What foods are just not worth the # of calories?
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amorfati601070 wrote: »senalay788 wrote: »amorfati601070 wrote: »Oils, its very easy to overdo it. Most fats, (yes... a little is essential). Its why eat super high carb diet, you can smash down huge volumes of food without going over calories.
The what now????
Carbs are 4 calories per gram, fats are 9. So yeah...it’s effectively double.
Yeah, but fat is far more satiable.2 -
Depends on the person (fat is NOT sating to all, especially compared with higher fiber carbs like, say, beans/lentils), and of course how sating a high volume of carbs is depends on person and the carbs.
Personally, I find a mix of macros much more sating than any individual one. Giant salad with some protein and fat is mostly "carbs" by volume, not cals, high volume, and more satisfying than a big low fat and protein salad (although also basically "carbs). Plain potatoes would be more sating to me than the plain salad (although also more cals, although potatoes aren't high -- I find adding half a potato to a meal at least as sating as a whole pear, and the cals are about the same). Plain pasta wouldn't be sating to me at all (although also uninteresting and not something I would eat). Pasta with lots of veg plus some fat and protein, very much satisfying and sating. The volume in a lower cal, high volume pasta dish like that isn't really from the fat or protein, but the "carb" vegetables.
This is why generalizations about carbs drive me crazy.2 -
Sweets. All sweets. Give me a good cracker and sharp cheddar over chocolate cake any day of the week!0
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Soda
Halo Top and Enlightened ice cream products
Dried fruits
Most candy
White chocolate
Cashews (in moderation is fine, though)0 -
Well, I've really worked hard to not to view foods as "worth the calories" in terms of weight maintenance, but rather what's better for my health and what makes me feel better internally after eating it, AND what do I actually like eating. So having said that, I'm gonna choose whole fruit over juices, not drink soda, limit processed and fried foods including baked goods, etc. You will rarely find my eating something like a Ding Dong because now they just don't taste all that good to me, even though those were definitely treats as a kid. I also don't drink those high-calorie high-sugar smoothies that you can find at a place like Jamba Juice, but I do drink my own protein/fruit and/or veggie smoothie once a day. However, if there was ever a day where I really wanted one of those things, I'd have it and balance it out in the rest of my eating.1
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silverpl2525 wrote: »Soda
Halo Top and Enlightened ice cream products
Dried fruits
Most candy
White chocolate
Cashews (in moderation is fine, though)
dried fruits, absolutely.0 -
I'm in the process of cooking a tagine with chicken thighs, and while I don't normally eat dried fruit, dried apricots are totally worth the cals (not that much per serving) in the dish, IME.0
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I'm in the process of cooking a tagine with chicken thighs, and while I don't normally eat dried fruit, dried apricots are totally worth the cals (not that much per serving) in the dish, IME.
Oh, this is the exception for me too. But I think things like dried pineapple, etc are a waste0 -
Flan.1
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cheap chocolate6
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Alfredo sauce
Nuts
Butter
Deep fried anything1 -
Acocados.
Too expensive, too many cals and too perishable.
I'll eat them if they are included in a dish but I refuse 2 buy them useless I can get them really cheap and can eat them all right away.2 -
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pancakerunner wrote: »I'm in the process of cooking a tagine with chicken thighs, and while I don't normally eat dried fruit, dried apricots are totally worth the cals (not that much per serving) in the dish, IME.
Oh, this is the exception for me too. But I think things like dried pineapple, etc are a waste
For me, with something like pineapple -- probably all fruit -- the juiciness is part of what makes the fruit so delicious, so dried doesn't seem nearly as tasty. It's less about the cals as just liking it better non dried. (And raisins specifically are not good.1 -
pancakerunner wrote: »I'm in the process of cooking a tagine with chicken thighs, and while I don't normally eat dried fruit, dried apricots are totally worth the cals (not that much per serving) in the dish, IME.
Oh, this is the exception for me too. But I think things like dried pineapple, etc are a waste
For me, with something like pineapple -- probably all fruit -- the juiciness is part of what makes the fruit so delicious, so dried doesn't seem nearly as tasty. It's less about the cals as just liking it better non dried. (And raisins specifically are not good.
same!0 -
IMO, this is kind of a weird thread, in practice.
Probably it's just me, but when I think of "foods not worth the calories", I think of foods I actually do like, but eat less frequently or in smaller portions (maybe even nearly never) just because of the calorie cost.
A lot of answers on the thread are foods that people actively dislike taste-wise, have excluded because of their chosen dietary strategy (low carb/keto, plant-based, etc.), avoid because of perceptions about healthfulness of the food (chemicals, dairy, etc.), or must omit due to allergies/sensitivities.
For me, things I moderate/avoid as not worth their calories (but did actually formerly happily eat, when obese) are large portions of deep-fried/beer-battered things (love them, eat rarely now), most sandwiches (I'd rather just eat more of the contents, skip the bread/bun), and some "good but not great" highish-calorie things like most restaurant Alfredo sauces, potato chips/crisps to name a few.
I don't eat meat/fish because I'm vegetarian, I don't drink soda pop or mega-sweet hot coffee drinks because I generally don't like them, I avoid hydrogenated oils because I think they're unhealthful, and I minimize a few things because I think they're not sustainably produced in some way. None of those things are related to the calorie cost of the foods involved, so I don't think of those foods as "not worth the calories". 🤷♀️
curmudgeon/ Besides, there are other "stir the pot" threads where people can parse out which foods they dislike or are otherwise picky about, and argue about them. /curmudgeon3 -
Respectfully disagree, curmudgeonly Ann.
I find I don’t really enjoy many of the foods gluttonous obese me used to enjoy so much, I looked like an anteater rifling the empty bags for missed crumbs.
Went to McDonalds the other day for the first time in a couple of years, sat down with a pile of golden hot fries, sighed blissfully, closed my eyes in sheer anticipation, took a bite, and was like, WTF? What happened here? Either i changed or they did, and my money’s on me.
Have saved calories for fried chicken several times but then when we get in the car, nah, a grilled chicken mango salad exerts a stronger pull.
I do spend calories on doughnuts, lidl bakery cookies (I sing their praises for a reason), pillsbury orange rolls, homemade muffins, Cookout cheesy bites.
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Probably it's just me, but when think of "foods not worth the calories", I think of foods I actually do like, but eat less frequently or in smaller portions (maybe even nearly never) just because of the calorie cost.
I think of it as something I like okay or even pretty well, but when watching calories, it doesn't make the cut, even though back in the day I'd eat it without thinking.
A perfect example for me is (usually) fruit juice. I like fruit juice quite a bit, but only drink it rarely (usually when traveling and at a hotel or before a race, it's a thing of mine). The cals (and lack of filling-ness) isn't worth it for me, even though it's tasty -- and I can have the fruit, which I like just as much, for fewer cals and more satiety.
Another example is the bread on the table at a restaurant. Even with really good bread (not talking about the mediocre stuff), I don't eat it, since although it's tasty enough, I'm about to eat a delicious meal I get to choose that meets my preferences and the cals from the bread in that context just aren't worth it.
I often think of this as trade off stuff -- I like enough foods that some I like just fine just never seem to be ones I choose.
Pre covid, a lot of the sweets that would be on offer at the office would be in this category -- I might have thoughtlessly eaten something at one point, but when thinking about it, was it worth the cals (and not having the dessert I otherwise would have had later that specifically fit my own preferences or some other higher cal item I chose for myself)?--no. Or I used to get occasional Potbelly's (sandwich place) plus chips, and I don't get the chips now since they are okay, but not worth the cals given they don't add anything nutritionally that I need and I will be satisfied without them. If I feel a need for a salt fix in addition to the sandwich, a pickle is a better cal to salt ratio, and I find it at least as enjoyable.4 -
Mass/cheapy made bread (I guess that goes for most baked products out there)0
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most chinese food buffet items5 -
Probably it's just me, but when think of "foods not worth the calories", I think of foods I actually do like, but eat less frequently or in smaller portions (maybe even nearly never) just because of the calorie cost.
I think of it as something I like okay or even pretty well, but when watching calories, it doesn't make the cut, even though back in the day I'd eat it without thinking.
A perfect example for me is (usually) fruit juice. I like fruit juice quite a bit, but only drink it rarely (usually when traveling and at a hotel or before a race, it's a thing of mine). The cals (and lack of filling-ness) isn't worth it for me, even though it's tasty -- and I can have the fruit, which I like just as much, for fewer cals and more satiety.
Another example is the bread on the table at a restaurant. Even with really good bread (not talking about the mediocre stuff), I don't eat it, since although it's tasty enough, I'm about to eat a delicious meal I get to choose that meets my preferences and the cals from the bread in that context just aren't worth it.
I often think of this as trade off stuff -- I like enough foods that some I like just fine just never seem to be ones I choose.
Pre covid, a lot of the sweets that would be on offer at the office would be in this category -- I might have thoughtlessly eaten something at one point, but when thinking about it, was it worth the cals (and not having the dessert I otherwise would have had later that specifically fit my own preferences or some other higher cal item I chose for myself)?--no. Or I used to get occasional Potbelly's (sandwich place) plus chips, and I don't get the chips now since they are okay, but not worth the cals given they don't add anything nutritionally that I need and I will be satisfied without them. If I feel a need for a salt fix in addition to the sandwich, a pickle is a better cal to salt ratio, and I find it at least as enjoyable.
All of this.
When I started looking at calories of all kinds of things I ate and *liked* well enough, but not *that* (insert calorie count) much. I don't 'forbid' myself any food, I'll have whatever it is I really like, but where I used to sort of mindlessly grab a pastry at the gas station convenience store on my way to wherever, I now just nope out. I like it okay but I don't like it 400 calories worth! I'll grab an apple for my grab and go 'I just need a thing to eat' snack on the way out the door instead and save the other 300 calories and eat something I either like a lot more or is a lot more filling!2 -
* anything dairy - too much GI issue
* soda of any kind - too many empty calories, plus tea takes better
* sugary candy, like Halloween candy - way too sweet and also has dairy1 -
said before, but nutella...2
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Gas station pies. Mcdonalds apple pies are worth it in my opinion, but not these ones. My friends always rave about them.
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Noreenmarie1234 wrote: »Gas station pies. Mcdonalds apple pies are worth it in my opinion, but not these ones. My friends always rave about them.
Right? These suckers are like 500 calories0 -
Pecans. Way too many calories for a small amount.1
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pancakerunner wrote: »
makes me want to cry...I remember back in the day when I first purchased a scale and weighed out some walnuts. I really thought the scale wasn't working right...then I educated myself and cried...funny😆-not funny😥3
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