Assume Nothing

You know the old saying about assuming? Well, it applies to healthy eating as well. I've hit a couple stumbling blocks during this journey.

First of all, labels on the front of the package mean nothing. They're all lies. You have to read the nutritional labels. Some of my shocking discoveries are:

• "Fat free" often has extra sugar added for flavor.


• "Sugar free" can have added fat for flavor. Also, I recently learned that sugar substitutes can make you gassy.


• "Serving size" is subjective and often unrealistic. Who eats only five potato chips or drinks half a can of Coke?


• "Healthy" is a marketing ploy. Advertisers use that word hoping some poor sap (like me) will fall for it. "Heart healthy" foods may contain ingredients considered good for your heart (like oats), but the label doesn't mean that unhealthy ingredients (think high fructose corn syrup) aren't there as well.


• "Gluten free" means there is no wheat gluten. Unless you actually has celiac disease, it has no bearing on whether something is a good food choice. Often sugar and/or fat is added to make up for the missing gluten, so the gluten-free choice may have more calories than the regular option. "Gluten free" has become the latest fad among food companies. Seriously, keep an eye out for gluten-free labels next time you're shopping. You'll be surprised what you see.


• "No added sugar" is a deceptive phrase often followed by a teeny tiny asterisk. I've discovered the hard way that it does not mean sugar free. For example, peaches are zero points on the new Weight Watchers plan. I love to put peaches in my oatmeal, but they're not in season right now. I bought a package of frozen peaches, "no sugar added." Are they zero points? NO, they are three points for a serving. Apparently, whatever is done to the peaches during processing involves a lot of calories, but since sugar was not added to the peaches, they can technically use the phrase.


• Like items do not always have the same point value. For example, I've become quite fond of flavored fat-free Greek yogurt. I usually eat the Dannon Light & Fit brand. They run two WW points a container. Well, I accidently grabbed a similar looking store brand last time I was out. I ate it before I scanned it. Big mistake! That yogurt was 120 calories and a whopping FIVE points. I happened to get on the treadmill that day and noticed it took me 34 minutes to burn 120 calories. Grrr . . .

I've gotten to the point where I use the WW app to scan/look up everything. I'm trying to be mindful of my choices. Is a small glass of a good wine worth four points? Yes! Is a bad wine cooler worth six points? Nope. I throw away food all the time because "it's not worth the points." Sure, I still eat chocolate from time to time, but it's a damn good piece of chocolate now and I savor every bite!

Hopefully, one day I'll have a list of good "go to" items and making food choices won't be so time consuming. Until then, I expect to spend an hour or more in the grocery store every time I go. It's exhausting. I just keep telling myself that a year from now I'll be able to say it was worth it.