The FastDay Forum

A nice article in the NY Times about keeping calories under control when eating out: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015 ... 0002&abg=0

Oh a good time for posting Mary Ann as i' m out for dinner later! Will read before i go,thanks a lot xx!

[janeg]

Thanks @MaryAnn Good article.
I regularly have a starter as a main if I eat out, ususally because the choice is better and the portion size suits me. Very interesting to read about 'portion inflation' in the article. Portion size is something I have a real bee in my bonnet about, especially in food outlets.

yeah, me too. In Japan, something called a ladies set is common. It has less food, and usually lighter options. I found this offensive at first, but actually, it makes a lot of sense. Our TDEE is lower; we should be eating less. And they are proportionately lower in price.

Much of the niceness went away when one calls paleo and Atkins way of eating faddish. These WOE promote cutting down on the carbs which are the main culprit for every fat person. They also have the nice side effects of reducing processed and refined foods, the biggest health threats in the Western world today.

Last I checked, a "fad" was something that got very popular for a brief time and then faded away, like wearing bell bottomed pants. By that measure, low carb dieting is anything but a fad.

I started eating low carb diets in the 1960s, long before Atkins appropriated what was already a popular diet and branded it with his own name. There was a period around the year 2000 when Atkins diets were much in the news and a host of mostly toxic, additive filled "Low carb diet foods" hit the shelve sand derailed the diets of would be low carb dieters, since they were full of hidden carbs. But even though the low carb diet isn't mentioned in the media that much except with negative dismissals like this one, there are still a lot of people eating that way. So I think it's fair to say it has survived far too long to be considered a fad.

Best of all, and this is a REAL step forward, on my most recent visit to the doctor I was given a form asking if I was eating a healthy diet for diabetes and that form described a healthy diet for diabetes as "low in carbohydrates." Hallelujah! It has only taken about 30 years, but the evidence that cutting carbs lowers blood sugar is starting to trickle through to the industry-funded dimwits who make health policy.

My pet peeve is finding myself in an establishment where every lunch choice is bread of some kind, or comes with. Bring back omelette and salad, everywhere!

Excellent, peebles. i live in Sweden nowadays and it has gone the same way here. Low carbing is very popular here. Doctors lost their licenses here a while back for recommending low carb diets to diabetics, while it today is a recommended diet in the treatment of diabetes. Believe it or not, the government has even recognized that saturated fat does not cause cardiovascular disease. It is a big battle to fight the government in these matters, but it is being done and the good side is winning.

We are kind of hi-jacking the thread here, but I think this is something to keep in mind when going to restaurants, and to be wary of professional nutritionists and dietitians. Sure they have many good ideas and advice, but they are still tainted by fat fear and are misguided when it comes to all plants being awesome and all animal products being bad for you.

All in all a pretty good article, but I think it puts too much emphasis on complex and simple carbohydrates and calorie intake.

How on earth did this become a thread about low carb? Don't you guys have enough threads?

How on earth did this become a thread about low carb? Don't you guys have enough threads?

Due to the fact that the article discussed here talks about eating healthily in restaurants and at the same time calls low carb eating faddish. Also, the primary focus besides health for people on this forum is weight loss. When the overwhelming evidence points towards restricting carbohydrates being the single most important factor in weight loss, which also leads to eating less processed and refined foods, which is the biggest health threat in the Western world, I find it quite natural that it is a topic that is discussed in relation to this article.

You've clearly missed my point completely.

I really wish a moderator would just delete this whole thread.

[Moogie]

@MaryAnn firstly thanks very much for sharing this article - I believe I have it scheduled on our twitter feed over the next week as I saw it a few days ago and thought it was helpful Actually, I might even have set it for tonight, Friday being a popular night to dine out!

I'd like to just step in before any tempers start to fray, because I can't really see that this topic is a problem but I can understand that it's frustrating if any topic veers away from its original purpose. We have a fair number of folks here who low carb alongside 5:2 and it certainly seems to have its benefits - I'm not here to debate that!

I think the main issue we have here is that any one of us is liable to hit back when we see an article referring in a derogatory manner to something we hold dear. I feel the same when I see 5:2 referred to as a 'fad', but this word seems to be thrown around very easily in the media and without considering that something may not be big headline news at the moment but can still have a massive following. It's important we try not to take offence at these things and certainly a silly idea to allow it to cause arguments or bad feeling here!

So, please take this as a gentle (and probably unnecessary) reminder to try to stay on topic. Also a little reminder that the primary focus of this forum is fasting - yes, health and weight loss as a part of that, but the key thing we have in common here is fasting, whatever other eating habits we may have adopted (not to say we don't welcome discussion of methods used in addition to fasting, but everything in its place eh?).

MaryAnn if you would really like this topic deleted then as topic author that is your decision and I will go with it if and when you confirm. However, I do think folks will find this link useful and if things can stay more on topic following my post then perhaps we can leave it open? What say?

For the brief time it lasted in our area, I grew to appreciate restaurants that posted calorie estimates in their menus. Made it very easy to consider the tradeoffs and to split meals with others to increase flavors and textures.

I think it's a good useful article, @Maryann, please don't take it down. Let's just let the low-carb vs whatever bit drift over us, eh. I'm interested to remember that Americans call what Aussies call a maincourse, an "entree" - and our entrees are their "appetizers". Makes for interesting ordering until you get used to it. What about our lovely British cousins? I'm also impressed that a lot of this food looks more interesting and healthier than Aussie standard take-away, that's for sure!

Hi @Moogie. No, don't take it down. I was clearly just a bit grumpy the other day. I blame the jet lag.

I don't disagree with anything anyone said here, I just didn't want the thread hijacked because I think the article, whatever it's flaws, addresses an important point. Portion sizes are out of control, and it's largely down to restaurants. Having a coping strategy is important for those of us who eat out.