My a ha moment was hearing some policy wonk on the radio explain that a 64 oz Big Gulp full of Coca Cola had more calories than an entire fried chicken.
Damn. I knew Coca Cola was bad, but not that bad. Comparisons of familiar things are so so much more compelling than statistics. In school we were told that "one bottle of Coca Cola equals so many table spoons of sugar", but since we didn't have a good intuition as to how much sugar was acceptable, it didn't stick. I can't even remember how many table spoons it was! Junk food is terrifying because it's so easy to consume without thinking. Sure, it's also easy to mindlessly eat healthy food, but I've never eaten an entire fried chicken's worth of carrot sticks.
I had to see the statistics behind this. Not that I'm defending soda drinking - I'm just curious. My quick math from a nearby coke can tells me 140 cal per 12oz - that's 11.6 calories per oz., making a 64 oz BigGulp weigh in at 747 Calories. According to this, ONE pound of breaded, fried chicken is 506 calories. So maybe an entire chicken has a little more meat than a pound? I dunno - I actually don't love fried chicken... but I do know that a pound of it is more than I would ever want to eat. And the fact that a pound of it is LESS calories than a leg spreader Big Gulp (which I have had) is frightening. Thanks for the eye-opening reminder to cut the soda.
So, back to reality: http://www.livestrong.com/article/544545-nutrition-in-half-of-a-roasted-chicken/ That's a roasted chicken, not a fried chicken. It's also half a chicken. When I go here, A breast, a thigh, a leg and a wing come in at 970 calories. So I'm not sure how Livestrong is cooking their chicken if they come in a hundred calories hotter than KFC but there it is. Coca Cola agrees with you - 12 calories per oz. 765 calories in a 64 oz big gulp. Or, about a wing shy of half a fried chicken. So HEEUGE SURPRISE, the shock jock was exaggerating. BUT it sure switched me over to diet, I tell you what. And then I had some liver tests done and that effectively got me off cola. PROTIP: sodastream. Skip the syrups and just make yourself sparkling water. I drink that shit all day long and a $15 charger lasts me two months.After removing the bone, a half of a roasted chicken weighs 480 grams, or 17 ounces. It has 1,070 calories, 115 grams of protein, 64 grams of fat and 0 grams of carbohydrates.
I think that is how my mother in law describes me to her friends. So yah... The sodas... I don't drink much anymore. It's just not worth it. I have a mexicoke every couple days. I consider it my beer. I'll occasionally get a huge fountain drink when I'm driving for 5+ hours. But even then, tried little crystal light with caffeine packs are way more effective than the gut wrenching soda bomb. Even if the shock jock overestimated - who cares. It's a great way to think concretely about soda consumption.about a wing shy of half a fried chicken
If I had to guess I'd say it might be because KFC chickens tend to be on the small side anyway, and they don't include the full half-breast in their breast pieces (they get three pieces from the breast instead of two); but still seems hard to fathom (re: deep-fried vs roasted).I'm not sure how Livestrong is cooking their chicken if they come in a hundred calories hotter than KFC but there it is.