Just a couple of weeks ago, New York City started enforcing a calorie labeling law.  As I understand it, certain chain restaurants must include, in the same font size as the price, the number of calories of the food(s) they serve on the menu.  Many, if not all of these restaurants have made their nutritional information available on their web sites for some time.  City officials, however, want to make sure that customers cannot claim ignorance when it comes to knowing the “Calorie Cost” of what they eat.

Certainly, obesity is a problem throughout the nation.  New York, even with the millions of people that walk most of the time, is not immune to the problem.  They are, however, the 1st ones to officially adopt and enforce a law that seeks to do something about it.  Other cities are moving toward policies of this type but none has actually started issuing citations for non-compliance.  Yet!

I have to say that I have some mixed feelings about this issue…

First, I am overweight.  Not obese but enough overweight that I should be embarrassed about being in the bathing suit I have been wearing all summer.  I’ve been to Weight Watchers (twice).  It worked both times when I was focused and committed to losing weight.  I KNOW WHAT I AM SUPPOSED TO DO TO LOSE WEIGHT AND MAINTAIN A HEALTHY WEIGHT.

Second, I eat out a lot.  I like eating out.  I like it a lot!  I don’t eat out to lose weight.  I eat out for fun and convenience and because I REALLY don’t like to cook.  Eating out seems like a vacation from the kitchen AND from paying attention to eating the things that don’t have too many calories.

Third, my husband has some health issues that require him to pay close attention to what he eats.  He has to be (and usually is) much more disciplined than I about what he eats whether he is eating at home or in a restaurant.  For him, having the calories posted right next to the price would probably be a great relief help.

For me, I am afraid that it would just be something else to make me feel bad about what I am probably going to eat anyway.  Yes, I know that part of the rationale for the whole thing is to help force people to make better choices.  Maybe I am too stubborn or cynical (or both) but it occurs to me that people cannot be forced to make good choices.  At some point, we all choose what we want to choose and we don’t care what any sign says.

A law like this isn’t the only reason I won’t be planning to move to New York.  Knowing how many calories there are in everything I order from a chain restaurant would be entirely “too much information” for me to take.  I’d rather eat in ignorance and not “know” what I already suspect I should never have ordered in the first place!