Shockers when you started paying attention to calories?

Options
1…5681011…13

Replies

  • Seabee74
    Seabee74 Posts: 314
    Options
    PIZZA !!!
    My wife and I used to order a Large Pizza and I would usually eat all but a couple slices that she would have.. 400-500 calories per slice.. OMG I spent money on Pizza and Bigger Clothes.. No More lol...
  • BigTireFlipper
    BigTireFlipper Posts: 116 Member
    Options
    Here's a slightly different end of the spectrum. P.F. Chang's bowl of Hot and Sour soup. Only 380 calories. No big deal, right? 7,980 MG of sodium. How's that for a heart stopping macro?
  • Restybaby2012
    Restybaby2012 Posts: 568 Member
    Options
    Ive been here a couple years. Ive lost more than 100 pounds and was / am doing good but...........

    I fell off the wagon as they say about a year ago and got LAZY. Yup.....LAZY...there is NO other excuse to offer. I picked up (said lovingly) about 30 freakin pounds. What an eye opener. However...it was an educational process for me and I now know what went wrong, how and why.

    For me the hugest (is that a word?) MISTAKE and SHOCK is / was MY idea of what is 4 oz and what the SCALE says is 4 oz. What I say is 1/2 cup and what IS a 1/2 cup.

    HOW could I have been so off? SOOOoo incredibly-edibly OFF on "questimating"? I have a hunch what Ive been considering a 4oz piece of meat MAY have been more like a 10 oz piece. What I considered a half cup was more than likely a cup and a half or even 2cups.

    I am shocked, appalled even at the calories I had to have been consuming by being THAT off on measurements. I kept the healthy eating side of things so to speak but had to have been way the heII over on calories.

    NOT a mistake soon to be repeated and Ive already started losing and feeling better.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,372 Member
    Options
    I have a Pret right next to my office so I usually get either breakfast or lunch from there. Well their tuna sandwich is 510 calories. That might not seem like THAT many calories, but it is not even a HUGE sandwich. So within the hour I am hungry. But I'm really into tuna lately so I'll have it regardless.

    Bread and mayo! Make your own with light bread and light mayo or something.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,372 Member
    Options
    Everything from the Cheesecake Factory. I mean everything. Appalling.

    Their skinnylicious menu is delicious and under 600 calories. Just saying.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,372 Member
    Options
    Here's a slightly different end of the spectrum. P.F. Chang's bowl of Hot and Sour soup. Only 380 calories. No big deal, right? 7,980 MG of sodium. How's that for a heart stopping macro?

    Holy s***!
  • TrailRunner61
    TrailRunner61 Posts: 2,505 Member
    Options
    Another thing to watch for is the sodium content of so called 'healthy' meals. Some of the 550 or less calorie meals at Applebees (or anywhere else), have over 3,000mg of sodium, for ONE meal. With high blood pressure, I'm not supposed to have more than 1200... that sucks. What I don't get is WHY they add that much salt...??? So we buy more drinks perhaps?
    Once I reallyyy got into counting calories, I was also shocked at how much a 'serving' was. For example, 1/2 cup of oatmeal does not measure as one serving, listed on the package. It's a lot more! I started weighing my food with a scale by grams. There is a big difference!
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,372 Member
    Options
    Another thing to watch for is the sodium content of so called 'healthy' meals. Some of the 550 or less calorie meals at Applebees (or anywhere else), have over 3,000mg of sodium, for ONE meal. With high blood pressure, I'm not supposed to have more than 1200... that sucks. What I don't get is WHY they add that much salt...??? So we buy more drinks perhaps?

    Makes it tastier. I mean, I grill chicken breasts at home.. and they're fine. But all that sodium, that makes them tastier in restaurants...
  • MissBabyJane
    MissBabyJane Posts: 538 Member
    Options
    All kinds of cheese.

    Also I hate food that is labeled as "healthy option" and sometimes is even highter on calories
  • fittoday14
    fittoday14 Posts: 128
    Options
    I've been looking at calories since I was a kid (I'm 34 yrs old). Two of my older sisters were always on a diet (they were always 10-20 pounds over weight). FYI: my mom never liked them looking so intently at calories and carbs, she always told them, "If you want to lose weight, eat my food." And, she was right. Her food is very healthy. Even her desserts! They were hooked on chips, donuts, soda, etc. I never really cared about it until I was 21 - 2001.

    When I got older, the content of calories are just so upsetting, it's the sodium and lack of nutrition in certain foods that were shocking to me. I remember a few years back when I looked at McDs, Subway and Panera Bread's nutritional info, I was beyond upset and shocked. I hardly go to Panera anymore.. I felt like I was being played for a fool. McDs I sort of knew was loaded with calories, but still the calories and sodium in their fries were horrific! Subway (back then, I hate it now) was OK except for the sodium content. I also looked at sit down restaurants. Once I was at Dennys and got the healthiest things I thought, and afterwards when I looked at the nutritional profile I was very upset. I had all my calories for breakfast! :sad:

    You live and you learn! I prefer eating at home nowadays so I can control the nutrition.
  • laurie04427
    laurie04427 Posts: 421 Member
    Options
    Hubby and I used to go to Chili's alot. I'm vegetarian and so I'd order a black bean burger on wheat bun with a side of broccoli, have half the appetizer and a couple tall beers. Doesn't sound terribly bad except:

    .5 spinich & artichoke dip - 700 ish calories
    Black bean burger - 650 calories
    Broccoli - 80ish calories
    2 tall glasses of light beer - 300 calories

    1700 calories eek!! (my numbers are estimations so could be more lol)
  • cebreisch
    cebreisch Posts: 1,340 Member
    Options
    Everything falls into that category for me. My biggest shocker was finding out that a bowl of Pasta Fagioli soup (3 pts on WW) at Olive garden was healthier than a bowl of their salad (7 pts on WW). Everybody always thinks salad is so healthy, and don't realize that that dressing will do you in!! The soup has protein, fiber (beans), celery, carrots, etc.

    My husband said when he started on MFP that he thought he was eating reasonably healthy and realized that he really wasn't!! It was real eye opening for him too. He would go get cheeseburger happy meals at McDonald's. Now if he goes there, he'll just get a cheeseburger, and convert it into 1/2 a double cheeseburger by cutting it in half, putting all the protein on 1/2 the bun, then discarding the leftover 1/2 bun. That way he's at least saving SOME carbs....LOL. Every little bit helps, right?!
  • princessgloomy
    princessgloomy Posts: 8 Member
    Options
    Peanut Butter is just depressing. Tortillas. Mixed drinks (especially if they have sweet and sour mix!). Restaraunt made guacamole.
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,742 Member
    Options
    Everything from the Cheesecake Factory. I mean everything. Appalling.

    Their skinnylicious menu is delicious and under 600 calories. Just saying.

    They also have some wonderful stuff on their small plates/apps that makes a meal...I don't know if they are still on the menu, but awhile back I had their 3 Vietnamese tacos for around 500 cal (total) I think -- and they were fantastic!
  • srv524
    srv524 Posts: 1,363 Member
    Options
    I couldn't believe pizza wasn't fat-free!

    Honestly though...a certain Wegmans cardboard pizza which I love is 2100 calories (serving calories 350 x 1/6 serving sizes per pizza). I was stunned.
  • kk_140
    kk_140 Posts: 518 Member
    Options
    Double doozie chocolate chip cookie sandwich from American cookie co. at the mall has over 600 calories in it... I knew a cookie sandwich with thick icing in the middles wasn't GOOD for me, but over 1/3 of my daily TDEE? That surprised me.

    This doesn't stop me of course, Just now I'll skip dinner and have a cookie sandwich instead. :P The tummy ache is WELL worth it
  • iorahkwano
    iorahkwano Posts: 709 Member
    Options
    Poutine... 900-1200 calories
    Banana.. 80-110 calories
    Chocolate bars... 260-360 calories
    Mixed drinks... 250-400 calories
    Mozzarella stick... 100 calories each
    Klondike ice cream cone... 230 calories
    Small theatre popcorn w/ butter... 450-500 calories
    Dairy Queen small snartie blizzard... 560 calories
    Lettuce... 5 calories
    Mustard... 0 calories
    Cucumber... 0 caloroes

    1 cup of bran flakes + 1 cup 2% milk... 240 calories
    The amount I was putting in my bowl... 470 calories
  • Edmond_Dantes
    Edmond_Dantes Posts: 185 Member
    Options
    Poutine... 900-1200 calories
    Banana.. 80-110 calories
    Chocolate bars... 260-360 calories
    Mixed drinks... 250-400 calories
    Mozzarella stick... 100 calories each
    Klondike ice cream cone... 230 calories
    Small theatre popcorn w/ butter... 450-500 calories
    Dairy Queen small snartie blizzard... 560 calories
    Lettuce... 5 calories
    Mustard... 0 calories
    Cucumber... 0 caloroes

    1 cup of bran flakes + 1 cup 2% milk... 240 calories
    The amount I was putting in my bowl... 470 calories

    I am shocked that so much awesomeness can fit into 900-1200 calories. I am now craving poutine. thanks.
  • deannasueknutson
    deannasueknutson Posts: 38 Member
    Options
    I love eating at Panera Bread. Everything there is so so good. Today I stopped in to get a sandwich to go for lunch. After I was done eating it, I went to log and I found out it is 830 calories!! More than 2/3 of my daily calories. By lunch time I had already gone over calories for the day. I'm assuming their bread has a lot calories cause the rest really shouldn't have amounted to too much. Next time I'm getting a salad there instead of a sandwich!
  • jmcdonald2011
    jmcdonald2011 Posts: 181 Member
    Options
    My biggest shocker was because of my eating habits. I was already overweight but then I took a very hectic day job and I just stopped eating during the day. I would have a pot of coffee in the morning (yes that says pot) and then dinner. so I had to start making myself eat all day long. at first I was thinking there was no way that I could possibly survive of so few calories but in reality because I am eating pretty well I find it hard to use them all up. so that was a huge shock - how hard it actually is to eat my calories

Categories