So, file this under "Don't get me started!"

Recently, I let myself get dragged into a Facebook debate. I usually resist participating in these dialogues for one main reason—in my line of work of fitness training, my opinion on the topic of healthful eating is well-informed, but not what you might call objective. That's especially true when it pertains to personal responsibility.

In addition, when I'm particularly opinionated, I can be a real crab apple. Maybe one of the first signs of becoming a curmudgeon is that you start sounding like the grumpy old people you used to make fun of when you were younger and more open-minded.

By that measure, I issue a curmudgeon alert before you proceed.

Recently, the Bay Area saw an example of fast food regulation with the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passing a ban on Happy Meal toys. Mayor Gavin Newson subsequently vetoed the ban. 

Lynette: OK, I just gotta say - If you want your kids to eat healthy and not eat garbage - then DON'T TAKE THEM TO MCDONALDS - Jeez how hard is that to figure out? Do we really need the government dictating what's in a McDonalds Happy Meal?????????? Unbelievable.

Dion: NYC requires chains to list calories, so I noticed at Starbucks a croissant is lower calories than a bran muffin. Hence the issue, I am educated, I studied to be a chef and yet, I NEVER would have guessed my lowest calorie option is a croissant, so I never assume I know enough or am being told the correct information.

Me: I deal with this stuff every day, so I need to weigh in. I'm pretty much with Lynette, here. There's no lack of information out there. It's simply a lack of self discipline and the slow surrender to the salt/sugar/fat cocktail. Bad news folks - the combo, in high concentrations, is a drug. We know that about tobacco, alcohol and illegal drugs. We pretty much know it about most fast food too.

Here's the "convenient" solution to the happy meal:

A hard-boiled egg, carrot sticks, a cheese stick, mini whole wheat bagel and a tangerine.

Your kids don't want to eat that (because they're addicted to crap food)? Give them a choice between that and air. That's what my kids get - what we (their parents) eat. They don't go crazy when they go to birthday parties or ball games, because they're not addicted to fast food or sugary treats. They eat as much as they want and if they eat too much (not as much as other kids can eat), they get sick to their stomach. So they remember that the next time. Works great.

Ok, rant concluded (or so I thought, until a few seconds later)

Me (again): Dion - the muffin's higher in calories because it's more dense; it's just a lot more food than the croissant. It's loaded with sugar but also fiber and I'm betting more protein than the croissant, which is basically fluffy refined flour, butter and some sugar. So it's not just about the calories. I'd choose it over the croissant and eat half of it if those were my only choices.

Dion: Dan, true, but you are going to the next level that most people aren't at yet. Most folks struggle to lose 2 pounds per year, let alone eat like an athlete.  So, given that, I would tell most people to eat the croissant, because it would reduce their calorie intake. Step One - get regular folks to recognize basic math - calories in and calories out. THEN, we can advance the cause further.

Dan: My experience working with many people is that nobody actually counts calories (either expended or ingested) with any degree of accuracy for a sustained period. It's too cumbersome and impractical. Everybody knows fruit and veggies are good for you and it's not difficult to figure out the healthier choice between a grilled chicken breast and a three inch high cheeseburger. We can overcomplicate things or oversimplify them. I'm cool with keeping things simple, but the quality of the calories (vitamin, mineral, protein and fiber content) is way more important than just the caloric surplus/deficit equation. In fact, if you eat healthfully (the four food groups we learned in grade school) and only until you're satisfied, rather than stuffed and exercise regularly at a challenging level of intensity, the weight takes care of itself.

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So that was it, at least for the moment. After the momentum of the topic abated a little, one of the participants (whose comments, along with those of several others, I omitted for brevity) volunteered to host an ongoing blog debate on the topic.