1500 calories for a PIECE of cake?

SoozeE512

It's even worse when you find out your SALAD had umpteen million calories. At least you got cake.

Exactly! This is the biggest food tragedy. I now stay away from the salads when I good out and eat. Heck, if I'm going to eat 1000+ calories in a meal, I want something good to show for it!

I typically ask for the dressing on the side so I can control how much dressing I actually eat. I usually push most of the croutons and cheese off to the side too so I can get a better visual for just how much of those I eat too. I think the calories are mostly from the dressings they drown the salad in anyway. Once you get that off to the side, the salad is really a better choice for all the veggies!

danimalkeys

but carrot cake has carrots in it- it's healthy!!!

Luckily, I've never really been a big cake eater so it doesn't bother me to skip it when offered.

I was watching an Alton Brown episode on milk and he made this Tres Leche cake. It looked like it would be a billion calories a slice with the egg yolks, sugar, sweet condensed milk etc. It looked good though!

I agree on the salad thing- it's the dressing and croutons that kill it. I remember some guy at work who had to be using at least a half a cup of Russian dressing on his salad, but thought he was eating healthy because he had salad for lunch. Um, no! At home I use good EVOO and Balsamic vinegar, or sometimes make a vinegarette with herbs, etc. If I have a salad out, I ask for oil and vinegar on the side.

tekwriter

A lot of calories in the oil an nuts for the cake and then the cream cheese frosting, not to mention all the added sugar. It is a real eye opener. I use to like to go to Golden Corral because they had so many vegetables to choose from but since MFP, now that I track everything, I don't like to go there. lol

Tuala42

I went to cracker barrel with my kids on a day trip recently. I took a guess at what might be healthy, ordered fish (not breaded), veggies--didn't want to spend the whole meal looking up food on my phone. Since we spent the whole day walking, I figured it would be reasonably safe to share a dessert, so we got the apple dumpling. I looked up the calories after we finished---3200 or so calories! Last time I ever order a dessert without checking calories first. They must've used lard in the pie crust or something. It gave me the opportunity to talk about healthy eating and exercising with my preteen daughters at least. And I made sure I got up early for a long workout the next day.

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artex1024

That's why I like restaurants that offer tiny dessert options, like Applebee's dessert shots, and the little two-bite brownie with the dollop of ice cream or olive garden's dolcinis. One of those with a cup of coffee is a really satisfying way to get your dessert cravings without the calorie bombs.

And many chains here in the US are starting to post nutrition info at the restaurant (I know it's a law in California), but I have heard so many people complain about it. They feel like it ruins eating for them, like they can't enjoy their frappuchino knowing there's 700 calories in it. I personally love it. I was on a trip to California last summer and my daughter wanted to stop at McDonald's. I got a plain kid's burger, apple slices and a diet coke for myself and thought that since I'd done so well and stayed below 300 calories, I'd treat myself to a small McFlurry, until I saw that the smallest one they have is 500 calories! I quickly changed my mind and just got a 45 calorie kids cone.

Koldnomore

Im confused, I looked up carrot cake and a slice comes in about 200 to 500 Calories.....Where did you get 1500 from?

I am assuming you are referring to something listed in the MFP database or possibly another site? Don't ever rely on MOST other people to accurately list things. 80% of the stuff in MFP's database is completely wrong. There are people around who have to try and make themselves feel better so they underestimate the calories in everything and then complain because in their minds they are logging 'right'. Not everyone does this but I have stopped trying to use anything in the database that is entered by someone else because more often than not I end up having to correct everything from calories to weights to vitamin & sodium values.

If you look up an actual recipe for a 'standard' carrot cake.. something like this maybe http://allrecipes.com/recipe/sams-famous-carrot-cake/ You can see that the recipe makes 15 servings (in a 8x12 pan) each one is 374 calories. In an 8x12 pan most people would cut the cake into 8 pieces (1 inch by 1.5 inches) - not 15. Right there you just hit 700 calories. This recipe has NO icing.. so add something like this from Kraft.. http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/philadelphia-cream-cheese-frosting-50972.aspx where 1 Tbsp (about enough to frost your tiny piece of cake) will add another 75 calories.

You now have a TINY 1 inch by 1.5 inch piece of frosted carrot cake which is going to set you back about 750 calories. In which restaurant have you ever seen a piece of cake that small? It's not hard to imagine a slice of a tall cake being worth 1500 calories. I have no idea how you can even begin to imagine a carrot cake slice being only 200-500 calories. It is not possible unless you are using a whole bunch of substitutions - which most restaurants aren't likely to be doing.

enewsome2

i remember a friend of mine saying she wanted to order a piece of carrot cake because "it's so healthy". dafuq.

lol actually one of the worst to have .

I think there is a whole lot of misinformation out there.

When my mom first went on weight watchers, she went to Carl's Jr with a friend. I'm not even sure what my mom got, but her friend got something with the fried zuchinni on the side, and was (seriously) talking about what a healthy choice she had made.

In this case, I can say that ignorance is not bliss. Lol. Thank goodness for mfp, so we can all learn what to avoid that is making us gain weight.

MsDover

Isn't it crazy??

I regained weight this summer. My husband had started buying muffins at the supermarket bakery. I often had half a muffin for breakfast this summer, sometimes a whole muffin. Found out this week that they are 600 calories per muffin!!! No more muffins for me unless I make them myself.

This is how I regained 17 pounds of weight I'd kept off for over 5 years... I'd drop my son off at his job at the market and run in to the bakery and get either two blueberry or two apple muffins for my husband and me. If he'd already left for work when I got home, I'd eat them both. Then, more times than I can count, after supper we'd go to the local ice cream shop (which, thankfully, is only open during tourist season) and have a kiddie sized ice cream. This stuff makes Hagan Daas look LIGHT. Now, kiddie sized sounds very small... but let me assure you, it ISN'T. We got that 3 or 4 times a week! No wonder I put those pounds back on! It's miraculous I didn't gain even more! Those calories are lurking out there just waiting for our thighs to turn up!

prattiger65

I went to cracker barrel with my kids on a day trip recently. I took a guess at what might be healthy, ordered fish (not breaded), veggies--didn't want to spend the whole meal looking up food on my phone. Since we spent the whole day walking, I figured it would be reasonably safe to share a dessert, so we got the apple dumpling. I looked up the calories after we finished---3200 or so calories! Last time I ever order a dessert without checking calories first. They must've used lard in the pie crust or something. It gave me the opportunity to talk about healthy eating and exercising with my preteen daughters at least. And I made sure I got up early for a long workout the next day.

I had been reading this thread thinking the whole time about that delectable Apple dumpling. It had been a staple for my wife and I to split one after dinner, probably 6 or 8 times a year. Then I decided to get healthy.....found out it had 3200 calories...yikes!!! I will still eat one....about once a year.

ElectricPics

I have a blow-out restaurant/pub meal about once a week and I'm still amazed at the calorie count of most of the food - even the salads are loaded with oil-based dressings. Last week's lunch took the biscuit (sorry) - Bacon and stilton salad, 450kcal, Rib Eye steak sandwich and fries 1200kcal, but, wait for it... Sussex Pond Pudding (google it) with ice cream weighed in at... 900kcal - but it was worth it! Not one thing on the entire menu was even remotely healthy but no-one forced me to go and if I didn't have the occasional treat I'd go mad.

mprat210

Last week I stopped at Burger King for a treat for my kids. I packed myself a sandwich. I had pepper slices with me too. I asked for an onion ring sauce (Zesty Sauce) to dip them in. When I got home and was logging my food, I when shocked to see the sauce was 150 calories and 15 grams of fat....in that tiny little container! Just little things like that can add up so fast if you are not aware of it. No more zesty sauce for me!

WithWhatsLeft

My local grocery store's bakery makes wonderful carrot cake. I used to regularly buy a slice (they are BIG) and eat nearly all of it.

Ugh.

WinnerVictorious

It's crazy, isn't it? But I constantly see around here people talking about "oh, it takes 3500 calories to put on a pound" as if that's hard. I could easily put on a pound a day if I set my mind to it -- i.e. eating a piece of carrot cake like yours, getting some crepes at IHOP, eating half a pizza, and a burger and fries. BAM! The calories in foods at restaurants are really absurd.

it takes 3500 ABOVE what you're burning for the day. for many people, their TDEE is 2000-3000 calories a day when you factor in exercise. so it would take 5500-6500 total calories to pack on a pound per day. not impossible, but harder than you stated above.

6000 calories is more than you think it is...

it's 85 eggs.
it's 22 cinnamon raisin bagels.
it's 2.5 medium pepperoni pizzas.
it's 57 Reese's Peanut Butter cups.
it's 3 gallons of 2% milk.

Shabas87

That's unfortunate because I love Carrot Cake. I Guess I'll have to figure out a way to create a healthier substitute.

tigersword

Carrot cake always seems to be the highest. I don't know what the hell they put in to make it so calorific. Maybe they just mold it out of the lard and spray paint it orangey.

Generally it's the cream cheese frosting.

Inshape13

Carrot cake and red velvet are the highest offenders because they all contain at least 1.5 cups of oil in the batter alone and then cream cheese and butter along with 4 cups of powdered sugar in the frosting. Another calorie bombed is the tiramisu or almond cream cake which are higher than expected. I used to own a bakery and the key to a moist cake is equal parts oil and sugar so pretty much assume if the cake is super moist it is super high in calories.

http://www.takepart.com/photos/most-unhealthy-desserts

etoiles_argentees

I hope you enjoyed it!

arlenem1974

I used to eat the Concord Muffins they came in a box of 9. 4.5 oz each. Since then I have found the same brand of muffin pack of 4 but only 1.5 oz. So instead of 450- 550 each there 130-150 each. This way I can still have one and not be so worried about going over.

barefootsoul91

IKR just one of those cookie/brownie desserts at chilis is about 1600 calories lol i dont eat them anymore since i found out. even splitting it amongst friends was still like :O so many calories. lol i quit junk food though for the most part, still a work in progress!

GlorianEversea

The thing here is that it's fine to have even the 2000 calorie piece of cake as long as its extremely rare in your diet and there is frequent exercise in your lifestyle. One of my fitness trainer friends has a diet example of what one can realistically eat and maintain their weight while burning 200 calories every other day in an exercise regimen. It even accounts for nutritional values and keeps transfats at low levels.

There is plenty of room for dessert and burgers and pizza and everything else in a diet full of moderation and regular exercise.

jgbkab

It's crazy, isn't it? But I constantly see around here people talking about "oh, it takes 3500 calories to put on a pound" as if that's hard. I could easily put on a pound a day if I set my mind to it -- i.e. eating a piece of carrot cake like yours, getting some crepes at IHOP, eating half a pizza, and a burger and fries. BAM! The calories in foods at restaurants are really absurd.

it takes 3500 ABOVE what you're burning for the day. for many people, their TDEE is 2000-3000 calories a day when you factor in exercise. so it would take 5500-6500 total calories to pack on a pound per day. not impossible, but harder than you stated above.

6000 calories is more than you think it is...

it's 85 eggs.
it's 22 cinnamon raisin bagels.
it's 2.5 medium pepperoni pizzas.
it's 57 Reese's Peanut Butter cups.
it's 3 gallons of 2% milk.

Or 4 slices of carrot cake. And I could eat that easily with 4 glasses of 2% milk once upon a time. My mother bakes and sells cakes and it takes about $25 worth of calorie-laden ingredients to make $60 worth of cakes.

CristinaL1983

Im confused, I looked up carrot cake and a slice comes in about 200 to 500 Calories.....Where did you get 1500 from?

I am assuming you are referring to something listed in the MFP database or possibly another site? Don't ever rely on MOST other people to accurately list things. 80% of the stuff in MFP's database is completely wrong. There are people around who have to try and make themselves feel better so they underestimate the calories in everything and then complain because in their minds they are logging 'right'. Not everyone does this but I have stopped trying to use anything in the database that is entered by someone else because more often than not I end up having to correct everything from calories to weights to vitamin & sodium values.

If you look up an actual recipe for a 'standard' carrot cake.. something like this maybe http://allrecipes.com/recipe/sams-famous-carrot-cake/ You can see that the recipe makes 15 servings (in a 8x12 pan) each one is 374 calories. In an 8x12 pan most people would cut the cake into 8 pieces (1 inch by 1.5 inches) - not 15. Right there you just hit 700 calories. This recipe has NO icing.. so add something like this from Kraft.. http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/philadelphia-cream-cheese-frosting-50972.aspx where 1 Tbsp (about enough to frost your tiny piece of cake) will add another 75 calories.

You now have a TINY 1 inch by 1.5 inch piece of frosted carrot cake which is going to set you back about 750 calories. In which restaurant have you ever seen a piece of cake that small? It's not hard to imagine a slice of a tall cake being worth 1500 calories. I have no idea how you can even begin to imagine a carrot cake slice being only 200-500 calories. It is not possible unless you are using a whole bunch of substitutions - which most restaurants aren't likely to be doing.

Sorry, but I have to. If you cut a cake in an 8x12 pan into 8 pieces of cake, you would have 3"x4" slices. If you cut it into 15 slices, they would be 2.5x2.5 inches.


And a lot of restaurants do have a lot of food heavily laden with butters, cheeses, and fats because that is what the average person wants. Restaurants like The Cheesecake factory have entrees that easily weigh in at several thousand calories because people like them and will go there and eat often. These foods taste good so they continue making them. Most restaurants are starting to offer "healthier options" which are lower calorie and cooked in healthier ways. If I go out, I try to pick the "healthiest" option (the one that is probably not cooked in as much butter or fat etc...) and then ask that it be cooked without butter or that the vegetables be steamed without butter. Even restaurants that cook everything fresh (most restaurants around here) still steam broccoli in butter or grill the chicken breast in butter unless you ask.

It is crazy how high the calories can get. I am sometimes surprised still. Had some teriyaki recently that was maybe 10 shrimp, carrots, spinach, teriyaki sauce and was around 500 calories. Crazy. Some places have pretty great healthy options as well...

megsmom2

We have carrot cake and turtle cake for two of our dessert choices where I work....at well over 700 calories a slice. No way. If I'm going to enjoy a sinful dessert...it will be a better one than those.

Athena53

We have carrot cake and turtle cake for two of our dessert choices where I work....at well over 700 calories a slice. No way. If I'm going to enjoy a sinful dessert...it will be a better one than those.

That's my feeling. If I'm going to eat something that's got way more fat, sugar and calories than is good for me i'm going to make darn sure it's something I love. Many desserts are made to appeal to the eye and when you bite into them they aren't half as delicious as they look. it makes it very easy for me to pass up most food in that category. I also know that the first bite of anything may be sublime but diminishing returns will set in if I overdo it. Will the last half of a 1,500 calorie slice of cake be as good as the first? No? Well, then don't buy a portion that big!

onyxgirl17

People love muffins because they are so moist and light but what makes them so also makes them 700 Calories each!

yep... mmmm banana bread muffins are the shieeettt