Nutritional Information -- Always and Forever

It has to be a pet peeve of many people on a diet: the lack of nutritional information. It's true, when you buy something in a grocery store it's always on the label, and it's possible to get a lot of information on line. What makes me nuts is when you're some place where you have no options and there is no information.

For example, at the Las Vegas Airport terminal D, home of Continental, Northwest, JetBlue, Delta, etc. has what I, and others, would say is a terrible food selection. There is a Pizza Hut, and a Burger King, both bad options. There may be better options, but of course no one lists the Nutrition Facts of what they are serving.

I abstained from eating anything, because after a cancellation I was booked on Continental, which often has pretty good food (or at least relatively low cal, such a turkey sandwich). However, as this was a dinner flight, they wound up serving a hamburger, which was indeed pre-packaged, but didn't have any labeling on it at all. Even worse, there was a pack of M&Ms in the meal which were "labeled" "Not Labeled for Individual Sale". Now this is garbage -- I mean, there was enough room to print the information on the package, they obviously are omitting it because the food is total crap and they don't want people to know.

I guess I'm going to go on a quest to find ways to push companies to label their food. I wonder if there is a place to sign a petition or something? It could make me nuts!

Good airport food... Subway at MSP!

There is no better option in fast food than Subway, and I am thrilled that there is one in the Minneapolis Airport. For those of you who fly Northwest, MSP is often where you change planes going to the West Coast. It's great with a layover to be able to grab a 6" Turkey (5 freakin points) to avoid plane food.

It's located on Concourse G, I think near gate 1 -- to be confirmed today. Make sure you've got enough time, it can take up to 20 minutes to get across this airport.

Kashi Bars ROCK

It's hard to overstate how much these Kashi Go Lean Bars have meant to me. There are a few of them out there, but the Chocolate Caramel ones seem the most diet-friendly. For those on Weight Watchers, I have one thing to say: 2 points. Huge. Sweet. Good.

They are hard to get, and sort of pricey. Right now, Amazon has them available -- order them now, before they sell out.

It's important to remember how great it is to have a couple of them in my bag -- I know I can grab a snack that isn't terrible for me, and tastes good.

Some of of the other Kashi products are great -- they have some great 2 point oatmeals.

A Hotel Room WIthout A Coffee Maker?

Man, it could make me nuts. I'm here at the less-than-perfect Monte Carlo Hotel in Las Vegas, and there is no coffee maker in the room. I called the front desk, they connected me with room service who said "sorry, we don't have coffee makers for guests in the hotel."

Why is this a big deal? Well, as any good road warrior knows (or should I say road warrior on a diet!) eating breakfast in the room is a great way to start your day without going nuts on calories. Having a low-sugar oatmeal (2 points, but who's counting?) in the room is a good start to any day.

I did call the front desk and got a fridge delivered -- for no charge, as far as I can tell (some hotels charge $30 for this), so I guess it's off to buy some milk, cereal and yogurt for the next couple of days.

Is there a role for Twitter?

An interesting web 2.0 site that's the product of the moment is Twitter. It's like Sushi, the Greatful Dead, or skiing: You either like it or you hate it. Basically, you tell it what you're doing, and it posts it to the web, and sends it to everyone who is following you on twitter.

You can follow the movements of geek luminaries like Leo Laporte, or more main stream people like Steven Colbert.

I wonder if it would be interesting if a bunch of people posted what they were eating with their point values and what they thought about it ("Subway 5 points loved it", "Big Mac 20 points not worth it."). I'll start. Check me out here.

Drinking on a diet

Well, I do love a drink -- there is no question. However, when you're trying to lose weight, it can be hard when you're drinking.

Weight Watchers gives a points value of 2 to a serving of wine -- a half bottle is 5.5 points, should you be sharing one over dinner. A jigger of liquor is 3 points, and you have to imagine that most bars are going to give you a heavy pour, so I'd count that as 5 points.

Lesson learned: drink wine.

Joking aside, I do find that even when I count the points of every drink, on weeks when I drink a lot, I lose less weight. My doctor told me that the calories of alcohol stay in your system longer. Now that sucks.

The Begining of the Beginining

Weight Watchers for Men launched today. I've been an online member of what I guess is now Weight Watchers for Women since mid October, and I've done pretty well -- although it's been a struggle I've lost 45 pounds or so.

I've started this blog today so I can abandon it after no one reads it. No that's not it. But let's keep it short, and see how it goes!