I am possessed. Someone gave me a points calculator yesterday, and I have become totally and utterly obsessed with calculating the points value of everything. Every. Single. Item. Of. Food. Ever.
(Disclaimer: Hi, boys? Still cute over here! Not Elephant! Don’t be fooled by the “diet”! Hot boots still need hot date!)
So yah. I gleaned some sort of perverse satisfaction last night from calculating that the Real Cream Vanilla Ice Cream with Smucker’s Chocolate Shell that I ate yesterday was worth approximately 75% of the points I’m supposed to be eating daily.
But it was the last overt display of junk food in the house. I had to get rid of it, right? And throwing it away would’ve been a waste, right? Right? RIGHT? Yah, I thought so too.
Not only was the ice cream the last junk food in the house, it was kindof the last food too. Unless you count that one lean cuisine left in the freezer, or the lime in the bottom of the vegetable drawer. And I’m going to try really hard to not be the woman in the grocery store with her points calculator out, ogling the Nutrition Labels of every item of food that I pass by.
Oh who am I kidding. I’m TOTALLY going to be that woman. Now if you’ll excuse me, I see some chocolate almonds whose value hasn’t been assessed yet…
Yikes. That is an obsession — But, hey, if it helps, you go girl 🙂
ps: I still don’t think you need to lose lbs. — Sheesh!
pps: From one single chick to another, I understand, though.
I don’t have the online at the moment, though apparrently in a week or two I’ll get a code for 2 weeks of etools free.
Some friends of mine figured out that the rough equivalent of the Points formula is 50 calories = 1 point, but before you do that, you add approx. 10 calories to your count for every fat gram, and subtract 5 calories from your count for every fibre gram.
It’s not an exact science, but if your points calculator is not at the grocery store with you, you can still figure out the rough Points value of what you’re buying.
Do you have the online Weightwatchers membership as well? They have a Points calculator where you just enter the name of the food you ate and it tells you how many Points it is. It’s a great food tracker. Helps more if you use it, too.
i kinda realized that i’ve crossed over the line when i picked up a can of spam looking for the carb/calorie content. which in itself was kinda ironic.
Points are derived using a formula that includes total Fiber, Calories & Fat grams in any given item of food.
Some examples:
Carrots: 0
1/2 c. Skim Milk: 2
Lean Cuisine Frozen Dinner (most varieties): 5
3 Breakfast Sausage Links: 9
Based on the Flex Points program, someone of my weight should be eating 20 points/day with the option of an extra 35 “flex” points per week.
I could go find this out, but it’s early and I’m lazy–how does a Point(tm) differ from a calorie? Is it some combined expression of nutrition?
For about 6 weeks, out of curiousity, I used FitDay.com to track everything I ate. I’ve done the same thing for a couple of months with every cent I spend. Both cases made for some illuminating discoveries.