Panera cookie 420 calories. Really?!

Commitment2014
Commitment2014 Posts: 20
in Food and Nutrition
Hello! I had dinner at Panera today. I was fighting my sweet tooth urge until the cashier notified me that I had a free pastry available on my rewards card and that it was about to expire. I quickly glanced at the treats area and decided the candy cookie had to be the least in calories so I chose that.

Unfortunately I devoured the cookie before I entered it into my food log. I was astonished when I found out that it was 420 calories!! Big lesson learned today-determine the calories on uncertain items before I eat them! Honestly I would have only had half!

What are some foods/treats that shocked you when you found out their nutritional value? Do you still eat them?
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Replies

  • Unknown
    Unknown
    This content has been removed.
  • Jkowals123
    Jkowals123 Posts: 133 Member
    Oils are a shocker as is butter! I think
    I used 300 + calories on oils the other
    day!
  • MrGonzo05
    MrGonzo05 Posts: 1,120 Member
    Yes, because it is an unreasonably large cookie.
  • fattymcrunnerpants
    fattymcrunnerpants Posts: 311 Member
    Odwalla shakes. And yes, I still drink them. Only instead of having a shake AND toast for breakfast, I just have the shake :D I don't like to deny myself anything so I either make the portion smaller or work them into my diet.
  • tonightokayalright
    tonightokayalright Posts: 289 Member
    Store cookies are 4-5x the size of the ones I make at home. Although they look and taste reeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaalllllllllllllllyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy good, I usually feel obligated to eat the whole thing.
  • LaurenAOK
    LaurenAOK Posts: 2,475 Member
    Actually, cookies (specifically from Panera, too) were one of the biggest shockers for me as well. I mean, I'm not usually surprised when restaurant foods have crazy high calories, but I don't see how one little cookie can pack in so many calories! It's not just Panera, either - something about the way cookies are prepared must involve a lot of calories, cause I find them to be way "worse" than other desserts like brownies or cake. But that's what MFP is for - you learn what you're putting into your body, and then you can use that knowledge to make a better decision next time (or the same decision if you want - but at least you'll be informed about it!)
  • albertine58
    albertine58 Posts: 267 Member
    At Panera locations in NYC the calorie counts are all right on the pastry labels in the case - and some are almost 700 calories!! Au Bon Pain's pastry case is even scarier. Even when I'm *not tracking*, I won't ever buy an 850-cal pecan roll. What is even in there?! They're not even THAT huge!
  • tatiianag13
    tatiianag13 Posts: 76 Member
    Yeah. On one hand it is kind of sad. No amount of "balanced diet" is going to help you overcome 400-900 calorie "snacks." The bad news is that you really just have to cook (or go to artisanal places that charge more).

    On the other hand, its also kind of freeing. No *wonder* we're obese--its not just because we have no self control and keep stuffing our faces like hedonists, its because our factory-made food (and restaurant sized portions) are a killer. Its actually kind of comforting to me to know that its not that I can't ever eat desserts. I just can't eat over-sized, factory-produced desserts.
  • JourneyingJessica
    JourneyingJessica Posts: 261 Member
    Cheesecake Factory has a cheesecake that is 1,200 cals/slice ... I almost cried when i saw that.
  • jdelisle
    jdelisle Posts: 1,050 Member
    This is Canadian, but for me it was Boston Pizza's Crispy Chicken Pecan Salad. Granted the chicken is fried but it's a whopping 1,200 calories for just one salad!
  • the_great_unknown
    the_great_unknown Posts: 194 Member
    Those cookies are shockingly high. I miss living in California where they had to post the calories for them. I was also shocked to discover the Costco food court ice cream bars that I used to share with my ex were 840 calories each. Each. Good thing I haven't had one in over five years.
  • MysteriousMerlin
    MysteriousMerlin Posts: 2,270 Member
    This is Canadian, but for me it was Boston Pizza's Crispy Chicken Pecan Salad. Granted the chicken is fried but it's a whopping 1,200 calories for just one salad!

    YESSSSSS...restaurant salads shock the s4!t out of me.

    I was blown away by O'Charley's the other day. My husband had ordered the Chipotle Chicken Strips. It was a big portion, so he brought 2 of the strips home. I had them the next day, then logged them. The SODIUM...1694mg! In 2 strips! 2! My ENTIRE meal the night before wasn't even HALF that sodium. Not to mention the 2 strips were 415 calories... :huh:
  • MinimalistShoeAddict
    MinimalistShoeAddict Posts: 1,946 Member
    Sounds like a delicious cookie to me!
  • ItsCasey
    ItsCasey Posts: 4,021 Member
    Homemade and bakery-style cookies are very calorie-dense because of all the fat in them (butter, peanut butter, chocolate, etc., depending on the type of cookie). A typical chocolate chip cookie that you'd make at home from scratch will have 200 to 250 calories. And the cookies at bakeries, Panera, Starbucks, etc., are all considerably larger than a typical cookie you'd make at home. But the high volume of fat in these cookies is also why they taste so much better than the dry, crunchy Nabisco cookies at the grocery store.

    As someone who bakes a lot, I don't really see a huge difference in calories between brownies and cookies (if you're making them right, anyway ... I've seen a ton of brownies that are dry and practically gray because of the lack of fat and the poor quality of chocolate used in them, so they're probably lower in calories). Unfrosted cakes tend to be very similar in calories, as well. A simple glaze won't add much because it's all sugar, but a buttercream or cream cheese frosting will obviously add a fair amount of calories because of the fat content.
  • fbmandy55
    fbmandy55 Posts: 5,263 Member
    Cookies from Potbelly, the amazing oatmeal chocolate chip ones, over 530 calories. The taste is SO worth it from time to time..
  • billsica
    billsica Posts: 4,741 Member
    I once had a veggie burger from Ruby Tuesdays, a long time ago. It was over 1500 calories.
  • paniolo5
    paniolo5 Posts: 186 Member
    Those cookies are shockingly high. I miss living in California where they had to post the calories for them. I was also shocked to discover the Costco food court ice cream bars that I used to share with my ex were 840 calories each. Each. Good thing I haven't had one in over five years.

    Oh goodness...didn't realize that. I haven't had one since I re-started MFP 2 months ago. Guess I won't ever have one again. Nothing is worth that (except maybe chocolate cake...)
  • AlsDonkBoxSquat
    AlsDonkBoxSquat Posts: 6,128 Member
    um, you know that cookie is like the size of your face, right?
  • AlsDonkBoxSquat
    AlsDonkBoxSquat Posts: 6,128 Member
    I once had a veggie burger from Ruby Tuesdays, a long time ago. It was over 1500 calories.

    That is shocking and unbelievable . . . you had a veggie burger when there was beef on the menu?
  • sylviatx
    sylviatx Posts: 156 Member
    "No *wonder* we're obese--its not just because we have no self control and keep stuffing our faces like hedonists, its because our factory-made food (and restaurant sized portions) are a killer. Its actually kind of comforting to me to know that its not that I can't ever eat desserts. I just can't eat over-sized, factory-produced desserts."

    This.
  • Goin4goal
    Goin4goal Posts: 129 Member
    I thought I was being smart and decided to order an appetizer and sides at Bone Fish Grill instead of a whole meal, to save calories, So I ordered the Bang Bang Shrimp, green beans, and another side (can't remember). When I got home and logged it, I realized it was 4 servings!!! I ate 1,500 calories just for the shrimp. It was really, really GOOD tho. lol Won't be ordering that again without sharing it with others.
  • randrews0407
    randrews0407 Posts: 216 Member
    Yeah, I love their holiday short-bread cookies with the frosting - they push 'em on you whenever you get a meal, mark down the price and if you have a Panera card, you get them as freebies every now and again. I break 'em in half - leave the remainder in the plastic for another time or give it away. 200 or so calories I can live with but at 400+ I'd rather have a REAL MEAL.
  • hoyalawya2003
    hoyalawya2003 Posts: 631 Member
    Cheesecake Factory has a cheesecake that is 1,200 cals/slice ... I almost cried when i saw that.

    I almost cried when I saw that, after I had eaten a whole slice of cookie dough cheesecake. Did I have it again? Yes, but only half a slice. :smile:
  • howardheilweil
    howardheilweil Posts: 604 Member
    Actually, cookies (specifically from Panera, too) were one of the biggest shockers for me as well. I mean, I'm not usually surprised when restaurant foods have crazy high calories, but I don't see how one little cookie can pack in so many calories! It's not just Panera, either - something about the way cookies are prepared must involve a lot of calories, cause I find them to be way "worse" than other desserts like brownies or cake. But that's what MFP is for - you learn what you're putting into your body, and then you can use that knowledge to make a better decision next time (or the same decision if you want - but at least you'll be informed about it!)
    They're not little... That's the problem!
  • msf74
    msf74 Posts: 3,498 Member
    I don't find that surprising really. If anything that seems average.

    IIRC from a CDC campaign the size of fast food servings has increased by over 4 times since the 50s. I believe this in turn had an impact on serving sizes at home - we got used to bigger portion size generally.

    Obesity is a result of a consistent excess of calories. In our current environment where highly palatable food is so readily available and cheap it is astonishingly easy to rack up huge amounts of calories in the blink of an eye. I can only see it getting worse...
  • minimalistmom
    minimalistmom Posts: 137
    I ordered a cup of white chicken chili and and oriental salad from a local restaurant. I thought I was making the right choices, but found out it was 800+ calories together. They use thickener in the soup (which is probably flour or corn starch base), then when you add in the beans and the chicken chunks, my cup of soup packed almost 200-300 calories. The oriental salad isn't bad, because it's loaded with salad greens, strawberries, pineapple, mandarin oranges, and rice noodles, but it's served in a cinnamon sugar tortilla bowl which sent the calories up.

    Lesson learned: Just order the salad without the cinnamon sugar tortilla bowl and no soup.
  • randrews0407
    randrews0407 Posts: 216 Member
    I thought I was being smart and decided to order an appetizer and sides at Bone Fish Grill instead of a whole meal, to save calories, So I ordered the Bang Bang Shrimp, green beans, and another side (can't remember). When I got home and logged it, I realized it was 4 servings!!! I ate 1,500 calories just for the shrimp. It was really, really GOOD tho. lol Won't be ordering that again without sharing it with others.

    I love Bone Fish Grill, yeah - who would look at the Bang Bang shrimp and think that's 4 servings? The thai coconut shrimp is like 100+ calories PER shrimp - the order has 6. You don't get spared much with the entree, the Florida Cobb SALAD is 1000+ if I'm not mistaken and that's before dressing is applied. The fish is low cal but the sides get you.
  • SnugglePuggles
    SnugglePuggles Posts: 34
    I went to Cracker Barrel last night and my husband ordered the apple dumpling dessert. It has two small scoops of ice cream and caramel on it - it's delicious. So I ate a few bites. Got home to log it and found out that dessert has 3250 calories and 155 grams of fat!!!! Good lord... and it tasted so light. It's apples for God sake.
  • KnM0107
    KnM0107 Posts: 355 Member
    Yeah. On one hand it is kind of sad. No amount of "balanced diet" is going to help you overcome 400-900 calorie "snacks." The bad news is that you really just have to cook (or go to artisanal places that charge more).

    On the other hand, its also kind of freeing. No *wonder* we're obese--its not just because we have no self control and keep stuffing our faces like hedonists, its because our factory-made food (and restaurant sized portions) are a killer. Its actually kind of comforting to me to know that its not that I can't ever eat desserts. I just can't eat over-sized, factory-produced desserts.

    People become obese because they eat at a surplus... my snacks are usually 500 calories and my diet is balanced. I have 3000 calories to work with so I think I can overcome a high calorie snack here and there.
  • devilwhiterose
    devilwhiterose Posts: 1,157 Member
    Cold Stone Creamery Milkshakes. :noway:

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