories on one’s health, but the reading I have done about them raises painful questions. I will say that here I am primarily concerned with junk food.
During the course of one week at school I ate, among other things,
one package of peanut-butter m&ms- 240 calories
one snickers bar- 280 calories
2 chocolate puddings- 260 calories
I estimate that I ate approximately 1000 calories worth of junk food in one week. Assuming that I should eat 2200 calories in a day, or 15,400 in a week, 6.5 % of my diet for the week was comprised of empty calories.
What is the percentage of empty calories that I should have in my diet?
According to the chart here I am allowed 290 calories at the outside, or 13% of my daily intake. However, this article points out that most people spend their extra calories on what it terms “luxury” foods- cheeses from the dairy group, danishes from the bread and cereal group, etc. No room left for junk.
There is, then, no neat answer to my question. But without exhaustively analyzing my calorie intake, perhaps it would be a good idea to set a calorie limit for junk foods such as what I listed above. What is reasonable? 50 is probably too high, but if I started there, that would mean that I should aim for a lot less than what I ate during that fateful week…and that is only if I want to maintain my current weight.
I think it’s funny that you now have a section called “Petty Gluttony”.
Scary exercise: to make a graph of calories eaten based on their nutritional value….
But your diet, i’d say, is probably exemplary b/c you cook a lot and use fresh ingredients, etc. 2 snacks in one week (is pudding really bad?? I’m not counting it…) is actually pretty disciplined, I’d say.
But if you are thinking about how to deal w/ rich foods or junk food, here’s my input:
I’ve heard that for some (like my mom), eating just a bite of a rich dessert, or a few (really, only 3 or 4) M-n-M’s, or just a couple of fries is the way to do it.
You never feel deprived, you never feel desperate to binge because you know you’re allowed to have anything you want to have…just not a lot of it.
But for others (like me) it’s better to try to avoid white sugar. I’m like an addict — I eat one oreo, and I’m primed for the whole sleeve.
I am amazed when I see my mom push away a dish of ice cream with magic shell after a bite or two and say, “That was good!”
For me, it’s better to label it ‘Poison’…and even if I have to eat 5 cups of fruit to make myself feel less bitter, it’s better than a bottle of magic shell squeezed right into my mouth
And some foods really *are* poison and should be avoided by all. FAST FOOD. For my kids it’s a hard sell. I tell them it’s poison. When they were little, they’d have dropped their happy meal into the trash, wide-eyed….
Now they want evidence.
And “Supersize Me” wasn’t good enough. ((They argue about the 30-days-straight vs. the occasional McGriddle….))
I still think your kids have a point in their argument…but I probably lean more towards your mom’s way of thinking. If I swear off white sugar that will only last so long. I’m trying to find a balance between being self controlled and being unreasonable.
Not eating chocolate ever is just unreasonable.
We need to meet up at Riverside sometime soon.
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