When I was down on my luck and needed the most calories for my money, nutritional labels were a godsend. The more calories, the better.
Yeah, exactly. I generally eat a pretty healthy diet, but when I decide to indulge in a chocolate bar or bag of chips or some fast food, I like to be able to know what exactly I’m getting so I can make other decisions around it.
Labeling is more important for junk/highly processed food than it is for healthier foods. I already know what’s in that broccoli or brown rice. I do not know what‘s in the cheesy poofs.
And I’ll often pick up the cheesy poofs bag, check the nutrition info… and think “Hey, ‘dem Poofs’ have 22 grams of saturated fat, that’s 222% of a daily dose. Maybe I’ll just get this cheesy popcorn with 3 grams instead.”
I love nutrition labels, but if I’m in The Paralysis of Analysis Mode, they can add half an hour to my shopping time.
Yes. Personally, I managed to lose 35 lbs. and maintain that loss while still eating many foods that people would consider “junk”, like pizza and beer and Big Macs and such. The key was that I could eat whatever I wanted, I just couldn’t have as much as I wanted - it had to fit my calorie budget. For example, I’d have two slices of pizza instead of six, or I’d bank extra calories during the week if I was planning a weekend event. If I wanted a chocolate bar, I’d scan it into my logging app and work it in. Having the nutrition info helped.