Is that Snack Worth A Penny a Calorie?
I just finished reading the book Don’t Eat This Book: Fast Food and the Supersizing of America by Morgan Spurlock. [Spurlock is the man who chronicled his experience of eating only McDonald’s food for a month in the movie Super Size Me.]
Both the movie and book are filled with gross-me-out comments about the fast food we love so much. After watching the movie my daughter decided to become a vegetarian! If I liked vegetables, I’d probably be one too. 
One of the best “take aways” from the book was the suggestion that we approach the food we eat as if we were paying for it on a per calorie basis. Spurlock suggested we look at all the food we plan to put in our mouths and consider if we would pay a penny a calorie…
Hmmm… I considered that question as I looked at the package of two Hostess Suzy Q’s snack cakes in the vending machine. They looked tasty… they taste tasty too. But… when I thought about paying $4.60 for those two cakes (in one nifty wrapper) rather than the $0.85 list price it was pretty easy to walk away.
If you aren’t sure what the calorie count is for your favorite foods check the labels (and pay attention to serving size!) or visit the Nutrition Data web site to learn more about the foods you are eating.
Ask yourself: “If I had to pay a penny a calorie for this, would I?”
