Monica's Motivation to Move!

One of the top headlines this week was Denny's offer for a FREE Grand Slam Breakfast to all customers between the hours of 6 am to 2 pm on Tuesday, February 3rd. 

Let's talk numbers....

• A Grand Slam Breakfast includes 2 pancakes, 2 eggs, 2 sausages, and 2 slices of bacon...a mere (not really) 795 calories and 50 grams of fat (77% of daily fat allowance for a 2,000 calorie diet)
• It is estimated that they served over 2 million people across the country.
• People lined up in the hundreds and waited for hours for their free meal.
• It cost Denny's an estimated $5 million for the Superbowl Ad in which the offer appeared and the free meals.
• Denny's website received over 14 million hits from people trying to find a location near them - and crashed!

Is a 795 calorie breakfast (with 50 grams of fat) a good, healthy way to start any day?  I don't think so!

Let's take a look at what this means just in terms of calories and physical activity.  In order to burn off this 795 calorie breakfast, a 150 pound person would have to:

• Do medium intensity exercise, such as walk at 4.0mph pace, for about 2 hours and 40 minutes;
• Do high intensity exercise, such as jogging or swimming, for about 1 hour and 20 minutes;
• Do very high intensity exercise, such as running, fast stairclimbing, or jumping rope for just over an hour.

But, after having a breakfast laden with calories and fat, who is going to want to engage in one to over two hours in physical activity?  Probably not many. 

So, while this promotion may have been good for Denny's business, it is bad for the health, and waistlines, of the 2 million people who took advantage of the offer and who may go back to Denny's for another try!

This is yet another extreme example of "The Gap", that ever-widening difference between healthy living and our current American culture.

Personally, I'll stick with my ritual of HMR Multi-Grain cereal with fruit and my morning workout.  My body will be much happier for it!