I'm shocked at all the calories I'm consuming.

I had an Applebee's chicken fajita rollup. I thought-- chicken, veggies, wrap, good right?? ... 1040 calories!!!!!!!!!!! I was floored!! Thats almost my whole calorie goal FOR THE DAY!!!

I went to applebees the other day and had half a sandwich and a cup of soup. 1100 calories!!!

Oops... kashi

I will eat a PB sandwich as a meal with a cup of skim milk. I use the Nature Own Wheat bread 50 cal a slice and one tablespoon PB with Welches grape jelly. These are the brands I use. The bread is real important though because its 100% wheat bread (no bleached flour) and only 50 calories a slice. Its the only bread I use.

2 slice Nature Own Wheat Bread 100
1 Tablespoon Jiffy PB 95 (2 tablespoon 190)
1 Tablespoon Welches Grape Jelly 50
Cup Skim Milk 90

That is 335 calories. Sometimes I will eat the full serving of peanut butter which is 430 calories total as a quick meal when I have been out and come home starving. A peanut butter sandwich really is healthy for you. I use to be the one to get a spoon full of PB here and there as a snack and before you know it you have consumed probably about 600 calories! I love PB and eat the real stuff. LOL. Count those calories and you will do fine. I have the book 400 Calorie Fix by Liz Vaccariello. Its a great book with 400 calorie meals to get together. You ought to check it out. Good luck!

Alcohol and pizza were really my big shockers. I mean, I knew pizza wasn't good for me, and it had a lot of calories, but 350 calories per slice? I used to eat 3 or 4 slices, 2 or 3 breadsticks, a side of cheese, and generally some sort of soda or energy drink. I mean, I would feel super full and know I ate too much, and that I was way over my calories, but 2000 calories for one meal? It seemed crazy.

Alcohol was the other big shocker. I started tracking everything I was eating for a few weeks before I actually started changing my diet, and boy do those alcohol calories add up fast. A typical weeknight was 200-300, an average Saturday was 500-600, and lord help me if I was going out with my friends, I'd have used half of my daily calories to get drunk! It also really help me realize how much I was drinking and how I was developing some very dangerous behaviors. So I cut down tremendously, limiting my self to one drink on weeknights and 2 or 3 on weekends with friends, and I've actually now gone 9 days without any. It's crazy what just actually seeing you patterns can do.

I really do not each much. 3 or 4 times a day. Smaller meals. I am so shocked at how many calories are in the foods that I'm eating. Really, a peanut butter & jelly sandwich is 400 calories.... a bowl of KIX cereal.. a real bowl of 1 cup of cereal with 2% milk is over 600 calories. I guess I'm really going to need help choosing low calorie foods. I'm headed to the nutritionist next week. Thanks for listening.

Great attisude.
So many people have no concept of how much they are eating.

I think you're experiencing the first stage of healthy eating...awareness. Just keep at it and avoid the denial stuff. Once you know what you are doing to yourself with food, you have the power to make better choices.

Also, cereal pretty much sucks nutritionally. So calorie dense I can't ever satisfy myself on it without blowing my numbers out of the water.

You want a even bigger reality check, buy a food scale the cups and measuring spoons are not accurate for measuring. When
I got mine I had a lot of fun weighing everything.

^This^

I prefer to graze instead of sitting down to 3 meals a day - these days standard portion sizes are much bigger than they used to be.

I am pretty staggered that anyone would drink 'normal' soda. That stuff is bizarre!

There is a flip side, though - I can prepare and eat a big pile of boneless, skinless chicken breasts and a giant salad, and it's significantly less calories than I would expect versus the time it took me to eat it all.

I too have recently discovered white fish. I take a serving of cod and a veggie and bake them in a pyrex for 30 minutes. IT HAS LOTS of good protein and in combination with the veggies, I am full for three hours or more.

You're so right! Once you get in to the habit of counting and monitoring exactly what you're eating, it does get easier and becomes habit.

Try making your primary consumption leafy greens and lean protein (tofu, turkey, lean beef, fish, etc). It actually takes A LOT of these things to fill your caloric needs for the day - plus, it's loaded with vitamins, minerals & fiber!