Shocked at the amount of calories

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Replies

  • xLittleMissVixenx
    xLittleMissVixenx Posts: 62
    I was surprised that there are 989 calories in a Zizzi lasagne, which is my favourite main course ever! Still going to have one next week because I'm going to Zizzi for a cheat meal. The whole meal including half a bottle of wine will be over 2000 calories which is a little bit daunting!

    Also, I had fish for dinner the other day because it was a 'healthy option' but it turned out to be the same amount of calories as the burgers I'd had the day before.

    Things do surprise me the other way as well though. Krispy Kreme doughnuts don't have as many calories as I thought and neither does bacon.
  • animatorswearbras
    animatorswearbras Posts: 1,001 Member
    Definitely museli! lovely nutty fruity muesli, looks the picture of health. Checked the back of the pack 40g = 159cals okay great not bad. Decided to weigh it, holy crap thats a hamster portion I'd been serving myself at least 3x that before I started weighing food 0_o
  • Companero1
    Companero1 Posts: 14 Member
    On the other hand I'm shocked how few calories are in a Big Mac. In Britain a Big Mac only has 490 calories. I sometimes have 2 for lunch and a 1000 cal dinner in the evening. Nice way to keep to my 2000 calorie a day diet.
  • msbunnie68
    msbunnie68 Posts: 1,894 Member
    Wraps..... just the thin flat bread bit rather than the finished filled item. How can something so flat count for so much?!
    We have been making our wraps with rye mountain bread (although checking my pantry they are now called Rye wraps LOL). Each one is 69 calories per piece. Yummy too. The lower calorie level was a bonus.
  • bio_fit
    bio_fit Posts: 307 Member
    Definitely museli! lovely nutty fruity muesli, looks the picture of health. Checked the back of the pack 40g = 159cals okay great not bad. Decided to weigh it, holy crap thats a hamster portion I'd been serving myself at least 3x that before I started weighing food 0_o

    I know what you mean! I stick to 40g, but instead of adding milk, I add some nice thick plain yoghurt, then top with blueberries. Once you've got that extra protein from the yoghurt, it's much more filling! And not many more calories than milk!
  • lauren3101
    lauren3101 Posts: 1,853 Member
    Watermelon! I normally have half for breakfast in the summer and it can rock up to about 1000 calories!

    also I have bread which is like 126cal per slice, like they aren't even big slices!
    or when wraps are like 250! I'm like whaaaatt howwww

    Watermelon? Are you sure you're working that out right? It's 90% water! I used to eat a massive tub of watermelon for around 100 calories, and I'd be stuffed, so if you can eat 10 of those, I'm impressed! :laugh:

    Tbh calorie counts don't shock me any more, it's more about what they consider to be a portion. I bought a small, pre-packaged lasagna from Tescos once, a 'healthy' one, and it said it was 450 cals on the packet. When I got home and ate it, I looked at the pack only to see it was actually 450 cals per serving, which was considered to be half the pack. That wouldn't have filled up my cat.
  • zenalasca
    zenalasca Posts: 563 Member
    Chocolate mascarpone cheesecake I made as part of a baking club at college once. 700 calories for a small slice!!
    White chocolate passionfruit cake I made from the NZ's favourite recipes website. Again, about 700 calories per slice.
    Costco cakes given out at uni events all seem to be ridiculously high in calories too.
    When I found out what seemed like a normal teaspoon of peanut butter was actually 20 g (which is according to the nutritional info a tablespoon…)
    A 100 g slice of mud chocolate cake from the supermarket was way bigger when I measured it on the scales than I thought.
    Max Brenner! The milk Italians are 600 calories for a 250 mL cup and babka with milk chocolate lick is easily 1000 calories.
    When I realised how many calories you consume when you have 4, or 5, or 6 slices of thickly buttered toast with your vegetable soup (like I used to).
  • RideRunRepeat
    RideRunRepeat Posts: 54 Member
    almonds....a handful at every meal on a salad, as a snack, as something healthy to much on....some days especially if I accidentally missed a meal 800 calories!!!! WHAT??????

    Those little powerhouses stalled me for a whole month because even though I was eating exactly on plan....I hadn't looked up how many calories they were and added about 500 extra calories that I didn't know I was eating. Ha!! Now a serving size for me is 15 almonds. ;)
  • Cirsium
    Cirsium Posts: 41 Member
    Effing breakfast cereal/muesli. Seriously, they should put a giant red warning on those.

    ^^This. Granola made me fat!!! Admittedly, it was all I was eating for several months whilst I was unwell and stuck in the house, but seriously, breakfast cereal is a beast.
  • tyediri
    tyediri Posts: 183 Member
    I second this! Wraps!!!!

    I had seafood fajitas for dinner last night (random, but YUM!). There I was, scanning all the ingredients thinking, 'Awesome, I should have some calories left over', and then BOOM! 2 plain wraps were over 350kcals! WHAT?????

    So I went over my daily goal! :(
    Oh well! They were yummy though!

    Wraps..... just the thin flat bread bit rather than the finished filled item. How can something so flat count for so much?!
  • biggsterjackster
    biggsterjackster Posts: 419 Member
    Cobb salad in various restaurants.
  • biggsterjackster
    biggsterjackster Posts: 419 Member
    I read the book: Eat this not that.
    Some of the dishes in restaurants have 2500 cal. Especially cheesecake factory leads with high fat, high sodium, high everything dishes. Smoothies can be horrible high in cals. The amount of calories should be right next to the dish on the Menu. Might scare a lot of people off.
  • Cathalain
    Cathalain Posts: 424 Member
    I went to a place called Chop't Creative Salad Company yesterday (warning bells going off already!) and was absolutely stunned at the calories listed on the menus.

    No salad should be 1000 calories, plus. Just, no. What do they even put IN there to make it that high? It's GREENS, for Pete's sake.

    Until you add the meat, the dressing, the toppings....uh-huh, the light bulb over my head is shining bright. That is CRAZY. :noway:

    I ended up with a steakhouse salad at a "respectable" 370 calories with some "spa" dressing (only 15 calories and was pretty good, actually). So I escaped unscathed, but I can see where people might be misled into thinking this stuff is healthy. After all, it's salad... right?

    Funny how some salads end up being the equivalent of a triple cheeseburger.... :cry:
  • nioui_non
    nioui_non Posts: 2
    Most of the time, I'm not that shocked to see the amount of calories in chocolate, fast food, pizza or cakes/candies. Most of the time, when I eat them, I'm quite conscious of my caloric intake.

    But I was truly schocked by the amount of calories in some supposedly light treats like chocolate covered rice cakes.
    Seriously, why the hell would I eat a chocolate covered styroform thingy if I can eat a kinder for the same amount of calories?
  • jayjay12345654321
    jayjay12345654321 Posts: 653 Member
    I was shocked when I learned years ago that a blooming onion from Outback Steakhouse has 2000 calories in it, 160 grams of fat and over 4000 milligrams of sodium. And that doesn't count the dipping sauces they bring with it. I know it's meant to be shared, but it's an onion!
  • Weezabella
    Weezabella Posts: 11 Member
    My surprise has been the "healthy" grain-based products. Bread, pasta, wraps, bagels... So high in calories, and that's before you've put the yummy stuff on them!

    I hardly ever eat pasta now - when I have the craving for that type of instant comfort food I have potato gnocchi instead. And wraps are now a treat instead of a regular staple.
  • perfectflightisbeingthere
    perfectflightisbeingthere Posts: 66 Member
    Wraps surprised me, nothing to them so how can they be worse than a slice of bread? Also any food from coffee shops......

    The size of servings also, the amount of cornflakes I would normally have is at least two "servings".
  • rainbow198
    rainbow198 Posts: 2,245 Member
    I'm more shocked about the sodium many restaurant meals more so than calories. Regarding calories people have already mentioned my calorie shockers of almonds/cashews etc. and DQ Blizzards.
    If I know I am going to be consuming a large amount of calories, I just make sure to burn a lot of calories exercising that day or the next day. Problem solved! Or sometimes I will eat low cal/ high protein and fiber all day and save my calories for going out to dinner that evening. It was a pain planning everything initially, but now I am used to it, and it's no big deal.

    I used to be slightly jealous of people who could eat 3 chocolates and be satisfied with that. After experimenting I started recreating my favorite meals and treats at home.

    Also I started doing the same thing as you (earn/burn the calories or save my calories and eat light the rest of the day). Now with a little planning (I usually have treats on the weekend) I can enjoy myself...just have to watch my sodium intake!
  • stripeytrousers
    stripeytrousers Posts: 23
    Some of these responses have really made me laugh! Sometimes you forget that other people around you will be going through the same things and feelings ... mine was creme fraiche. I bought the 'lighter' creme fraiche and weighed it recently, the serving amount was about a thimble, I nearly cried in to my chilli con carne!
  • pebs122297
    pebs122297 Posts: 1
    1 Flour tortilla- 170 calories. I cringe to think of how many of these I have eaten over my lifetime. That is just for 1! Splurging today on a bean and cheese burrito....so wanted to figure out how many calories I will be eating.
  • Athena53
    Athena53 Posts: 717 Member
    Seriously, it seems like someone asked "how can we cram as many calories as possible into this thing?", besides straight up lard, nothing beats it!

    And also so many things home cooked versus store bought - like wraps, bread, jam, cream cheese, pasta sauce - I honestly think what I make tastes better, and it has like half the calories. What on earth are the manufacturers doing?

    What they're doing is turning everything that used to be healthy into candy in one form or another, and increasing portion sizes. Cereal (esp. granola), yogurt, bagels, muffins- if you don't make your own you have to be very wary of what you're buying. And sugar (or worse, high fructose corn syrup) is in everything.

    An observation on portion sizes: even when we buy chicken breasts and pork chops, they're HUGE compared to what I remember as a kid. DH and I can share one and that's enough. The average person probably just makes a portion out of one chicken breast or one pork chop without even thinking about it, let alone weighing it.

    I'm careful about splurges because there are some things I can generally live without- fried things, pizza, fatty meats, desserts that don't have frosting, etc. Knowing the calorie value, I pass them up because to me they're not worth it. That llows me to indulge in the things I genuinely enjoy once in awhile.
  • aarar
    aarar Posts: 684 Member
    The white chocolate brownie from Moxies is 1400 calories. Nearly died the first time I logged it (I've had it several times since, just plan my day a little better now!)
  • MissBabyJane
    MissBabyJane Posts: 538 Member
    Honestly? All those "healthy" labeled snacks like "fiber" cookies, salty crackes, pretzels are LOADED with sugars or sodium. I was eating "Belvita - healthy" biscuits for mid snack when I found out that per 100 gr. they're 400 calories?! Now my mid snack are mainly fruits like orange, tangerines or banana. Sometimes nuts

    Also - cheesecake. Damn, 400 calorie per little slice and sometimes more? I didn't expected that
  • jar819
    jar819 Posts: 45 Member
    But milk only has lactose.. and unless you are intolerant to it.. it is good for you. Same with fructose.. none of these sugars are bad for you. Your body digests them easily and it doesn't really effect your insulin levels or decay your teeth. So eat as much fruit and drink as much milk as you like.. it's a whole heap better than eating low fat ( i.e high sugar )diet foods.




    Not really advice for everyone, especially if you are diabetic.
  • fificrazy
    fificrazy Posts: 234
    A mini concrete at Freddy's is 700 calories. A child sized ANYTHING shouldn't be 700 calories.

    For a child, 700 calories are barely a drop in the ocean when it comes to the total amount of calories they'll take in and burn off in a day.
  • somefitsomefat
    somefitsomefat Posts: 445 Member
    What did me in? The cheesecake! At 600 calories per tiny, delicious slice.

    Yup. That is what the people who say, "eat what you want, just in moderation" don't get.

    Even if you have the willpower to only eat a tiny slice of cheesecake at a sitting, it is still an enormous amount of of your daily allotment of calories and you will be hungry again in no time and need to eat again, easily going over your allotment for the day.

    Some foods there is just no practical way to eat in moderation. Unless you are one of those people who eats a spoonful of some treat and is satisfied.

    This x10000000. "I eat ice cream every day!!!" Cool story bro. 1/4 of a cup is a silly amount to brag about.
  • Greytfish
    Greytfish Posts: 810
    I was shocked to see that something healthy like Salmon was 380 calories for a 6.6 oz piece of baked unseasoned salmon. However, I think we need to consider the source of the calories. I mean it is true the the Salmon has more caloies than a small Blizzard from DQ. BUT clearly the Salmon is better for you having more protein and essential oils and OMEGA -3 and -6...

    I just hate some of the products we but which are "healthy" have sooo much sugar... Like Milk...

    Protein and those healthier fats - the upshot of which is you can use lots of low calorie seasonsings with it and get great flavor!
  • fificrazy
    fificrazy Posts: 234
    Jack in the Box Munchie Meal - 1560 calories! Holy crap! I can't believe they market this as a late night "snack" for 1 person! CALORIES NOT INCLUDING THE DRINK!!

    Hahaha can't stand fast food places that try to market things as "snacks", like Arby's does it, too, but calorie wise you just KNOW everything will 600+, and to me that's a small meal!
  • tomandshell
    tomandshell Posts: 32 Member
    Over 2500 calories for an order of onion rings at Red Robin. Those are apparently a thing of the past for me. But they now advertise unlimited broccoli as a side instead of fries, so there's that.

    On the other hand, I was pleasantly surprised to see that a bowl of my favorite soup at Olive Garden was only 130 calories. I had three bowls, left quite full and happy at just under 400 calories. I thought eating there would destroy my diet for the day, but it was actually reasonable.
  • KristinaB83
    KristinaB83 Posts: 440 Member
    Lobster and caviar shocked me, both in a good way.... You can literally eat pounds of both forever.

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