Spreadsheeting...to...vic...tor......EEEE!

So, here's the problem with using software to design ingredient lists: no one really agrees on any of the data.

For example, I designed a nice ingredient list using the United States nutritional information at http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/


2.5 cups Peas, green, frozen, unprepared
2.5 cups Corn, sweet, yellow, frozen, kernels cut off cob, unprepared
2.5 cups Collards, frozen, chopped, unprepared
1 cup Mushrooms, shiitake, raw
1 cup Nuts, almonds
1 cup Beans, snap, green, frozen, all styles, unprepared
1.5 cups Mollusks, clam, mixed species, canned, drained solids

That's supposed to be just under 1900 calories, and give really good quantities of everything except Vitamin D. But since D and B12 are hard to get, my plan has been to just take D and B12 pills, and not worry about it.

BUT. Everything else, according to the United States Government, looks good. Oil soluble vitamins like Vitamin A are not too high, and basically the whole batch of nutrients are almost perfectly balanced in just the right way.

So what do I do? I input the ingredient list into nutritiondata.com, at http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/recipe/1905617/2

It gives a really nice nutritional breakdown. But it also lists the calories at over 2200. Also, vitamin A is listed at 300% of the RDI, which is a lot closer to the upper tolerance level than the Government thought it would be.

Basically, both sources agree the ingredient list is pretty damn good. But the discrepancies are still so large!

On top of that, you've got to figure that store-bought foods don't match their official nutritional numbers very well.

So all of that can get pretty depressing. But then what typically happens is that I'll suddenly think to myself, "well actually, given the diet of the average American, it's probably good that there's a big grey area in there. If it all had to be balanced to such a nicety as I'm aiming for, there'd probably be a lot more people dropping like flies."

So that cheers me up. It reminds me that common sense just has to play a part, and I can't only rely on crunching numbers to figure out what to eat.

On the other hand, I just got back from the 2nd big yearly eatathon - Christmas - with another extra 5 lbs. Thanksgiving took me from 175 lbs to 180, and Christmas took me from 180 to 185. I'm just banking on getting back to my regimen, as the only thing that'll keep me from gaining back all the weight I took off. And doing a lot of spreadsheeting and ingredient list construction is one way I have of bringing myself back to the right head.