Amazing Calories

Widdy1961 · January 2008

I find it amazing that foods I thought were 'Healthy' can contain so many calories, I realise now why I have been having so much trouble losing weight.

I gave up smoking 2 years ago and at the same time I was started on insulin, both of which make it more difficult to lose weight (or so I was told) but I really think the problem lies with not understanding the amount of calories in foods.

In the UK we are advised to eat low fat and low salt but sometimes this does not mean that the foods are low calorie as well.

The myfitnesspal site is really a godsend to me, allowing me to track my calorie intake and also calculate the calories etc in the meals I and my wife prepare, also to know that there are people willing to support me just a mouse click away, I really hope that this will be the start of a reduction in my diabetic medication and my waistline.

Widdy

Widdy1961 · January 2008

I find it amazing that foods I thought were 'Healthy' can contain so many calories, I realise now why I have been having so much trouble losing weight.

I gave up smoking 2 years ago and at the same time I was started on insulin, both of which make it more difficult to lose weight (or so I was told) but I really think the problem lies with not understanding the amount of calories in foods.

In the UK we are advised to eat low fat and low salt but sometimes this does not mean that the foods are low calorie as well.

The myfitnesspal site is really a godsend to me, allowing me to track my calorie intake and also calculate the calories etc in the meals I and my wife prepare, also to know that there are people willing to support me just a mouse click away, I really hope that this will be the start of a reduction in my diabetic medication and my waistline.

Widdy

deanea · January 2008

:flowerforyou:

sharondaley · January 2008

Hi.

CONGRATULATIONS on giving up the ciggies (wish i could)

This site is great and it sure does help.

Good luck and best wishes.

Sharon. x

suevittorioso · January 2008

it is sooo true that we can eat healthy and still gain lots of weight. and so unfair.when i think about what i eat:i never buy oreos or potatoe chips.i don't drink regular soda.we gave up regular white bread and pasta when my husband had his 3rd heart attack 2 yrs ago. don't eat red meat more than once a week,but...i started to see how many calories some of the "healthy" foods i do eat have.and how much sugar is in all the low fat stuff. and doing the food dairy has helped me see how even good food can add up to too many calories. way too many. my challenge is to see the light about how much i eat and keep the light on all the time!!!!

ConnieLynn · January 2008

Hi Widdy1961,

I was born in 1962. A great time to be born. You have a clear knowledge on how much the world has changed. I love being 40 something. Our minds are sharp, now we have to get our bodies that way.

You will start to eat the right amount of calories as you continue to do this program. I have been working on it for over a month and I reach for salad, fruits and veggies and protein sources.

Food also tastes much better and because we restrict our calorie intake, I have found I have to eat 5 meals a day or more to sustain myself. I feel like I am eating more than I ever did, but it is the stuff that actually feeds the body.

Good luck to you and you can do it. One day at a time, one meal at a time.

Connie Lynn

zmonster · January 2008

Something else that really shocked me was servings per package. If I bought a vegetarian burrito frozen meal, I would check the calories...when it said 240 I was good to go right? Wrong! The suggested serving size was half a burrito! Come on...who eats half of their frozen dinner...and do what...save the other half for a rainy day???:grumble:

Widdy1961 · January 2008

Hi connie lynn

You are right about the amount of meals per day, I only started yesterday but found I had to squeeze in more meals than usual to make up my calorie intake.

I'm not sure about the US but here we have a meat substitute called Quorn, I know it's not to everyones taste but I love it and find that it's far less calories than any meats and I use it in a recipe I cook, in place of chicken.

Maybe I will put it on the recipes section (one with Quorn and one with the chicken)

Thanks for the good luck message and I'll wish you the same from a rainy and wet England

Widdy

Widdy1961 · January 2008

Hi zellagaeta

You got that right.

Many people (myself included) pick up a can or a package and look at the nutritional content and think, great, but as you say, many times it's for a 100g serving when the tin or pack is maybe 400g, so that 200 Kcal can soon be 800Kcal and the information is always in such small lettering that you would need a microscope to read it.

Widdy

sundaygirl85 · January 2008

it is sooo true that we can eat healthy and still gain lots of weight.

This is very true true. Ever since I was a kid, my family has eated healthily - homecooked meals, lots of fruit and veg, no desserts, soda, or snacking - yet I have never been anything other than 'curvy' and my dad has actually been very overweight! In our house it has always been the portion sizes: enormous platefuls that us kids were enouraged to eat every bite of! So now I'm combining the good food habits I got from my parents with just eating LESS, stopping when I'm full even if there IS food left on the plate! So far, it's working!:drinker:

blessedmamma · January 2008

That's where I have trouble. I'm from the South - Old School South!!! If there is food on our plates, we are taught to eat it - or else! I've heard, for years now, that we should stop eating when we're full, regardless of what's on our plates. I understand that logic, and sometimes follow it, but I see waste. Of course, it is better to see it on a plate and not on my *areas*, but I try to circumvent the whole waste issue at the stove. If I don't put too much on a plate, we should be able to eat it all. I think I'll take it one step further and try not to cook to much to begin with, but as I said, I am from the South!

If I manage to get this right, should anyone be left unsatisfied, they can fill themselves with a fruit!

chrispchef1 · January 2008

I hear ya, southern girl. I'm from an Italian family - and it's pretty much the same thing.

Another place where calories seem to sneak in is while I am cooking - I just HAVE to "make sure everything tastes right".... so I sample here & there, and before ya know it... have consumed a portion or more of whatever it is!

SO in addition to only making ONLY enough for one meal, with reasonable (not super-size) portions and NO leftovers, this is the next challenge. Last night I busted out some celery sticks and big glass of water.... so far, so good...

lockedcj7 · January 2008

I'm with you blessedmamma. It was always my job at the supper table to eat the last few bites from the serving dish so that my parents wouldn't have to worry about putting such small portions in the 'fridge. Great way to teach a kid intuitive eating. :grumble:

I still have the foods I love, I just use a smaller plate and I make sure I can see plate between the servings. That keeps me from mounding everything up on a hubcap sized platter and eating it all!

zmonster · January 2008

Love all Quorn products, especially the (pretend) chicken patties with the white cheese and breading! My husband is not a vegetarian, yet he never complains when we are having those for dinner. Worst thing is the product is hard to find in my area so I try to get to Whole Foods in Raleigh every three weeks or so.

Eve23 · January 2008

I am glad it helps you Widdy.
I know I find things all the time that surprise me.

Thats why it is so important we have this tool I guess.

:drinker:

Amazing Calories

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