Friday, January 05, 2007

Two Fig Newtons Is A Serving

I love Nabisco’s Fig Newtons, especially now that they have a 100 percent whole grain version. While they don’t have trans fat and are made from whole grain wheat flour that does not necessarily mean they are healthy is large amounts. Large amounts being the key. Did I tell you that I love them there cookies?

Lately I’ve gotten in the habit of eating several as a snack. When I say several, I don’t mean one or two servings, but rather a half a package. Fig Newtons are sold in packages with two rolls inside. Each roll contains 15 cookies. That’s a total of 30 of the little whole grain devils in all. Somehow, I have slowly increased my portions into devouring a whole roll in one sitting. I’ve justified that because they are whole wheat with no trans fat, which is a ridiculous thought, but that’s how it is.

I found them on sale yesterday, when I went grocery shopping by myself, and I bought eight packages of them. Eight! It’s a bit embarrassing, but in the depths I was thinking that I would be home by myself all next week and I would be able to eat them at will. I should not have done that, because having an excess really increases my justification that I can eat a whole roll in one sitting. My wife figured out my little plan and instantly hid them from me. Now she’s limited me to only 4-5 cookies at a time. She will go get me a serving when I want them. Now that they are hidden, I will have to wait until she gets home to get my fix, which will drive me crazy.

When it comes right down to it, I have to choose between the environment and self-preservation. That is, I cannot really buy a lot of foods in bulk or even in typical packages because it’s just too tempting for me to overeat. Individual packing allows me to eat a small portion, fulfill my desire for whatever it is I want, and not eat half a package of Fig Newtons or whatever else it is that I want. Although if I am not careful, I will sneak two or three of the individual packages at one time, but that is far less likely than just having a whole package sitting around. They do make my Newtons in smaller amounts called packs to go, which work great for me, but they are more expensive and they don’t come in the whole grain version. That’s the way of it these days: healthy food costs so much more than high fat foods.

I wasn’t going to write about the fig fiasco, as I didn’t want to admit I bought eight packages at one time nor did I want to put in writing that I have been eating a half package at once. My blog editor and lovely wife convinced me that it was a good thing to write about. All that journaling and healing business. As I write this, she is gone. She took my daughter out for a couple of hours. I am tempted to hunt the house for the packages of figs. All the writing about them got me to thinking about them. But she counted them and would know if they showed up missing, so I better now. All part of that accountability business. Besides, if she caught me, she’d make me write it up here. I’ll go eat a gala apple instead.

1 comment:

Ashley Carey said...

Just wanted to spread the word, anything with any kind of hydrogenated oils, partially or otherwise, in the ingredients list, does indeed have trans fat, regardless of what the nutrition facts say. So Fig Newtons still do have trans fat. Just a little less. The law allows them to write 0g per serving because there is .5g or less per serving, which is only two cookies.