By: Chrysa Smith

Chocolate Cake Slice with RaspberriesI always love watching food segments on television.

I watch Ina Garten’s show (aka The Barefoot Contessa), Chopped and even Guy Fieri’s Grocery Challenge.

So it’s not unusual that I took particular interest in the Today Show‘s food segment about 2015 trends.

Now the presenter, who was in good physical shape, framed the segment by telling viewers it was all about healthy food as the norm. Sounds good. Sounds about right in this day and age. But is it?

He started out with European stuffed breads—savory or sweet. Looked delicious, and was, according to Matt Lauer. But the presenter went on to say that they weren’t exactly low calorie. Next was the reinvention of the gyro—the delicious stuffed Greek pita that you can find on the street carts of major cities. The fillings were contemporary—not spinning beef or lamb on skewers, but new takes on the old favorites that included lots of veggies, some mandarin oranges and other non-traditional fillings. Yet according to my Weight Watchers chart, one chicken filled  pita alone costs you about 9 points. That’s about 1/3 of the day’s calories. Add to that toppings, and well, you get it. Another intriguing meal was Bing Bread. Apparently, a stuffed bread cooked up in a skillet (a la corn bread). Only this one contains bacon, cheese, sour cream and butter. Healthy? Hmm. Delicious? Probably.

Say what you will about healthy food, but bottom line is that none of these ‘healthy’ foods were exactly low in calorie–or fat. You just can’t get great flavors in satisfying food, without risking the calorie intake. That is, unless you’re in the mood for a salad or plain grilled chicken.

I just wonder: How much of the food they present, do these spokespeople actually eat? I mean, look at any chef. There is barely a skinny one among them.  They are the authentic ones. They make delicious dishes. And they eat them too.

Does limiting calorie intake mean limiting taste and variety, proving that it’s just really hard to have your cake and eat it too? Unless your cake is low calorie, reduced fat—and probably, tasteless.