Last week I managed to get a little downtime by spending a few days in New Jersey for the USA Special Olympics games and in the Big Apple for some shopping and exploring. I managed to get a couple of workouts in but certainly wasn’t watching what I was eating as I had put together a new phase to begin this summer after taking some time off from structured eating and training. 

My hubby and I certainly enjoyed ourselves eating at many, many restaurants. The first couple of days we were a little confused with the prices of the food because there were 2 numbers in the menu of almost every food item and it hadn’t really dawned on me that the second number wasn’t another price but it looked to be calorie count!?!?!?!? I wasn’t used to having this kind of information on hand and when I had walked by a Coca-Cola machine it confirmed my suspicions. Just to be sure, I Googled it on my iPhone.

As it turns out, chain restaurants in the United States (with more than 20 locations nationally) are required to post calories on their menus, menu boards, and drive thru menus. I think I’ve been living underneath a rock and need to vacation outside of Canada more because this information has been readily available since 2011. In all serious I will begin to brush up on Federal Laws in the US and Canada regarding Food Legislation because it’s invaluable to know what is happening and what is going to happen with regards to anything nutrition related. Voting is also extremely important because everyone has an opportunity to make a difference. What an eye opener that was for me.

Despite my naiveté, what wonderful news for me and my STRONG GIRLS!!! Canada should absolutely follow suit with this law and as a Diet Coach, this kind of information makes my job exponentially easier by being able to apply more and more flexibility to my clients’ plans. More importantly it provides open information for everyone to know exactly how many calories they consume when choosing to eat a big chain restaurant.

While I prefer my clients to eat quality foods that they’ve prepared on their own as often as they can, food flexibility is important for maintaining a flexible lifestyle. I also hope it helps as many people as possible to take the first steps in knowing the difference between FOOD USE and FOOD ABUSE (by the way nobody should be eating from a Big Chain Restaurant frequently without knowing how it can affect ones health). 

I’m excited for some of my US clients. They’re going to be enjoying more flexibility with their FREE MEALS 🙂