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100-Calorie Snacks Are the Downfall of American Civilization

  2. Swiyyah
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Are they? Is the 100-Calorie snack pack a great diet solution? Can you have your cake and eat it too? Or, are they just over priced crumbs?

Article rants: "Crushing nine Doritos into small pieces and selling them in miniature bags because our landfills aren't being occupied fast enough is just...at best, it is baby food. A hundred calories is a retarded unit of food to try to consume. People in GULAGS didn't dole out food in 100-calorie increments. And the type of food that comes in 100-calorie packs is precisely that sinister brand of carbs that were invented with the sole purpose of making you want MORE."


What do you think?
Swiyyah

13 responses // 100-Calorie Snacks Are the Downfall of American Civilization

  • If you're going to overanalyze something, why not break it down to the real problems? Which, by the way, have nothing to do with 100 calorie packs. While there is definitely a waste element here that is unethical in today's world, I think the poor 100 calorie pack is getting a bad rap. Of course it's meant to make money, but it's also a sign of a trend towards healthier eating; something Americans need a lot more of. Even if you don't actually buy 100 calorie packs, it may make you start to rethink portions. Plus, there are some really neat products that ONLY come in the 100 cal packs. Hershey has an AMAZING line of 100 cal chocolate packs. SWEEET. Two big chocolate covered pretzels both for 100 cal? That's pretty cool, especially if you've got a sweet tooth, and you're trying to change your diet. All in all, there's about an inch of good points in this "article", but the rest is misplaced emotion.
    AngelinaH
  • The 100 Cal packs are marketing genius - the majority of them are the same foods you can get in normal size packaging. You could serve yourself a hundred calorie serving. Most people just don't.

    Being healthier is great. But it'd be even better if you could do it yourself rather than pay more and cause more harm to the environment to have someone else do your serving sizes for you.
    Tori
  • Calories, so long as they aren't empty, are not the enemy.
    Chemical-syrup-ridden food is the enemy.
    Destroy it.
    With fire.
    Humdrum
  • the part that pisses me off, is that I bought a 100 calorie twix the other day and the package came with TWO bars, individually wrapped mind you, but EACH of them were 100 calories. WTF! How am I supposed to resist eating the second one? Just sell one overly packaged candy bar, man!

    geez!
    cheyroze
  • The hundred calorie packs are a neat idea, especially from a marketing standpoint. And everyone should eat better right? But why don't you start by wisely choosing the calories you consume. Instead of wasting a 100 calories on multi-processed chips enriched with hydrogenated oils, why not choose a handful of nuts in which you get vitamins and protein? Is portion size really the problem or our addiction to junk food?
    climbon7
  • I think it's time that Americans learn how to fast again. Catholics and Muslims do this for moral reasons, other religions attempt it as well. Moderation is the key. Whenever you eat, realize that's food someone else -isn't- able to eat. If you eat something that's got 500 calories in it, you eat it only once in a while.

    For example a leg o' fried chicken used to be banquet food, but when we automated the processing of chickens it became an everyday food. BAM! Within 20 years 400 pound fatties waddling about the country.
    wiggleroomlarvae
  • It's a nice idea to imagine that people are suddenly going to give up their junk food. I personally don't eat Doritos or oreos, or any of that crap. I'm pretty choosy about what I eat. But I also know lots of people who keep their kitchens stocked with sodas and chips and sugary snacks, etc. etc. I took my (diabetic) grandfather grocery shopping yesterday, and had to explain to him that he shouldn't buy (and drink) a case of Mountain Dew. His not buying Mountain Dew for himself is not the solution to his health, but it's a step in the right direction. 100 Calorie packs, while ridiculous in many ways, are a step in the right direction; albeit in a twisted, marketing inspired, way. Food manufacturers are going to try and sell you SOMETHING, and a lot of Americans are buying... My point is, Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither are healthy eating habits. You and I may understand the importance of complex carbs, protein, and phytochemicals, but you can't assume that everyone is where you are in terms of nutrional knowledge. For some people, it's a start...
    AngelinaH
  • I still say the portions of U.S. diets are the real culprit.

    Calorie counting only leads to more excuse making about "well if I eat the 150 calorie thing instead of the 300 calorie thing" even if the 300 calorie thing actually has vitamins and minerals your body can't manufacture on its own.

    And yes, we can -demand- Americans have nutritional knowledge. No excuses, P.E. classes are essential to life skills and so is biology. Nevermind readin', writin', and 'rithmuhtick... our kids don't need no dang book learnin'. It won't matter if they can quote Hamlet if their thyroid is giving out every other stanza.
    wiggleroomlarvae
  • demand? Don't you think that's a little strong? Especially when it's someone else's body we're talking about? Geez... this is ridiculous. Look, I don't know where you went to school, but they didn't teach us ANYTHING about nutrition in PE or "science" classes. Perhaps they mentioned it, but that's not necessarily enough to educate people on proper nutrition. I'm no dumb dumb either; as a freshmen, I began senior level science courses. Even physiology...but nothing taught me anything about nutrition. I would have noticed...I had become vegetarian during high school, and didn't know how to substitute or combine foods yet. I started losing A LOT of hair, and I gained weight. I eventually sorted all that out ON MY OWN, because I WANTED TO. Not because some guy on a blog demanded it. ha! (Sorry, couldn't help myself) Now, I like nutrition. I'm into it. I've taken lots of nutrition and personal training courses in college, and I've read oodles of books independently. Essentially, I KNOW how to eat well... I KNOW that mini cookies are not the best "foods" (if you want to call them that) that one can consume... But, I also know that people have to WANT it for themselves. They have to find a way that works for them. You cannot expect everyone to have the knowledge you have, or the understanding you have, of nutrition. For that matter, you cannot DEMAND that people "have nutritional knowledge". Who the HELL are YOU? REALLY. I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to spread more knowledge about proper nutrition. But I also respect a person's right to CHOICE. The fact that more and more healthy-ish foods are coming on the market, only gives people more options, and gets them thinking about their nutrition. And NO, Calories are not EVERYTHING, but it's a start, especially for some people. At some point in the last century, food manufacturers got wise to American laziness...Hence, the snack food. The new American staple food. These days, there are countless new products introduced to the market, so in my book, it's positive if the trend starts going towards being health conscious, or even just calorie conscious. There are a lot of these "hybrid health foods", as I like to call them. There are a LOT more mainstream vegetarian foods, as well as items like sugary cereals boasting lower sugar, and the addition of whole grains, etc. etc.. Come on people...it's not the best, but we're turning this ship in the right direction, you know? It's going to take time to change the eating habits of a NATION. So start with YOU and the people you care about...
    AngelinaH
  • Heck yeah, I'm on your page AngelinaH all the way! I meant -we- as a country have to demand it on the same level that we do the other standards of education. There would be no point to education if our kids are too unhealthy to enter the workforce afterwards, despite their ability to do intellectual activity (which is strongly based upon your physical activity).

    We all recognize here that we gotta do better. Obesity is no joke (take it from a guy who used to be 60 pounds overweight!).

    It's a wholistic problem that we as a community face. A lot of money is made off our lifestyle cycle. The 100 calorie packs are a step in the right direction, but I think the current health standards of our country have to improve themselves radically, and schools are the place to start.

    I think when the choice is obvious though, you don't actually choose to be lazy and follow the herd. This is a structural problem, this is an economic problem, this is likely even a racial income disparity problem. You get educated about what you're doing to yourself. I figure the fat kids, especially those from poorer families who can't afford to have parents who can be home at 5:30 (because we just love those 2-4 jobs they have to have just to have a median-level income) just don't have that tradition of sitting down and eating with the folks (or mom, in many cases!).

    So I'd agree 100% with you and say the ship has to turn in the direction of getting the folks home by the evening and not having them work double shifts to get by. Once that gets agreed upon and we have a real worker bill of rights limiting when certain employers can put demands on labor (like Sen. Edwards wants the patient bill of rights), I guarantee within a few years our kids'll slim down, our seniors will start exercizing more, our middle-aged parents will get outside more... it's all about how we manage our time, not just our diets themselves.

    The Dems can do this, the GOP cannot.
    wiggleroomlarvae
  • This is how a lot of food is sold in Europe- just not under the name "100 calorie portions"- food is often sold though, in -portions- not in bags with 10+ portions that we can't seem to police ourselves enough to stop eating after a handful.

    I only see this as a good thing.
    ClaudiaVanDamage
  • All I know is, when I was younger, I was always outside, and I ran around all the time. I was a toothpick.

    Now, I sit on my ass all day, and hope that the twix bar I ate for lunch won't overstay it's welcome.

    Moderation and movement. It seems so simple.
    Neghie
  • It's an attempt to teach people portion control while charging them an exorbitant amount of money for the lesson.

    here you go: buy a normal bag of Lay's.
    Buy a $20 kicthen scale.
    Portion out your chips into individual portions as per the instructions on the bag.
    Put your portions into zip baggies or containers.
    Eat ONE at a TIME.
    Elligirl

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