Thanks to Rachel Link and everyone else who sent me coverage about Tim Horton's elimination of their smallest size, and the shifting of all their sizes to one size larger.
So just for kicks let's talk calories.
Let's say you're a double-double drinker (as many Canadians are - for my American friends, a double double is double cream, double sugar). Let's also say that for each respective cup, you have two a day (meaning your Tim's fix was two small double doubles daily). If you continue to order up the same, given Tim's new larger sizes, how many extra calories will you be consuming a year?
- New Small: 18,250 extra calories (roughly 5lbs more).
- New Medium: 18,250 extra calories (roughly 5lbs more).
- New Large: 29,200 extra calories (roughly 8lbs more).
So for those keeping score, or if you yourself are a Tim's junkie, if you gain weight consequent to these changes, it's not because of your genetics, it's not because of inactivity or a lack of "willpower", and it's not because of epigenetics, obesogens, advertisements or ill-directed crop subsidies. It's because of one single, solitary change in your daily food environment.
Think anything else has changed in our food environment since let's say the 1970s? How many other changes have there been that have been foisted on us that impact on weight?
What year did chocolate milk start in school lunch programs, or vending machines show up in school halls? When did pizza and ice cream days become entrenched as fundraisers? Which genius decided that kids need treats each and every time they step on a blade of grass outside, or "sports drinks" when we were all just fine with water? How large has your go-to fast food combo grown? What meals is your boss bringing in for you to eat while you work late? How many foods are you buying that your parents used to make from scratch? How many times are you going out to eat or buying takeout because your day is spent tethered to an electronic leash and your evening chauffeuring kids around when you used to be free-range?
I could go on, and on, and on.
The world has changed. While there are certainly hundreds of factors involved in societal weight gain, there's no doubt (in my mind at least), the most important factor by far is the environment we've got not choice but to live in, and if we really want to see things change, it's the environment we need to work on.
Now of course bodies aren't perfect math formulas, and not every Tim's drinker's going to gain weight - but some are. And that said, daily Tim's coffee drinkers, maybe now's the time to make the switch to black?
More on that tomorrow.
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Oh my! That's a ridiculous excess! I love Tim's when I'm in Canada (or even when I find them here), but I'm an almost-black-coffee-drinker, no sugar, so hopefully I'll be spared.
ReplyDeleteA couple of years ago, I moved to a small country town in central Europe. It's a completely different food environment: food is mostly locally grown and seasonal. People turn their noses up at foods out of season. Food is made from scratch, even in restaurants. Meal times are rigid. Nobody eats in the street. Cakes and ice creams are part of life, but they're for the weekend and the people who sell them make them on the premises. Cappuccinos are only sold in one size. I never worry about carb counting or any other fad diet thing. I'm pretty sure I'm eating right and the scales reflect that.
ReplyDeleteBut when I go back to the 'modern' world, I have to be vigilant. Just three days of being in the UK or the US can make me put on weight again. Partly it's because foods have different calories values - a bowl of pasta here might be 300 calories. In the UK, it might be 500-600 for a food portion that's the same size. The US is even worse, because there can be sugar hidden everywhere.
I'm a little surprised that they are moving towards increasing portion sizes - usually it's the other way around - shrink the portion, inflate the price. It is bad news for double-double lovers (though I find double-doubles repulsive, and get annoyed when the cashier assumes that's how I want my coffee. Blech.)
ReplyDeleteNow, now, there are some sensible reasons to occasionally supplement with electrolytes. Of course, you can do it better with melons, rather than sports drinks, but then melons don't come with a commercial contract for freebies.
ReplyDeletearen't they just changing the amount of coffee in the cup? Unless they use different size squirts or spoons by cup size, a double double would be two of each regardless of how much calorie free coffee is used to dilute it.
ReplyDeleteHey Craig,
ReplyDeleteThe amount of cream and sugar added are done in a manner to create a consistent flavour regardless of size.
Therefore, if there's more coffee, they need more cream and sugar.
The numbers I crunched came right from the nutrition calculator on the Tim's site.
As if this isn't bad enough - check the sodium content of Tim's "healthy" muffins - a bran muffin has more than 700 mg!
ReplyDeleteThey have officially surpassed Starbucks in sizes. A venti is only 20oz, and the new "trenti" size is ONLY for iced drinks, if it even comes to Canada. Starbucks still has an 8oz small, and it sells pretty well.
ReplyDeleteGood job Timmies...looks like we can't mock Americans for supersizing everything anymore!
The way Tim Hortons handles cream drives me crazy. "One cream" is not an absolute amount (i.e. it is not one creamer), it's on a sliding scale for the size. What they consider "one cream" is way too much for me. (My theory is their coffee tastes so bad that the only way they can make it palatable is lots of extra fat).
ReplyDeleteI learned quickly to ask for a to-go creamer because it's an absolute size and I can control the amount I put in my coffee.
Hi Yoni,
ReplyDeleteIt's sorta ridiculous to think people are going to gain significant weight by this change.
I could see what you are talking about if you are talking about coke or softdrinks which are very closely tied to weight gain, but coffee? C'mon!
I Think Tim Hortons is doing good here, they looked cheap compared to McDonalds, and Starbucks who have much bigger cup sizes, they looked like they were ripping us off.
Some people will probably adjust their purchase, but even not, I don't think it will be a big change to people's weight.
And as to calories. A calorie is not a calorie all the time. We all know that liquid calories, especially from soda, is far more linked to weight gain in metabolically deranged people than other foods. Refined carbs may be a factor too, especially wheat.
If you are so concerned about how much cream and milk people are drinking why don't you write articles about the insane amount of milk we are encouraged to drink so that we can get our supposed "calcium" needs. I'm sure there's a lot more calories than than a small amount in a coffee
If only it were a small amount. Double Double is the norm it seems, with Triple-Triple fast becoming the norm (I first encountered the words Triple-Triple about 15 years ago when riding with a trucker to a camping event, I was unsure that the Tim Hortons staff would even know what I meant when he told me to order him a triple triple, now everyone seems to like it like that) high school kids are now ordering 4x4 (4 creams and 4 sugars!) I personally like it black, except Tim's coffee tastes like crap so I usually get one milk in it, but even a double double tastes more like sugary milk than coffee.
Delete@Alexie
ReplyDeleteCarb counting is not a fad. Some people become too rigid with their carbs. But carb reduction has been around since the 1800's. hardly a fad. And it's a very effective way for people to lose weight.
You got one thing wrong. They aren't taking away the smallest size. They're only calling it an extra-small.
ReplyDeleteYour weight gain formula appears to be correct from a calories-converted-to-grams-of-fat mathematical perspective, but it's flawed in real-world application. Why?
ReplyDeleteCalorie offsetting. If someone has a bigger portion of coffee each day, he/she will very realistically see calorie consumption adjusted at another time of the day. For example, drinking a bigger cup of coffee at 4:00 p.m. may quench one's thirst/cravings enough to order a medium-sized Coke at dinner instead of the usual large, or to skip the usual appetizer.
When it comes to human behaviour - be it diet-related or otherwise - things tend to balance out.