What surprises have you found about foods you didn't realize before logging?

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Replies

  • icck
    icck Posts: 197 Member
    I think a lot of it for me was actually how large a serving is on some things, especially the likes of sandwich fillings and nut butters. I was barely using tbsp of peanut butter in a sandwich - a tbsp is a lot more than I thought! Same for the likes of cheese, cereals, vegetables... then I'd be stuffing myself full of crap not long after as I was hungry.
    I felt satisfied with those portions but I clearly wasn't.
  • MikylaJoy
    MikylaJoy Posts: 1 Member
    My morning filtered coffee with no sugar
  • lisafrancis888
    lisafrancis888 Posts: 119 Member
    How you can get a plate full of veggies and the calories are good. It's when the potatoes and meat go on that it starts adding up.
  • hmck123
    hmck123 Posts: 23 Member
    I didn't realise how much sugar is in everything! I can eat a banana in the morning and then that's pretty much it! No more fruit, no chopped tomatoes in my dinner (which rules out a lot of nice food!)... I don't stick to this at all and tell myself that the sugar hit is worth it for all the good stuff in fruit, but it's still annoying seeing the red at the bottom of my food report when I'm so good with everything else!
  • Kalici
    Kalici Posts: 685 Member
    hmck123 wrote: »
    I didn't realise how much sugar is in everything! I can eat a banana in the morning and then that's pretty much it! No more fruit, no chopped tomatoes in my dinner (which rules out a lot of nice food!)... I don't stick to this at all and tell myself that the sugar hit is worth it for all the good stuff in fruit, but it's still annoying seeing the red at the bottom of my food report when I'm so good with everything else!

    I stopped tracking the sugar here. I got sick of being told off for eating two whole pieces of fruit in a day! ;)

  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    daniebanks wrote: »
    JoJo61612 wrote: »
    I had no idea how many calories sushi had in it

    hahaha yes, this. same here.

    Seriously... ridiculous. And it's not filling at all for the calories IMO. I almost never have sushi anymore :( It's whatever they put in the rice I guess...
  • Allelito
    Allelito Posts: 179 Member
    Francl27 wrote: »
    daniebanks wrote: »
    JoJo61612 wrote: »
    I had no idea how many calories sushi had in it

    hahaha yes, this. same here.

    Seriously... ridiculous. And it's not filling at all for the calories IMO. I almost never have sushi anymore :( It's whatever they put in the rice I guess...

    Like the sugar! :tongue:
  • tealover09
    tealover09 Posts: 15 Member
    All those sesame and chia seeds I was sprinkling on food? Have WAY more calories than I thought.

    I was pretty upset when I found out how many calories I was adding with sesame and sunflower seeds on my salads. Totally not worth it to me, whereas calories from cashews are worth it because they are a satisfying snack.
  • dredremeg
    dredremeg Posts: 202 Member
    I didn't relize how much sodium was in cottage cheese, 1/2 cup 420.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    tealover09 wrote: »
    All those sesame and chia seeds I was sprinkling on food? Have WAY more calories than I thought.

    I was pretty upset when I found out how many calories I was adding with sesame and sunflower seeds on my salads. Totally not worth it to me, whereas calories from cashews are worth it because they are a satisfying snack.

    Gosh yes. They might be 'superfoods' but no food that has 50 calories for a tablespoon, has no taste, and doesn't fill me up is 'super' in my book.
  • Lefty1290
    Lefty1290 Posts: 551 Member
    Although I love ranch dressing, having the full serving is not worth the calories and fat.
  • Lefty1290
    Lefty1290 Posts: 551 Member
    That two tablespoons of peanut butter is closer to 1 scoop when not weighed. Before I started weighing I was eating closer to 4tablespoons and not even knowing it.

    4ozs of chicken is a lot of chicken!

    Yes!
  • rachylouise87
    rachylouise87 Posts: 367 Member
    did not realise most alcohol contains carbs unless its distilled
    did not realise small snack pork pies are 200 calories
    did not realise salt intake with last meal will effect the next mornings weigh in.

    silly me
  • HollandOats
    HollandOats Posts: 202 Member
    That sometimes, cheese on a sandwich just isn't worth it. (Cheese as a standalone snack, different story.)
  • HollandOats
    HollandOats Posts: 202 Member
    That Splenda, and Sweet n Low and coffee all have their own small bits of calories... that I try to log, because I have several of each, everyday.
  • Lefty1290
    Lefty1290 Posts: 551 Member
    Tubbs216 wrote: »
    I don't eat a lot of bread, pasta or rice now. I don't find them worth the calories and I can do without them quite well. I'll have a bit if I want, but the huge plates of creamy pasta with a tiny salad thrust on the side of the plate are behind me (I hope!)

    Same here. I have really cut down on bread. I don't eat hot dogs with the bun anymore. I don't eat as much bread with dinner. Not worth the calories.
  • tulips_and_tea
    tulips_and_tea Posts: 5,741 Member
    dredremeg wrote: »
    I didn't relize how much sodium was in cottage cheese, 1/2 cup 420.

    This was surprising to me, too. Not sure where you are but the Lucerne brand sells "no salt added" cottage cheese. Then I just add my own amount. MUCH better that way!
  • bbontheb
    bbontheb Posts: 718 Member
    There have been quite a few things: pasta (serving size/calories), cheese (omg), how the weight of serving sizes can be way off from what package project for amounts (7 crackers = so many grams). Often it was way lower. Also, how small a serving of cereal, or oatmeal when you weigh it. Sigh.

    My number one thing I think is that dishes are way too big. Big bowls, big plates, big mugs. Consuming a lot more than I thought by using such enormous things and not looking at serving sizes.
  • AarghTony
    AarghTony Posts: 8 Member
    I_said_so wrote: »
    Hilarious "serving sizes". two Girl Scout cookies? pfffft! ;)

    Hahaha, gotta love the cookies!!!
  • suzu_2
    suzu_2 Posts: 311 Member
    How much I like veggies! I was always about meat and bread and unfortunately sweets.
  • galgenstrick
    galgenstrick Posts: 2,086 Member
    edited May 2015
    My peanut butter and jelly sandwiches were probably 1000 calories :-(
  • Frankie_Felinius
    Frankie_Felinius Posts: 1,398 Member
    Alcohol doesn't fit in...at all. I'm a huge beer nerd...who also likes margaritas...and whiskey sours...and Bloody Marys...and recently sangria.
  • krissyreminisce
    krissyreminisce Posts: 284 Member
    See, now I thought I would get less cheese per serving than I actually do. I have a cheese plane that cuts whisper thin slices of hard cheeses, and, believe me, there are a LOT of slices in an ounce of sharp cheddar, if you slice it super thin.

    Of course, if you are like CERTAIN HUSBANDS and insist upon taking bites directly out of an 8 oz block of Cabot Seriously Sharp? You have a rude awakening coming your way.

    There's a guy at my work, that before I started there, he'd eat a 1lb block of cheese for lunch EVERY DAY. Apparently he had a heart attack.

    He does not eat that pound a cheese for lunch anymore. haha.

    Now whenever I see him that's all I can think of, and just kind of be disgusted at the thought of eating a whole pound of cheese for lunch.
  • krissyreminisce
    krissyreminisce Posts: 284 Member
    edited May 2015
    AarghTony wrote: »
    I_said_so wrote: »
    Hilarious "serving sizes". two Girl Scout cookies? pfffft! ;)

    Hahaha, gotta love the cookies!!!

    I bought Girl Scout cookies this year but only bought the Thin Mints (4 cookies per serving!) and the Savannah Smiles (5 cookies per serving!). I wanted the Cranberry Crisps ones, I believe they had 4/5 as well, but they were north of me. :(

    And amazingly, there are still quite a few left as they live in the freezer for a while. :wink:
  • kcrkcs
    kcrkcs Posts: 15 Member
    For years I had attributed my weight creep to my wine consumption. Turns out I was probably right. Now I make room for it in the cals, or I don't get to drink it.
  • manukahoneybadger
    manukahoneybadger Posts: 30 Member
    Granola... I used to love nibbling on a handful dry. Then I started MFP and decided to have a little handful, weighed it... and then realised half of my bodyweight is probably past dry granola nibbles.

    Also sauces knowledge made me sad- I used to be all about the sauces (not Mayo, but tomato/ horseradish/ mustard/tartare & whatnot) Sauces probably account for the most of other half of me.

    But in the happier way- asparagas and mushrooms literally blow my mind every time :smiley:
  • Zedeff
    Zedeff Posts: 651 Member
    edited May 2015
    One food that I found that surprised me: bacon. From the package, you'd think it's terrible for you. From the package today, my Fletcher's Masterpiece Farmer's Cut bacon is 360 calories per 2 slices (66 grams). I split the 500 gram package with my wife, which should equal 1363 calories of bacon... for each of us!

    BUT!

    If you actually look at the USDA info for cooked and drained bacon, it's actually not bad. My 500 grams of raw bacon yielded 147 grams of cooked bacon plus about a cup of liquid fat. The USDA data on cooked bacon is 150 calories per ounce, so my 1300+ calories of raw bacon ends up being about 393 calories with 25 grams of protein. A 72% calorie reduction, and reasonable macro ratio!

    If you're weighing and logging bacon, it's the ONLY food I can think of that you should log cooked rather than raw. It's still a special occasion indulgence for Mother's day today, but it's not crazy indulgent like I thought.
  • BethClicks
    BethClicks Posts: 61 Member
    The very first week thatI logged was a real eye-opener! I considered myself a reasonably healthy-eating gal, I was disabused of that notion pretty quickly haha! Logging has become everything for me.
    The item that shocked me the most when I first logged was my daily morning pack of pop-tarts: holy moly!
    200 cal sugar bomb, for what I was basically using as a morning pick-me-up between breakfast and lunch. I don't even like them that much!! They were just 'easy' :neutral:
  • Lizrobin3108
    Lizrobin3108 Posts: 102 Member
    The amount of added sugar in everything. I don't avoid sugar but I don't understand why one 5 or 6 oz cup of yogurt needs 17 grams of sugar?!?
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Zedeff wrote: »
    One food that I found that surprised me: bacon. From the package, you'd think it's terrible for you. From the package today, my Fletcher's Masterpiece Farmer's Cut bacon is 360 calories per 2 slices (66 grams). I split the 500 gram package with my wife, which should equal 1363 calories of bacon... for each of us!

    BUT!

    If you actually look at the USDA info for cooked and drained bacon, it's actually not bad. My 500 grams of raw bacon yielded 147 grams of cooked bacon plus about a cup of liquid fat. The USDA data on cooked bacon is 150 calories per ounce, so my 1300+ calories of raw bacon ends up being about 393 calories with 25 grams of protein. A 72% calorie reduction, and reasonable macro ratio!

    If you're weighing and logging bacon, it's the ONLY food I can think of that you should log cooked rather than raw. It's still a special occasion indulgence for Mother's day today, but it's not crazy indulgent like I thought.

    Oh wow... that's some bacon. I hate bacon because it's a PITA to log.