Check Out This Cookie (Scary)

Great reminder! Most of the cookies and muffins out there are HUGE!!!

I only get a "monster cookie" when I'm with other people I can share it with. Otherwise it's just too difficult to eat a reasonable portion... I also make mini muffins/cupcakes and small cookies at home. I freeze them, so it's easy to pull a small treat out of the freezer once in a while. And, I usually try to carry a few snacks in my purse..

Andrea@WellnessNotes

I am with Andrea. We try to make all of our cookies minis and cupcakes. Because then you can have 2 or even 4 and still be within calories. My daughter is 2 so she is just the right size for minis.

jennie_hi

..I am always talking to our campus food service. Their options for baked goods are: jumbo cookies; rice crispie treats that are the size of bricks (seriously, I have done a comparisons) and slightly larger then regular cookies that are stuffed with icing and sold only in three packs. And all candy bars on campus are sold in king size only. And yet they insist they really do care that college students pack on pounds!

sarah

I always bring my own everything. So I don't have to rely on the selection of other places. And then when I'm tempted, I just think that I can't get it because it would be a waste of food and money not to eat what I already have.

Stephanie

Definitely. Portions are way out of control. Even if they served a cookie half that size, it would be great to split with a friend! I try not to even let myself be faced with a counter like that. Honestly, I would look at the fruit cup and say $4? %#@~ that! I have gotten in the habit of carrying a healthy snack with me if I'm going to be gone during that long stretch of either late morning or mid-afternoon where my stomach infamously begins to grumble. The days where I pick up a baked treat from Starbucks are a special treat and happen very rarely, so I will get what looks good ;)

Emily @ Foodie/Nutritionist

In my book, I state the #1 problem (unfortunately, there are many) with the American food system is portion sizes. The National, Blood, and Lung Institute does a great job demonstrating portion distortion. You can find the information at my site: http://bit.ly/7vNyTq

Emily is 100% correct. All you need to do is identify a few replacement food items and you can easily ignore the temptation of the enormous junk food they are pushing.

One of my favorites is Pure Protein Bar. Not only does it create the feeling of satiety, it's very satisfying that I don't spend $15 bucks at the movie theater for crap. One bar costs 1-buck.

Ken Leebow

One thing I forgot to mention: Many of those baked goods have trans fats in them ... a known killer. So, every time I see those seemingly delicious cookies, I think poison.

That's typically enough incentive to stay clear of them.

Ken Leebow

You don't realize how big they are until you put them next to a regular size cookie - WOW!!!!!!!!

Robin Braun

Bigger cookies are better cookies!

Raymmmondo

One thing I try to remind myself is that these types of things NEVER taste as good as you want them to, so it's not even worth it. They're always half-stale, and a refrigerated muffin is NEVER as good as it looks. If I'm gonna eat 600 calories of sugar and fat, it better taste fantastic. I'd rather wait to get something I know I'm going to love!

Stacie

I thank my parents every day for giving me genes that doesn't make me crave sweets lol. when i went to the airport, i actually grabbed the granola on yogurt thing, since i know fruit salad won't be able to make many fuller. at least it's a slightly better choice than the muffins and whatnot on top? Lol

Shannon

Haha... This is so timely. Just yesterday we had monster cookies in the office. I stayed away. I heard another girl in the office come up and offer half to someone else. Then my boss came and offered me half of hers. I accepted. I would have had a hard time only eating half if I had gone to get it so I was glad she came and offered it:-) I just try to avoid those cafes and stuff all together now.

stephv

I read a book a few years back, The Portion Teller: Smartsize Your Way to Permanent Weight Loss by Lisa R. Young, and it was mind-boggling how portion sizes have changed. I had no idea that the fun size Snickers' bar-type candies were the original full-portion size. It really drives home the point that we are really responsible for what a true portion is, not necessarily the product label provided by the company... which of course would want us to consume more of their product.

Christy

It's tough. I love cookies, too. I try not to EVER buy items out of bakery cases because then I would have a hard time NOT doing it every time I passed one. I try to really hold out for the special cookies, the ones that are homemade and taste good and I try to only eat them out. With holidays coming, does anybody have any recs on what to do when you find these delicious homebaked goodies in your house and don't want to inhale them all?

mariab

Chocolate chip cookies are my absolutely, positively most favorite food in the whole world!

I think bakery muffins are even worse...some people think they are being healthy by choosing a muffin over another type of baked good...some of those mosters will set you back over 1000 calories!!

Andrea

It is sooo hard to choose the right thing, usually my first downfall is the croissant/danish with cheese.....today I was proud to say in my starving rush I stopped at a 7-11 and got milk and a banana.....69cent banana that was huge, not organic but at least not the cheese danish! and they were right by the cash register!

michelle

I eat very little (read: almost none) store-bought snacks because I just don't have the will/discipline to consume a reasonable portion when faced with a mega-portion. My three year old niece loves those giant cookies (her parents let her have one every few months only). We try telling her that you shouldn't eat anything that's bigger than your head, but she doesn't care!

Jo

can i also point out that bagels are now about the size of our heads? some places have mini bagels, which are apparently about the size that bagels were originally. one idea, though, when things are monster-sized is to split them (eat half) or share them with a friend or two; the friend thing would help me: we would all eat our parts and be done; the split and save wouldn't work; i'd soon unwrap the saved half and eat it, too. one of my new practices is to try to make as much of these special foods as i can myself. then i can cut the sugar down (am also experimenting with agave nectar and sucatant-sp?), and i also use whole wheat pastry flour. i also don't put in any chemicals!

susan fine

Honestly, I find that giganto cookies like in that photo are actually not even that good. I like the slightly larger ones (yes) but super plump. And no, I don't have a good method for avoiding them. Especially in airports... unless I bring super delicious homemade healthy snacks and treats :)

Elina (Russian Bites)

I have no problems avoiding such an unappetizing brown chunk of unhealthy. I think I would have serious problems avoiding it if it looked a tad less god-awful.

Elena