Shockers when you started paying attention to calories?

jennz81

The amount of calories found in some of my favorite fast food items.

amysj303

When they advertise something as having "low calories", it can be very high in fat, which offsets the 'benefit' they speak of.

This is not true. High fat is rarely low-cal. I noticed that "fat-free" stuff is chock-full of sugar. I would rather have the fat...

ChrisM8971

For me it was packaged sandwiches from service stations and even supermarkets. Being on the road all the time and previously too lazy to make a packed lunch, I would buy a couple of packs of sandwiches on the go along with a packet of crisps

485 calories in one pack of BLT alone, not huge but I used to think it was the low calorie option :embarassed:

SarahAnna87

Nachos. The local Mexican restaurant has nachos, that are layered with cheese, chicken, beef, crab, olives. And the chips! I could eat those alone. Until you realize that the portion had close to 3000 calories. I am not joking. I used to get that as a meal, never completely finish but still! Plus sour cream and salsa..... Hello heart attack! Even now it sucks to go there and try to convince people to share..... I just want one chip!! One!!!!

Mouse_Potato

Glazed donuts. 270 calories and they're mostly air. :grumble:

amysj303

Margarita

rak173

Alcoholic mixed drinks. They add up fast !

THIS! I live in a fun city that has a lot of great happy hours with delicious cocktails...even if I do go to a weekly happy hour I have only splurged on a fancier drink once.

Renneke

The Bonefish Grill Macadamia Nut Brownie shocked me. 1348 calories! I convinced everyone at dinner to share it with me, because I desperately wanted a desert that wasn't crème brûlée. (I have celiac disease so on the rare occasion when I can have a desert at a restaurant, it's almost always crème brûlée. If you had told me a few years ago, that I would get sick and tired of creme brule, I never would have believed you!)

Pectinbean

My wee afternoon pick-me-up from my work's canteen, a small slice of Rocky Road - 560 cals! More cals than a Big Mac, mental. My other surprise was portion sizes. I was eating 2-3 portions of pasta in one sitting. It's amazing how little you actually need to fill you.

hill8570

Tortilla chips.

I used to grab a small handful every time I walked through the break room. When I started logging, those little handfuls added up to like 600 calories a day, and for something I really didn't even like all that much. That stopped right quick.

pobalita

Poptarts - more than 400 calories for one packet and they don't even fill me up.

Myhaloslipped

Pesto is 330 calories per one fourth cup, and this makes me sad. On the bright side, I found out that eggplant is insanely low in calories. I eat it all of the time.

HerkMeOff

I am shocked.

That Dijorno pizza I had for lunch was only 1900 calories.

gostumpy

Another one for Cereal. Once I measured out how big a serving is, I was blown away... I've been eating 5-10 servings of cereal!!

alissadough84

How many calories I was consuming at breakfast alone! I would have a latte and a bagel or breakfast sandwich and be hungry mere hours later. But at anywhere from 700-900 calories yikes! Also- how many calories were in a burrito I was getting from Moe's and their chips!

Nutella.... not really the calories on this, but more so the amount of carbs and sugar.

bebeisfit

Biscuits from Popeye's. I'm not a big fast food person, but I love fried chicken. Popeye's chicken thigh and the biscuit is each about 160 calories. My usual meal of 2 thighs and 2 biscuits were nearly 800 calories.

I'm actually surprised that a 'normal' sized donut is much lower than a muffin. A costco chocolate muffin had nearly 700 calories.

Yikes!!!!

tits_mcclure

Biscuits from Popeye's. I'm not a big fast food person, but I love fried chicken. Popeye's chicken thigh and the biscuit is each about 160 calories. My usual meal of 2 thighs and 2 biscuits were nearly 800 calories.

I'm actually surprised that a 'normal' sized donut is much lower than a muffin. A costco chocolate muffin had nearly 700 calories.

Yikes!!!!

I hate when I see people grab a muffins because they think it's a healthy option, they're basically cupcakes without the frosting!

I was shocked this week when I saw that 1/4 cup of walnuts is 190 calories...

1Cor1510

Cheese. I was grossly underestimating what an ounce was until I got a scale. Now I get a LOT more cheese Yum.

Jeslefisch

processed food is crap. Yeah you can have whatever in moderation but that doesn't make it any better for you. If you don't know half the stuff on the ingredient list how can you possibly defend it? One ingredient foods are better, it's natural to eat them.

s4naz

Seeds (I love pumpkin seeds), peanut butter, and muffins!

I didn't realize how SMALL a single serving of peanut butter was. It's barely enough to cover my toast completely

clarsen929

Fruit, generally, but bananas specifically. I tend to have a banana with breakfast or as a mid-morning snack, and at 100+ calories it tends to be 1/3 to 1/4 of my meal.

suejoker

I thought I was eating "pretty healthy", before I started logging calories again. Every week, I would get a bag of Trader Joe's Wasabi Almonds (2380 calories) and a dozen Roasted Seaweed Snacks (720 calories) and snack on them at night. My total "healthy snack" calorie count for the week: 3100 calories! That's 2.5 days worth of calories for me and those were just my regular, tv watching snacks. Don't even get me started on the sodium content...

ashleyisgreat

processed food is crap. Yeah you can have whatever in moderation but that doesn't make it any better for you. If you don't know half the stuff on the ingredient list how can you possibly defend it? One ingredient foods are better, it's natural to eat them.

k.

PinkNinjaLaura

Cheese. I was grossly underestimating what an ounce was until I got a scale. Now I get a LOT more cheese Yum.

I've also discovered if I weigh my shred cheese I get more than if I use the measuring cup. Food scale for the win!

Soufre

Nuts. Specifically River Queen Honey Roasted peanuts One serving (1oz) is 150? I usually eat 6oz of nuts....

HerkMeOff

processed food is crap. Yeah you can have whatever in moderation but that doesn't make it any better for you. If you don't know half the stuff on the ingredient list how can you possibly defend it? One ingredient foods are better, it's natural to eat them.

Thanks for your input.

Would love to see your diary.

krawhitham

Almost everything on the Panera Bread menu.

bc2ct

I thought I was eating "pretty healthy", before I started logging calories again. Every week, I would get a bag of Trader Joe's Wasabi Almonds (2380 calories) and a dozen Roasted Seaweed Snacks (720 calories) and snack on them at night. My total "healthy snack" calorie count for the week: 3100 calories! That's 2.5 days worth of calories for me and those were just my regular, tv watching snacks. Don't even get me started on the sodium content...

OMG hahahaha this reminds me of the time that I took a bag of trader joes sesame honey cashews on a team trip from LA to Sacramento. I ate THE ENTIRE BAG (2550 calories) which would not have been the worst thing in the world if we hadn't gotten right off the bus and headed out for a practice. I have never had such a full stomach in my life. I think I spent like an hour in the ladies room after that practice. Never again. NEVER AGAIN!

BeachinBeauty

Some things shocked me, others not so much. I think the biggest shock has been the sodium in everything, as I really have to pay attention to that too and it's 1000000000000000% times harder than watching calories, IMO. Like, tonight, I made dinner and the unflavored, unseasoned green beans I used are 290 mg sodium for a 1/2 cup serving! I wouldn't even assume green beans would have sodium... until now! The sweetened cream corn was 390 mg sodium, I believe. Big shockers. Anyway, as far as a calorie shock (and place to avoid): Chili's. Out of all of the restaurants I frequent and continue to frequent, Chili's is the absolute worst. There's almost literally nothing on their menu that isn't a complete day breaker. We went last Friday for the first time since I've been on MFP. The only thing I could order that didn't exceed calorie count was the chicken fajitas without tortilla shells and no appetizer. Even still, I think exceeded my daily sodium by around 1000 mg!!! Also, their desserts are God awful (I mean, they're Heavenly delicious, but God awful for your health, lol!). I know that's probably to be expected, but they seem to be far worse than I could've ever expected. I believe the molten lava cake is 1300-ish? I used to treat myself to a dessert to take home from there sometimes and would eat the entire thing myself. My eyes have been opened!!!

rosebette

Pretty much anything I eat at a restaurant....Panera, especially. I always thought going there was a healthy alternative to a fast food place -- no way. Muffins anywhere are the biggest shock. Here is this thing that's 400-500 calories with almost no nutrition that you would eat for breakfast or a coffee break and then feel hungry an hour later. I literally can eat 2 slices of bacon, 2 eggs, and a piece of toast for that number of calories, and that will hold me until lunch. I don't think I'll ever eat a muffin again.