Whoa- I had no idea there were that many calories in X. Foods to avoid.
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Pizza shocked me the first time I heard about it years back. About 2500 kcals for a pepperoni pizza. I wouldn't necessarily have that topping, but I'd consume a whole large pizza. Still over 2k. Then you have the garlic bread, the breaded chicken strips, cookie dough with ice-cream and coke. Doesn't matter this was a now and then thing, that's A LOT of calories. (Didn't stop me from ordering it though
. Didn't care as much back then) 2 -
I would say nuts. I used to eat them all the time when I started to eat "clean and healthy" and wondered why I wasn't losing weight. Now unless I am trying to gain I rarely eat them, and it is so much easier to lose weight.5
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I’m really interested in my initial query. What foods surprised you. X
I can't think of any that were really surprising.
Muffins have way more than they should, but the place I used to buy muffins in the morning before work gives a calorie count. I used to sometimes get a Potbelly's turkey sandwich that was about 300 cal and pair it with a cookie that was around 450 cal, but the calories were there (I avoided looking) and it was a cookie.
Donuts -- which I agree are typically not worth the calories -- surprised me at how low they were (the boring Dunkin donuts ones, anyway). Ones from more high-end donut places here are often huge, so I would be sure they were tons of calories even if I didn't or couldn't check (the one donut I think is worth it is a fresh apple cider donut).
Granola is way higher than it should be, but I became aware of that ages ago. Tiny amounts of high fat things can be high in calories, but that seems logical to me (and would include many dips, salad dressings, nuts, cheese, cream sauce, heavy whipping cream, coconut milk in the can, anything fried).
The hard thing is not knowing the ingredients in some cases.
I guess maybe I was surprised at the huge difference between many leaner steaks (or lean ground beef) and something like prime rib, but it's not like I've quit prime rib or eat it much more often than Christmas.
Definitely restaurant foods (not main dishes, which I always assumed you had to add many more calories than you would for a similar dish at home, but more so the appetizers and some salads -- most restaurants I go to don't have calorie counts, but by analogy and thinking about ingredients).
Naan definitely disappointed me, and may well have surprised me in just HOW high it was. I still eat it, though -- as I may have said above, my Indian restaurant compromise is to go less often, combine with a heavy workout weekend (I used to go the evening before a half marathon regularly), and forget about trying to pick the lower cal things, but eat what I want. I like naan more than rice so will eat pretty small amounts of rice, however.2 -
Larkspur94 wrote: »Pizza shocked me the first time I heard about it years back. About 2500 kcals for a pepperoni pizza. I wouldn't necessarily have that topping, but I'd consume a whole large pizza. Still over 2k. Then you have the garlic bread, the breaded chicken strips, cookie dough with ice-cream and coke. Doesn't matter this was a now and then thing, that's A LOT of calories. (Didn't stop me from ordering it though . Didn't care as much back then)
I usually get thin crust at an Italian restaurant and doubt it's more than any other meal I'd get.
I was surprised at how LOW Lou Malnati's (Chicago style) was vs. what I would have assumed.
I mostly save Chicago style (higher because of all the cheese) for a couple times a year and Pequod's, however, and will be stuffed with 2 pieces (although I suspect there are a lot of calories in those pieces).
I don't like pepperoni and mainly like pizzas with lots of vegetables. There's a 'nduja one at a local place I like, however (it's one of those places where they give you scissors to cut the pizza). I usually prefer their black ink pasta, made fresh, to pizza, however.
I'm probably weird but I never have garlic bread with pizza and find it annoying when it's served with pasta since bread is IN pizza and basically the same as pasta, so it seems redundant. This is an attitude I've had since I was a kid, so not a weight loss related thing (I similarly always thought it was kind of weird to have rolls AND potatoes, although I'd have both at Thanksgiving and would get fries with a burger at a restaurant).
I suppose this is now morphing into unpopular opinions about food! ;-)4 -
You can buy the holes! It's a scam I tell ya! Like selling a puzzle with a piece missing!😏2 -
Donut holes are better than donuts (I actually doubt this is unpopular).2
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psychod787 wrote: »
You can buy the holes! It's a scam I tell ya! Like selling a puzzle with a piece missing!😏
Sure, but then offering to sell you that missing piece.2 -
nutmegoreo wrote: »psychod787 wrote: »
You can buy the holes! It's a scam I tell ya! Like selling a puzzle with a piece missing!😏
Sure, but then offering to sell you that missing piece.
ScamWoo3 -
Ooh naan. I’m going to have to look that up.....1
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Calorie bomb. But worth it, sigh.1
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Mayo, Aoili, any kind of sauce really! Most add about 100 calories for 1tsp to 1tbsp!1
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To (attempt) to get this thing back on track, I finally thought of something not worth the calories to me any more that I would be perfectly happy to never eat again. It will get me a lot of hate and woos. I just really don't like them enough to consider spending calories on them that could be put to better use elsewhere (like chocolate).Doughnuts.
Most of them, yeah. Some of the local bakery though... totally worth it.psychod787 wrote: »Has anyone else noticed this? We tend to be a food focused bunch. Huh...??
I mean, FOOD is right there in the sub-forum title
But food is an important component of my life above and beyond survival, anyway. It's a bit of a hobby. My husband and I enjoy shopping and cooking together. We watch TV shows and YouTube videos about cooking. We search out unique places to eat when we travel. Family social functions are very food-centric (quite common). Food is much more than fuel to me.
Same here and that's one of the reasons why I'm failing at the maintenance thing. Food is my #1 hobby (I mean... I'm going back to school to be a pastry chef in a month!). Always loved food and I've accepted that I'm never going to be skinny because of it... so be it. At least I'll be happy, lol.
To go back to OP - it's about balance. I know that it's not popular here, but I don't agree with the whole 'there are no bad foods' thing though - some foods are definitely not as healthy as others. It doesn't mean you should completely avoid them if you love them, but that they are not always a good choice. I mean, some people might get away with eating cake for breakfast, or have a slice of pie for lunch, but if I do that I'm guaranteed to crash and burn later, lol. Starbucks drinks are the worst for me - one of those and I feel weak and dizzy until I eat something more nutritious.
That being said, I saw it here again... healthy doesn't mean low calorie. Nuts and avocado are very healthy, just calorie dense.
The worst waste of calories for me is most restaurant desserts - half the time, it's just some 800 calories of disappointment (I have very high standards about my desserts).
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some people might get away with eating cake for breakfast, or have a slice of pie for lunch, but if I do that I'm guaranteed to crash and burn later, lol. Starbucks drinks are the worst for me - one of those and I feel weak and dizzy until I eat something more nutritious.
Pie for breakfast the day after Thanksgiving is a tradition for me, but I know I'll be hungry for lunch sooner than usual. I would never think it was a good idea to replace a meal with a dessert on a regular basis. I also don't consume any Starbucks drinks besides black coffee, because I think sweet coffee is icky and even if I did not I dislike wasting calories on drinks. (I also think most cake is way overrated and not worth it, and even good cake is often too sweet for me.)
But that doesn't mean that pie or cake is "bad food" IMO, although I'd count it as obvious that vegetables have more nutrients that II'm likely to need (since not starving) than they do. There are many other foods that fall into that category -- olive oil, cheese, are a couple of examples -- but thinking of foods as bad foods and good foods just doesn't seem very informative or logical to me. I'd rather think of their overall qualities and functions. (To me pie is a dessert food and thus should be saved for dessert and consumed sparingly when I have room for it or on a special occasion.)0 -
The two biggies for me are granola cereal and trail mix. I stopped eating granola cereal as a serving size just wasn't worth the effort and if I ask my wife to buy crack, she knows I mean trail mix. But 300 cal for those tiny bags of the Kirkland stuff?3
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Tacklewasher wrote: »The two biggies for me are granola cereal and trail mix. I stopped eating granola cereal as a serving size just wasn't worth the effort and if I ask my wife to buy crack, she knows I mean trail mix. But 300 cal for those tiny bags of the Kirkland stuff?
Wow we all have food crack. Mine is black Australian licorice....180 cals for 3 tiny pieces. An individual would gain a pound eating one pack. I must confess I did this (over 3 days) and a bag of dill chips... right before I started logging over 30 days ago.
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jessieleighc1 wrote: »Mayo, Aoili, any kind of sauce really! Most add about 100 calories for 1tsp to 1tbsp!
Looking at this reminded me today, in my chick fila splurge that I didn’t add the sauce to my diary....special sauce is 140 calories per small packet - didn’t see that coming.......wahh1 -
Unrealistic calorie deficit. Why? because eventually you will start adding back more calories as 1200 is not sustainable for the vast majority of people. Especially sedentary people.
...
And last but not least...a sustained calorie deficit at 1200 calories can cause more than just weight loss. Too few calories can cause a host of health issues. So ask yourself, is it worth losing weight if you are compromising your health?
I'm also on a 1200 calorie eating plan and that was set by my dietician. I've met with her for the past 3 months and she reviews my food logs to make sure the calories I'm ingesting are mostly from veggies and lean meats. There are some days I'm really hungry but most days I'm content with the amount I'm eating. I don't go to bed hungry. It helps to spread out the calories into several smaller meals.
As for which foods surprised me were high in calories, almost all salad dressings. I love Ranch and haven't found a good low cal version or a good substitute.
@frau5 have you tried any of the Bolthouse dressings?0 -
kellyjellybellyjelly wrote: »smallerthanyesterday95 wrote: »Peanut butter/nut butters 😭
Am I the only one who thinks that peanut butter isn't really all that high calorie?
Some peanut butters/nut butters are 170-180 calories & I'll usually have 1.5 servings & find that's more than enough for a rice cake or to eat on its own.
I have a weird relationship with peanut butter. When I weigh out a portion and stick to it I find it is plenty and as you say not really that bad calorie wise. But if I throw caution to the wind and just mindlessly scoop PB onto bread or into a smoothie or god forbid grab the jar and a spoon, I could easily eat 1,000 calories of it in no time.
For me PB and dry cereal were shockers. Not for the # of calories per serving, but for how much more than a serving I thought was a serving! Both are foods I don't go near without a food scale.
I'm always sad at how small a damn serving of cereal is.0 -
nutmegoreo wrote: »I’m really interested in my initial query. What foods surprised you. X
For me, it would be restaurant foods more than anything. Trying to find a reasonably sized meal in a restaurant with a calorie amount that doesn't send me over is so difficult. It takes some serious planning, and eating very little for the rest of the day.
Also trying to find one that isn’t boring taste wise, but still isn’t a truckload of calories.
I’m shocked at times how high milkshakes are. I think the smallest Arby’s Andes Mint Shake is around 700+ calories?0
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