foods you used to think were healthy...

irishgal44

Muffins...I had my hubby pick me up a multi-grain applie cinnamon one yesterday and it turned out to have more calories than his maple long john. Bummer! It's hard for me to understand that!

Pasta/cheese...I will NEVER cut out. Small portions, yes. But never stop. I think that would be setting myself up for a weight gain in the future if I cut it out completely. Because eventually I would crave it and load up on it.

Soup - so high in sodium. I had 1 cup of tomato soup last night and it took me over my sodium intake amounts...and I thought I was being so good! When I have too much sodium, I wake up the next day with either a migraine or a puffy face. Not worth it!

poptastic

I used to regularly drink fruit juice in the morning, and was quite shocked to find the calorie content of that! Fruits in general actually... no more banana on my breakfast cereal!

Most other foods I was always secretly aware were bad, I'd just avoid looking at the labels so as not to feel guilty when I was eating them (things such as flapjacks, shop-bought pasta salads etc). Even if I didn't look at the label now I would struggle to eat those things as I know how bad they are!

atomiclauren

Corn - everything from environmental to political ethics - GM seeds, farmer subsidies, corn feed with antibiotics for cattle, the list goes on.
King Corn covers it all quite well:
http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/kingcorn/

taletreader

You (and others who have said the same) make a good point. It's really all about portion control. The original idea of the thread was for those things that do seem healthy but are very high in calories or sodium. It really was the Mission street burritos that shocked me. Here I was thinking, "It's a tortilla full of healthy beans, rice, and veggies! How bad could it be?" without realizing that the 20 inch tortilla, cheese, sour cream, and SALT were off the chain.

Yes, I agree, and think your burrito is a great example. They contain tons of healthy things, but also a lot of fat (including saturates) and sodium and above all come in a hugely excessive size. (OMG I had this WONDERFUL one the second time I vistited San Francisco -- my host drove us down into the Mission to his favourite place, and I had the one with tongue. WOW. And just as you describe!)

NOLAdy

Why is cheap food so bad for you?!?

My guess is because "cheap" food is filled with preservatives so they last longer in the kitchen, if not ordered right away. The chain restaurants don't have to "go shopping" as often. Better ingredients spoil faster, and they taste better, you get the full flavor of what it is you're eating, so the quality can be put into that higher end type of price range. It's actually cheaper to get what you want out of one whole veggie, as opposed to a canned version, but when you have to buy the inventory on a much faster pace than it costs more money.
Sucks.

There are two things that I have found out are bad but I will still allow myself to eat it on a weekend, every once in a while. My favorite sushi roll has some mayo in it. I actually had two rolls this past weekend and logged them into my food count, and it put me over the top.
The other is the veggie sub at Quiznos. I love them, but they would put me over the top as well. Granted they have avacado, something I don't mind eating even though it's high in (good) fat, and two different kinds of cheese. Oh and the dressing that they put onto it doesn't seem to be too healthy either. But, I like them and am not quite ready to give them up just yet. I only have one maybe twice a month, if that, so my body can deal with it. It's more healthy than other things that I can think of.

Shawnalee0703

We have a quiznos close by and so I looked up the info to get an idea incase we decided to go....they are way higher in fat and calories than subway is! It was really interesting. Nearly the same idea of a sub.....way different nutrition facts.

noltes2

I thought pretty much all diet foods were healthy - protein bars, diet soda, slim fast shakes, sugar free anything, fat free anything.... nope, not always the case.....

BryanAir

Not that I thought that they were necessarily healthy, but back when I could eat anything I would take a twice a week trip to my favorite taqueria on Mission Street and get a super burrito. Those things were so big you had to eat around them in layers. I tried every filling but cow brain. Mmm. Good times. Then I would walk down the street two blocks and get two mangos for a dollar.

The one food that I really had to cut out is breakfast cereal. The serving sizes there are ridiculously small and wouldn't tide me over for any length of time.

was it cancun? or el farolito?

I don't remember the name, but it was around 25th and Mission. I would go back, but I don't want the calorie sticker shock. Oh to be young again.

shannonshock13

Anyway, my own biggie was definitely Lean Cuisines and other diet frozen meals. It took me awhile to fully grasp that lower calorie does not equal good choices.

Of course, I don't think I could eat them now even if I tried. They're just gross.

I wish a friend of mine would realize this. I tell her all the time but she doesn't listen.

tater8589

Chocolate Milk, or just plain milk. Holy cow, it'll put me over every time.

Shawnalee0703

Chocolate Milk, or just plain milk. Holy cow, it'll put me over every time.

Chocolate nonfat milk is an excellent post workout drink!

Mindful_Trent

This may have already been said, but plenty of foods listed by people on this site can be perfectly health using portion control and perhaps some pickiness of what variations are consumed.

Restaurant salads - order them with the dressing on the side (dip your fork in it - you won't use nearly as much), leave out croutons/wonton pieces/etc., and usually you'll be okay. Some restaurant salads are really high in sodium, but I can usually find at least one decent salad at a restaurant if I make some of the adjustments listed.

Sushi - stay away from the sushi with fried ingredients or mayo. The "simple" rolls like the ones that are just rice and fish aren't that bad for you. I eat it without soy sauce most of the time, or if I do use soy sauce, I use VERY little. If you only eat one or two small rolls (not the gigantic "fun" ones) then you're really not getting an unreasonable amount of rice and some restaurants will even make it with brown rice now.

Cheese/milk/nuts - assuming you're buying the plain varieties of food like these (unsalted nuts, regular milk instead of flavored, regular cheese rather than processed cheese dip/creme), then the foods are perfectly healthy in small portions. They are high in calories, but have good nutrients, healthy fats, etc.

These were just a few I saw repeated multiple times... the same sort of things could be said about some of the other stuff.

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The often-seen-as-healthy-but-not-really-healthy thing I try to stay away from is pretty much any "diet" product - the low calorie/fat/sugar/whatever is not worth ingesting the artificial stuff (or excess salt in some cases) that most of them are filled with. In most cases, it's better to just eat the real thing - in appropriate portion sizes.

TakeOne

Cheddar cheese Almost any cheese for that matter. I still have it now and then, just way less.

jen0619

Cheese and muffins. Oh how I miss them dearly!