Dealing with Calories on Menus
Morning, everybody. Now let's get straight into a really delicate hot topic right now, which is calories on menus. What should we do on? Should we put calories on menus on restaurants or should we not? Some of you might not agree with me and I was absolutely fine on this and I think it's a topic because the the first thing I've seen people say in on this is that the government are claiming it's gonna solve obesity.
Speaker 1:That that's not what they're saying actually. And I I'm not a big I'm I'm I'm actually a huge I'm anti this government to the max, but people are saying that the government are claiming it's gonna help tackle or it's gonna solve obesity is is false. So the government have said it's a new rule. This new rule is part of the government plans to tackle obesity by helping people make healthier choices. Okay?
Speaker 1:This is all about if we know if we're tracking all macros and calories, we become aware of our choices and we can make better choices. This is what we say in total method. Right? So to have access to the information is actually really, really important. Now, how accurate is gonna be?
Speaker 1:We don't know. But what is gonna happen now is that restaurants are gonna be held to account with the calories they're putting into their meals because they can't keep throwing all the oils and additives and everything to these meals just for flavor, right, by keep by piling on high calorie meals. Now people say they go out and eat to have a treat. Right? Absolutely fine.
Speaker 1:I can still go out and enjoy and still be able to look and if I want to look at information, still be able to make an informed choice. At the moment, we have to guess. A lot of frequent question with circular method is, yeah, I love tracking much more aware, but I'm going out on the weekend. I have no idea what I'm gonna consume. What should I do?
Speaker 1:And, you know, we have to say, well, it might be this. It might be that. You gotta guess. Right? But wouldn't it be nice if they did just did the work that every single other food company in the food industry has to do, which is to show the calorie information on the labels?
Speaker 1:Why is it that the restaurant industry have got away with it for so long? Yes. It's gonna cost them a bit of money and time. Right? But in the long term, it's gonna help everybody make better choices.
Speaker 1:And I think, like, the Wahaka guy says let me have a look at it. He says something. Completely up for being clear and transparent, but he said the focus on counting calories was a problem. It tells part of the story, but I think it slightly misses out on some quite important fundamentals around food, be it nutrition, fiber, all those things, which potentially we feel might be more relevant or certainly need to be considered. Well, Mark, if you're working out the calories, you must be working out the macronutrients as well because calories come from the macronutrient content.
Speaker 1:So if you wanted to, if you feel like that's gonna help, then, you know, you can show the macros as well. And that's where the government have gone wrong here is that in the sense they've gone just calories when they should have said, well, if you're working on calories, you're gonna work out the macros. You might as well put the macros in, give everybody the full nutritionals like food labels. What they should have said is restaurants need to be held to account for macro and calorie just as food labels in rest supermarkets, and people can make informed choices of that. The second step they should have done is they should have said that we require all restaurants over 250 employees to do the work to have this information on hand.
Speaker 1:And the people who want the information can request it and can see it. Right? That's what should have happened here. Now if it's gonna be forced onto every menu that people come in the door, right, and there's people with eating disorders, and there's, like, over a million people in The UK with eating disorders or some sorts around that, and they're gonna be triggered by seeing calorie information, then it's such an easy move to actually just hand the menu without calories. And as an allergy question, just say, is anyone you're interested in seeing the full nutritionals on the menu or the nutritional values on the menu?
Speaker 1:And you can say, yeah. I'm interested. Can I have that menu, please? And then I can make an informed choice, and then the people who don't wanna see the calories can carry on as normal. Now the government, if we had actually spoke to these mental health charities who look at eating disorders, would have probably pushed that.
Speaker 1:But, again, it may be up to the restaurant to offer both. Maybe the restaurant can say, you know what? We understand there's a nuance here, and we will offer the calories and macros if needed, and give you the menus, but we're not gonna do it on automation. So, like, not automatic. We're gonna you're gonna have to ask for it.
Speaker 1:That would solve the problem. But the thing has happened now is people are actually arguing about calorie information on foods. For us to be aware of what we're eating, we gotta be aware of what's actually in the foods we're consuming. And it's always shocking how many calories are in foods that when we eat out. Like, you look at Nando's large chips, 1,150 calories.
Speaker 1:Oaxaca sorry. Wagamama's chicken kachu curry, 1,200 ish calories. You know, these these are huge highly calorific foods. And for people who do wanna look after their weight or lose weight in a in a in a manageable way and wanna break the barriers of good and bad foods and stuff like that, then calorie energy balance is what causes weight gain or weight loss. There's no debate there.
Speaker 1:Cal you you will lose fat by being in a calorie deficit, and you will gain weight by being in a calorie surplus. So calories unit of measurement. Yes. There is no good and bad calorie, but these foods are more nutritionally dense than other foods. That's it.
Speaker 1:There's no good and bad foods. Some foods have got more nutrients and micronutrient and all this stuff and other foods don't. That's absolutely fine. And it depends on the balance, obviously, how are you gonna feel hunger level wise or energy level wise, and that's a different thing. That's optimizing the health in different way.
Speaker 1:But when it comes to the obesity problem, which is more people are getting overweight and more people again again obese. The real the real the real problem is we have Yo Yo dieting with fad diets. That's the main problem. Like we the government, you ban companies from making claims like you see on both these ads you can see. And the government actually pushed Slimming World, you know, the NHS pushes Slimming World.
Speaker 1:So it's very contradictory for the government to come out and say that this is part of the plan to tackle obesity at the same time push a massive Yo Yo Diet company. And, you know, that's why this government, I don't agree with hardly anything they do. Right? We hate them in a sense, but calorie information in restaurants holding them to account is a good step. But I think, you know, there needs to be more done because we do need to be considerate.
Speaker 1:But then the question comes, and this is what I'd like to ask want you to think about. Do we, as human beings, expect the world to be exactly what it is for us to never piss us off, to never harm us, for us never to be in a position where we feel offended or we feel we feel triggered as we say. Or is it up to us really to look at what we can control? I can't control. Like, I can't control anyone else.
Speaker 1:I can't control this now, but I can control my response to things. I can my voluntary actions. So isn't it better that we all went on the stoic way, the stoicism and said, you know what? We're trying to control all these things in the world, calories and no calories and menus, macros, restaurants doing this, government doing that. Oh, but I just look at what I can control.
Speaker 1:And I can control. And I can and I can I don't have to let the story of a number dictate my life? I can look at calories. And I'm look. Eat people with eating disorder is different.
Speaker 1:They'll have one to one help. They'll go through it. It's very much more complex problem that isn't solved with online debate. It is solved one to one with a therapist. Right?
Speaker 1:So when I'm talking on this podcast, I can't exactly say about, eating disorders. What I can say with eating disorders is to go and have the one to one support that's available and to work through it, figure out what triggers you and what all that stuff and work through and figure out what why it triggers you and, you know, work through the triggers and see what the story you're telling yourself about that thing is because often, it's not the number that is the problem. It's our story about the number. With the weighing weighing ourselves daily, it's not the weight that that's the problem. It's the story about the weight that's a problem.
Speaker 1:Our opinion about the number. Our opinion about calories. Our opinion about tracking. Our opinion is the problem. Our opinion about everything.
Speaker 1:You can literally solve things by looking at this perspective, perception. What is your perception of tracking? A lot of people's perception is negative. But tracking with countless studies is the number one factor behind long term weight loss, being able to track what we eat and bring an awareness. Just fact.
Speaker 1:Right? We know that. Yet people label tracking as bad because they think it's obsessive. Right? So they skip, sort of, and go extreme while tracking is obsessive, but it's not.
Speaker 1:Tracking is a tool. Tracking is only obsessive if you think it is. I can look at tracking my food just as I brush my teeth. You know? And that's my that's my perspective on it.
Speaker 1:But that's because I control the perspective of things, and you can control your perspective of things. And on for people who have got eating disorders, mental health issues, all this stuff, this advice may not apply to you because it's gonna be very individual how you get through it. And that's why you people don't understand the nuance of even stoicism. Stoicism is the operating system to live your life by, but it doesn't actually mean it's gonna apply to everything. It's not gonna be the best thing all the time.
Speaker 1:You know, tracking might not be the best thing for you right now. Wouldn't it be the best thing for you ever, and that's okay. But we should all understand what does cause fat loss, and that has been an an energy deficit. That is what causes fat loss. Right?
Speaker 1:That's it's as simple as that. How we achieve that, we can do it in unhealthy ways, or we can do it in healthier ways, sustainable ways. And that's what we're trying to do. We look at the science, calorie deficit. Okay.
Speaker 1:We must track calories to be in a calorie deficit. Otherwise, we're guessing. And if we can have more accurate data, the better. Restaurants have an accurate data, happy days. Don't push it on people, but have it available, you know, be accountable.
Speaker 1:Right? Great news. We can now make more informed decisions. You know, we're not making decisions in the dark. And people say, oh, having calories will probably enjoyment out.
Speaker 1:That, again, that's a perspective thing. If you think that there's a number under that food is gonna make you enjoy it less or more, then that's your relationship with that number is causing the problem, and that's maybe where we have to solve the problem. Why are we always fighting a number as opposed to to seeing information for what it is? Information can be useful information. We can see it being useful.
Speaker 1:See it has not been useful, but doesn't mean that it automatically should be a negative thing. You're turning it into a negative. That's the reality of it. You're looking at the calories and going, that's a bad thing. And I you know, that's up to you to change.
Speaker 1:You know, removing the calories from the menu might temporarily you might feel better because you haven't seen it. But what happens when you see calories on a Snickers bar when you go to the shop? What happens when you see a new crisps on the market and it says new new improved recipe, just 99 calories? Again, that's calorie information in your face. It's it's everywhere.
Speaker 1:Like, this information is everywhere. The world is overloaded with information everywhere. So do we cut down the information? Right? Or is it up to us to not let these things just break through and us to create this narrative that's a negative one that makes us hate these numbers, but they're always gonna be there.
Speaker 1:And therefore, we're in constant fight with these numbers. And we think that we have to tell people to change numbers. We have to tell no calories in supermarkets, no calories in menus. That's bad. This is bad.
Speaker 1:That's bad. We think the power we think the change is gonna come externally, but it doesn't it's it's internally how we perceive things is gonna help us. Surely surely, it's all about how we perceive things and we can decide to change our perspective. That is the beauty of this all, I think. I think that's the beautiful thing that we can all do about the, you know, doing Turtle Octagon, the fourteen day challenges.
Speaker 1:And we can completely change your perspective on things, and it actually then changes your life. It really is really is powerful. And how is how it how it works out. And in in regard to the obesity problem, it's such a big problem with so many facets to it that nobody's ever gonna be able to solve it in in a in a in a stroke, one stroke. It's gonna be a multiyear, multi decade thing.
Speaker 1:Food abundance is there. Right? So food abundance is always gonna be there. No matter no matter the education you're gonna give people about, you know, you need to be in a deficit and all that. That is the fundamental.
Speaker 1:That's the basics that should be known. Right? That's not even that's just should be basic. You know? But we're we still haven't got to that part.
Speaker 1:We're still fighting whether that's actually legit or not. We still think being in ketosis and stuff is a thing. Another part of ketosis, my friend, he runs his his mate his housemate went to hospital. When he was doing the keto diet for a few months, lost, like, 20 kgs rapidly, cock over to wherever. He was in hospital.
Speaker 1:Could have died. He was in ketosis when he's in hospital, and he was completely lacked of energy and everything. And these YOYO diets and diets and ex they're very they're very dangerous. Far more dangerous than the restaurant putting calories on their menu. Far more dangerous, but we're not, regulating them.
Speaker 1:Anyone can go on Facebook. Anyone can shout out into the streets. Any company can go, we are keto company and all this. Push the keto narrative, push the fasting, push the paleo, and all this stuff. And if there's no consequences to it, But that's a much bigger problem than calorie information on the menu.
Speaker 1:They we are we are in the wrong fight right now. People are fighting over things. That that information should just be there. It should be optional. Let's move on to the big problem here, which is people are doing these insanely extreme fad diets.
Speaker 1:And the more they're doing it, the more weight they're gaining. And the yo yo effect, the weight going up and down is actually the danger. Risk of fatty liver go goes up. Heart disease, everything, the risk goes up when you do yo yo dieting. How do we stop yo yo dieting?
Speaker 1:Because yo yo dieting is causing obesity. Euiodieting means the more you try and lose weight, the more gain weight you're gonna gain over time. Thus, over years, you are gonna gain more more weight, become overweight, and then obese. So surely, cutting your dieting is gonna be one of the main things we're gonna start doing to stop obesity rates going up. How do we cut the OYO dieting?
Speaker 1:Well, it's not just about education. It's about understanding our relationship with food. This good and bad foods, we need to get rid of that. Fighting food all the time. We need to be people need to stop saying, oh, you shouldn't eat that Snickers bar.
Speaker 1:You shouldn't eat that because that's what everyone says. These people saying, oh, yeah. But it's not about calories. They know food is nutritious and all that. I guarantee you, those people, if they saw you eating a Snickers bar, they'd go, oh, that you shouldn't be eating that.
Speaker 1:Same type of people. There's only nutrient more nutrient dense foods and less less than nutrient dense foods. That's what we should look at it. That's it. That's where it starts.
Speaker 1:Then we have to go, okay. Why am I comfort eating? Why am I stress eating? Why is this happening? How can I can I have awareness of this?
Speaker 1:Can I not judge myself when I do start eating more calories? Can I just can I be nonjudgmental of my eating habits and my awareness and actually just track everything and having all the information and seeing the reasons why I've been going and gaining weight over the years? And you get this insight into what happened such as you have insight finally into wow. So many of you have had insights in weekends gone, wow, I tracked this weekend and I can't believe it. And I actually tracked and I ate a bit less than I 3,000 calories.
Speaker 1:Before, I probably would hit four, five thousand calories. That insight to understanding how many calories we've been consuming over the weekends over the last three, four, five years will now change our way we approach the weekends, and we make better choices, which leads to a healthier person over time. Food doesn't become something you fight. You become aware of it. Right?
Speaker 1:And then you say, okay. That's high in calories. This is not. Maybe I can have this and a few drinks, and that's better for me to my yellow ones is better to be used on. I'm happy now.
Speaker 1:Fine. Done. Job. Done. That's it.
Speaker 1:That's it and done. As opposed to, oh, I had this food, but I didn't really know the calories, and I don't eat damage. I don't know why I'm gaining weight. Ah, there's a hormone diet now that says it's my hormones. This I need a specific hormone diet because I don't eat that much, but you don't actually know because you haven't, you know, haven't got information.
Speaker 1:That's a hormone diet or it's the keto diet. And you go down something even worse. You go down such a worse rabbit hole. Become a cult member of these diets. Oh my god.
Speaker 1:That's the problem. Well, we're fighting the wrong fight. We're fighting the wrong problem. So, yeah, that's a little, little chat about little chat about a few guys. Hopefully, see what we thought.
Speaker 1:Well, I don't know. What do you think about it? What do you think about it? I think the it's always like what I find interesting and stuff, I guess, is always people jump straight away into, like, well, you're gonna cause mental health problems and stuff straight away into that as opposed to saying, I understand the value this can bring to millions and I understand how it can cause problems for people with eating disorders. Where's the middle ground here?
Speaker 1:So it's like it makes you feel bad for wanting information about the food. That's what I find that people are, like, camping in on. So yeah. I don't know what you think of this. I think the more information, the better, but we need the education to go along with it.
Speaker 1:The government aren't offering the education go along with it, which is one of the main problems. And it's so the argument online is so tribal that it's really hard. You can never change someone's mind. Mean, it's really, really hard. And people won't even listen to experts like doctor p and stuff.
Speaker 1:They will just listen to whoever sounds more science y, like the hormone diets and all this metabolic diets and all this shit. And can we can we fix that? Can we fix that misinformation? How do we do it? Guys, come back with me with some solutions because I don't know how we there's so much misinformation out that the people believe I can't get over it.
Speaker 1:That's it. It's Friday. I am driving up to London today from Wales in a van with Dan and my sister, ready for our event on Sunday, full of merch for you guys to buy on Sunday. If you're listening from Octagon, there is yoga at 11AM on Saturday, Wandsworth, Common. And then on Sunday, please meet Ryan in Wandsworth Park at 1PM and then to the venue at 2PM.
Speaker 1:And maybe we can chat about this, on the event day or maybe not. I don't know. Maybe just eat pears instead. I was blah. But, guys, this is your prompt to get your one big thing done.
Speaker 1:What is it? Get it done. You know, write it down. Happy days. Get that done.
Speaker 1:Your days of success. If you've don't complete anything, commit to less, complete more. Remember that. Commit to less, complete more. Bring awareness to your days.
Speaker 1:Don't judge yourself. See what happens. And, yeah, that's a successful day. And the new app will be with you in a few days. So happy days.
Speaker 1:Speak soon.
