Six Food Intolerance Living

When I used to be on Weight Watchers, looking at the nutritional information on the packages of foods was something I *always* did. Online somewhere, I had found the approximate equation for calculating WW points. Hubby, being a mathematician, could give me the approximate point value of any product. So, I was constantly looking at the nutritional information of any food that I was considering buying to determine if they would be all-around good for me. And, I knew all the tricks, too. Like, for example, the nutritional information would say that the calories for, I don't know, say, some cookies was only 50 calories ... then to find out that the serving size was like 1/4th of a cookie ... or a box of crackers or a bag of chips would have like 1,000 mg of sodium ... in 2 pieces! I also knew that the list of ingredients was listed in the order of amounts. So, for example, in a cereal, if the list would start with Wheat, Sugar, Oats, etc., I would know that wheat made up the highest percentage of that product, the sugar, than oats. So even if a product *looked* healthy, I could tell if it really was by just looking at a few places on the box. Anyway, you get my drift. I was nutritional information chart savvy, I was on the look-out for low-point, healthy foods - I was on a mission to only fuel my body with good foods. Until I found out that I was GDSYWP intolerant.

So, here's my confession: I stopped looking at the nutritional information ... altogether. Seriously!

Not a glance or thought went into the nutritional information - just what ingredients were used. I take a long look at the ingredients list, look at it again, check the fine print, just to make sure that there isn't any GDSYWP hidden ingredients in there. If there isn't, and it looks pretty good, it goes into the cart. I'll even admit that sometimes, I don't even look at the price! The only thing that mattered was the ingredients and visual appeal. But, I'm learning to not do that anymore, $10.00 for a small box of cookies isn't good - no matter how intolerant-friendly they may be.

And now, I have learned that I must start reading the nutritional information again.

Like I said earlier in this post, my Sister really liked my Fruit & Nut Blondies and wanted the recipe. I told her that she could probably follow the recipe that I had made but just use a "regular" blondies mix instead of my fancy GDSYWP-free Namaste Brand one. Then - get this - she said she liked it as it was and wouldn't mind using that one if she could find it (by-the-way, SCORE! GDSWYP-free really CAN taste good!). Anyway, she asked if it was low calorie. I was dumbfounded. The thought had never even entered my mind. I told her that I honestly hadn't looked about it and had no clue. As soon as we hung up the phone, I decided to look it up on the Namaste website. Blondies - 170 calories. Cool. What's the serving size? 33 per box! Whoa! 5,610 calories in the box ... the box makes a 13x9 pan of blondies ... 12-16 squares from that ... so, at best, 350 calories (for 16 servings) ... EACH ... and that doesn't even take into account the nuts, coconut, prunes and other items that I added in! Whoa. What about the awesomely moist chocolate cake that I talked about in this post? How would that one hold up? 230 calories, 20 servings. Urg. Again, 1 bag makes an 13x9 pan, so again, 12-16 servings, so at best, 287.5 calories for 16 servings. But, I KNOW hubby and I have WAY more than 1/16th of that cake. I start to feel sick. Now I know why I balloned back up to my pre-weight-watchers-weight. I think, okay, blondies and chocolate cake are a dessert. I bet the muffins, a breakfast staple, should be better, right? And, well, they are. They are 140 for 12 servings, which is how many muffins I made, so 140 calories each. Phew. And, the muffins come in a sugar-free version.

Now, I'm not saying that I won't be buying Namastes products anymore, I totally love them and will continue to be a happy customer for all the reasons I have already mentioned in other posts, but I just feel a bit more aware now. I won't be making these desserts as often. I will seek out other products or homemade recipes that don't have as many calories. This is a good wake-up call for me. Nutritional information still matters - even when your GDSYWP-free!