Surprising Calorie Findings

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Replies

  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Desserts. Using the recipe builder and finding out that the apple crumb pie I made was like 580 calories for 1/8 of the pie (it was an Internet recipe and they claimed that a serving was 330 calories or something...). Cheesecake. 1500 calories worth isn't that much. So yeah pretty much every dessert sadly (pecan pie OMG).

    Bagels... always showing at like 250 calories or something but when you actually weigh one from a local place and use a USDA entry... 450 calories in a bagel!

    Stuff like chicken strips and fries. I had 2 chicken strips and a handful of fries at lunch, weighed from the package... 700 calories.

    I mean, often you know that it's pretty bad, but you don't really realize how bad until you weigh them or use a recipe builder...
  • UltraVegAthlete
    UltraVegAthlete Posts: 667 Member
    Nutritional Yeast...
  • whitpauly
    whitpauly Posts: 1,483 Member
    Nuts,,sad cuz I used to eat handfuls,now I hafta country them out and 170 cals for a serving isn't very many
  • ladyhusker39
    ladyhusker39 Posts: 1,406 Member
    Salad dressing. I was shocked that many are higher in calories than an entire entree salad.

    And while I'm thinking about it, so many of my "sensible" salad choices at restaurants. I could have had the steak and baked potato and been much better off (which is mostly what I order now).
  • LaurenD63
    LaurenD63 Posts: 57 Member
    whitpauly wrote: »
    Nuts,,sad cuz I used to eat handfuls,now I hafta country them out and 170 cals for a serving isn't very many

    Agreed. I thought they were a good choice for when cutting back at first, but surprisingly not so much.
  • Strawblackcat
    Strawblackcat Posts: 944 Member
    Nutritional Yeast...

    ^^^^

    I used to heaped spoonfuls of this stuff on top of veggies until I realized how little you get for 60 calories.
  • newheavensearth
    newheavensearth Posts: 870 Member
    edited January 2018
    Good- bagged salad, puffed wheat and puffed rice. Basically water, air, and fiber.

    Not so good- food toppings like sauces and jellies. Weigh and measure everything!

    Granola. Tiny servings not worth it.
  • azkabanned
    azkabanned Posts: 79 Member
    edited January 2018
    Ughhh cheesecake is my kryptonite, but since finding out I’ve switched over to homemade Japanese style cheesecake that’s under 300calories a serving.
  • 1houndgal
    1houndgal Posts: 558 Member
    Taco Bell, and Mcdonalds are fraught with "Calorie Bombs".
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  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    lucerorojo wrote: »
    I weighed a banana for the first time, and it's about 40 calories more than what I have been logging for 6 months based on a random entry in the database. (I realize that bananas come in different sizes, so there may have been times when I ate a banana that was smaller or larger).
    This time I used the weight in grams and the USDA. I also weighed a thick slice of bacon (which I had been estimating as "2 slices" on a random entry). According to USDA it was 70 calories more than I have been logging! That's 130 calories right there innacurate for a typical breakfast for me.

    Bacon sucks. Totally depends on how long it's cooked too.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    leahraskie wrote: »
    Condiments. :/ I like my dipping sauces, but I use at least two packets and they are 50 cal a piece.

    Mayo. No problem here using 200 calories worth on my fries.
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
    Fruit-based desserts, like crisps and gratins. The fruit part is fine, but the toppings (with nuts, sugar, butter/margarine, and often flour or rolled oats) can set you back way more than you'd planned. That being said, there ARE lower-cal versions out there. I just realized that I can't blithely ask "How high-cal can apple crisp be?" when the answer is, "Run it through the tracker and find out..."
  • Sp1tfire
    Sp1tfire Posts: 1,120 Member
    I always thought frosted mini wheats/ shredded wheat were an excellent cereal choice and 'better' than cookie crisp or cheerios even.... until i found out what calories are and that tasteless shredded wheat has way more than my beloved cocoa puffs and the serving is sad
  • koslowkj
    koslowkj Posts: 188 Member
    French onion dip. I knew it would be higher in calories and that it was something I was going to have to drastically cut back on. But a serving is so sad and small! I had been hoping I could have my chips and dip a few times a month but I've stopped getting it at all because I know I can't stop myself from eating too much once I start.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,980 Member
    No real surprises for me to be honest other than now small 300kcal of rice is (about 80gr raw). The eye opener for me was to realise how much calories are in a 150g bag of crisps, or how many are in a 150g bag of Nimm2. I mean, I knew the nutritional label, but never really thought about what it means.
  • wefts
    wefts Posts: 183 Member
    once I started eating right I was shocked at how many calories I had been indulging in I am now quite well fed and that is eating less than half what I used to
  • crabbybrianna
    crabbybrianna Posts: 344 Member
    Honey is my killer. I LOOOOVE honey! I would be eating healthy and drizzle it liberally over my morning oats, stir it into my tea, use it in baking, counter the vinegar in a homemade salad dressing or sauce, etc. But one *KITTEN* TEASPOON is 60 calories! Ugh.

    Tablespoon. One tablespoon of honey is 60 calories, not teaspoon. No honey I’ve ever seen has been 60 cal for only a teaspoon.

    Didn't notice my phone autocorrected as I was typing.

    One tablespoon is still tiny for someone who raises bees!

    That’s probably true! Everyone always talks about eating spoonfuls of peanut butter straight out of the jar, but I eat honey straight out of the jar like that. Raising bees would be dangerous for me.
  • vickyclare96
    vickyclare96 Posts: 124 Member
    Cheese! Finding out a serving of cheddar is 30g and weighing it to find you've been putting ~100g on a sandwich
  • dsboohead
    dsboohead Posts: 1,899 Member
    Agree on nuts! I used to eat half a bag of cashews thinking I was making a healthy choice until I weighed it once, worked out the enormous amount of calories and fat I was consuming in my “healthy” snack! Urgh. I had to take the bag away from my boyfriend as he was eating and eating and I had to tell him to stop! Haha.

    Also...not calorie wise but the amount of sodium in soy sauce. I can almost meet my daily max with soy sauce alone!!!

    Just picked up a box of dill pickle flavored cashews. Each packet in the box is 100 calories....great flavor! I have to have pre measured out packages or if given a whole bag.....that does not work for me!
  • dsboohead
    dsboohead Posts: 1,899 Member
    Honey is my killer. I LOOOOVE honey! I would be eating healthy and drizzle it liberally over my morning oats, stir it into my tea, use it in baking, counter the vinegar in a homemade salad dressing or sauce, etc. But one *KITTEN* TEASPOON is 60 calories! Ugh.

    Tablespoon. One tablespoon of honey is 60 calories, not teaspoon. No honey I’ve ever seen has been 60 cal for only a teaspoon.

    Didn't notice my phone autocorrected as I was typing.

    One tablespoon is still tiny for someone who raises bees!

    I grew up around bees cause my dad raised them and extracted honey from his hives to sell to a local distributor.
    Most of the honey we had in the cupboard had bee parts throughout so it kinda grossed me out.
    Honey not a necessity for me :|
  • emilywelsby96
    emilywelsby96 Posts: 1 Member
    I am just curious what blew other people’s minds when they started counting calories.
    Mine, for example, would be a slice of cheesecake my husband and I ordered last weekend. I mean, it was delicious, and a whopping 1500 calories for ONE SLICE.
    Alternatively, my home made mashed potatoes are less than 200 calories per serving and I thought for sure they would be more. I guess some good things in life are not always so terrible! (except for the sodium content, good Lord, but we won’t talk about that.

    I was pleasantly surprised to find out that a mini milk is only 30 cals and gives you 37% of your calcium a day! It also has 3x the amount of calcium the same amount of milk does. I don't really know how they do it but I'm so happy! It's now my guilt free chocolate fix
  • WilmaValley
    WilmaValley Posts: 1,092 Member
    Yeah nuts have SO many calories, but are so good and so good for you!
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