Foods that shocked you

HotDolphinMama
HotDolphinMama Posts: 82 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Had a family dinner with my "just starting to be a little chunky" 9 yr old niece over the holidays and a funny thing happened.

As I sat down across from her, she examined my plate and then asked me why I didn't have any salad dressing on my salad. I explained that there was only ranch on the table & I can't have ranch. She inquired why, and I told her ranch has too many calories for me. She then exclaimed in a loud, horrified tone "Is Ranch fattening!" I told her that most of it has a lot of calories and it depends on how you want to use them. She moaned then, and said she would always be fat then, because she loves ranch on EVERYTHING! LOL Everyone in hearing laughed, but I was struck by how devastated she seemed.

We are all adults here on MFP, but I can think of a few things that I get a little depressed to know how bad they are for me.
Anyone else have a food that they were shocked to hear the calorie count on???/ I would love to hear the good & the bad!!
«13456789

Replies

  • LaceyMorley
    LaceyMorley Posts: 45
    I still eat ranch... moderation is key.
  • wannabe1959
    wannabe1959 Posts: 80 Member
    butter. I love real butter but it is shocking.
  • peacek
    peacek Posts: 211
    Granola....real shock.
  • LaceyMorley
    LaceyMorley Posts: 45
    Granola....real shock.

    I agree, and nuts in general.
  • cynthiatwayne
    cynthiatwayne Posts: 71
    Half and Half....I love it in my coffee....and I take it light and it is WAY to many calories....I've switched to skim. boo
  • glitteredgrave
    glitteredgrave Posts: 194 Member
    Ranch makes me sick. I agree with you on the granola and nuts thing though, lol.
  • chocl8girl
    chocl8girl Posts: 1,968 Member
    I'm actually more sad that a 9-year-old would be horrified that something was fattening, and say they would "be fat forever," meaning they already think they are fat.

    *sigh*

    I can't stand ranch anymore, and usually never use any salad dressing at all now, but everything is fine in moderation. There are also several different tasty brands of light and no-fat ranch out there, if you look for and try them out.

    That being said, nuts and various trail mixes always slay me with their calories, because I love them so much. lol
  • kinrsa
    kinrsa Posts: 111 Member
    My dad wouldn't let me have ranch or mayo when I was a kid because he said it'd make me fat. I loved the stuff but stopped eating it when he said that.

    I love peanut butter but 100 calories for a tbsp of anything is ridiculous.

    There are crackers here called Salticrax (heh, the name is funny). I can and have eaten the whole box in one sitting. Just one sleeve of them is about 700 calories without cheese or anything on top.

    And WATERMELON is killing me at the moment! I'll have a whole one over the course of a day or two- that's over 1000 calories to budget in.

    And popcorn- we don't have the low cal options and I haven't been able to find paper bags for the life of me. Oil popped on the stove is about the only way to do it here. That's 400 calories easy, no butter.
  • whitneyps7
    whitneyps7 Posts: 409 Member
    sandwhiches in general lol. and i love me a gooood samwhich
  • rlmiller73190
    rlmiller73190 Posts: 342 Member
    tortillas of any kind, especially because a lot of the time a wrap is promoted as the "lighter" or "healthier" option on a menu! Just cutting a large tortilla in half and using that for my sandwich is over 100 calories. Using an entire wrap, and then filling it can add up quickly!
  • samantha1242
    samantha1242 Posts: 816 Member
    I love me some Ranch.

    Muffins. Those delicious things can be very high in calories sometimes!
  • sunflowerhippi
    sunflowerhippi Posts: 1,099 Member
    Nuts / Peanut Butter

    I work with kids and we always pack lunches when we'd go out and I would just make us all peanut butter and fluff / jelly or whatever and didn't even realize that well the fluffs only wasting 40 calories I had 200 in peanut butter, then 150 in bread... so 400 calories in a small sandwhich and we would also make our own trail mix. Its shocking how suddenly I woudl have ate 750-1000 calories in a sitting.
  • ColorfulWeirdo
    ColorfulWeirdo Posts: 113 Member
    Peanut butter- even making my own and keeping out the High Fructose Corn Syrup it still shocks me.
  • cherbapp
    cherbapp Posts: 322
    I thought I was pretty accurate on guessing calories by now, but we made a last minute stop at Perkins for breakfast and I ordered a farmers omelette without the meat.

    When I went to put in my calories I almost died to see that the meal with hash browns and wheat toast was 1480 calories!!!

    I only finished half, but still, that's crazy! I can see why people who eat out a lot have so much trouble sticking to calories. I can make a veggie omelette from scratch with light hash browns and a slice of toast for under 500 calories and eat the whole thing!
  • penguinlally
    penguinlally Posts: 331 Member
    BACON!!! CHEESE!!! BUTTER!!!! can't live without 'em.....factor them into my day when I need to...add an extra workout or something.... I often work out to enjoy my treats!
  • doubleduofa
    doubleduofa Posts: 284 Member
    I'm always more shocked by all the chemicals in commercial food. I can make my own ranch dressing without all the preservatives or whatever else they have to put in there to make it shelf stable. The older I get, the more that kind of grosses me out. I'd rather a balsamic vinaigrette with my salad. I'm generally ok with the calores from fat, but wouldn't down an entire jar of sunflower butter or anything. I don't let the fat calories from food stop me from eating them, but high fructose corn syrup? Red dye 40? Yeah, that stufff grosses me out.

    Eh, we all have our *thing*. :-)
  • giggitygoo
    giggitygoo Posts: 1,978 Member
    Those market fresh sandwiches from Arby's. How a turkey sandwich on wheat bread can be 1000 calories, I will never understand.

    Seems like a "no *kitten* Sherlock" type of realization, but I had assumed they were relatively healthy. The marketing is really misleading. Basically learning that things advertised as "healthy" as very often the opposite of that.
  • aefallis
    aefallis Posts: 169 Member
    Definitely peanut butter or nuts in general. Next were tortillas.
  • Velum_cado
    Velum_cado Posts: 1,608 Member
    Those little pots of herb and garlic sauce from Dominos. Obviously they're not going to be great for you, but I wasn't expecting them to be nearly 200 calories for one pot. D: I used to eat two of them with my pizza.
  • mrsgoodwine
    mrsgoodwine Posts: 468 Member
    Nothing really shocks me so I don't cut anything out, just try to eat in moderation.
  • wellbert
    wellbert Posts: 3,924 Member
    live electric eel
  • CarlieeBear
    CarlieeBear Posts: 325 Member
    Perkins southern fried chicken and biscuits is around 2000 calories. Shortly after we discovered that, my bf and I were eating at Perkins and the two gals behind both ordered that. I was tempted to tell them

    At Ihop, I sub green peppers and onions for the cheese and cheese sauce in one of their omelets and save over 400 calories.
  • hypotrochoid
    hypotrochoid Posts: 842 Member
    live electric eel

    *sings*
    When something bites your thigh,
    makes you scream,
    makes you cry
    it's a moray....
  • jen10st
    jen10st Posts: 325 Member
    Bisto instant gravy granules, I used to think it would be so high in calories I never let myself have any.
    It's only 15calories per 50ml! Awesome!
  • beanerific518
    beanerific518 Posts: 152
    When I first started, some of my normal weeknight suppers shocked the *kitten* out of me. I thought they were "healthy" because they weren't deep fried.

    I feel deeply sad for your niece. I know what it is like to be a chunky kid and feeling completely helpless to change. Be a positive force for her with your healthy eating habits and keeping activity fun.
  • Amberonamission
    Amberonamission Posts: 836 Member
    Some of these shock me... Why would anyone fear watermelon? And eat far free ranch, pb2. There are ways to have most everything. Except butter, fake butter flavor is so bad for you, might as well east the real stuff.
  • buzzcockgirl
    buzzcockgirl Posts: 260 Member
    tortillas of any kind, especially because a lot of the time a wrap is promoted as the "lighter" or "healthier" option on a menu! Just cutting a large tortilla in half and using that for my sandwich is over 100 calories. Using an entire wrap, and then filling it can add up quickly!
    Yup! ^^ Tortillas! Love me some good Mexican food- but when I saw how many cals in a tortilla- I couldn't believe it. Anywhere from 150-200.... and the tortilla isn't even really the good part. It's just the vehicle to get all the good stuff into my mouth! So now I use the tiny little La Tortilla Factory 'Smart & Delicious' 50 cal ones. But- I miss grubbing a big ol' burrito!
  • CarlieeBear
    CarlieeBear Posts: 325 Member
    I've read that the fast in dressings helps your body absorb the nutrients in salad, but that monounsaturated is ideal. Anyone know of a salad dressing high in monounsaturated fast?

    Also remember that the fast in nuts is good fast and it's recommended to eat a handful every day. I'm trying to do that since my good cholesterol is a bit low.
  • Amberonamission
    Amberonamission Posts: 836 Member
    Tumaro's low carb tortillas 60 cal each. I live off of those.
  • triff14
    triff14 Posts: 129 Member
    Sweet tea from anywhere! I can buy a pre-sweetened tea from the gas station or a fast food place and it will have hundreds of calories, or I can get a regular tea and put in some sweetener for less than ten calories....

Categories