In which I look at my data.

One of the interesting things about using software to count calories is that it does all sorts of interesting math. Behold, my intake from last week:

sodium

Of course there are many other things to track, like sugar and iron and fiber and so on, but it is interesting to note I’m always under what (they think) I should have for protein and over on sodium. I mean, WAY over on sodium, holy shit way over.

I don’t worry about the protein. From what I understand, your body has to make it out of amino acids anyway regardless of what you eat, and I get tons of those grazing on fresh veggies the way I do, not to mention that overconsumption of protein has been linked with ass cancer. So. Moving on.

The sodium intake is interesting, though. It’s freaking EVERYWHERE, all processed foods are packed with it, and if you’ve ever read the label on a can of tomatoes (or tomato juice) it’s just shy of astonishing.

All those high-fat days are ones where I ate something nuked. (I work a full-time job, so I eat a lot of TV dinner-type crap.)

Anyway, long story short: being an American and eating well are pretty much mutually exclusive. Even if you try to do it, odds are you’ll fail. Isn’t it fun living in a rich country?

Note: While my fat intake is probably high, it’s not as high as it looks. This is because when I enter things into the software, I often approximate: I might have had homemade potato soup, but I choose a commercially-prepared item which generally has more fat since most of it isn’t actually vegetarian.

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5 Responses to Fat and sodium and calories, oh my.

  1. Jalal says:

    DOODE !!! I am on a diet for the past three four weeks as well. More so like a changed eating pattern than a diet. And I things have changed a LOT. So, basically, I am seeing good things for you.

    Dude! I know, right?! -m

  2. debokah says:

    where did you get that groovy spreadsheet?

    It’s a screenshot from sparkpeople.com. It’s cheesy but the best free calorie tracking website I could find. -m

  3. 80 says:

    Are you using sparkpeople.com?

    That’s what I used, liked it well enough.

    Yup. -m

  4. Glenn says:

    Wow! That is a LOT of sodium! If you look back to Sodom and Gomorrah, you might just turn into a pillar.

    Being aware of it is the first step to dropping it. Good luck.

    I know, right? It’s crazy. -m

  5. dharma says:

    Great work you’re done Mush. Wish I was doing that. Ugh. I’m shorter than you and my hips are definitely over 40inches!

    Read The Omnivore’s Dilemma if you really want to get depressed about food in America.

    Also hate to say it be being veggie does NOT mean lower fat. Seriously depressing but true.