Sneaky Calories
skybleu329
Posts: 18 Member
What are some healthy foods that can be sneaky on calories.....
Was also wondering if cottage cheese is sneaky in calories as well..
Was also wondering if cottage cheese is sneaky in calories as well..
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Replies
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I don't consider anything to be sneaky on calories if it says it right there on the label. Having said that, there are many foods which are "healthy" but not low in calories. The two aren't interchangeable. In fact, many low calorie foods are pretty nutritionally pointless - look at lettuce, for one.
There are also a lot of foods which promote themselves as "healthy" and are not low calories - look at muesli for example. Others that come to mind are things like fruit/nut mixes, protein bars, any number of all natural salads and grain mixes.
Education is key. Don't presume something is low calorie just because it is nutritionally valuable.12 -
Nuts, yogurt, fruit..,all good and in my diet necessary just have to take account.3
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Nothing is sneaky if you're weighing and logging your food. The kitchen scale has become my best friend, because now I KNOW whether or not I can have something extra. It's been really empowering for me to be able to make confident food choices, instead of eating mindlessly and hoping for the best, or denying myself foods I like because they might make me gain weight.17
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Nothing is sneaky if you're weighing and logging your food. The kitchen scale has become my best friend, because now I KNOW whether or not I can have something extra. It's been really empowering for me to be able to make confident food choices, instead of eating mindlessly and hoping for the best, or denying myself foods I like because they might make me gain weight.
This! So much this! Be aware before you put it in your mouth and you'll never fall prey to sneaky calories.6 -
I was at 7-11 yesterday and considered a small bag that said it was healthy. I turned it around and was like heck no! It was almost 300 calories!6
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Learn about food and calories. Knowledge is power. When I hear sneaky calories I think of what you might get added to your food when you go out to eat.7
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I think it just depends on expectations. As others have said, a lot of foods are considered "healthy" but aren't actually low calorie, so you expect them to be lower calorie than they actually are. For example:
1. Quinoa - people talk about it like it's a super food and I ate it every day for the first month or two trying to lose weight before I joined MFP, but it's not low calorie at all. It's pretty similar to rice which is very high calorie, imo. I guess people like it because it has more protein than other grains, but unless you're vegan there are way more "calorie efficient" ways to get your protein.
2. Dates - they can be hidden calories for some people because you assume "it's a fruit, it's healthy!" They aren't *that* high in calories, but if you plan to eat a whole cup or something, it's not going to be 25 calories like it might be with another fruit.
3. Ground turkey - it's not really high in calories, but it's higher than people think it is; people assume it's lower in calories than ground beef, but if you get lean ground beef, it's pretty much the same or sometimes turkey is even higher.
4. Coconut oil - a lot of "healthy" recipes use coconut oil in place of butter - it has just as many calories so I think that's tricky for some people.
5. Nuts - they are straight-up calorie bombs. I think it's like quinoa. A lot of vegan "healthy" bloggers swear by nuts so people assume they're lower calories than other foods; they're not. If you aren't vegan, there are way more "calorie efficient" ways to get enough protein.12 -
Bananas for me. I could eat 2 to 3 at a sitting and hey, it is fruit so it is like eating an apple, right?1
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Anything with refined oil/sugar is super sneaky! I consider premade, ready to eat meals the worst. There's a lot of sodium and preservatives which are rarely satisfying until you're eating 3 portions. lol
I'd say stick to whole foods and cook whenever possible. I hate going out to eat; restaurants are never accurate with their "caloric estimates".3 -
From the title i thought this would be about the spiders and moths people eat in thier sleep14
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- Avocado's.
- Breakfast cereals - although not really that calorific according to nutritional info on the packet when I weighed out one of my typical bowls I was eating two portions and often hungry an hour later*
I don't usually eat breakfasts, and when I do it is not cereal, but I've learn that when I'm trying to add in calories (I sometimes bulk) cereal is a good way of getting a lot of carbohydrate without feeling stuffed.0 -
Veggie dip and Pasta
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I'd say party food/restaurant food when you can't weigh and measure but you can get fooled into believing it's less-calorific than it actually is. Say some popcorn varieties (Skinny Pop is great. A lot of the other bags in the snack food aisle? Even of the non-caramel variety? Not so much). Terra chips. (B-but it's root vegetables! They're so low-cal!) Salad dressings and dips.0
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Pre-packed salads!! I grabbed one the other day on my lunch break, it was some Chicken-Mediterranean one. Turns out the (small) plastic bowl was over 600 cals. I put it back pretty quick!!2
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Fruit and nut muesli! (Before I started MFP I thought it was the ideal "diet" breakfast full of wholegrains, oats, fruit and nuts) So before I started weighing my food I thought I was giving myself a 40g recommended portion, it was 100g.... As others have said weighing is the key, but is not always possible if you're eating away from home, so it's good to know which are the sneaky calorie bombs if you can't measure.0
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Food labels can be sneaky when the serving size is a ridiculous size that no one can eat. I've been caught out a few times like this when I've not been concentrating. One example was a croissant where the calories were listed for a serving size of 1/3rd of the croissant. Who eats 1/3rd of a croissant?7
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Food labels can be sneaky when the serving size is a ridiculous size that no one can eat. I've been caught out a few times like this when I've not been concentrating. One example was a croissant where the calories were listed for a serving size of 1/3rd of the croissant. Who eats 1/3rd of a croissant?
Oh my god croissants! I remember checking the calories of one after I'd eaten it, 600cals! How the *kitten* it's 80% *kitten* fresh air! lol1 -
Haha yeah, croissants. So many calories for something that's not filling at all (although I've made some that came up to 300 calories and were actually very filling - seems it's the case for most of the ones made with butter vs oil).
The killer for me are spring rolls (the non fried kind). 480 calories or something for just veggies wrapped in rice paper. I'm guessing most of the calories are from the sauce?
But 'healthy' foods? Coconut oil, olive oil, nuts, beans, seeds, salmon.. lots of heart healthy foods are high in calories, because they contain healthy fats, which are still fats (although it seems coconut oil isn't as healthy as it's been advertised, with lots of saturated fat). And obviously dips and salad dressings (or salads as a whole, which can be 1200+ calories in restaurants).
And don't forget those '0 calories' sprays that are definitely not 0 calories if you overdo it...
I concur with using MFP and logging accurately to avoid those 'sneaky' calories though.1 -
animatorswearbras wrote: »Food labels can be sneaky when the serving size is a ridiculous size that no one can eat. I've been caught out a few times like this when I've not been concentrating. One example was a croissant where the calories were listed for a serving size of 1/3rd of the croissant. Who eats 1/3rd of a croissant?
Oh my god croissants! I remember checking the calories of one after I'd eaten it, 600cals! How the *kitten* it's 80% *kitten* fresh air! lol
If it's a butter croissant...
OTOH, I can get a bag of mini croissants at 70 calories each.2 -
Food labels can be sneaky when the serving size is a ridiculous size that no one can eat. I've been caught out a few times like this when I've not been concentrating. One example was a croissant where the calories were listed for a serving size of 1/3rd of the croissant. Who eats 1/3rd of a croissant?
I've mentioned this before and I will again (such is my pain at the discovery) but Pop Tarts - sold in boxes, inside the box is a silver plastic pouch which contains 2 pop tarts. I assumed that the nutritional information was for one serving, i.e. a pouch containing 2 pop tarts - but No!! a pouch is 2 servings!! The cruel, cruel *kitten*!!4 -
Neither do I.JerSchmare wrote: »I don't really understand what "sneaky" calories are. Since I look at the label, log my portion, then weigh out my portion, then eat the portion that I logged and weighed, there is nothing sneaky about calories. I am 100% aware of all the calories.
I just see people getting sucked into the "healthy" bandwagon of eating. Healthy does not necessarily mean one will lose weight on it. Education is important. Learn about calories and how weight loss works.
Read labels. They're a wealth of information.1 -
Ready2Rock206 wrote: »
WW doesn't have an unlimited fruit policy. Most fruits are zero points, but we were never told we could eat an unlimited amount. Where I went, the recommendation was up to two servings.0 -
I find nut/fruit trail mixes to be an absolute waste. I picked up a small pack at my job's snack area and was surprised to see it was 350 cal for such a tiny pack!0
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StealthHealth wrote: »Food labels can be sneaky when the serving size is a ridiculous size that no one can eat. I've been caught out a few times like this when I've not been concentrating. One example was a croissant where the calories were listed for a serving size of 1/3rd of the croissant. Who eats 1/3rd of a croissant?
I've mentioned this before and I will again (such is my pain at the discovery) but Pop Tarts - sold in boxes, inside the box is a silver plastic pouch which contains 2 pop tarts. I assumed that the nutritional information was for one serving, i.e. a pouch containing 2 pop tarts - but No!! a pouch is 2 servings!! The cruel, cruel *kitten*!!
Now, too be fair, there's quite a difference between "I didn't check the nutrition" and "I saw the nutrition and didn't agree with the serving."
If you want to budget 400 calories for Pop Tarts, take both -- but that's a pretty big breakfast. If you're happy with the recommended size as one for a snack of breakfast, then you can get away with 200.
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collectingblues wrote: »StealthHealth wrote: »Food labels can be sneaky when the serving size is a ridiculous size that no one can eat. I've been caught out a few times like this when I've not been concentrating. One example was a croissant where the calories were listed for a serving size of 1/3rd of the croissant. Who eats 1/3rd of a croissant?
I've mentioned this before and I will again (such is my pain at the discovery) but Pop Tarts - sold in boxes, inside the box is a silver plastic pouch which contains 2 pop tarts. I assumed that the nutritional information was for one serving, i.e. a pouch containing 2 pop tarts - but No!! a pouch is 2 servings!! The cruel, cruel *kitten*!!
Now, too be fair, there's quite a difference between "I didn't check the nutrition" and "I saw the nutrition and didn't agree with the serving."
If you want to budget 400 calories for Pop Tarts, take both -- but that's a pretty big breakfast. If you're happy with the recommended size as one for a snack of breakfast, then you can get away with 200.
re: The stuff in bold. I don't think I understand what you're saying.1 -
VeggieLoverMarcie wrote: »I was at 7-11 yesterday and considered a small bag that said it was healthy. I turned it around and was like heck no! It was almost 300 calories!
Calorie-dense foods can be healthy though (in the sense that they have nutrients that our body requires). Something doesn't have to be low calorie to be "healthy." Things like nuts and avocado are very calorie-dense, but few people would declare they aren't healthy.3 -
I think it just depends on expectations. As others have said, a lot of foods are considered "healthy" but aren't actually low calorie, so you expect them to be lower calorie than they actually are. For example:
1. Quinoa - people talk about it like it's a super food and I ate it every day for the first month or two trying to lose weight before I joined MFP, but it's not low calorie at all. It's pretty similar to rice which is very high calorie, imo. I guess people like it because it has more protein than other grains, but unless you're vegan there are way more "calorie efficient" ways to get your protein.
2. Dates - they can be hidden calories for some people because you assume "it's a fruit, it's healthy!" They aren't *that* high in calories, but if you plan to eat a whole cup or something, it's not going to be 25 calories like it might be with another fruit.
3. Ground turkey - it's not really high in calories, but it's higher than people think it is; people assume it's lower in calories than ground beef, but if you get lean ground beef, it's pretty much the same or sometimes turkey is even higher.
4. Coconut oil - a lot of "healthy" recipes use coconut oil in place of butter - it has just as many calories so I think that's tricky for some people.
5. Nuts - they are straight-up calorie bombs. I think it's like quinoa. A lot of vegan "healthy" bloggers swear by nuts so people assume they're lower calories than other foods; they're not. If you aren't vegan, there are way more "calorie efficient" ways to get enough protein.
Even for vegans, nuts aren't a great source of protein. To get sufficient protein from nuts would require consuming an amount that would put most people way over their calorie goals. Vegans can get protein from beans, grains, tofu, tempeh, and seitan. Unless a vegan is intentionally trying to gain weight, they should just consider nuts as a great source of fat and not rely on them for protein.2 -
VeggieLoverMarcie wrote: »I was at 7-11 yesterday and considered a small bag that said it was healthy. I turned it around and was like heck no! It was almost 300 calories!
Small bag of what?
There are lots of calorie dense "healthy" foods, just because something is 300 calories doesn't mean it is unhealthy. And depending on what the food was, and what role it was going to play in your day - 300 cals doesn't sound like that many, even if it was for a snack.5
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