What foods surprised you?

seltzermint555

Cadbury Screme egg - 150 cal

ekz13

those stupid, yummy, baked Costco Muffins... 700 and change.. ouch. and same for a slice of pizza at the Costco food court... :grumble:

mikeykhan2003

Sodium in bread.

ElizabethFuller

Cadbury Screme egg - 150 cal

This one surprised me too - really thick chocolate and sugary, creamy goo. I thought it would be more than that.
However, I don't buy them in 12 packs any more, just one at a time :blushing:

AsaThorsWoman

How much carbs is actually in Stevia. If you use 1 tsp, a serving, it's less than one carb, but who uses a teaspoon? Try 2-3 tbsp's at about 2 carbs each!

kelly_e_montana

Nothing. I started counting calories in grade school.:frown:

_Giselle_

Sausages and meatballs… I knew they'd be quite high in calories but it was very annoying to find out that most of them contain very little actual meat and more things like potato and different kinds of starch.

Beautyandthebeef

I had a favorite quesadilla at Chevy's that I used to love so one day I decided to splurge and figured I would eat it, but other than breakfast that's ALL I would eat that day. When I got home and I tracked it, I realized I had went over my macros by a pretty large amount...for ONE QUESADILLA!!

laineybz

Tbh i was surprised by alot of things. I was surprised at how uneducated I was on food and nutrition mainly.

sjp_511

Sausages and meatballs… I knew they'd be quite high in calories but it was very annoying to find out that most of them contain very little actual meat and more things like potato and different kinds of starch.

Make meatballs homemade and freeze. Really easy! I get leary of most processed meat.

jennyrebekka

I did not have good nutritional info growing up - at all - - so pretty much everything surprised me.

I knew milkshakes were bad, but wow......I used to get a hot fudge milkshake from Dairy Queen every so often - one day I looked up the medium, and it was nearly 1,000 cals!!!!!

Also, one slice of Costco pizza - ONE slice - 718 calories!!! - - not even mentioning the fat/sodium content

The one thing I am getting better at is gauging if something is "worth it" to me or not.........and usually it does not feel worth it in the long run.

Sophieanna17

I love that Costco pizza slice...and had no idea it was so bad!! So now I'm surprised about that. Wow!

siabot_guru

Spinach Artichoke dip from Just about anywhere. 1000+ cal.. How's that for an appetizer . If your out and in a pinch just order your favorite grilled Chicken Sandwich from any FF restaurant and ditch the bun and order fruit in place of Fry's. Opting for Grilled in place of Breaded Anything will save 150-200 cal. Skip the Condiments(Mayo/Ranch/Secret Sauce/Ect) opt for Mustard(Free Flavor).

lilawolf

Higher: Almonds, boneless chicken wings (but it's breast meat!), avocados, some brands of ranch, cheddar and havarti cheeses, tortillas, ice cream (esp Ben&Jerrys), pizza, french fries (didn't eat them anyway, but now that I know I can get a shake for the same cals! Never!), hamburger buns (how bout a lettuce wrap then a cup of ice cream instead?), biscuits/rolls/bread sticks/bagels, milkshakes

Lower: Soups, stews, homemade chili, homemade lasagna (zucchini "noodles" and other veggies but lots of full fat cheeses), feta, Parmesan, tuna, shrimp, jerky, eggs, oatmeal, butter, bacon, ice cream snicker bars

I'm sure that their are many more. That's why I like to log BEFORE I eat something.

Brandon74

Sodium in bread and even milk

ldrosophila

my volume always surprised me...you mention tortillas well learning that I've eaten nearly 1000 calories just a meal's consumption of tortillas was surprising.

Glossysweets

Definitely the sodium in pickles. I love pickles and have even switched to organic ones - but when I actually went and logged my food I found that two pickles spiked my sodium. I love them, but I might have to cut them out because I eat them way to often and that cannot have a good effect.

I was also surprised at the amount of sugar in Raw coconut water - something else I really love. It is low in calories but the sugar surely kills it to have it very often.

jennegan1

The number of carbs in home made split pea soup.

Still really yummy but good in moderation!

ScientificExplorerGirl

If you like wraps, but find most tortillas to be too high calorie...
There's a brand called Joseph's, and they make a flat "lavash" bread that makes a great wrap. A "serving" is only a half of one, but it's definitely big enough for a wrap (and not a tiny one that leaves you hungry), and at 50 calories it won't blow your budget for the day. Relatively low carb and high protein too. (They also make a 60 calorie pita that I love)

Agreed! These are fantastic; we use them all the time!!

l_ashley

Pasta threw me for a loop. I used to eat a plate of pasta with all the fixings. When I started dieting, I saw the calorie count and now I don't eat a lot of pasta.

pahock

Nuts! I know they are good for you, but very high in calories.

pahock

Oh and salad too. Salads are supposed to be healthy right?

missdrizz

Oh and salad too. Salads are supposed to be healthy right?

^this for me too. I eat salads most days, and it adds up.

CharChary

Granola was a big shocker for me initially.

Things like pasta also. I knew they were higher calories and I'd try to pre-plan my pasta nights with 1 serving of pasta only to discover one serving was NOTHING at all haha..

Efflictim

Bananas. I was shocked when I saw how high the calories were in this. I guess it was that mind set that if it's a fruit/veggie it must be little to no calories because it's good for you. Granted it's still good for you but I didn't expect over 100 calories.

Agreed!! And the sugar content is high. I was shocked lol.

Stephanie198907

I never realized just how many calories are in nut butters. I had to do away with my nightly apple and peanut butter snack.

Raw medjool dates are delicious. They taste like extra large honey/caramel gummy bears but they are 60 calories a piece and 12.5 grams of sugar. I still eat about three a day!

bikerist

I'm not easily shocked, I've been calorie aware etc since I was about 12yrs old. I remember houmous surprising me, especially as it has more of a health stigma attached to it. I can also remember raising an eyebrow at granola, 1 portion of my favourite brand is 250kcal without milk and I can easily pack down double that amount in one sitting. I have to avoid buying it, I can eat a box of granola in 4 days.

Nate0047

On the high end, beans and tortillas as far as calories were concerned. Meat always shocks me by being lower in calories than I think. Nuts were a shock for their fat content, but I eventually worked out that they're a healthy source of fat, and you need fat in your diet. Speaking of which, I have a bowl of pistachios for dessert that are waiting to be eaten.

LipglossandLunges

Olives surprised me!! Holy batman they're high…however they make olive oil so go figure lol

zaellany

Was going to start this thread and then saw one was already going :-)

- Peanut butter. I knew it wasn't great for you but whoa, nelly. When I saw what a tablespoon 1/2 serving really looked like, I realized I had been probably eating 4 tablespoons at a go, previously. That's a LOTTA calories.
- Blue Diamond Nut-Thins Rice Crackers - this killed me. I ate these almost as like a throwaway food, then come to find out, 16 crackers (which had NO filling effect for me, whatsoever) has, like, 130 calories. I could eat half a box a day of those things without even really thinking about it.
- Rice itself was a shock. Not the calorie content so much as what a real 1-cup serving looks like, as compared to what my "serving" was previously
- Pistachios. They aren't oily, so I figured they couldn't be that bad. Noooooope.
Once I started tracking, it became obvious to me pretty fast why I couldn't lose weight "just eating whole foods" without measuring portion size and tracking calories...maybe some people can do that, and more power to them, but I think my pre-MFP daily caloric intake had to be around 3000 calories. Easy.