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Showing Up Anyway is a podcast about unlearning diet culture, redefining health, and making peace with food, movement, and your body -- without needing to have it all together. Hosted by Coach Adam Wright, an anti diet-culture personal trainer and body-trust educator, each episode dives into the imperfect side of wellness and how to navigate motivation burnout, body image struggles, emotional eating and the pressure to be "healthy". This is your reminder that progress doesn't need to be perfect, and you'll still see progress as long as you show up anyway.
Welcome to Showing Up Anyway,
the podcast for people who
are not perfect.
On this show, we talk about
intuitive eating,
fitness without obsession
and healing your relationship
with food and your body.
All right, my friends,
welcome back to Showing Up Anyway.
Look who showed up - you did.
And I'm so glad that you're here.
Today's topic is big.
Just the other day,
I made a response to a video
on social media to someone
saying that they,
on their weight loss journey,
would often go out to
eat at restaurants
and didn't realize how many
calories she was eating
because the food was
always promoted as healthy, right?
So, how "bad" - you know I don't
like that word, but, you know -
how bad could it be?
And I just thought that I would
expand on that a little bit more.
So, today, we're going to be talking
about how restaurants
and fast food chains use
really clever marketing tricks
to convince you to buy
whatever they're selling.
Let's start with some background,
because understanding the history
of healthy eating trends
is crucial to spotting how
restaurants use strategies
and sales tactics because they are
the same as they used to be,
just in different ways.
Restaurants and food companies
decades ago discovered
that labeling products as healthy
significantly boosts their sales.
Back in the '80s and '90s, there
was an explosion of products
that were advertised as
low-fat and fat-free and light.
That was not by accident, okay?
It was driven by
public health campaigns
that warned people
about dietary fats.
Back in the '80s,
that was really, really big.
Companies realized quickly
that this messaging
could be turned into profits.
SnackWell's cookies, for example,
were a household staple,
probably back in the '80s,
mainly because they marketed
themselves as a fat-free snack.
And so people bought them,
believing they were
making health conscious,
smart choices and they
could still have cookies.
They didn't want to give
up their cookies,
but they wanted
to make smarter choices.
The problem, though, with that
was back then and still now,
a lot of these products that
are marketed as fat-free often,
uh, they compensate that by
adding high amounts of sugar.
Now, I know that sounds
a little bit sketchy,
and it is, but it's also a
really smart marketing strategy.
It's psychology.
Consumers naturally feel good
about their purchasing decisions
when they think they're choosing
something healthier,
because who doesn't want
to be healthy, right?
So, you're going to order
the healthier option
or maybe just the illusion
of being healthy.
Maybe you want somebody
to see you ordering
or buying those things and
be seen as being healthy.
Either way, that's exactly
what restaurants
and food marketers rely on
even today.
Your desire to feel good about
what you're eating
or to be looked at as eating well,
even if that's not actually true.
As time has gone on,
those buzzwords have changed
and they adapt
to new dietary trends
and shifting customer preferences,
but the fundamental strategy
is exactly the same as it was.
Today, you're going
to see things on menus
and on billboards and signs
like "fresh", "clean",
"natural", "organic",
"seed oil-free".
Those terms deeply resonate
with health conscious
consumers in 2025,
and it's because they suggest purity
and simplicity and
nutritional value.
Restaurants use those terms
because they evoke
positive feelings.
They make you feel good,
and they imply inherent
health benefits,
whether or not they're actually
scientifically supported
to do so or not.
And while I'm sure some of those
shifts have brought on
some genuinely positive changes
like adding fiber
or fortifying with vitamins,
it's important to recognize
that something being organic
or natural does not
automatically translate to
that being healthier
for your body
or aligned with your
personal goals.
An organic cookie
is still a cookie,
and a vegan donut is
still a donut.
But because of these
marketing techniques,
consumers will often
assume that those products
are inherently healthier
than their counterparts,
which makes it easier
to justify overindulging
and overlooking portion sizes.
In essence, restaurants love
healthy eating because it sells.
They're not necessarily
invested in your health,
they're invested in what
helps their bottom line
and, historically, what
helps the bottom line is making
you believe that you're choosing
something that's better for you
than other versions
of a similar product.
The reason that
these buzzwords work is
because of something
called the health halo.
I don't know where that term came
from, I didn't come up with it.
But, basically, what it means is
when you see a word
like "fresh" or "clean",
your brain automatically assumes
that the entire meal
is good for you.
And marketers know this
and they exploit it.
Take Panera Bread, for example.
This was one of the examples
that was in the video
that I responded to.
They market their food
as 100% clean,
which is a bold claim
and sounds reassuring.
But here's the thing -
clean is not a regulated term.
It doesn't have a defined standard.
If you ask me right now
how I define it,
I wouldn't be able to answer
that. Would you?
Let's talk about Panera's
broccoli cheddar bread bowl, okay?
Yes, it's free
from artificial additives,
but it still contains
around 900 calories,
making it calorie dense enough
to be almost half of
some people's daily intake.
Now, high calorie meals are not
necessarily a bad thing, okay?
You don't automatically need
to stay away
from something that's high
in calories,
just like you don't
automatically need to choose
the lowest calorie option.
But it's still important
to be mindful and aware
of the portion sizes
and the nutritional balance,
especially when marketing tricks
might make you underestimate
how much you're actually eating.
Another fan favorite restaurant
and one of my favorite
restaurants is Chipotle,
and they have a very
similar marketing strategy
with their "food with integrity"
campaign,
which sort of suggests,
like, ethical sourcing
and fresh ingredients.
And I think, I do think
it's true that Chipotle often
will use fresher ingredients
than, you know, maybe your
typical fast food restaurant.
But freshness does not automatically
mean lower calorie
or ideal for weight loss,
which I know is a thing that a
lot of you guys are trying to do.
If you get a Chipotle burrito
fully loaded with queso
and guacamole,
that can easily reach
1,200 calories or more,
which is roughly twice the
calorie content of a Big Mac.
The tortilla alone
is, like, 320 calories.
Some people wrap
it with two tortillas.
If you get chips on the side,
that's another 550 calories or so.
But because Chipotle has
sort of wedged itself
into this healthier
alternative category,
people will often overlook the
caloric density and just say,
"Hey, it's Chipotle. It's a safer
choice. It's a healthier choice."
Then you have Jamba Juice,
I think was the other
example given in that video.
And Jamba Juice markets, you know,
smoothies as nutritious fruit
blends and they can be, okay?
They are often made with whole fruit
and fiber and you can add protein,
but a lot of commercial smoothies
from places like Jamba Juice
and similar ones are often higher
in sugar and calories
than maybe what you'd make at home.
And, again, you don't need to be
scared of sugars or avoid them,
but moderation, right?
Because, depending
on which one you get,
a large smoothie can have
the same amount of sugar
and calories as a milkshake.
And we don't drink
milkshakes daily, do we?
But a lot of people choose
smoothies
because they think they are making
a smart, health conscious choice.
That "health halo" really impacts
our eating behaviors
and causes us to
underestimate calories
and overindulge based
on misleading perceptions.
I want to be clear, though, okay?
I am not telling you not to eat out
at these restaurants
and always cook at home.
You don't have to do that.
You can absolutely find options
at those restaurants
that better align with your goals.
But I want you to be able
to see beyond the buzzwords
and make informed choices
based on knowledge
and not just what you read on the
sign or see in the commercials.
Now I'm going to go back to my
previous warning and say it again.
I am not demonizing calories
here, okay?
I don't want you to hear
me and think,
"Oh, Adam's saying if it's high in
calories, that means it's bad."
I had one commenter,
I think, on Instagram,
that thought that's what I was
saying. It's not, okay?
Depending on your goals or
your intake for that day
up to that point or whatever,
you might want a 1,200
calorie burrito.
This is about understanding
how intentionally misleading
marketing can affect our choices.
I used to eat at Sweetgreen a lot
when I lived in Chicago,
and that was genuinely one
of my favorite places.
And I know it's not just
a Midwest thing,
they have them all over the place,
they have them in LA,
but, at the time, it was
really close to my condo,
it was right next to the gym,
it was fast and convenient
and relatively nutritious.
My go-to order was the
Super Green Goddess.
If you've never had it,
I highly recommend.
By the way, this is
not sponsored by Sweetgreen.
Although, Sweetgreen, if you're
listening, I'm happy to promote it!
Um, but, at the time, that felt
like a safe and smart choice for me.
Okay, it has greens, chickpeas,
tofu, sweet potatoes,
almonds and the dressing
is delicious.
And, to be fair, that salad
by itself is under 500 calories.
So, if I stopped there,
I was probably doing fine.
Um, if I wasn't being mindful,
it would be very easy
to grab something with
twice as many calories,
which is fine if you know that.
But it's very easy to
not give it a second thought
when it all looks and
feels so fresh and clean.
And when food feels virtuous,
we let our guard down.
We feel like it's good for us,
so we don't need to think
about how much we're eating.
We don't need to think
about how full we're getting.
We just finish the bowl
no matter what, right?
There is a psychological principle
at play here called moral licensing.
Have you ever heard of it?
Basically, what it is when we feel
like we've done something good,
like choosing a "healthy meal",
we feel more
entitled to indulge later.
Have you ever felt
like you deserved a treat
because you've been
eating good all day?
You know I hate that term,
but you feel like you've
been eating well all week,
now I deserve something,
you know, delicious.
Well, the food industry will
leverage that psychology daily.
People eating at restaurants
that they perceive
to be healthier will often
underestimate calorie counts,
they will order larger portions,
and they will add more extras
than they might at a place
that they think is less healthy.
You might order
a small at McDonald's,
but a large at Chick-fil-A.
These restaurants know that
and they capitalize on it.
And what's even crazier
is that moral licensing
also can affect
your hunger perception.
Studies show that
when you eat something
that is labeled as healthy,
you might actually
feel less satisfied,
which leads you
to eat more later on.
Thinking that you've made
a healthy choice triggers
unconscious justification
to indulge further later,
which, ultimately,
obviously, is going to
undermine your nutritional goals.
And if you don't
think the food industry knows
and exploits that behavior,
you are wrong.
Another reason to adopt a
more neutral view around food
and start to get rid of labels
like healthy and unhealthy.
So, what can you do?
Well, the biggest thing
is to start recognizing
marketing for what it is.
It's sales tactics, the commercials,
the ads, the posters, the signs -
they're all meant
to sell you something.
Companies do not care
about your health.
Now, I'm not going to go
to the other extreme either
and assume that they're
trying to poison you, okay?
But they are not invested
in you personally.
You are not their only customer.
What they want is for you to feel
good enough about your choices
that you keep coming back and
you keep buying their products.
So the next time you see
words like clean, natural,
organic, or fresh, I want you
to pause for a second
and think a little harder about it.
What does the rest
of the meal look like?
What are the portion sizes?
Is it going to leave you
feeling satiated and nourished,
or are you just going to
feel vaguely comforted
because it was branded that way?
Do you feel energized
or satisfied after you eat,
or are you hungry an hour later?
Are you crashing?
Are you bloated?
These signs and signals are
way more honest
than any label's going to be.
And the more you practice tuning
into your hunger and fullness cues,
the more confident you're going
to become in trusting your body
over a marketing message.
And, finally - I know I say all
the time, but this is big -
let go of the guilt.
Seriously, food is not moral.
There is no good or bad.
There is no healthy or unhealthy.
Food is not junk food,
it's just food.
And whether you eat a burrito
or a grain bowl,
it doesn't reflect your worth
as a human being.
Some days, you might want to grab
something light and fresh.
Other days, you want a little more
comfort and flavor and fun.
That's okay. You're allowed
to choose both.
Eating should feel safe,
it should feel flexible,
it should not feel like something
that you have to justify.
This episode is not about telling
you how and what to eat, okay?
It's about helping you
see through the noise
so that you can make choices
that support your body,
your life, and your goals, not
somebody else's marketing plan.
You are the one
living in your body.
You get to decide
what works for it.
So, here's the bottom line,
I'm going to go back
to something I said earlier -
restaurants do not care
about your health goals,
they care about sales, and
they've gotten really, really good
at using the language of
wellness to earn your trust.
Why? Because it makes
you spend more.
But, now, you are
not walking in blind.
You know what the buzzwords mean.
And, more importantly, you
know what they don't mean.
You don't have to be
afraid of eating out.
You just have to get curious.
Ask better questions.
Look past the fresh,
clean, natural labels,
and listen to the only voice
that actually matters
when it comes to your health -
yours.
And mine, but mostly yours.
I want you to go out, and I want
you to enjoy your burritos,
your smoothies, whatever,
but not because a menu
or commercial told you to, okay?
Do it because it satisfies you,
it nourishes you,
it fits what your body actually
needs in that moment.
That's what intuitive eating is,
just tuning in and trusting
that your body knows
what's best for you,
and being equipped with a little
bit of knowledge to help you out.
Thanks for listening, everybody.
We'll see you next time.
Thank you for tuning in to
this episode of Showing Up Anyway,
you can find it for free on Spotify
or wherever you get your podcasts.
And wherever you're listening,
if you like the show,
I'd love it if you gave
me a five-star review,
because that does help
other people find the show,
and hopefully it'll
help change their life,
just like you're
looking to change yours.
If you're listening
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you can follow me
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I'm Coach Adam. Remember,
when things get challenging,
keep showing up anyway.