Since starting on weight watchers I've learned the meaning of the labels attached to just about every food item you buy. They carry nutritional information. I never, ever, gave those tiny printed labels a second thought but turning over my salmon spread container I see that it has, per serving:

• 80 calories
• 7 grams of fat
• 0 fiber content

This is per serving. And the trusty little label tells me that two tablespoons equals one serving. Using WW's point calculator that means two points per serving.

Before WWs I would sit in front of the TV or work at my desk with a box of crackers and the salmon spread container and go at it until it was finished. Now I know I can have the spread but must count how much of it I'm having. I suppose if that's all I wanted to eat all day I could polish the entire thing off but that's not what I'm doing these days. I'm having my two tablespoons on reduced fat crackers and leaving the rest for another day.

If you do not have access to weight watchers online to figure out the point value of foods, Weight Loss International has posted the WW Points Calculator for free.

Fast food chains are cooperating by providing nutritional information for the foods they sell. Here are some of their URLs:

• McDonald's - click "nutrition facts" for the inside scoop!
• Carl's Jr. - comes up as a pdf file and all the info is there.
• Burger King - has loads of nutritional info on the meals they sell.
• Dotti's - a list of restaurants' nutritional info is to be found at Dotti's site.

So now I've become a nutritional label reader. Day by day I'm becoming more literate about these things. It's what's enabling me to "have my cake and eat it," for only when you really know what it is you're eating (by its nutritional content, not its flavor or looks) will you be empowered to adjust your intake of that particular food item.