The new BBC 2 documentary that makes us think about what we really are eating and the calories behind it.
When going out to eat at a restaurant, there are many things we think about whether that’s what to wear or who we’ll be dining with. One thing we’re less likely to think about is how long we would have to spend on a treadmill to burn off our meal. But, the recently aired BBC2 programme, The Restaurant That Burns Off Calories tried to get us to do just that.
The premise of the show is that 20 diners are invited to a restaurant and unbeknownst to them, on the other side of the restaurant wall is a makeshift gym, packed with people sweating out the calories the diners have consumed.
Now, before I go all guns blazing into how problematic this concept is, there are a few things I thought that the show did well. The explanation of what macronutrients are probably demystified the phrase for many viewers who wouldn’t be able to distinguish a ‘micro’ from a ‘macro’.
They also did a fairly good job of explaining concepts such as basal metabolic rate and the number of calories needed to fuel brain and heart function. Unfortunately, the list of things the show did well ends there.
For many people with eating disorders or unhealthy relationships with food, the show will have further enforced the narrative that food is something that needs to be ‘earned’.
I suffered with anorexia as a teenager and being aware of the caloric content of my food greatly impacted the decisions, I made in social eating situations. Consuming a slice of birthday cake would evoke tears of guilt at knowing how many calories had entered my body and I would eat my burger bun-less at family BBQs to avoid the dreaded carbs.
At that time in my life, it would have been healthier for me to eat the cake and the bread over a seemingly “healthier”, lower calorie salad. I would have been challenging my mindset that I had to “earn” my food and that cake was “bad” for me. So, I was infuriated to see the BBC put out a programme in which they seemed to be enforcing the narrative that I fought so hard to overcome.
I’m fortunate enough to be in a place now where I’m recovered and have a much healthier relationship with food. But for those who aren’t, watching this show could have been extremely triggering and confusing.
The Restaurant That Burns Off Calories was inspired by research from Loughborough University suggesting that people are likely to eat up to 20% less, if they know how long it takes to burn off what they’ve eaten.
For many people, the lower calorie option on the menu isn’t always the “healthiest”. In fact, I believe the best option you can choose, is the dish that you will leave you satisfied with a happy, full tummy. We must not forget that the way people eat when at a restaurant isn’t reflective of every day food habits.
Yes, it may be more of an issue if we were consuming a 2,000+ calorie, three course dinner every day of the week. But most of us aren’t. Often when we visit restaurants, we’re celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, reuniting with friends and family. This is not the time to be thinking about how many calories are in your food and how long it’ll take to burn off, but to enjoy the company you’re in and the way the food tastes.
If you start putting the amount of time taken to burn off food onto menus, it completely changes the mood and experience of social dining situations.
When it was time for the diners to order dessert, they were shown a regular menu. Once orders were placed, they were then shown a menu that displayed the time that would need to be spent on a rower, treadmill and bike to work off the calories in the desserts.
Unsurprisingly, many of the diners changed their choice of dessert once they’d been shown the second menu and in the process, the show managed to further demonise desserts and calorie dense foods, which get enough of a bad rap as it is. But PLEASE remember, food has no moral value and no foods are inherently “bad”!
The last point I’ll make (as this has turned more into a rant) is that the timing of this show is horrific. We’re living in a crazy time of uncertainty and anxiety. For many people, they’re using food to cope and they shouldn’t feel ashamed for doing so!
For others like me who love being in the gym, our exercise routines have been taken away from us and we’re not as active as we were pre-lockdown. And as a nice cherry on the cake, the BBC have brought out a programme telling us how long we need to spend exercising to burn off our food in a time when we’re eating more and moving less. This is the last thing that any of us should currently be worrying about!
For those living with eating disorders, I dread to think about the downwards spiral that this show could have sent them into- because I know it would have done for me a few years ago, even without a global pandemic going on!
Eating disorder charity Beat, had to keep their helpline open three hours later than usual in order to deal with the influx of calls the received after The Restaurant That Burns Off Calories aired.
I have no doubt that the intention of the show wasn’t to jeopardise the recovery of those with eating disorders, but it may have done just that; a very ignorant decision from the BBC.
By Eleanor Davidson
Feature image: Metro