#777 Reading the nutritional label and eating it anyway

go-ahead-have-a-fewSometimes you just gotta peek.

As you unwrap the Lindt truffle, peel open the McDonald’s cheeseburger, or scoop that second bowl of ice cream, you can’t help turn the package around to glance at the nutritional information panel on the back.

And guess what’s waiting for you over there? You got it, baby: 64% of your daily saturated fat intake, 76% of your cholesterol, and a couple big buckets of carbs.

Then there’s the quick pause, involuntary eye-twitch, or guilty look at the person munching salad beside you. But I hope after that brief moment of self-doubt, you just keep going, man, you just keep scooping it in. Sure, you might have to turn the label away, avoid sodium for the rest of the day, or give your shoulders a shrug to say “Hey, it’s okay,” but I hope you keep going, hope you savor it slowly, and hope you enjoy every last bite.

Sometimes you just gotta read the nutritional label and eat it anyway.

Sometimes … you just gotta live.

AWESOME!

Don't turn the package around

Photos from: here and here

37 thoughts to “#777 Reading the nutritional label and eating it anyway”

  1. The best is when you eat something that says its 2-3 servings and the nutritional facts are already outrageous.

  2. Sometimes you just can’t help but look, but it hasn’t stopped me yet!

    You only live once.

  3. The other day I was at the ice cream place and I asked for a vanilla/chocolate twist. They asked if I wanted custard or gelato…actually I forget what the two possibilities were called. I said, “what’s the difference?” They said, “This one, is better for you but doesn’t taste as good, the other has more fat and sugar.” I said, give me the better tasting one!

  4. My weakness are ice cream cones, you know the ones, dipped in chocolate with peanuts and a little caramel hiding down the center….. Yum.. I’m drooling at my desk.

  5. funny – i just did this yesterday with my vanilla chai from dunkin donuts …. so today i was knew it was loaded with 320 calories & lots of sugar but oh sooooooo good !!!!

  6. God, that ice cream looks SO good.

    I had some super-creamy toffee ice cream after school today, & damn, that stuff was totally worth it.

  7. Who knew 2 poptarts had 400 calories? Not me, until yesterday morning. I was shocked and amazed… and starving! Ate them anyway. Who cares?

    1. Yeah, I’ve always been amazed at how bad for you those things are. But nothing beats strawberry Pop-Tarts just warm from the toaster for breakfast, or a snack, or another snack, or supper…

  8. I glance at the nutritional facts and think, “If I eat this this one time, it’s not like I’m going to gain 5 pounds of something.” And then I consume two.

  9. Way to remind me that I’ve got a cinnamon bun in my purse! Two of your entries brought me to the conclusion : )

    Wahoo!! Cinnamon bun Fridays!

  10. If all that sat fat is so bad, I wonder why people are still alive in their 90s who ate it all their life and didn’t know it was bad?

  11. Sometimes I kinda feel like, if I read the nutritional facts, the food isn’t as bad. Like knowing what you’re eating makes you responsible.
    ‘Yep, knowledge is power.’ I say to myself.
    Delicious fatty power.

  12. i unfortunately read the nutrition facts on egg nog (the one 1/2 gal carton i allow myself per year). 30 grams of fat per 8 oz glass (yes grams, not daily percent) made me hesitate, but i’m still gonna enjoy it until its gone and i’ll enjoy how warm my nog-gut will keep me this winter.

  13. I’m pretty sure that as I’m breathing my last I won’t be thinking about how much dough I had in the bank, but how much cookie dough I ate and wishing it were more.

  14. This is by far my favorite “awesome”.
    I’m a big supporter of eating healthy and having a balanced diet, but sometimes, you just have to indulge in that piece of cheesecake or chocolate bar. If you never do, you aren’t living!

  15. It’s NOT th’ carbs, it’s th’ ASPARTAME, th’ MSG, th’ FLUORIDE, & all the other softkill weapons that might not be on the label !!!!
    BE AFRAID. Be very afraid … ….

    1. Tailypoe? That is the name of a kids book the librarian used to read us in school at Halloween. Scared me to DEATH! Is that where you got the name?

  16. I’ve found a bit of meditative visualisation always helps before I take the plunge into something decadent.
    I picture the morsel spreading itself right around my body…thinking that a treat that big could at the very most add a half a millimetre to my waist, a quarter of a millimetre to my thigh… and when you look at it like that, it aint so bad. In fact, it’s totally worth it and totally awesome!

  17. I actually read the label after finishing the entire thing. Ain’t nothing can stop me from eating my favorite chocolate bar!

  18. Thanks for the information… appreciated… been reading for awhile, and simply want to tell you I continue to love your writing.

Comments are closed.