Sunday, January 31, 2010

Check This Out...What Super Sizing Costs Us

You guys all know I am trying to watch my budget along with the waistline (funny how the two can actually have a lot of connections).

So when I saw an article about what supersizing food sizes really costs us, in terms of money and health, I was fascinated.

Check it out (borrowed from a Yahoo article):

Here’s exactly how expensive it really is whenever you go for the “bargain”:
  • 7-Eleven: Gulp to Double Gulp Coca-Cola Classic: 37 cents extra buys 450 more calories.
  • Cinnabon: Minibon to Classic Cinnabon: 48 more cents buys 370 more calories.
  • Movie theater: Small to medium unbuttered popcorn: 71 additional cents buys you 500 more calories.
  • Convenience store: Regular to “The Big One” Snickers: 33 more cents packs on 230 more calories.
  • McDonald’s: Quarter Pounder with Cheese to Medium Quarter Pounder with Cheese Extra Value Meal: An additional $1.41 gets you 660 more calories.
  • Subway: 6-inch to 12-inch Tuna Sub: $1.53 more buys 420 more calories.
  • Wendy’s: Classic Double with Cheese to Classic Double with Cheese Old Fashioned Combo Meal: $1.57 extra buys you 600 more calories.
  • Baskin Robbins: Chocolate Chip Ice Cream, Kids’ Scoop, to Double Scoop: For another $1.62, you’ve added 390 calories.

The bottom line on all this? For just a hair more than 8 bucks, you’ve bought yourself an additional 3,620 calories. If you ate each of these once a week, and you were to switch to the smaller size each time—again, still all your favorite foods, just in a more reasonable size—you’d save about $417 a year. It’s not going to buy you a new car, but it could put you on a plane to the Bahamas. But far more important than that is what it will mean to your waistline, because in saving that $417, you’ll also save 188,240 calories in a year—enough to shave a whopping 54 pounds of flab off your body! (Hey, take the 400 bucks and buy some new pants!)


How is that for an eye-opener?

So I'm working to get back into my normal pattern, which will help me calm down and not feel so panicked about what I've been eating. Thanks for the encouragement, Josie! I do indeed need my Vigilance Cape. Sometimes I forget that I have it.

And South Beach Steve, thanks for your sweet comment. That clammy hand you feel hanging on tight to your coattails is me!

I did a calorie calculation of all that I ate last week and came to the conclusion that I had not ingested an apocalyptic amount of food.

Sometimes I just freak out when things are not what I'm used to -- I think I've gotten kind of dependent on only eating certain foods. When things vary, I invariably feel panicked and scared that I'm going to sabotage myself and just go off the deep end.

We food addicts have a real vulnerability factor to deal with, don't we? I guess it's a bit like the alcoholic who is afraid to have even one drink, lest it lead to another, and another, and well.... a full-blown binge. Ugh. I can so relate to that fear.

5 comments:

  1. That is almost unbelievable. It is so easy to add a tremendous amount of empty calories.

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  2. It's amazing how making a bunch of little changes can have such a big impact.

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  3. I'm glad that you seem to be sounding more positive - it's really tough getting back to a routine after some time away and you were bound to have a few wobbles. But you're back on track now!

    Does cottage cheese and blueberries work? Always looking for a new breakfast idea!

    love
    Peridot x

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  4. Yay! Welcome back, Ish! I knew you wewre in there somewhere! :)

    That really is amazing. It eye-opening when you look at food and cost and everything else with a year-long view. Those "little" indulgences can sure add up!

    I'm really glad you were able to see that you really didn't have that many extra Calories. Of course, I'm the opposite way! When I think I'm doing okay, it's still pretty bad. And when I think I'm doing bad, it's RELLY bad! I still need to break that food addiction.

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  5. Wow, that IS an eye opener.
    Glad you seem to be on firmer ground now and getting back into your groove!

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