Often, when we go out for dinner, it’s a time to relax and enjoy the wonders of not having to cook or, more importantly, wash up. But are we watching the calories when we order or are we escaping the dreariness of dieting?
The Local Government Association (LGA) has said that every UK restaurant, food chain, and pub should be displaying the calorie content of every food item on their menu. You may have already seen calories displayed on menus in certain fast food chains or some popular chain restaurants, but do you also want to see them when you go out for a slap-up, celebratory meal or your local pub for a traditional fish and chips?
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The LGA have said that ‘in many cases, people are unaware of how many calories they are consuming. Food and drink outlets should be doing more to provide clear and prominent labelling which spells this out clearly.’ They are yet to enforce a deadline on when food establishments need to implement this new calorie display – they are currently only calling for voluntary action.
But how do you calculate calories in a meal? And is it easy for us to do at home?
Here are a couple of tools that could help you out and maybe, if we watch what we eat at home, we won’t feel bad about treating ourselves at a restaurant anyway. Cheers to that!
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Calorie calculators
1. NHS calorie counter - simple search the product, ingredient or brand and add the totals of your meal.
2. MyFitnessPal app - available for the App Store, this free app allows you to calculate your calories from over five million foods. You can also use it to track your exercise.
3. The GH guide to what 200 calories worth of food looks like
Emma-Louise Pritchard is the Membership Director for Country Living UK & House Beautiful UK, previously Executive Digital Editor for Country Living UK. Emma-Louise is a digital expert specialising in content strategy, social media and newsletters. Her topics include sustainability, homes and interiors, gardening, health and wellbeing, pets, travel and countryside news. She has previously written for Good Housekeeping and Cosmopolitan and has won several awards, from AOP Digital Editor of the Year 2019 to PPA 30 Under 30. Emma-Louise studied at Cardiff University where she completed an MA in Magazine Journalism.
