tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23938076.post7299985344919718520..comments2023-10-15T10:48:01.870-04:00Comments on Roxie's World: Portion CreepRoxie Smith Lindemannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06455529922082930949noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23938076.post-83805086457106689582012-06-19T22:16:37.449-04:002012-06-19T22:16:37.449-04:00There is some interesting public interest advertis...There is some interesting public interest advertising already going on in New York City. We have a series of ads in the subway, in both English and Spanish, about "pouring on the pounds." What makes them more interesting than your average "gosh these drinks are full of sugar" messages is that they quantify the calories with exercise: "You'd have to walk the 3 miles from Union Square to Brooklyn to burn off the calories from one 20oz. soda."<br /><br />http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/pr2011/pr026-11.shtmlEve Properhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04026926577142821030noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23938076.post-88895316117928261392012-06-17T17:43:35.776-04:002012-06-17T17:43:35.776-04:00Just a little flavor or context or what have you: ...Just a little flavor or context or what have you: Here's a 1960s commercial that touts Pepsi's new 16 oz. "half quart" as giving three, yes THREE servings: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FfBQIv53Bo<br /><br />Portion creep indeed.undinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05589384016564587214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23938076.post-42622412664827999462012-06-14T16:03:40.493-04:002012-06-14T16:03:40.493-04:00If you eat high fat premium ice cream, it's gl...If you eat high fat premium ice cream, it's glycemically balanced, so you don't get the sugar surge and crash. It's only the low-fat high sugar stuff that causes the glycemic problems. (I had ice cream for dinner last night...)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23938076.post-70233755796676777212012-06-14T15:46:53.313-04:002012-06-14T15:46:53.313-04:00I find it interesting that thepeople who are going...I find it interesting that thepeople who are going berserk-o on my blog about Nanny Bloomberg regulating the Soda Gulps don't worry about the kinds of surveillance that have been routine in NY for a long time. We know, for example, that the NYPD has drones, and engages in the kind of undercover work that used to be the province of Mother Hoover and her boys. In another vein, children are tested constantly in school, which is long-term surveillance at taxpayer expense. <br /><br />But let's talk weight loss. Inspired, in part, by Moose (yes, her influence is everywhere) I decided to lose the twenty pounds that make me feel old. Oh yes, other things make me feel old too, but this one I can do something about. I read about an app (yes! an app!) called Lose It which is, pure and simple, a calorie counter.<br /><br />You simply enter the weight you want to lose and the rate you want to lose it (I decided to go for 1 lb a week, which I had heard somewhere was reasonable) and the app gives you a daily calorie count. You then enter what you eat, and the exercise you do (which then gives you more calories to spend!) and all you have to do is stay under that number.<br /><br />I was surprised when I started about how little I knew about the calorie counts of all my foods, and it was a terrific learning experience. A lot of things I thought were low cal were not; and many things I really like are pretty modest in the calorie department (vodka, blueberries, quinoa.) <br /><br />You can do the Fat is A Feminist Issue thing too -- do I want ice cream for dinner? Then I shall have ice cream! Screw the dinner. Of course, then you go to bed hungry because of the sugar surge, which makes that dinner dramatically less attractive on subsequent days and you don't do that again.<br /><br />So this is all to say that even for those of us who think we eat pretty healthy, know a lot about our bodies, and are of moderate build, there turns out to be a big learning curve.<br /><br />And BTW -- the outcry over Bloomberg reminds me of the water floridation and vaccination debates, not to mention everything going on in the raw milk world nowadays. Put all of them together, and someone's got an article at least.Tenured Radicalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05703980598547163290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23938076.post-67473554536719652352012-06-14T10:50:38.119-04:002012-06-14T10:50:38.119-04:00LOVE the term Libertarian Paternalism, which seems...LOVE the term Libertarian Paternalism, which seems just right for describing Bloomberg and Sunstein. (There's a lot I don't love about Republic.com, but I do find his distinction between consumer and political sovereignty really useful. Hadn't heard of Nudge, so thanks for mentioning it.)<br /><br />People probably would prefer soda taxes to limits of the kind Bloomberg is proposing -- but of course the beverage industry has effectively bought off Congress, so that ain't happening. WaPo had a good article on the issue of soda regulation when Bloomberg's proposal first came out. Here's the money quote: Sodamakers “have indicated they will spend as much money as it takes to kill a tax because tens of millions [of dollars] is nothing compared to the sales they would lose if a stiff tax were adopted.”<br /><br />Ya gotta admit, Bloomberg's proposal is genius for the end run it makes around that mountain of money. The article is <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/new-tactic-in-war-on-obesity-attack-portion-size/2012/06/02/gJQA4wzi9U_story_1.html" rel="nofollow">here</a>.Roxie Smith Lindemannhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06455529922082930949noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23938076.post-83913341035222142992012-06-13T19:31:27.907-04:002012-06-13T19:31:27.907-04:00The weird things is... I know exactly where this i...The weird things is... I know exactly where this idea is coming from. It's Libertarian Paternalism which is a (sexy new) way of changing behavior that is *less* intrusive than regular government interventions such as taxes, mandates, etc. (See Nudge, also by Cass Sunstein.) You can still get your 64oz of sugary soda, you just have to realize it's 4 cups worth, that's all. You get to choose, at little to no additional cost. Yet people seem like they'd be happier if the gov't imposed a soda tax... somehow that would be less intrusive even though technically it's more intrusive. I guess the lesson is to stick with government interventions that people understand and distort even rational behavior rather than ones that let them make up their own minds by providing full information.<br /><br />OMG, thank you for the comparison to women's reproductive rights. What a tempest in a teapot (or sugary fizzy drink in a large cup?) this soda thing is comparatively. And yet... even the Daily Show seems to be spending equal time on the two topics.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com