What food has surprised you since using MFP?

DisneyAddictRW

I use to think a lot of the things I ate were good choices. Once I started using MFP I realized how some things were not the best choices. I'm wondering what others have noticed about the foods they use to choose. What food surprised you the most that is not a food choice?

I use to eat canned soups and ranch rice cakes. I didn't realize the amount of sodium I was taking in.

tnorkus

pickles!!!! I love dill pickles but have found that while the are very low calorie they are sodium bombs!!!!

catelabow

I have been enjoying the fake crab sealegs on salads. But I see that they are LOADED with sodium, so I'm cutting back.

Juliejustsaying

Bananas and yogurt, the sugar is out of this world. Just by eating those two items for breakfast I go over my sugar intake for the day.

calimari

pasta. I thought having occasional meatless meals, or that since it was low-fat it was good. I knew it was a carb, obviously, but didn't realize how many calories were packed into a tiny serving.

lynheff

Congrats on the awesome weight loss!!!! WooHoo

AlsDonkBoxSquat

For me, it wasn't the food that was surprising, it was my perception of an appropriate serving size.

scircle

Store bought granola! I thought I was doing myself a favor but it's just dessert for breakfast. We started making our own and cutting back on the sugar and adding more seeds and oats. Of course it's also a matter of portion control.

mccgivens

Fruits surprised me...Bananas are high in calories and sugar.

lynheff

So true Calimari. I think the "serving size" on the box should be more realistic. Am I the only one who thinks that 1/2 c of pasta is absurd??? i don't think I would bother to boil the water for two mouthfuls of pasta. :happy:

DisneyAddictRW

Pickles for sure! I use to eat them by the jar years ago when I was following WW's. I use to think low cal means good snack. If says healthy on it well it's a slam junk good thing to eat. Yep I had no idea what I was doing to myself! The portion size still shocks me sometimes. I have to measure things right now b/c I'm always giving myself more than what the portion size really is!

AmberMagdalena

Frozen meals like Smart Ones. I used to eat those all the time, embarrassingly. Loaded with unnecessary sodium, in the time it makes to throw together a quick salad.

Congrats on the awesome weight loss BTW! Hope to be where you are someday!!

sunshineshica

Bottled sweet tea compared to homemade sweet tea. BIG difference

ninajr90

Valrhona Dark Chocolate 81%. I thought it was a great antioxidant option until I learned that ONE PIECE has 250 CALORIES. I switched to blueberries.

MissMaryMac33

Yogurt --- there are a million things out there labeled "greek yogurt" which makes you "think" they are healthy -- but OMG read the labels, most of them have more sugar than protein and are just crap. Buy the good stuff -- like Fage 0% or Chobani 0% and sweeten yourself with agave or stevia. \

jbeauchamp1

Fruit was surprising to me. I had always done WW so I was used to them only being a couple points but when you break out the actual calories & sugars it was shocking to see that I was not doing myself alot of favors by eating alot of fruit. Kind of sucks because I used to make alot of fresh fruit smoothies so I have cut back to help with sugars.

how13

processed foods, how much salt they contain !!!!!!!!!

MooseWizard

Wraps instead of sandwiches, which I thought was fewer calories and carbs. Found out in almost every case, it was not true!

cessnaholly

Cheesecake not as bad as I thought. Neither were cheesesteak sandwiches. Serving sizes were also a surprise - especially ceral serving sizes.

Elle_Jamaicangirl81

all the bad stuff i used to eat... things are the theatre. i mean, i knew they were heavy.. but DAAANG

I used to buy 2 donuts and eat them off before the movie even went halfway... with popcorn or nachos and an iced tea or soda... i dont anymore, cause wow those things are SO expensive (in cals)


MFP really puts things into perspective... what i ate at the theatre would have been my calorie intake for the day :noway:

Elle_Jamaicangirl81

processed foods, how much salt they contain !!!!!!!!!

ohhh yes...

lokki13

Brown rice!!!!

I always thought it was the healthier option, but it is LOADED with calories.

I am also surprised at how large my portions are. (compared to what they SHOULD be). LOL

AimingHighWeighingLow

FAJITAS!! I thought because they were peppers and chicken that they were good for you! I would have put them at a healthy choice....NOT anymore! They are most certainly a treat now and instead of having 4 or 5 I only have three!

wildkatt7

I am not sure any food surprised me, as I have always read labels due to allergies... what has shocked me as I lose weight, I can only eat so much without getting stuffed... used to be I could eat 10 times that amount and still be able to eat... buffets hated me, now they aren't worth it anymore....

but finding the balance is what it is all about...

msaap

The amount of sugar certain fruits contains. Now i stick to mostly berries.

Also, the small amount of protein in egg whites. This probably doesn't bother most people. I Eat a omelet at least once a week for breakfast, and I was only eating the egg white for the protein and the small amount of cholesterol. I still use only egg whites, but I use more than 2 eggs now. You live and you learn.

clw_888

For me it has been cereal! I love cereal but my portions were way out of control compared to the serving sizes on the box. Since my servings were about double what it says on the box...I certainly was taking in way too many calories!

Frannswaz

Dark (70%) Organic Chocolate - sooo tasty, so few calories and sugar and good for you ---- who knew!!

jhamby5579

Omg I would say Sodium I just added that tab to my Food Diary. And as many have said maybe low calories but tons of sodium biggest ones I have seen are soups, and salad dressing CRAZY But as far as fruit I feel like its a better choice then other I don't think you are going to gain a bunch of weight because you ate to much fresh fruit LOL

DisneyAddictRW

fruit strips! I use to eat them 2-3 a day since they were only 45 cals. Then I realized how high in sugar they were. Changed that snack!

omgitsgarry

For me, it wasn't the food that was surprising, it was my perception of an appropriate serving size.

I agree! I never really looked at food labels before and was so surprised at how much or how little I was allowed to have of it.

_gwen

I was surprised to see how much sodium is in processed food and in restaurant food, even foods that I didn't think were salty.