Foods with hidden calories/high calorie sneaky foods

MeganReid1991

What are some foods that’s you had to eat a lot of that you didn’t realize we’re really high in calories?

Mine would be Mayonnaise, Ketcup, Stir fry sauce, bananas compared to other fruits, booze!
I still eat all these things just more aware and practice portion control!

SilverRose89

Pesto. Like, I should have known it would be. It's made of oil, cheese, and nuts.

But before logging I never realised just how many calories. I still eat pesto lot, I just now weigh it out

Crafty_camper123

Do you mean food that you expected to be a certain amount, but found out it was way more then you thought? Booze I suppose. The amount per oz. for some things is really astonishing. Especially if it has a creamy flavor. I know I have more, but I'm drawing a blank at the moment.

Crafty_camper123

I have some sun dried tomato pesto in my fridge right now. I was about to open it, and use it and thought I would look at the calories. It was like 210 or something (might have been more) PER TABLESPOON! I put it back, and it remains unopened in my fridge, lol. I just can't justify adding another 200 calories of what is basically seasoning to my meal.

skelterhelter

Peanut Butter. God, how I miss that one!

pinggolfer96

Basically anything creamy.....
Anything that you can see oil separation ....

DoubleUbea

Anything with oil. I knew it was high in fat and calories but I never put it together until MFP.
I still eat peanut butter but I stopped using 2 tablespoons and started using 32 grams.

fb47

Peanut Butter and cereals (I mean who eats one serving of cereals???), I never knew they were that high. I used to eat both of them all the time as a kid. I have never been overweight in my life which amazes me considering the amount of garbage food I used to eat and drink.

moogie_fit

Nuts (must weigh out)

Certain prepacked foods that are actually per "50 grams" or half a bar rather than the whole damn thing

Potatoes the opposite tho, surprised that they were so low calorie, I always avoided them as I thought they were bad 'white starch' when in reality they are one of the most nutritious starches out there

MixedbarbieMOM1991

Beer☹️

MeganReid1991

Ugh yes peanut butter for sure!!!!
& nuts too but there so good!

mjrc2

Good craft beer...like a nice hoppy IPA!

Fflpnari

Nuts, nut butter, starbucks fraps, cheese, pasta, breads,
All these things that when I measure.... the serving looks so small

MeganReid1991

Yes pasta!!!

yirara

No big surprises there. I always knew that hundred grams of sugary snacks would be around 370kcal, and hundred grams of crisps over 500. But the big eye opener for me was that eating a bag of hard crisps actually takes 370kcal out of this small, 40+ girl's allowance.

Some eye openers were calories in ready-made products. There's just so much 'crap' in there that I would not cook/bake with: extra much oil and sugar especially to give taste and texture to industrially made food. Now, don't get me wrong: I don't mind industrial food. I just think that if I make a cake myself it's lower calorie and tastes better.

Wendyanneroberts

I was surprised with the amount of calories in Brussel sprouts!

From my old weight watcher days I knew peas or sweet corn had more calories but in their old points system all other vegetables were free. Then discovering mfp and logging/counting all my calories I was amazed that Brussel sprouts were even higher in calories.

shaf238

I'm super conscious of what I eat but my weak spot is profiteroles, it makes me sad how many calories are in one of those tiny little balls of chocolate creamy pastry heaven

motivatedmartha

If I am on the road and have to resort to motorway services food/snacks. It always shocks me how they can take the relatively low calorie ingredients in a small salad and turn it into a 350 cal bowl of nothingness by adding sooo much dressing. Some are considerate and include the dressing in a little pot but many don't. Where separate, I always think the nutritional info ought to list the dressing separately too.

ETA: I also put down a lot of my weight gain to eating too much fruit - I cannot buy enough and can clear my very large fruit bowl in an afternoon. I just love all the fruit! Serious willpower to leave some for other people (and keep within my calorie goals - needless to say I am always over on sugar)

smolmaus

Alternative flours. For some reason I expected chickpea flour or lentil flour (or just ground up red lentils) to be lower calorie than plain old wheat but nope, they're basically the same! Obvs the lentils and chickpeas have more protein and different nutrient profiles so I do still prefer baking with them but still!

Fallen into the trap of "healthier"= lower kcal!

sadmaker

Almonds. Had NO idea. Was feeling so good about myself bc I was eating healthy instead of chips or M&Ms

estherdragonbat

Most restaurant dishes.

Also, I should mention that I eat strictly kosher. Several chain coffee shops in my area arrange with a local kosher bakery to provide them with kosher-certified wraps and pastries to sell in their stores. I'm in Ontario and these chains need to provide the calories on everything they sell, whether it's their product or not. So, discovering that apple and cherry turnovers are 600 calories apiece? A large (say 'width of my palm' and 1/2" thick) chocolate-white chocolate chip cookie is 380? A jam rugelach—about the size and shape of a cinnamon buffalo bun, but more cookie-like than bread like is 1240?

I haven't given up on bakery treats, but before I indulge, I try to research in advance and figure out if I can make one fit my day. (I'm happy to split a custard donut with someone and enjoy my 120 calories. But even half a turnover is too much of a 'hit' when I'm on 1360 to lose 1/2lb per week before exercise.)

Sabine_Stroehm

Anything from BWW.
Almost anything from Sonic.

back when I was losing and learning about foods: nuts, nut butters. I still eat them, of course, but know they are calorific.

CF4L

Peanut Butter is the most disappointing for me. I love peanut butter. However, I have found that PB2 is not a bad replacement for it. It's not like the real thing but it's close.

Cbean08

HappyCampr1 wrote: »

Fflpnari wrote: »

Nuts, nut butter, starbucks fraps, cheese, pasta, breads,
All these things that when I measure.... the serving looks so small

I order my Frappuccino with 2%milk and without the whipped cream on top. I don’t miss it at all and it cuts a lot of calories out. Whipped cream is just a waste of calories, imo.

You're not saving much by omitting the whipped cream. I think the whip is like 60 calories? You could swap the 2% for almond milk which would save more. The difference between 2% and whole milk isn't very much either. But the difference between almond and whole milk is quite a bit. Unless you like the 2% and in that case, keep it.

josette06

In college I would eat heaping spoonfuls of peanut butter, consuming most of the container in a day.

I can't have it in my house anymore.

hippiesaur

Everything I've eaten all my life Pancake, muffin, donut, cheesecake... I rarely eat these anymore and it's just so sad

23rochelle23

Chicken thighs! One chicken thigh (normal size) is 450+ calories. I mean... I still eat them because they’re delicious but man they knock my calories out!

nevermind18

Gin. Life is cruel. 😢 Also fruit, which we’re taught is healthy. Life is confusing.

ladyhusker39

23rochelle23 wrote: »

Chicken thighs! One chicken thigh (normal size) is 450+ calories. I mean... I still eat them because they’re delicious but man they knock my calories out!

I'm thinking that must be including the skin. If you switched to skinless it would be a lot less than that.

madwells1

All restaurant dishes, especially the salads.

Who knew that you can pack 2500 calories into a salad? No wonder people trying to lose weight that don't count calories can't (when they think they are eating healthy).

DoubleUbea

Saw this one this morning:
Cheesecake Factory’s 2,700-calorie breakfast burrito among “winners” of the Xtreme Eating Awards
https://thetakeout.com/cheesecake-factory-s-2-700-calorie-breakfast-burrito-am-1827892867