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June 8, 2006
Better off with Donuts and a Big Mac
I don't know were I got this idea that a bagel is a healthy alternative for lunch. I think I heard someone say it once, but it could be all the fit business and yuppie folks I see down at Finagle-a-Bagel.
Yesterday for lunch I had a bagel with peanut butter and honey and was suprised to see it ring up at 680 calories when I got back to my desk to add things up. Shees, I should have gone out and gotten a Big Mac (530 calories) and felt good about making the healthy choice. In fact, there's only one sandwich that rings up higher than my bagel on the McDonalds sandwich menu, the Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese at 730 calories.
I thought maybe it's just my bagel source (local bakery) so I looked on Dunkin' Donuts nutrition information site to check the numbers. Again, I'm suprised to see that I'm better off choosing a custard-filled Boston Kreme than a plain bagel (or even worse a poppyseed). How can that be? Those numbers must be doctored.
Needless to say I had split pea soup for lunch today, glad I was prompted to start keeping an eye on what's going in.
Posted by mike at June 8, 2006 1:06 PM
Comments
Cool! This supports my hypothesis that you can diet while eating plenty of McFood. In the propagandistic "SuperSize Me" I think his gains came from shake and coke calories. If he'd simply eaten until he was comfortably full and drank water or diet soda/no shakes, I suspect his weight gain and all health problems would have been minimal.
Posted by: Joe Hunkins at June 10, 2006 12:11 PM
There's more to dieting than counting calories. Your bagel with peanut butter has more healthy ingredients than a Boston kreme, and should supply you with more long-lasting energy than the donut.
The same is true for a McDonald's diet. If you're consuming calories that supply little nutrition, your body is missing its chance to get what it needs. And Joe, I think part of the point of "SuperSize Me" was to point out that McDonald's portions were oversized--that's why he set the rule that if McDonald's offered to "SuperSize" his meal he had to say yes.
Posted by: Owen at June 11, 2006 1:12 PM
Yea, I got to thinking about that too. 670 calories that are mostly fat are less healthy than 670 calories that provide usable energy.
Posted by: Mike Kruckenberg at June 11, 2006 9:16 PM
Just a comment: a friend at work brought doughnuts in, yummy...until she told me that a doughnut has more calories than a big mac. Of course, I did not believe it and now that I have seen it, WOW!!! She was right.
Posted by: Naomi at June 16, 2006 1:16 PM