What would you rather eat: dark turkey meat or white turkey meat?

Let’s say you love dark meat.

Now if it appears like this in a magazine:

The Chubby Choice: Dark Meat Turkey
Three ounces of dark meat (about the size of a deck of cards) contains 165 calories and unhealthy saturated fat.

Slim Swap: White Meat Turkey
Three ounces of white meat contains only 100 calories. Bonus: Lean protein like white meat increases satiety, making you feel fuller longer.

Calories saved: 65

What would you rather eat: the chubby choice or the slim swap?

Sounds like the decision has already been made for you, right?

Sure you may reach for the dark meat, anyway, but you may think twice or feel a pang of guilt.

According to Cosmo, where this helpful advice comes from, you can totally pig out – but only on the virtuous foods like that white turkey meat, steamed veggies and “healthy” mashed potatoes, which are the slim swaps, of course.

To make matters worse, these are the first two sentences of the article: “The average T-day meal packs a whopping 3,000 to 4,000 calories. Add in second and third helpings and you can end up looking like someone stuffed a pumpkin into the back of your skinny jeans.”

Is the pumpkin comment supposed to be funny or a serious word of warning?

Even the American Dietetic Association gives us the same old diet-type of tricks – cloaked in seemingly “healthy” advice – like running away from the buffet table; only having a taste of something to satisfy a craving, which I’m assuming means a measly bite (why can’t I have an entire piece of cake again? what’s so horrible about that exactly?); and choosing low-calorie foods. Yawn.

Michelle of The Fat Nutritionist (a fabulous blog) included the above infuriating links in her post on following eating rules and regulations versus putting your trust in…you.

If I didn’t know better, I would’nt know what to do during the holidays. Do I eat what I want? No, I can’t! That’ll make me gain ten pounds. Do I bring my own  low-fat food to the party and eat that? No, that’s silly. Do I …

Stick-thin models rule the runways and women’s magazines alike. Also ruling magazines is a litany of guilt-ridden food and fitness advice. Advice that often makes us feel bad about ourselves and even encourages disordered eating.

Along with this advice, we also get photos of barely-there models and clothing that most of us can’t wear. And fashion tips that really don’t even concern us (or worse, insult us). What we don’t get, with the exception of Glamour’s recent gorgeous photo spread, is realistic advice and realistic-looking women. Until now…

Since November, plus-size writer and aspiring stylist Ashley Falcon has joined the ranks at Marie Claire with her column, “Big Girl in a Skinny World,” writing about everything from taking office wear into evening to finding the best boots for bigger calves. (She also regularly blogs at Marie Claire.)

I’m happy to see a fabulous plus-size writer who can give fashion advice to us regular folk. Along with good advice, Falcon’s writing is fresh, fun and engaging. And I look forward to more articles from her (next month is spring trends for all shapes and sizes). Personally, I’d love for her to tackle the bad eating and exercise advice magazines dish out and the ways in which magazines demonize fat. But considering she’s writing for a women’s magazine, this is likely wishful thinking.

Still, I applaud Marie Claire for giving this great writer/stylist the opportunity to bring us some good advice and challenge the notion that only skinny-minis can be fashion forward. Falcon sends the message that you don’t have to hide your shape just because it doesn’t fit some ill-conceived “ideal,” that you can find fun, flirty, fashionable pieces for every silhouette (though, unfortunately, you’ll have to look harder).

But is she playing it safe? Jezebel writer Latoya Peterson also applauded the column but had a few minor issues with it. She noted that Falcon may be trying to be the “self-deprecating big girl” that a “smaller audience” may expect, and included these examples from Falcon’s first column:

“Of course, it surprised no one that I decided to pursue a career as a fashion …

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I’m so thrilled to feature an interview with Marsha Hudnall, MS, RD, CD, director and owner of Green Mountain at Fox Run, a women’s retreat for healthy living without dieting. She contributes to the blogs A Weight Lifted and We Are the Real Deal, both must-reads! I absolutely love her work and philosophy.

I contacted Marsha to get her take on all the holiday eating hoopla. Below, we talked turkey (sorry, couldn’t help it ) about healthy eating advice, detox diets and more!

1. I write a lot about the detrimental messages magazines convey to women about body image, food and fitness. With the holidays almost here, women’s magazines pack their issues with how-tos on navigating buffets, celebratory spreads and office parties. Even websites like WebMD.com feature advice on “handling holiday diet temptations.” This article, for instance, provides good advice and suggests taking it easy and enjoying yourself. But there’s still the ever-present sprinkle of “you better watch out and curb that out-of-control eating” type of advice.

“Holiday parties are much more than food and drinks. They are a time to delight in the traditions of the season, and enjoy the company of family and friends. If you keep the focus on the spirit of the season — and heed the advice of our diet experts — you’ll most likely get through the holidays without gaining a pound [emphasis mine].

And if you do splurge, don’t beat yourself up, the experts say. Just get right back to normal eating and exercising, and try to do a better job at the next party.”

Do you think this advice has gotten out of hand or is truly helpful? What kinds of messages do these tips send?

This is a tough question because many people need a little help to navigate the holidays without stressing over food and weight.  That’s because they don’t know how to eat well anymore without guidelines.  If we are normal healthy eaters, navigating the riches of the holidays is intuitive. But for the rest of us, it’s not.  To help those of us in this latter group, advice that can help us …

Most of us are familiar with the book, Eat This, Not That, and the concept behind it. Magazines are filled with these types of features, showing us which foods are superior to their calorie-soaked counterparts. We regularly see these sorts of segments on TV, too.

But while this information may help us make healthier choices, there’s also a slew of insidious messages. When looking through the latest Fitness, where I found some interesting advice, I came across the following sidebar (copied directly from the magazine; unfortunately, the sidebar wasn’t available online). And it made me nervous:

Instant Motivation

Having trouble choosing healthier holiday treats? Look how much gym time you can save!

NAUGHTY

1 slice pecan pie
NICE

1 slice pumpkin pie
SAVE YOURSELF

25 minutes on the stationary bike (187 calories)

2.75-ounce

cosmopolitan
4-ounce glass

Champagne
9 minutes of jogging

(62 calories)

4 tablespoons

spinach-artichoke dip
4 tablespoons

hummus
11 minutes on the stairmill

(100 calories)

4 Swedish meatballs

(cocktail size)
4 stuff baby

portobello caps
25 minutes of walking

(100 calories)

6 coconut shrimp
6 shrimp with

cocktail sauce
89 minutes of weight lifting

(567 calories)

Why? Because this type of advice fosters a shaky, at best — and destructive, at worst — way of thinking about food and fitness. Don’t get me wrong: I’m all about giving people the tools they need to become sharp and savvy consumers and make informed decisions. For instance, the amount of calories in some  restaurant foods is shocking, and as consumers, it’s important for us to know. But… this goes too far.

This table, and others like it, transmit the following risky messages. They imply:

1. That we have to work off every calorie we consume, or it’ll go straight to our thighs and make us horribly huge. Which is a myth. According to eating disorder specialist Sari Shepphird, Ph.D, …

Women’s magazines are packed with eating and exercise advice. Churning out new, novel ways to eat less and work out more is their bread and butter. So to an extent, I can understand why advice may be hit or miss. I get that it’s tough to come up with creative strategies to eat better for every issue, every year. And in all fairness, some advice is helpful. However, while all of this is true, I’ve also run across some tips that are simply silly (like laugh-out-loud ludicrous) and others that are downright infuriating! Initially, I was going to let the advice speak for itself, but for some tidbits, I just couldn’t contain myself.

1. “Satisfy a snack attack” with dried plums. “The women [in a San Diego State University study] said the intense flavor [of the dried plums] satisfied their craving for sweets as much as the [low-fat] cookies did. Stash some in your desk for a healthy snack—five prunes have just 100 calories. {Women’s Health, October 2009, pg. 32}

I understand the idea behind this tip: Satisfy your cravings with something that’s both sweet and healthy. Realistically, though, I can’t see how a prune can substitute for a sweet treat like cookies or chocolate. Plus, the study used low-fat cookies, which aren’t exactly delicious. Maybe if I had to choose between a low-fat cookie and a prune, I just might reach for the prune (or a delicious piece of dark chocolate).

2. “Read between the lines…’Descriptive adjectives like luscious and juicy are all over restaurant menus and can actually make you order more,’ says Brian Wansink, Ph.D., author of Mindless Eating…Practice picking out these adjectives on a menu the next time you dine out (sizzling, creamy and rich are a few of the most popular.) The more easily you recognize them, the less they’ll sway you.” {Fitness, …

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