[Updated. WW Points added below.]
I’ve had this idea on the back burner for a couple of years now: A topic in which I share some nutritional wisdom. Now considering my current gravitationally challenged state, I might not seem like the right person to be doling out advice on food, but that’s the great thing about the blogosphere. I don’t have to be wise in order to post wisdom! I can just post other people’s wisdom and offer it as a service by lumping it all into one place. (Drudge doesn’t write the news, he just collects links to all the good stories.)
I wanted to start off by setting up some standard metrics so I can compare apples to oranges and still make sense. (See? Using a food based metaphor in my nutrition topic! Huh? Who’s got blog mojo now?)
Sugar
Recommended daily allowance: 8 teaspoons (32 grams)
Approximately eight sugar packets.
Salt
Recommended daily allowance: 1 teaspoon (2.4 grams of sodium)
Approximately four salt packets.
Fat
Recommended daily allowance: 65 grams
Approximately six pats of butter.
WeightWatchers Points
At 240 pounds, I’m allowed 28 points a day to lose weight. If you weigh less, you get fewer points. (At 150 pounds, you only get 20.) If you’re trying to maintain your weight, you get a bit more. It’s important to note that WW points don’t take into account the quality of the carbs you eat. They’re only concerned with total calories and fat. Cherios (made with whole grains and a very little sugar) has the same point value as Fruit Loops and Frosted Flakes!
I’m probably not going to chart out protein, nutrients or vitamins, because those are pretty much all the “good” things that you seldom have to worry about getting too much of. Sugar, salt and fat are the three things that give flavor to most of our food and thus are the three things most of us get too much of.
Now that I have some cute little icons with which to express the unhealthiness of the things we eat, I hope to do a lot of posts on the topic. But for now, I’ve spent all the free time I have just creating the images and posting them. Back to work! *Cracks whip*