Tasty Tuesday: A Good Read!

I told you I would have a nutrition label post up soon and violia it appears!

Today's post is short, sweet, and easy.

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Seriously, you know how to read the thing but do you know how to interpret it?  The government mandates these things so that is the allowance for them to be tricky.

Today I'm going to give you the fun breakdown on the nutrition label and why you really need to know how to read it correctly.

Meet Mr. Label:



Alright, this is like sitting in a bar on a Friday night and some guy you have never seen comes up and gives a cheesy line and buys you a drink.



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You don't know him but you need to get to know him before you decide if he's worth another five minutes.  Here is how you do it.

We will start at the top (his hair...)

Serving size - is this guy shallow or deep?  Looks like he is half a cup so I consider that meh.  I like big servings like 1 cup.  But that's me you may be into half a cup of goodness.  From this point on you'll know if you can handle this guy just by how much he's willing to offer up to you.

The next area I suggest you pay attention to....

Carbohydrates - This is the part of the guy that is going to stick with you - you know the Selena Gomez song Hands To Myself?  Yeah well the carbohydrates cannot keep their hands to theirselves and they will try to hold on to your butt, thighs, middle, etc.  Most of us are trying to escape these gropers.  I do not eat food with more than 10 carbs in them.  My rule of thumb is to stay away from these starchy monsters because they cannot be nice to me. Do not totally strip yourself of carbs because your brain needs them and your eyes.  You also need some good carbs before you work out to give you that support of energy.  Just do not overdo these things.

Looking at this Mr. Label he can go on and peace out.  Twenty-six grams is not in my game plan.

Dietary Fiber- Good stuff you need it.  Try to get it.  This guy offers none, boo him.

Sugars - Well this guy would not get my attention.  When you see "sugars" you should realize this is just what it says - sugar.  It is a basic sugar molecule and not a complex lengthy one.  What the what is she talking about?  I'll tell you more next week when I explain sugars and carbs.  I love teaching sugars and carbs.  If I choose to eat a food with sugar in it then it has to be under 10 grams because I don't want the crap in my diet.

Protein  - Always your friend.  You need protein every single day and if you are a vegetarian or vegan you know you can skip meat and pull it from nuts and beans.  Protein is my go to for calories (as is fat but good fat not bad fat.)  Our bodies are pretty smart when it comes to protein - unlike other items on the food label.  We don't really store protein and once we hit the level that our bodies allow the remainder gets shipped out through our urine.  I must share that too much protein can hurt you causing a build up of ammonia in your body and that isn't cool.  On occasion your body may try to store excess as fat but for most of us that does not happen, yay! Our friend here has 4 grams and that is a nice added bonus to whatever this is.

Honorable Mentions -

Vitamins are totally important but if you are taking a multi vitamin each day then you are pretty much covered when it comes to the alphabet group (A, B's whole big family, C, D, E, K, etc).

Sodium is a devil just like sugar.  My next lifestyle change will incorporate sodium levels but right now I'm just trying to keep everything in check with a focus on sugar.  Just remember my little buttercups:  Too much sodium will kill you, isn't that nice?  No it sucks.

Calories aren't that important and I'll tell you why:  Calories come from fat, carbs, and protein.  If you can learn to keep those in check and eat healthy and smart foods then you shouldn't be a calorie counter.  However, a lot of people do Weight Watchers and or calorie counts and if that works for you then do it to it baby doll.  Just remember:  Calories can be very tricky! Low calorie generally means high sugar and high salt.  Low fat is a bad idea too as they jack up the sugar in place of the fat the omitted.

Ingredients Listing - Pay extra close attention to this.  If there are more than five ingredients - put it back.  If there are three or more ingredients you cannot pronounce treat it like napalm and stay far away.

Remember last week when I said food companies are like drug dealers?  Are you seeing that now?


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Next week I'll be giving you the deets on carbs and sugars and you will so want to read that post.  You should send it to your bestie and your mama and your hairdresser too.

Go ahead and send them this one today!

xoxoxox