Labels

I was feeling under the weather last Friday.  My throat was scratchy and overall, I felt crappy.  There was hardly any food in the house since we grocery shop on the weekends and all my body wanted was some fresh fruit, none of which was in my house.

My husband and I had to make a quick trip into town (we live in the country; this is a saying) and on the way we stopped at a convenience store that had both a Dunkin Donuts and gas.  Coffee for my husband, fuel for the car, and hopefully some nutrition for me.  Knowing that convenience stores have made an effort recently to bring fresher snack options into their displays, I was hopeful on finding at least at cup of grapes or something, but no such luck.  Next, I headed to the beverage area, hoping for the second best option - a fuller bodied fruit juice.

This where I started looking at labels of bottled fruit smoothies and juices.  I wanted to make sure the juice I picked had the most vitamin C and fiber for what it is.  While actual fruit is better for getting these nutrients, some bottled beverages offer as much of this as they can, either from the fruit or added in some sort of other way.  After comparing and contrasting a green juice to a more friendly berry-blue option, I settled on the blueberry one.

When I used to look at food labels, my eyes would never go past the calories.  Food and drink only represented a number that had nothing to do with nutrition but had everything to do with not gaining weight.  Because of this, I've consumed a lot of stuff that neither satisfied me nor tasted good because I didn't care - only one number mattered.

I can't say I didn't see the calories on the juice bottle last Friday - actually, they were presented in big bold letters on the front because somehow our own governing health bodies have indicated that calories do matter over the other things, and therefore this is what the general public is going to think.  I'm screaming with horror inside... anyways.  The juice I chose had a lot of calories, so much that I would have immediately put down the bottle years ago, no questions asked.  The bottle indeed represented an amount I would consume in one meal back in ED days.  However, the benefits of this juice to how I was feeling - craving vitamin C, something fresher than pretzels for example, outweighed any caloric value.  I was glad I chose what I did as I could feel my body absorbing the nutrients and I did start to feel a little bit better. Sure enough, I didn't even drink the whole bottle in one sitting and even if I did, I know my body can handle a few extra calories, particularly when it needs some help fighting off whatever I was.

It is refreshing to look at labels with a different eye.  I check out things like ingredients, sugar, fiber, fat, sodium and the vitamins.  I have a more educated approach to what I eat and can choose what I want to, not what my ED wants me to, which was the lowest calorie whatever.

And sometimes, actually a lot of the times, I don't look at the labels at all.  Sometimes there is a new food product, or a new flavor of something I already eat, like yogurt, that I just try because it looks good.  I don't worry about what's in it, rather if I like it or not.  For once, I am deciding what I like.