Surprise calorie bombs!

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sistrsprkl
sistrsprkl Posts: 1,013 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I think I have a pretty good understanding of nutrition but sometimes I still get completely shocked. My husband just brought me home a tofu and eggplant bowl from Panda Express and when I logged it, it came to 840 calories! Yikes, that's like 1/2 of what I should eat for the day. I honestly would have guessed around 550. Just shows the importance of accurate logging. What are some calorie counts that have surprised you? (iced coffee from Costco is another one that really surprised me)
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  • TheIgnorantTroll
    TheIgnorantTroll Posts: 33
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    True. I asked my wife to buy some almond or walnuts for me. Later that day she asked me to work out her cals and she got a nasty shock. She had eaten about 7 almonds thinking it would be a few cals each. Little did she know:)
  • missrobeena
    missrobeena Posts: 11 Member
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    Almonds were a bit of a shock for me too. I don't usually eat them on their own, but they really up the calories in a salad.
    Kraft Dinner really got me. The serving size on the back only accounts for a quarter of the box. Last year as a student, it was one of my staple foods and I could easily eat a whole one. I'm still shocked that I didn't end up with the freshman 15.

    One thing that really surprised me was the amount of sodium I was ingesting too. I had never thought about it until I realized that all of the sodium I was eating was majorly contributing to all of the uncomfortable bloating I was having all the time.
  • akboy58
    akboy58 Posts: 137 Member
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    Early on in my diet I ordered the Ma Po Tofu at PF Chang's -- tofu, not a lot of meat, how bad could it be, I thought. 1030 calories! It certainly taught me a lesson about restaurant meals in general and Chinese food in particular.
  • Mariachicat
    Mariachicat Posts: 311 Member
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    A birthday date surprised me with Dunkin Donuts coffee... plus a coffee cake muffin with a candle in it. I looked up the muffin and it was something outrageous like 660 calories. So I had half. It was a gift!
  • WhoWasGivenToFly
    WhoWasGivenToFly Posts: 64 Member
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    Potato salad. Its mostly potatoes but the calorie count reads likes it all mayo. damn......:sad:
  • sistrsprkl
    sistrsprkl Posts: 1,013 Member
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    @akboy, love the ma po tofu at PF Chang's - did not know it was that much either. Good thing I haven't had in years :wink:
  • brower47
    brower47 Posts: 16,356 Member
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    6 stuffed firecracker jalepenos from On the Border: 1950. That's 325 calories per jalepeno.

    I was lucky that I only ate two that day but it was a bit of a shocker.
  • IrisFlute
    IrisFlute Posts: 88 Member
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    Olive oil! (Or, I suppose any oil.)

    Being new to calorie counting, I had gotten rid of all my butter and high-fat stuff, and splurged on a fancy bottle of special organic California olive oil. And then I saw how many calories are in one tablespoon. Now it's stored on the shelf for the next few months and I just eat my salads with vinegar. Sigh.
  • unapologeticallyemma
    unapologeticallyemma Posts: 134 Member
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    3 stuffed meatballs from TGIF 900+ calories!!!!! IT'S AN ENTREE!

    i was also surprised at how high some fruit was.110 just for a banana.

    Some spice mixes get me too. Moroccan spice mix from masterfood is 13 cals per teaspoon.
  • higgins8283801
    higgins8283801 Posts: 844 Member
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    Avacado surprised me. I wasn't thinking it would be so calorie dense and I can eat those like candy. I had four whole ones before I logged it and it totally threw me off yesterday.
  • 7elizamae
    7elizamae Posts: 758 Member
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    I know I'll sound clueless, but I had never realized just how many calories are in pasta and bread! Or tortillas! They're hardly worth eating.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    no one food really surprised me...but a night of chatting...noshing on apps blew me away...

    It's not like I had a complete plate of coconut shrimp...I had 2, then 2 of this 2 of that etc..

    I though oh 1200 calories maybe...it ended up being over 2k...:sad:

    Thiis is one of the reason's I prelog now...even if I have to tweek it afterwards no more surprises like that...
  • Meerataila
    Meerataila Posts: 1,885 Member
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    All nuts, all oils. Raisins. That shriveled up little bit of dried fruit packs in some serious calories.

    The biggest surprises were when I first started. Cheese. A serving size was so tiny and so many calories. Cereal. Seriously, the manufacturers' idea of a serving size barely covers the bottom of the bowl.

    Pizza. I mean, I knew it wasn't low, but I never realized just how high in calories it was before I started logging. Same goes for ice cream. Again, it was all about what the tub says a serving size is. Screw those four little bites, I was eating the tub!
  • dschassie
    dschassie Posts: 192 Member
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    - Friggin' fruit, especially dried. No longer eat dried fruit but I make room in my diet for fresh fruit.
    - Nuts. Holy ****balls, who knew that a small handfull could pack such a punch? I only eat them as a "treat" now on workout days, and I have to pre-portion them or I won't be able to stop.
    - Tortillas or wraps. Who the heck makes these suckers and why did I think they would be healthier than bread? WTF
    - I ended my love affair with avocados, we only see each other occasionally now :brokenheart:
    - Anything Starbucks. I attended "Starbucks addicts non anonymous" for a while and think I am cured...
    - Salad Dressing. Another WTF moment. Salads are soooo healthy - yadayada! Sometime you are better off eating a burger, seriously! Of course I have found some low cal salad dressing options now and have eliminated all the salad toppings that aren't necessary but geesh, how WORNG I was about salads.
    - And my last one: Panera Bread Company Pumpkin Muffin. My absolute favorite pastry in the whole wide world: 590 calories for 3 bites of heaven. Sigh....:cry:
  • jmt08c
    jmt08c Posts: 343 Member
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    Brew pub pretzels from Applebees-1200 calories for 4 pretzels and some cheese dip. I'd rather have 6 more beers instead!
  • justwanderful
    justwanderful Posts: 142 Member
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    Peanut butter shocked me. Almost 100 calories in a tablespoon. WOW!!!
  • SmartForAGirl
    SmartForAGirl Posts: 28 Member
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    Tortillas!! Are you kidding me?! I thought I was doing great by ordering veggie fajitas when I went out for Mexican. Little did I know I was wrapping those healthy veggies in hot, fresh gobs of calories! Yikes! Now I order the veggie fajitas without the tortillas and just eat them with a fork.

    Before I started logging my calories, back when I was just trying to "eat right", I thought I was making myself a healthy snack by making peanut butter and tortilla rollups. What a fool I was. I've lost 13 lbs since I started logging and I attribute 12.5 lbs of it to learning the truth about tortillas.
  • AllisonMorrris3
    AllisonMorrris3 Posts: 5 Member
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    Lots of "healthy" foods surprised me, actually.

    walnuts - 50 cals for 4 HALVES
    bananas- 105 for a whole one
    avocados- 100 cals for half
    Peanut butter - 95 cals for 1 tbsp.

    Crazy! I thought I was doing good by eating those foods. O_o
  • hussaing265
    hussaing265 Posts: 1
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    hahaha, them feels...ate some potato salad yesterday as it was lying about the house...I could almost feel my heart dropping as i looked at the macros...
  • sistrsprkl
    sistrsprkl Posts: 1,013 Member
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    In regards to tortillas, they're not all high cal. Your standard corn ones are only about 50 cals each (I had 3 for lunch :)
    I get the cheap ones from Trader Joe's.

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