Shocked by the calorie content

Macaroni Grill chicken parmesan! OMG I had not eaten one of those work days where all hell breaks loose, and I thought myself lucky because the next meeting was catered by a vendor. I ate two pieces of that chicken and the next day checked out at MFP. suffice to say I will never eat at Macaroni Grill again in my life......same for CPK Pear and Gorgonzola Pizza even shared among three of us - the number of calories is horrific.

MFP is a true education in food. I was most shocked to learn how much sodium was in bread.

Sushi! I had no idea! Over 300 per roll and I used to easily polish off 3 plus tempura and a beer then pat myself on the back for not eating fast food.

This^^^. I used to eat sushi all the time and polish off a couple of large sakes with my husband. All that rice=so many carbs. Most of the fish is fine. I still eat sushi but now we get a sashimi appetizer or two and watch the rolls.

Little Debbie Nutty Bars. Oh how I love thee. Oh how it is bullsh*t what those little buggers pack in for calories. Wrong. Just wrong.

The other day my son, had a 16 oz chocolate shake from McDonald's.
710 calories
21 g fat
97 g sugar

Had no idea until we read the nutrient brochure how many calories/sugar were in it.
The good news is that I sat and watched him drink it. (I didn't eat anything.) He couldn't finish the whole thing and he asked me if I wanted it, and I said no and I threw it away!! The before MFP me would have never done that!

I was shocked by how low calorie a big plate of home made chips is (thick cut fries, for the americans) just 375 calories, and big enough that you'd struggle to finish it. I lived on chips the last time I lost so much weight, then met my partner and he convinced me that mashed potato was healthier. I haven't weighed out how much margarine he puts in, but it is A LOT. I nearly freaked out when I realised the tiny amount on a sandwich was 160 calories. We used to go through three 1kg tubs a month. No wonder I put on weight!

MFP is a true education in food. I was most shocked to learn how much sodium was in bread.

Ditto. When you realise how much healthy, filling food you can get for the same calories as processed food high in salt and sugar, it's a real eye opener.

I know it's fast food and therefore will be high in calories, but before I started on MFP, I would think nothing of having a large big mac meal with one or two double cheeseburgers on the side! BAM! Over 2000 calories on one meal! That really shocked me. Also, there has been several times in the past where I've had a whole Dominos LARGE full house pizza to myself. Doing the maths: I think there were 10 slices x 268 cals per slice = 2680!! JEEZ! I have no excuses for why I got as big as I did. My idea of portions was non-existent, and after eating all that, I'd sit on my backside playing video games all evening. And to think, if I hadn't found this website, I would still be continuing at that pace! It's a very scary thought.

I'm glad to say that I now have a lot more control over my eating habits, and the thought of actually eating that much now seems totally laughable. I still enjoy pretty much everything I did before, but of course using the key of moderation and portion control. However, I don't much care for McDonalds anymore, which I suppose is a good thing really

First day of my weight loss, I was still very green to this whole calorie counting thing. I wanted to start things off right, so I made 2 scrambled eggs, one piece of wheat bread toast, and washed it down with a big glass of orange juice. Color me surprised when my breakfast ended up at 600+ calories!

Granted, it actually was pretty healthy and contained a lot of good nutrients, but it blew my mind that something I thought was super healthy took up almost half my daily calories in one meal.

Also, I love the tips that have popped up now and again in this thread (like substituting sour cream with nonfat greek yogurt). Anyone else find substitutes for the things that had much higher calories than they expected? I would love to make a list.

One of my favorite substitutions is using homemade applesauce as a topping or a waffle or pancake instead of butter & syrup. IMO it tastes so much better. Not like I'm having pancakes & waffles on a regular basis...

Peanut butter. Picked up a food scale last week... Made a sammie this morning for work. Thought I would add a small amount of peanut butter as I was going to weigh it - over two hundred calories in peanut butter! 90 calories a tablespoon? Me and my new food scale are going to do a lot of falling out. We already have a nasty disagreement about what an ounce of cheese looks like...

I recommend that everyone use a food scale. It's shocking how small portions are when you first start using one, but then it becomes empowering. I know how much I actually eat because I weigh everything or measure everything. If I log half a cup of anything, you should know that it was a half cup because I actually use my little measuring cups as spoons to serve with. I've lost weight much faster and easier since I started making sure my portions were exact.