Uggg, I am so stupid! - Lesson learned!!!

leah0521
leah0521 Posts: 16
in Food and Nutrition
I had Taco John's for dinner last friday and was trying to find something low calorie there. I entered Taco Johns into the food search on MFP and it told me that a bean burrito was 160 or so calories (can't remember the exact number right now but it's on my food diary) - should have known that was too good to be true, and today, in my vasts amounts of free time at work( hee hee) I went onto Taco John's website and looked and the darn thing was 380 calories!! I ate 1 1/2 that day!! UGGGGGG! I am so mad at myself. I have learned my lesson - double check calories with multiple sources!!
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Replies

  • RSuta
    RSuta Posts: 60
    wow.... now im afraid to check out the calorie count in MOE's
  • Bevkus
    Bevkus Posts: 274 Member
    I have found that frustrating on MFP too. Why cant people enter calories values properly? People...its what the calorie content actually IS, not what you WANT it to be!

    In my mind, if it sounds too good to be true, it is.
  • nturner612
    nturner612 Posts: 710 Member
    sometimes you have to check the "serving" info. maybe who ever put it in there put 100cals for idk, 1/3 of the burrito...
  • drewbird911
    drewbird911 Posts: 117 Member
    Last friday... Really, Water under the bridge or over the dam... But your right many are inacurate, What I've done is pick up a snack in the store and try and read the Cal/Per serving only to realize that there are 3-4 servings in a bag. Trail Mix is killer in this regard.
  • leah0521
    leah0521 Posts: 16
    Yeah, it was a week ago. ha ha. I was only thinking about it today because friday is the only day I let myself have takeout., and was thinking, hey, that was such a low calorie yummy option I might have that again. NOT. Ugg. What if I hadn't eaten that, would I have lost more weight last week? I'm a freak, I worry about everything. Definately have to watch the serving sizes too, I've caught that a few times on different food that I thought were 1 serving but were actually more.
  • krickeyuu
    krickeyuu Posts: 344 Member
    So funny, I was going to post a "lesson learned" post today. Never put anything in your mouth without checking the calorie count first. I ate at a Szechwan restaurant last night and had very small tastings of about 4-5 things. Then I had a sesame ball for desert--it was so small. I should have checked the calories before I ate it--it weighs in at like 250+ calories. OMG, I could have had a whole plate of Eggplant in Garlic Sauce for those calories. And it wasn't even that good :cry:
  • CyeRyn
    CyeRyn Posts: 389 Member
    I had their stuffed grilled taco last weekend. Those are 540cal. but it was right on with MFP. I always double check now because I used to buy chocolate chip muffins from Kwik Trip and I'd find it on MFP as 280cal (or somewhere around there). I never thought of looking it up by company name. Come to find out those things are 570cal. each. :grumble:
  • jesusHchris
    jesusHchris Posts: 1,405 Member
    That is not you being stupid, that is the fast food industry being deceptive. Sounds like you learned a lesson from it. Well done.
  • wolfchild59
    wolfchild59 Posts: 2,608 Member
    That is not you being stupid, that is the fast food industry being deceptive. Sounds like you learned a lesson from it. Well done.

    How was the fast food company being deceptive? The information giving by the place she ate was correct. The information that was in the MyFitnessPal database was wrong. You can't blame the place she ate for that, not even in the slightest.
  • Gramps251
    Gramps251 Posts: 738 Member
    Last week I realized that my yogurt entries (one a day) were set to 1 oz. rather than 6 oz. Oooops. Fixed now.
  • wolfchild59
    wolfchild59 Posts: 2,608 Member
    I had Taco John's for dinner last friday and was trying to find something low calorie there. I entered Taco Johns into the food search on MFP and it told me that a bean burrito was 160 or so calories (can't remember the exact number right now but it's on my food diary) - should have known that was too good to be true, and today, in my vasts amounts of free time at work( hee hee) I went onto Taco John's website and looked and the darn thing was 380 calories!! I ate 1 1/2 that day!! UGGGGGG! I am so mad at myself. I have learned my lesson - double check calories with multiple sources!!

    I see what happened! The person made the same mistake I did when I first looked at the nutrition info. :blushing:

    They looked at the grams under the serving size instead of the calories. I saw the entry and then the others in the system and I looked closer. (sorry, I'm not familiar with Taco John's as there aren't any in my state so it was the first time I've ever accessed their data)
  • Captain_Tightpants
    Captain_Tightpants Posts: 2,215 Member
    220 cals is only a brisk thirty minute walk. Get to it.
  • leah0521
    leah0521 Posts: 16
    Bean Burrito w/ Cheese (Choose a soft flour tortilla filled with seasoned beans, shredded cheddar cheese, onions, and mild taco sauce) 6.6 oz 15 53 12 8 380 cal

    This is what I looked at. Calorielab.com/restaurants/taco johns. I just walked 2 1/2 miles on my lunch, burned 260 so I'm good now. Still a lesson learned from me. How can this be so off from the Taco John's site and MFP. Sorry if I'm annoying anyone with my ignorance. I am new at this whole thing. Just starting week 3 of counting calories and exercising.
  • yecatsml
    yecatsml Posts: 180 Member
    Bean Burrito w/ Cheese (Choose a soft flour tortilla filled with seasoned beans, shredded cheddar cheese, onions, and mild taco sauce) 6.6 oz 15 53 12 8 380 cal

    This is what I looked at. Calorielab.com/restaurants/taco johns. I just walked 2 1/2 miles on my lunch, burned 260 so I'm good now. Still a lesson learned from me. How can this be so off from the Taco John's site and MFP. Sorry if I'm annoying anyone with my ignorance. I am new at this whole thing. Just starting week 3 of counting calories and exercising.

    Just make sure you are not relying on MFP for burned calories either - with my HRM I can walk 6 miles at 4.5mph and only burn about 350

    I always look at the company's website for calorie info versus something like calorielab.com
  • foleyshirley
    foleyshirley Posts: 1,043 Member
    I had Taco John's for dinner last friday and was trying to find something low calorie there. I entered Taco Johns into the food search on MFP and it told me that a bean burrito was 160 or so calories (can't remember the exact number right now but it's on my food diary) - should have known that was too good to be true, and today, in my vasts amounts of free time at work( hee hee) I went onto Taco John's website and looked and the darn thing was 380 calories!! I ate 1 1/2 that day!! UGGGGGG! I am so mad at myself. I have learned my lesson - double check calories with multiple sources!!

    I am learning to do this as well. I've run into the same problems 2 or 3 times. So I have been researching more when I am really unsure.
  • wolfchild59
    wolfchild59 Posts: 2,608 Member
    I just walked 2 1/2 miles on my lunch, burned 260 so I'm good now.

    Hmmm, a 2.5 mile walk probably didn't burn 260 calories. When I run at a 6mph+ pace for 2.5 miles I'll burn about 250 calories, so that seems really high for even a brisk walk.
  • leah0521
    leah0521 Posts: 16
    I use a TomTom GPS watch that tells me based on my age, and the distance I travel and speed how many calories I've burned. How would this be inaccurate?
  • leah0521
    leah0521 Posts: 16
    If you are fitter than I am, I think you would have to run longer/faster to burn more calories than me?
  • issyfit
    issyfit Posts: 1,077 Member
    Check both serving size and the number of confirmations. I also check to see if sugar has been entered because I found a lot of items where they ignored the sugar.
  • RozWynn
    RozWynn Posts: 30
    I generally check to make sure it has at least 3 or 4 confirmations on MFP because some folks are seriously WRONG in their calculations. I also just prefer building my own "take out" calorie charts because for instance you may have no cheese on a food that comes with cheese and that throws it off. You are not alone though!
  • Gramps251
    Gramps251 Posts: 738 Member
    I wouldn't burn near that many calories with a 30 minute brisk walk either but we may have a difference in fitness. I also try to over-estimate my calories in and under estimate my exercise calories just to be safe.
  • TimeWarp9
    TimeWarp9 Posts: 91
    GENERALLY (varies somewhat depending on weight, etc), one mile = 100cals. If you run faster, you are running the distance in a quicker time therefore not exercising for as long. If you run (walk) slower, you are spending more time at it. One mile at a say, a10 minute pace burns approximately the same cals as walking the same mile at a 20 min pace because you've only exercised for 10 min vs 20...
  • mcrowe1016
    mcrowe1016 Posts: 647 Member
    For the past year I have been underestimating the calories in salmon.....Just found that out this week :-/

    Happens to the best of us. Still lost 40lbs though!
  • leah0521
    leah0521 Posts: 16
    So, if I walked 2.5 miles and generally 1 mile equals 100 cals, than that seems right. My GPS gave me the same total as MFP too. Who knows. I'm so freakin confused..and discouraged now. Disappointed with some of negative vibes about how wrong I am about everything..just trying to learn.
  • GirlBunny
    GirlBunny Posts: 1
    Wow good information from all of you. Now here is the funny thing. I have been on this diet for a week. My biggest problem before was that I never actually ate enough food but I was consuming huge amounts of calories from Starbucks. So even now its a struggle for me to eat the whole 1250 calories per day that I need too. Any ideas?

    Thanks
    Laurie
  • Gramps251
    Gramps251 Posts: 738 Member
    So, if I walked 2.5 miles and generally 1 mile equals 100 cals, than that seems right. My GPS gave me the same total as MFP too. Who knows. I'm so freakin confused..and discouraged now. Disappointed with some of negative vibes about how wrong I am about everything..just trying to learn.

    Everyone is different so they expend different energy and food calories are also estimates so don't worry about the small discrepencies. I think as long as you're consistent with your estimates you can adjust them if you're not getting the outcome you expect.
  • Gramps251
    Gramps251 Posts: 738 Member
    Wow good information from all of you. Now here is the funny thing. I have been on this diet for a week. My biggest problem before was that I never actually ate enough food but I was consuming huge amounts of calories from Starbucks. So even now its a struggle for me to eat the whole 1250 calories per day that I need too. Any ideas?

    Thanks
    Laurie

    Caloried dense foods: nuts, peanut butter, olive oil, avacado...............
  • crazybookworm
    crazybookworm Posts: 779 Member
    Things very between the States and Canada as well. It's always best to pre-check the website before you hit up the restaruant
  • elperrogigante
    elperrogigante Posts: 17
    Another thing is don't assume that a certain food has a certain number of calories. I once ordered Beijing Beef at Panda Express thinking it wasn't THAT bad. Turns out it has more calories than a Big Mac!

    oooops.
  • leah0521
    leah0521 Posts: 16
    Yikes!! I am for sure going to be double checking everything I have when I order out now.

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