Misleading food! What did you underestimate?

124

Replies

  • degan2011
    degan2011 Posts: 316 Member
    Not sure if I over or underestimate here, but rice is hard for me to log since the label is typically based on dry rice... who eats dry rice? LOL. Any suggestions on how to calculate? I guess it depends on how much water and how long the rice is cooked. :grumble: I'm on rice eating strike.

    It's also hard for me to log Indian food... there are so many spices and a lack of nutrition info available online.

    Ummm....adding water and heat to rice doesn't change the calorie content of the rice. So, you measure it dry, then cook it. If you measure 1/4 cup dry and it comes out as 1/2 cooked...then you ate and log 1/4 cup dry. Same with dry beans.

    Ummm... people don't usually cook just 1/4 cup of dry rice, so not sure this is too helpful? However most of the rice measurements I use here on MFP are cooked volume so I think it should be good enough. Nothing measured here or anywhere else is going to be 100% accurate anyway.
  • I went to a local Mexican place.. ordered a veggie burrito bc I don't heat meat,,,,, guess what is was 900 calories!!! it wasn't even good!!
  • edfuentes
    edfuentes Posts: 11 Member
    Most "entrees" from a restaurant. No matter how healthy it may look, its usually the portion size and probably the oil or butter they use to cook it.

    For everyone who hates how quickly ice cream calories add up, try this! http://www.arcticzero.com/

    I found it at my local supermarket (unfortunately I haven't found it anywhere else yet). Its gluten, and fat free! A whole pint is only about 20g of carbs and sugar, and 150 calories! Leave it out of the freezer for about 10 minutes so its melts a little, then use a spoon to swirl and mix it up. Its doesnt taste as good as ice cream at first (obviously) but I swear after about a month, I love the flavor and don't miss all the other ice cream choices. You can even throw a scoop of peanut butter and its still not as bad as regular ice cream!
  • sakuragreenlily
    sakuragreenlily Posts: 334 Member
    I ordered blueberry pancakes and a side of scrapple one time, thinking the scrapple would be way higher, but I was way off.

    As I read this I said out loud to myself, "What the h*** is scrapple?!"... Then I googled it. Disappointed that it is mainly scraps and no apples...

    Also, various restaurant salads. Sometimes even without the dressing the salads are outrageous!
  • degan2011
    degan2011 Posts: 316 Member
    http://nutritiondata.self.com/

    A good place to get nutritional info. :)
  • Happymelz
    Happymelz Posts: 536 Member
    Macaroni and cheese. It's not fair! :noway:

    THIS!!!!
  • skinnymalinkyscot
    skinnymalinkyscot Posts: 174 Member
    Aerosol creams which say something like 50 calories for 12mls, but it doesnt come out like a liquid it comes out like a blob the size of your fist it just looks high calories, how can I measure something which shoots out like a mousse
  • perfect_storm
    perfect_storm Posts: 326 Member
    As some one stated even with out the chips guacamole
  • serafin366
    serafin366 Posts: 60 Member
    Resturaunt salads! Breakfast dishes! It all in the way they are prepared/ dressings etc.
  • degan2011
    degan2011 Posts: 316 Member
    For everyone who hates how quickly ice cream calories add up, try this! http://www.arcticzero.com/

    I found it at my local supermarket (unfortunately I haven't found it anywhere else yet). Its gluten, and fat free! A whole pint is only about 20g of carbs and sugar, and 150 calories! Leave it out of the freezer for about 10 minutes so its melts a little, then use a spoon to swirl and mix it up. Its doesnt taste as good as ice cream at first (obviously) but I swear after about a month, I love the flavor and don't miss all the other ice cream choices. You can even throw a scoop of peanut butter and its still not as bad as regular ice cream!

    Thanks for the tip! I searched it and the website says that all 3 grocery stores in my town sell this stuff... I am gonna check it out! :) Ice Cream is my Achilles heal. Just love it!
  • sarahertzberger
    sarahertzberger Posts: 534 Member
    hot ham and cheese sub from a wonderful small restaurant we have near here :-(
  • kiwidrop
    kiwidrop Posts: 222 Member
    I ordered a Wedge Salad from TGIF. IT WAS 620 CALORIES!! HOW IS A SALAD WITH NO DRESSING 620 CALORIES!
  • PepperWorm
    PepperWorm Posts: 1,206
    Moe's tortilla chips. What a rip!
  • hgycta
    hgycta Posts: 3,013 Member
    Dairy Queen's ice cream cakes... smh... so disappointed in myself after having a small slice and discovering I was eating over 700 calories of something I assumed would be no more than 500 at most! I should have known better, at least I do now! :p
  • Mamakatspokane
    Mamakatspokane Posts: 3,098 Member
    Trail Mix

    Granola Bars

    Granola

    Alcohol

    Peanut Butter:cry:
  • kewpiecyster
    kewpiecyster Posts: 154 Member
    Granola, only a 1/4 cup serving...wtf?

    THIS - Granola is crazy small serving!
  • cmcollins001
    cmcollins001 Posts: 3,472 Member
    Not sure if I over or underestimate here, but rice is hard for me to log since the label is typically based on dry rice... who eats dry rice? LOL. Any suggestions on how to calculate? I guess it depends on how much water and how long the rice is cooked. :grumble: I'm on rice eating strike.

    It's also hard for me to log Indian food... there are so many spices and a lack of nutrition info available online.

    Ummm....adding water and heat to rice doesn't change the calorie content of the rice. So, you measure it dry, then cook it. If you measure 1/4 cup dry and it comes out as 1/2 cooked...then you ate and log 1/4 cup dry. Same with dry beans.

    Ummm... people don't usually cook just 1/4 cup of dry rice, so not sure this is too helpful? However most of the rice measurements I use here on MFP are cooked volume so I think it should be good enough. Nothing measured here or anywhere else is going to be 100% accurate anyway.

    Ummm...You do realize the 1/4 measurement was just an example, right? The same holds true if you cook 1 cup or a whole box...it is still going to equal the same amount of calories cooked. And as far as something being 100% accurate, I would rather trust my known measurement than that of the MFP database whenever I can. I know that I'm using a food scale and weighing 1/4 cup (1/4 cup is used here for example purposes only) that it's correct in grams and not eyeballing the measuring cup.
  • kuntry_navy
    kuntry_navy Posts: 677 Member
    Bean and Cheese Burrito from Alberto's. I figured, harmless right? WRONG! I almost fainted when I saw it was 1020 calories and 2250 of soduim! :noway:
    WHAT???? :noway: oh man!!! :sad:

    I used to live a block away from one in SoCal, coudn't get enough of those things!
  • Antoine112
    Antoine112 Posts: 49 Member
    I'm Asian and I eat rice practically every day. Mfp calculates 1 cup of Basmati rice to be 100 cals and 1/2 cup of red rice to be 220 cals. Not sure if either one is accurate. I consider rice to be the healthiest food as you can have it with a variety of vegetable dishes and still be under 400 cals!
  • wolfchild59
    wolfchild59 Posts: 2,608 Member
    My friends and I were out all night driving home, and decided to stop at Ihop. Not the healthiest choice :P. phone was dead so no mfp D:. So I chose a GARDEN OMLETTE. Literally, tomatoes, peppers, onions mushrooms and cheddar...so i got home and checked....how is that 920 calories?! Crazy. I thought maybe 500 calories and that was pushing it. What are some foods you underestimated?

    I haven't read the entire thread, so I don't know if this has been answered yet. But IHOP puts pancake batter in all of their regular omelettes. The only ones that don't have the pancake batter in them are the ones from the light and fit menu (or whatever it's called).
  • JamBlaze
    JamBlaze Posts: 90 Member
    Wetherspoons food in general. I don't know what the hell they do to it to make them all so high in calories.

    Example: Gourmet hot dog without onion rings and chips: 976 cals. BBQ ribs without coleslaw, chips or onion rings: 1347 cals.

    I mean, I know these options aren't screaming "Pick me! I'm low cal and healthy!" but I never expected them to be *so* bad. If you add chips and onion rings then you're talking for many women, a day's worth of calories in one meal!
  • brandyme
    brandyme Posts: 400 Member
    Not sure if I over or underestimate here, but rice is hard for me to log since the label is typically based on dry rice... who eats dry rice? LOL. Any suggestions on how to calculate? I guess it depends on how much water and how long the rice is cooked. :grumble: I'm on rice eating strike.

    It's also hard for me to log Indian food... there are so many spices and a lack of nutrition info available online.

    Ummm....adding water and heat to rice doesn't change the calorie content of the rice. So, you measure it dry, then cook it. If you measure 1/4 cup dry and it comes out as 1/2 cooked...then you ate and log 1/4 cup dry. Same with dry beans.

    Ummm... people don't usually cook just 1/4 cup of dry rice, so not sure this is too helpful? However most of the rice measurements I use here on MFP are cooked volume so I think it should be good enough. Nothing measured here or anywhere else is going to be 100% accurate anyway.

    Ummm...You do realize the 1/4 measurement was just an example, right? The same holds true if you cook 1 cup or a whole box...it is still going to equal the same amount of calories cooked. And as far as something being 100% accurate, I would rather trust my known measurement than that of the MFP database whenever I can. I know that I'm using a food scale and weighing 1/4 cup (1/4 cup is used here for example purposes only) that it's correct in grams and not eyeballing the measuring cup.

    That's just it.. when rice is made in my household it's made in abundance so it can go around and last for a few days, so I have to measure after it's cooked and it's not the same dry and cooked (not my portion anyway). The longer you cook rice the more water it absorbs. More water means fluffier, which means you get less rice into 1/4 a cup than what you would get dry. How could it possibly be the same, unless you cook the whole box and eat the whole box?

    I guess the only way to really know is to based it off of the dry calories and divide out the cooked rice into servings and do the math... but that takes too much time so I'll stick with MFP estimates!
  • RBurnham90
    RBurnham90 Posts: 202 Member
    peanut butter, those tablespoons add up quick

    this ^

    before I started tracking macros I way underestimated my overall Fats. I would eat peanut butter by the spoonful thinking it was a "healthy" thing to eat. I would put coconut oil on most of my food I cooked, would eat tons of almonds thinking that was a "clean" food that would do no harm. Crazy how much you learn once you decide to track your foods.
  • Amanda_Tate28
    Amanda_Tate28 Posts: 168 Member
    Mexican restaurant tortilla chips with salsa for me. The salsa usually isn't too bad calorie-wise but the chips are usually like 150-170 per 15 chips. In the past I could down the whole basket of chips, and work on a second basket before the meal even came. That's like 600 plus calories NOT INCLUDING the actual meal.

    I think its a cruel joke that most excellent salsas are like 5 calories per tablespoon, but tortilla chips are ridiculously high in calories

    This^
    Salsa and chips are my crack that is making my crack bigger. Haha!
  • forgtmenot
    forgtmenot Posts: 860 Member
    ANY entree at any restaurant! Most restaurants now have the "low cal or low carb" area of their menu. My boyfriend and I went to Applebee's and I ordered something off their low call menu and it was like 500 calories and was just barely enough food and incredibly salty. It seems like they should change the way they cook the"healthy foods" instead of just cutting portions. I'd rather pay $10 for a full size full calorie entree and only eat half and box up the rest, than to pay $10 for half of the entree and not get the other half. It's a complete rip off.

    I just try to avoid going out to eat now as much as possible.
  • Amanda_Tate28
    Amanda_Tate28 Posts: 168 Member
    peanut butter, those tablespoons add up quick
    Breakfast cereal was a big eye opener for me back when i first started measuring food.
    Granola, only a 1/4 cup serving...wtf?
    Bananas! They're fruit, wtf! At 120 calories per, it makes me feel guilty eating a couple.
    nutella...holy **** I could of had a candy bar for that many calories

    So much this^ here

    Peanut butter and Nutella have broken my heart.
    Bananas have betrayed me
    and
    Granola and cereal have lied to me
  • Nouurann
    Nouurann Posts: 183 Member
    Definitely have to second guacamole!
  • Wetherspoons food in general. I don't know what the hell they do to it to make them all so high in calories.

    Example: Gourmet hot dog without onion rings and chips: 976 cals. BBQ ribs without coleslaw, chips or onion rings: 1347 cals.

    I mean, I know these options aren't screaming "Pick me! I'm low cal and healthy!" but I never expected them to be *so* bad. If you add chips and onion rings then you're talking for many women, a day's worth of calories in one meal!

    At least Wetherspoons' menus have the calories alongside each meal. Bloody agree with you how high they are though!
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Any restaurant food that isn't in a 'healthy' menu.
  • degan2011
    degan2011 Posts: 316 Member
    Aerosol creams which say something like 50 calories for 12mls, but it doesnt come out like a liquid it comes out like a blob the size of your fist it just looks high calories, how can I measure something which shoots out like a mousse

    seriously... what is 2 tbls of RediWhip whipped cream at 50 cals. is that 2 tbls before or after you filled it full of air??? :frown: