Who Controls Your Food Intake?
A weird thing keeps happening to me and my friend (who also happens to pay attention to calories in vs out) at some of the local coffee shops that we frequent. I routinely get served MORE food than I order.
Love these things, about 60-80 calories each! Effin' awesome
As many of you know my only rule for weight loss is calories in vs calories out, and the way I lost all of my weight was to stick to this one rule (37 pounds lost so far).
Half of this rule requires me to have at least an educated guess at my calories in. So when I order a coffee with a milk and sugar I have a pretty good idea how many calories are in that coffee. And I like to have something sweet with coffee so I order 3-4 timbits to go with it (which are about 60-80 calories each). And this is where it gets weird.
Even though I’ll only order 3-4 timbits, the person at the counter will give me 4-5 and sometimes even 6. This doesn’t sound like a big deal and they probably think they’re doing me a favor, but in reality their effing up my weight loss progress (because I can’t resist eating them all…which is why I only order 3-4 in the first place)
Each one of these little balls of heaven are between 60-80 calories so I pay close attention to how many I have with a morning coffee so I know how many more calories I can consume at lunch/dinner or whenever I eat again.
Every time the server gives me an extra 2-3 timbits I end up eating an extra 100-150 calories I wasn’t planning on.
This brings up an interesting thought experiment about what is socially acceptable when it comes to eating and food.
So far you and I and most people would agree that it’s perfectly fine to serve someone MORE food than they’ve ordered or paid for (getting stuff for free is almost never a bad thing)…But imagine if someone did the reverse.
Picture this:
You walk up to the counter and place the following order: “I’ll have a large coffee with 2 creams and 2 sugars, and 5 timbits”
and the server looks at you and says: “how bout I give you a small coffee with no cream and a sweetener and 1 timbit”
This obviously would be completely unacceptable (even tho it might actually help you lose weight)
Ironically we live in a society where it is perfectly acceptable to help overfeed people who are overweight or trying to lose weight (and thus make their weight gain worse and crippling their chance to ever lose weight), but it would be completely unacceptable to deny serving food to people who clearly could afford to drop a few pounds.
Messed up.
John
19 Responses to “Who Controls Your Food Intake?”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Login
Register
A password will be e-mailed to you.-
-
Build A Perfect Body -
Estimate the circumference around
your shoulders and waist. EAT STOP EAT
Stop Dieting and Start LivingTRUTH ABOUT PROTEIN
February 26th, 2010 at 12:43 pm
ummm….
Bring that 20 pack down to my house will ya?
B
February 26th, 2010 at 1:21 pm
John, good post, but, what the hell is a time bit?
February 26th, 2010 at 1:59 pm
Anthony,
In USA I think you call them ‘donut holes” or at dunkin donuts they call them ‘munchkins”
JB
February 26th, 2010 at 2:45 pm
or you could say we live in a society where it’s perfectly acceptable to make money on people’s lack of self-discipline. it’s a business, not a weight-loss center
February 26th, 2010 at 2:56 pm
That is an extremely interesting point. Since I have learned my limits I steer clear of anywhere that would show me a donut! i can’t believe those things (donut holes) had that many cal’s. In college I used to munch out on a whole box!
February 26th, 2010 at 3:00 pm
Anders,
Touche. Yup it is (a business) and nope its not (a weight loss center)
And I ALWAYS eat the extra timbits cuz they’re just so freaking good.
BUT, in this example they’re not making money on my lack of self discipline…the server actually cost their company money by giving food away that I did not pay for. And that was my point.
I asked for and paid for 4 timbits, and recieved 6. And ate all 6 of em’
The server might have felt like she was just being nice to me, when in fact she saddled me with a challenge of will power that I did not want…(do I stop at 4 and throw out the other 2, or do I eat them all)…I know 10 out of 10 times I will eat them all.
The irony is that she assumed that she was doing me a favor, when in reality she did me a disservice (as minor as it may have been)
JB
February 26th, 2010 at 3:12 pm
oh, but it’s good business. the cost of the extra couple of timbits is worth it, considering the good will it’s generating. but it’s just me being argumentative right now. it’s late in Sweden and i already had 3 or 4 beers. i agree with your point though.
have a nice weekend!
February 26th, 2010 at 3:12 pm
Interesting comments. What would happen to the food industry in the US and Canada if everyone stopped over eating? The food industry is a huge business and it relies upon our over consumption of food for its profits! Lorie
February 26th, 2010 at 3:15 pm
JB has a weakness! lol I’m only teasing. But for real though, I think this short post is one of the most “human” ones you’ve posted so far (I think you know what I mean by human), and in all honesty, it comforts me to know that you as the expert is just like me and every other guy doing the AE when it comes to irresistible foods.
Also, I CRACKED up when I read “little balls of heaven” lmao
I am just the same when it comes to Timmie’s timbits, I can’t resist finishing them, however many there are, damn.
February 26th, 2010 at 3:22 pm
John next time you get more timbits than you paid for, you could tell her thanks but no thanks, and ask her to place back the extra ones. BUT I totally understand why you wouldn’t do that, cuz they’re delish!
February 26th, 2010 at 5:47 pm
LN,
I didn’t notice how many she grabbed and put into the bag. I only noticed once I walked away from the counter.
JB
February 26th, 2010 at 7:43 pm
I would also feel a little guilty about saying “thanks but no thanks” when someone thinks they’re doing me a favour. It’s almost like returning a Christmas present. The person that gave the Christmas present would not feel too good about you returning it.
Personally, I would just eat them and compensate later on for the extra calories.
I agree with the main point though, although I think it has more to do with the psychology of fairness than about eating habits. Most people welcome getting free stuff but wouldn’t normally like to get less than they paid for. It shouldn’t apply to food if your goal is weight loss but the person serving doesn’t see it that way.
February 26th, 2010 at 11:24 pm
John,
You just named one of the most important reasons why it is so important to be disciplined in one’s eating when alone. When alone, you can control what you eat more easily and compensate for any previous (or future) overeating. But as soon as eating becomes social, sometimes one is put in a situation where saying “No thanks” can be awkward and uncomfortable. Most people eat whatever they want when alone and also allow themselves to be socially pressured into overeating…
Without any under eating compensation, weight gain is the result. You know that because you preach it’s “calories in vs. calories out.”
February 27th, 2010 at 4:33 am
This is where Over Estimating the Amount of Calories You Eat matter. So even if you get served with a bit extra, You need not worry, since You have already been Overestimating Calories all the time
I live by that!
February 27th, 2010 at 10:00 am
I like Jonathan’s point and I live by it myself. I eat out socially so much that I barely eat at all when I’m alone, and yet still maintain my weight. It shows how easy it is to overeat in social situations and I’ve just learned to accept that rather than fight it.
March 2nd, 2010 at 11:56 pm
After reading this I shared your timbit story with my wife. The next time she bought a 20 pack she actually counted how many were in there – there were 32! (They weren’t just for the two of us, fyi)
March 3rd, 2010 at 6:51 pm
This morning I was at Timmy’s and I ordered a ham & egg sandwich on and English muffin. The girl asked me if I wanted a hashbrown, because it was free. I said No. She looked at me totally confused like I had just spoken to her in a foreign language. In fact, I think she might have even been insulted!!
March 3rd, 2010 at 7:07 pm
Chris,
I know! And get this, a buddy of mine went and ordered 10 timbits. When he opened the box there were 16 in there!
JB
March 7th, 2010 at 9:31 am
This is quite funny. I went to order pizzas with my friend, and while we were waiting our pizzas to be ready, the owners asked us if we wanted to take 3rd pizza for free. Someone had not come to get it so we could have it. The strange thing is, we took it.
“Of course, u take whatever u get for free!” But… we both get bloated by a single pizza and the last 2-3 pieces(when cut in 8 pieces) are always a challenge. That’s why we now get only one pizza and split it(Eating less rules!). So we took extra food w/o any need, just because it was free. Would’ve been funny to see how the owners reacted if we had said “no thanks”.
Ps. “only one pizza” … No wonder I aint that lean yet